Till the End of Time

Chapter 11 - Watching the Lights

Another step, another lie and another second of pretending. I miss the night and the darkness, while it reminds me of dangers and the unknown. It also reminds me of Leila and the silence. Calm and soothing like a cup of tea. It also was the only break I had had in a long time; how long does this go for? I missed the fields and the rivers, the quiet. Everything that came with living in isolation.

"HEY! Aithera, wake up!" Someone called, quite rudely if you ask me. I pivoted around and decided to put the best Zoya impression I could muster. Leila stumbled back in shock, practically screaming when she saw me.

"By all the saints, Aithera must you try and scare me half to death when we're about to march ourselves to the death!" She shrieked; I gave her a more deadpan expression in which she calms down but still a touch annoyance remained from the previous expression.

"Yes, I must scare you but don't worry, it'll go fine. None of us are going to be involved in the accident and none of us are going to lose this battle," I reassured her, "How can you be sure this will end in failure? We still have a chance." I think, but Leila doesn't need this worrying and worst outcome seeing person, she needs the friend would always be by her side through thick and thin. It was getting harder to keep that person though, maybe the darkness and horrors of war had finally gotten to me.

I leaned backwards, using the wall as a crutch, I tried to calm myself down. My mind though decided enough happiness and went you know what have some grief and sadness. Dumping it all on me before I could even process it all, soon it'll all be over, and I can wallow in all the grief and despair I desire. Just a few more hours and please, no more thoughtless thoughts of endless darkness, gaping mouths and screaming souls.

Beyond the hours and days ahead of us, there shall be peace and rest but hardships and other challenges. We shall hide in the fields and trees, if we return, we shall rejoice in our efforts and mourn for we are among the few survivors, the ones that got away.

For now, we shall fight the darkness that has settled on us, it has brought a change, one extremely unwelcomed. Tears will fall like rivers; blades will continuously move as if they were part of the wind and blood shall seep into the earth below. For now, we must go back and let it drench us, watch it pool at our feet while our comrades around us fade from existence.

The night only now serves as a harsh reminder of what is to come now. Too bad it pales in comparison to its brother. So pretty and beautiful yet we never can find out what hides its embrace, that is what scares us. We, however, know what lurks in the brother of night but I wished we never had found out.

Our return wasn't pleasant, the darkness was heavy and unsettling, it was filled of screams, cries of terror and mangled shrieks of pain. Leila held on to my hands tight, her thumb rubbing comforting circles on the back of my hand. I hated this obsidian black sky, the thing that separated me from my sister, the thing that took hundreds.

I watched the skies which moved and swirled, sometimes just glimpsing what was to come. The lantern that lit the way flickered, slowly dying as we traversed across the rolling dunes below. It was only meant to sustain itself till the edge of the fold if you just went straight. We weren't doing that; we were going to wait in the darkness and attack just as the volcra did. We were going to be alone in that fight. Maybe it represented us, slowly but surely dying out as he won the war.

The wind that moved around muffled our voices but not what we heard from our surroundings. We had waited for hours in the fold, silent and careful as the darkling's soldiers chose their prey. We waited through the massive displays of fire and lightning as the Volcra waited some more. Only when the tide makers emerged from their own display tent did the chaos begin.