Extraterrestrial Exploration

chapter 22

–Eikan–

“NALA!!” Eiso called out. “NALA!!!” he shouted again while standing atop of a boulder next to the river.

I was at a loss as to what to do, he had been searching for hours and there was still no sign of her. not even a body…

After Nala fell, Eiso was in shock, he had been so close but she slipped right in front of him, plummeting to the waters below.

I was in shock as well but could afford to freeze up like he had, I caught off our opponent and they fled the area, unwilling to put their lives on the line for nothing.

Damn cowards.

I had to pull Eiso out of his shocked state before we defended the cliff. I was afraid of what we would see at the bottom. we both were, but we couldn't just leave her…not after everything.

she understood us, she understood what was happening when we gave her that bowl of paint, and for a moment I could see it in her eyes, she made her choice– she was going to stay with us!

She was mere moments away from putting her mark on the tree along with outs but then everything went wrong…

my mind was in a mess, my thoughts scattered as we descended, expecting to see the worse. the closer we got to the bottom the less I wanted to see her again. I didn't want to see those beautiful eyes of hers, dull and lifeless. I didn't want to see her lying there, unmoving at the bottom of the cliff, broken.

it took everything in me to keep going to see it through until the end, but when we reached the bottom? she was gone.

no blood, no body, no tracks.

I had feared that in the time it took us to get down from the top of the cliff, an animal had dragged her body away to gorge itself, but there were no signs of drag marks or prints. The only other conclusion we could come up with was that she fell in the water and the stream carried her down.

That thought seemed to fill Eiso with the hope that she survived the fall, but I wasn't so sure. She might have survived the initial impact but she also could have drowned or hit her head on one of the man jagged rocks along the sides of the cliff.

It had been hours since we started our search down the river and we were losing hope fast while the suns in the sky dwindled away.

“NALAAAAA!” Eiso shouted out again as he jumped down from the boulder and continued on his trek down the river.

I watched as Eiso desperately searched for her, feeling nothing but guilt consuming my heart. He had realized just how important Nala was, how much we needed her in our lives and now she may very well be gone for good.

None of this would have happened if it weren't for me…

had I never approached her, had I never convinced Eiso into taking her with us, hand I never made him realize–

I gripped the hilt of my weapon tightly, gritting my teeth, as I fell to my knees.

An innocent woman is dead, leaving us both to be tormented with guilt and shame because of me!

Eiso stopped, glancing around before turning to look back at me, I had fallen far behind him and sat there unmoving.

He hesitated before rushing back towards me. “Eikan? why have you stopped?”

I could not bring myself to lift my head nor face Eiso.

“brother?” he kneeled before me and grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. when he saw my face his eyes widened in shock, he was speechless as he stared at me.