Kiros

Chapter 39: The Mighty Have Fallen

I tried so hard/And got so far/But in the end/It doesn't even matter/I had to fall/To lose it all/But in the end/It doesn't even matter.

In The End by Lincoln Park

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Cahn ran back to his own hut to pack up his essentials as I sprinted back to the hut Leni and I had been in. I was almost sad we were leaving. I still had so much to learn. 

I supposed that's what Cahn was coming along for. 

In my head, I was cursing the fact that I wasn't so fast at the whole powers thing that he could just stay behind with the rest of his people. I kept wondering if my parents could control their powers easily, or if it was a hereditary thing to have issues with it. 

Tree branches slashed me across my arms and legs as my dress flapped behind me in the wind. I was pretty sure my limbs would look like a cat's scratching post by the time I reached Leni. I pumped my arms and legs even faster as I thought about Leni. 

Oh, he had no idea that we were in danger. He didn't know we had to leave.

Furrowing my brows, I put all of my power and all of my energy into getting to him as quickly as possible. 

My breath was becoming more laboured by the time I arrived at the hut. I came to a screeching halt and panted as I hurried up to the door. "Leni!" I called. 

"Kiros?" The door opened and Leni appeared. His light brown hair was messy, and he blinked at me. He braced himself against the door and frowned, his eyebrows turning down as he looked down at me. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be training?"

"There's--" I panted, "Zyphinese soldiers in Cheribuen." I bent over at my waist and placed my hands on my knees for support. "They came for me."

Leni's green eyes grew dark. "How?"

I shook my head, my hair flying around like a halo. "I don't know. Maybe... Maybe Vixen. She was on before we left, and, oh, I don't know. Maybe they managed to track her."

He paused for a moment, processing the new information and nodded. "We need to get out of here as fast as possible."

"I know. That's why you, me, and Cahn are going to go back and see if Vixen could even possibly take off. Even if we could get away from this area for long enough."

Suddenly, his eyes hardened and I noticed his jaw tick. "Cahn? He's coming?"

I threw my hands up in exasperation. "It's not my choice. Wille says he needs to come with us so that I can keep working on my powers."

Though I could tell he didn't like it, Leni nodded. "Fine. Come on. Let's get our stuff and get out of here."

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An hour later, Leni, Cahn, and I were traversing through the forest on our way back to Vixen. I had a large pack slung over my shoulder filled with some cheese, dried meat, dried fruit and a small pack of water. Identical bags hung from the boys' shoulders. 

I also had my white dress tucked away inside my bag. For some reason, I didn't want to give it up. It was nicer than anything I had had in a while. 

When I lived on Egla, my family had not been very rich. My parents had worked in the local factories mining for precious stones underneath the barren land above. The pay was never very good. We could barely afford to keep Vixen running. 

We struggled day to day for food, water, supplies... 

But we were happy. We were a happy family, and that's all that matters. I had most of my childhood filled with memories of laughter and playful smiles from my parents.