A Mirage Of Milk And Honey

Chapter 2 - Come Back Like A Bad Penny

The girl's bare hands shook with cold as she clasped them tightly to her chest.

Her dust blue cloak had been stained a dirty black from the mess that had happened that morning and it left black streaks in the fresh white snow as she walked.

She pushed the flashes of that morning away and focused on something simpler, like walking.

"One foot in front of the other." She whispered, but her voice felt loud even to her ears, piercing hre skull and irritating her headache.

Every second was like tortue; the sun was too bright, its reflection off the snow burning her eyes. The chill of the air pierced her wet and dirty cloak, settling against her skin and setting her nerve on fire, all the while freezing her skin. She could hear the droplets of water falling from branches, could smell the damp earth under the layers of snow, the trees, the grass that sprouted then withered with each step, leaving a mess of black ink in her wake.

Worst of all, she could hear everything.

The flap of birds wings—the rustle of their feathers as they took flight. The trickling of a creek, which she could not even see. What jarred her most was the crunch of the snow underfoot. It was all so loud.

Her breathing hitched and her shoulders rose.

She could hear someone walking nearby.

She was unashamed to admit she felt no remorse for the creature from that morning, but this wasn't a monster.

It was a person. She knew it—didn't know how, but she knew in her heart it was a woman. The rustle of her breath, the beating of her heart.

The girl slammed her hands over her ears in an attempt to dull the noise, squeezing her eyes shut.

She could feel that pressure building in her gut, the one she'd felt that morning right before she'd exploded.

"Sweetie?" A muffled voice said.

It was the woman.

The girl opened her eyes, the bright light searing at her pupils in a flash of white.

"Are you alright, honey?" The woman asked kindly. "My name's Desmerelda. Are you alone?"

She was middle aged, with a kind face and a basket placed on her hip.

"You look cold." She said in a sympathetic voice, "Let's get you warmed up." She offered a hand.

The girl, desperate for warmth, sleep, food, anything of comfort, took it.

And then the exact same thing happened to the woman, and the girl shrieked, letting out a sob as she crumbled to the floor.

*

The General pulled the sword out of the grey earth, wiping it on his sleeve.

"Ether?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Yes." Chip replied sharply, "Ether. Chaotic Matter. The Fifth Element. Surely you've heard of it, or are you uneducated as well as deaf."

The soldier reeled back at Chip's rude and, quite frankly, unnecessary insults.

"I just... wasn't aware it was a physical thing..." The soldier defended.

Chip went to say something else, most likely something just as rude, but Zemira beat him to it.

"It's not supposed to be. In fact, I've only ever seen it one other time, before the Tidal Wipeout of Osheya." She said, a distressed expression taking place at the thought of her home.