Eladea: A Hopeless Age

Chapter 15: Liam

Chapter 15: Liam's POV

We made it gang :D

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚《

We get rudely awoken before the sun even rises, the old man crankily yelling at us to get up. We all stumble groggily into the main room, barely dressed. The man hardly says anything before shoving us out of the house with a basket full of food. We stand there, shocked for a moment, before making our way to find Amber. And just as the first licks of the sun are seen over the horizon we fly away into the early morning.

We fly all day, not even stopping to eat. I had been dubbed the map keeper and was directing Amber in the right direction, though there wasn't much to do as it was pretty much just "fly east."

We laugh and talk. Not really about anything in particular, just stupid conversations and deep thoughts that mean nothing. We sing songs, we tell stories. All until the sun sits low in the sky. Only then did we look for a village, finding one not long after, nestled on the bank of a large river snaking through the countryside.

We swoop in, landing just outside the buildings. Without a second thought I jump down and start jogging towards the road.

"Liam!" Kate whisper-yells to me, still standing by Amber.

"What?" I ask, turning back. She frantically gestures for me to come back.

"What are you thinking?! Come back! We don't know if these guys are hostile or friendly." She gives me a harsh look, Reid standing behind her. I wave her off and continue moving. Everyone we met has been completely welcoming, granted some are a bit too welcoming, but nice nonetheless. Why would this town be any different?

I enter onto the road between two run-down buildings, the street a heavily treaded dirt path. I hear pairs of feet behind me, signaling my comrades had followed me. Almost immediately I realize something is off about this town. The buildings are worn, even rotting at some points. The streets aren't bustling, they're almost barren. What shops there are are scarce, their supply even scarcer. An invisible cloud of tense silence and almost….misery hangs like fog over the road. Though the people were more concerning than the houses and shops. Their scornful faces bore straight through me into my soul, as if each one of them held a personal grudge against me. They look at each of us as if we are their enemies. Their gazes contemptuous make tiny cracks on my heart appear. What happened here?

I slow my gait, glancing back at my friends. They look at me with the same amount of caution and concern I had shared with them. I let them catch up with me fully and start walking in Amber's shadow, trying to hide in the darkness of the coming night.

"We need to buy some stuff." Reid says, leaning in to whisper it. I glance at her messy hair, the long strands on the top of her head draping across her face to indicate her gender. She hadn't switched yet. I nod.

"What do we need?" I mutter back. She glances to Amber's back and the supplies strapped there. "Some fresh water really. And new bedspreads." She reports. I nod, extracting a few good coins from my pocket, counting them in my palm.

I advance one a stand, seeing fabrics behind the lady behind the counter. I place the coins on the rotting wood, looking up at the scornful woman.

"Three of those fabrics please and one of those." I say, pointing at her supply. She squints her eyes at me, her piercing gaze focusing on my eyes. I shift uncomfortably, a now familiar feeling blooming in the pit of my stomach.

"What's your name, boy?" She spits the last word out with such contempt it feels as if she's insulting me. Just the way her eyes trail up and down me makes me self conscious of everything. It makes me conscious of the split in my eyebrow, the strands of golden brown hair that had escaped my ponytail, the rough edges on my hastily sewn patches, my lean body, my long legs, the very way I hold myself.