The Star Weaver

The Silver Liar

Time seemed to slow as the beast lunged forward, an image of gleaming gray fur and glowing white teeth flashing through her eyes. Distantly, Asteria could hear herself screaming, her lungs burning with the effort, but it sounded far away, with all of her attention narrowing down to the rows of teeth that snapped down just inches away from her throat. A large clawed paw came flying down towards her head. She ducked too late, and pain exploded through her left temple as she fell to the ground, her ears ringing with the impact. The world seemed to shift, the color becoming a bit darker as her vision spun. She was sure she could feel blood running down the side of her face, but when she reached up to swipe it away from her eyes, there was nothing there.

Another scream and she stumbled to her feet. The beast took another swipe at her and she stumbled back, almost falling to the ground again. She backed quickly away, holding the lantern out in front of her as fear ate at her stomach. She was too afraid to realize that the beast wasn't following, merely dropping down onto all fours and growling as she edged backward. She hadn't made it more than three steps when Orion grabbed hold of her shoulders beginning to roughly drag her back the way they had come.

Asteria saw the piece of stars, hanging ragged from the broken branch of a tree, its glimmering folds flashing in the night as its fabric blew up in the wind, seeming to reach for her with glittering hands. She froze, her body going slack as she took in the sight of the radiant fallen lights, so far away from where they belonged. She couldn't just leave them here. The Sun Master wouldn't leave the piece of the blanket just because of a monster, so she couldn't either. No, she had to get it. Even if she died at the claws of the horrible beast that was attacking them she had to try and get that piece of the blanket. She hadn't wanted to do this, to go on this mission and mend the stars, but now she had no choice, and she wasn't going to allow this trip into this dangerous forest to go to waste, she couldn't allow it too.

"Orion!" She yelled, trying to pull out of his grip. "We have to get the blanket. We can't have come here for nothing."

Orion didn't seem to hear her, continuing to drag her into the trees, a look of panic in his ocean eyes. Asteria pulled against his grip, but he was much stronger than she was. "Orion!" She tried again, this time louder. It wasn't like him to run away from danger. Sure he could be trying to protect her, but to run entirely. Usually, he would have just thrown himself in front of her, yelling at her to run. This was new. "The blanket! We can't leave without the blanket!" Orion glared down at her and shook his head. Asteria met his eyes, a sudden unease rising in the back of her mind. Something was wrong. She needed to get away. She needed to run, to get the blanket, then knock this idiot back into his senses.

With that strange unease eating through her thoughts, she began to fight against Orion's grasp, twisting and turning as she tried to free herself. No matter how she moved, his grip was like a vice, refusing to free her. They were now back within the darkest parts of the trees, moving away from the blanket at a crawl. She needed to get back, now. Reaching down, she clawed at his arms, which were encircling her middle, trying desperately to get free. Her nails hadn't even dug into his skin yet when suddenly he threw her to the ground, his cold hard fingers wrapped around the makeshift cloak tied tightly around her shoulders. The other bit of stars that she had so carefully kept close to her since she had gotten them. Asteria felt the tug on the soft majestic fabric and let out a half-indignant, half-confused gasp. Why was he trying to take the stars? "What are you doing?"

She struggled as Orion attempted to pull the cloak free, his fingers scrambling at the knot right below her throat. She kicked out, screaming as he grabbed the stars more tightly in his fists, simultaneously lifting his foot to kick her in the stomach. The breath was knocked from her lungs in a rush of air, and the lamp fell from her fingers, rolling away with a clunk. Orion managed to untie the knot, yanking the fabric free and holding it up with a triumphantly cruel grin that Asteria had never seen across his face, and she hoped never to see it again. It looked out of place, wrong on his normally so kind features. "Finally." He said, his voice coming out in a cold rasp that didn't sound anything like him at all. Asteria stared up at him, and for the first time ever, felt as if she was looking at a stranger.