Bile

Speechy

Almost two weeks on the road and the carcasses seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth. The group couldn't agree on whether this was a good or bad omen. Motremo and Otrem were constantly worried that all the carcasses were gathering in the crater where a comet had fallen a year ago. On the other hand, Kati, Farengas, and the young Brut simply dismissed it as coincidence. Only Stela, who spent most of the day feverishly asleep, and Speechy didn't share their opinion. For the ebony giantess, however, Motremo spoke on her behalf, at least in this case. Otherwise, it was her friends or her actions—or rather, her inactions—because she let herself be carried by life, following someone else, and that was enough for her. She didn't need fame or attention; she needed security and a place to belong. But someone had taken that away from her for the third time. In her homeland, the Centrals; in the Inner Sea, a hurricane; and here at the end of the world, the Carcasses—this was more than even the otherwise nearly apathetic Speechy could handle. She had decided to do whatever it took to ensure this expedition succeeded and with that thought, she looked at the ancient road before her. Motremo had been talking about its exceptional nature and age for hours, but Speechy wasn't listening; she was interested in the people walking on it, and one in particular, the young Brut.

He walked ahead with Kati and her brother, looking cheerful, but in reality, he was at rock bottom, clinging to the worst possible anchor, Kati. He could hardly take his eyes off her, always running out of words in her presence, and his hands were trembling. Of course, he tried to hide it, but Speechy never missed anything; she never missed anything. She could detect the slightest change in tone of voice, posture, or behavior—unfortunately, she didn't always know how to respond, so she often didn't. But now she had decided she would address it, that she would somehow prevent Brut from collapsing because Kati showed no interest in him, and to make things worse, she hovered around Otrem, who, like Brut, was utterly obsessed with her. However, Otrem was not as readable, at least not except for his eyes.

His pupils were the gateway to a weary soul that wanted to love, embrace, and hold someone once more, and Speechy couldn't hold it against him, nor could she, as she herself harbored someone within her chest, someone—she stopped, not wanting to even think about the next phrase, and tried to come up with something else, but eventually returned to it—someone without a future, for she harbored Stela and her love within her. Her whole world revolved around it; every step she took was for her, every breath belonged to her, every decision was for her good, to end all the carcasses that—she stopped again, now not only in thought but physically. She stood on that ancient road to the crater where the comet had fallen, unable to accept that Stela was simply at the end of her journey, that she might not survive to see the end of all this. If Speechy weren't made of stone and hadn't sworn off crying along with her speech years ago, tears would be streaming down her sharp cheekbones, but that didn't happen and never would, because Speechy was determined not to be controlled by her emotions anymore.

For Stela's sake, she could empathize with Otrem and his desire to be happy beside someone else once more; she also sympathized with Brut, who was on the verge of collapse and needed, for perhaps the first time, some support. And it was no wonder; they had found him a short distance from his torn-apart father, curled up in a ball in front of a horde of carcasses, crying like the small child he still was. Naturally, he couldn't leave there without scars on his soul; no one could, not even Speechy, perhaps especially not Speechy, who tried to deny it with her unchanging, emotionless expression.

Ultimately, it all depended on Kati, who didn't pay attention to others and their desires and feelings—or at least that was how it seemed to Speechy. In Otrem's and Brut's presence, she spoke differently, her movements were more graceful and somewhat ethereal, belonging more to a fairy from fairy tales than to an adult woman. She couldn't do this without being aware; she knew full well that she was wrapping both men around her finger and didn't care where it would lead them all. Perhaps it was her response to what she had been through; she never told anyone what led her to join their band, but it must have been something terrible, something painful, that turned her inside out and spat her back as a psychopathic monster playing with the feelings of others.

And Speechy wanted to prevent that. Although she didn't know how, she decided she would keep this group together until they reached the crater, where she would end the source of all evil and avenge Stela and all those who lost their lives because of them.