Storm Sisters

Chapter Fifteen

~1~

(present time)

Audra

"Aelia!" Audra cried-out for the hundredth time, her voice cracked through her dry throat. The sun was starting to rise now over the burnt-out Carthin camp. It was still dense with smoke from fires that had diminished to mere smoldering ashes.

They had been searching through the refuse and bodies for hours with no signs of Aelia. Physical and emotional exhaustion took its toll on Audra, but she refused to quit. She couldn't walk away from her lost sister, not again, not when she was so close to finding her.

Just when they'd reached the depths of despair, a dusty dog, limped out from the smoking rubble.

"Sage!" Juno exclaimed and ran to him, hugging him and scratching his ears. The dog was equally enthusiastic to see the boy, wagging his tail and lapping the boy's face with his long tongue.

"This is my dog Sage... I feared he was lost to me." Juno smiled up at Audra, who extended her hand for the mutt to lick. She wanted to be happy for Juno, but still she had no sign of her own lost sister.

Then, a little girl of about six years old approached Audra. "Aelia gone." she said.

"What did you say?" Audra was was almost begging the child on her knees.

"The girl Aelia, she gone, left with Sherone when bad men come." She pointed to the forrest where the Sherone had taken Aelia.

Audra turned to Juno for some kind of explanation. He nodded in agreement, "Its true Audra," He said. "Aelia was very close with the Sherone.. if she escaped, then she would've taken Aelia too." He went on, telling her everything that he knew about the Sherone's relationship with Aelia, including the encounter he'd had where he discovered the Sherone meeting in secret with the bad man in the woods, the same man who'd chased them back at the Bailey Boys hideout.

Then Audra was faced with yet another tough decision to make: whether or not to pursue Aelia into the woods, or to return to the orphanage to retrieve Aura and then go after Aelia. The weight of the decision was almost too much to bare, since if she went back for Aura, then she might lose track of Aelia again, this time possibly forever. But also she didn't know whether or not Audra had been caught that night by miss Cuthard and what kind of danger she could be in herself.

It was Juno who finally suggested a compromise that could solve the problem. He said that he would track Aelia into the woods while Audra went back for Aura, then they'd both return to this spot within two days time to report their findings.

They both agreed that this would be the best course of action. Audra gave Juno a big hug before they split their separate ways. She had only known the strange boy for one evening, but in that short time she felt bonded to him like a brother, and prayed for his safe return.

Her heart sank as she watched him disappear into the forrest's tree-line with his dog trailing beside him. Now she was all alone, but she had to shake the despair to focus on the task at hand.

Her pace back to the orphanage began sluggishly, but before long she'd broken into a full sprint, feeling the wind in her hair as she charged forward.

By the time she'd reached the orphanage again, she'd completely run out of steam, struggling to catch her breath.

It was morning now, and it wouldn't be long until the breakfast bell rang. It was her hope to sneak-in at that moment, amidst the bustling girls, and take her place amongst them unnoticed. It was a gamble, but she was making this all up as she went.