The Lores of Lyra - Burning Star [Book III]

Chapter 17 - An Argument

Chapter 17 – An Argument

In an old astronian tale, there was a girl with no heart. Amelia had grown up with this story. A legacy from her mother, she presumed. It was one of her favorite stories, and in this moment, when they had nothing else to do besides waiting, it came to mind.

It tells of a young woman, who had once loved. However, when her lover abandoned her, she swore never to love again. In order to stay true to her word, the woman tore her heart out and shattered it in a million pieces, scattering them throughout the universe.

There were many definitions of the tale, but Amelia always believed that the woman didn’t have a heart because it was of no use to her any longer. Of course, it was just a story—she knew that. But if Amelia had the chance, she’d do the same thing. There was no sign of Eric surviving. He was still a burnt corpse on the ground, and the stench of burnt hair made her retch. Trying to fight it back, she looked down at the hand she was holding.

“Please, pull through,” she muttered.

Amelia found existing pointless. She was aware that it was sorrow talking, but she couldn’t shake the thoughts away. The desire to live on was utterly gone.

As hard as it was to cope with her own thoughts, it was harder to be near Joshua and Vega than to be alone. The two of them hadn’t seen each other in years, and they were walking on toes around her. She has to get away from them. Amelia rose from the ground and stared blankly at them. “I have to get some air,” she said.

It didn’t occur to her how stupid a statement that was before she’d already turned on her heels. They were outside, so air shouldn’t be a problem, yet, Amelia felt suffocated. She walked over to a star lion who was resting on the grass. The animal raised its head and stared at her every movement.

“Will he be alright?” she asked and took a seat beside the massive animal. The lion tilted its head but didn’t react otherwise. Amelia reached out a hand as started stroking the animal’s soft fur.

The vast field didn’t offer much protection from surrounding enemies; they were pretty much an open buffet. And without the shadows of the tree, there was no room to hide either. This made Amelia have front-seat tickets to the big reunion of Joshua and Vega.

She couldn’t hear their words. In fact, she couldn’t hear anything at all. The place was astonishingly quiet. Only the gentle purr of the lion could be heard as she watched Joshua wrap his hands around Vega. When he pulled back, he took her hand in his, dragging her into the outline of a forest. Amelia cocked an eyebrow. That hardly seemed appropriate behavior. With their absence, the field seemed to get colder, and she shivered from a chilly draft.

“This can’t be good,” she muttered. She rose from the ground and walked back over the field, with her eyes on the grass. Her teeth were clenched in an attempt to stop them from chattering.

“Joshua?” she called. “Vega? Are you there?”

Amelia didn’t notice her nails digging into her palms before the pain hit her. She hissed, but kept on searching for her friends. It didn’t take long before the sound of muffled voices reached her ears. She recognized Joshua’s frustrated voice, and edging closer she listened to their conversation while watching them from a somewhat safe distance.

“No,” Vega said.

Joshua groaned. "Will you keep giving me only one-word answers?"

“No,” she replied.

"Why do you keep giving me one-word answers then?" He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it in frustration.

Vega stared at the ground, fiddling with her fingers. “Because.”