Steel Ethereal

Ch. 21 Road to Bastion

            

Rob

Riley leads us through the forest. I was sure if he could, he'd have us all walk single file. His armored boots thud on the forest floor. Branches, leaves, and berries are unfortunate enough to find themselves in his path.

I cherish the crisp of the morning. Next to me, Charlie took several deep breaths which told me she was relishing the scenery as well. We both hadn't realized how much we truly missed such an open landscape.

"Where are we?" I ask.

"Look behind, genius," Liam says snidely. I see Tyson give Liam a displeased look.

I ignore Liam's tone and glance back. I'm met with the sight of the mountain range that towers over Promenade. The elevator transported us to the outskirts of our home.

I'm suddenly reminded that human kind and all its structures will always be dwarfed by nature and I feel small and insignificant.

We walked along a trail of dirt that had been created before our time.

Luciana sings to pass the time while others chat casually. I find it interesting she should do such a thing. Her voice is soft and dances into the collective of sounds around us. The birds chirp seem to chirp along with her.

"Glass half empty,

Glass half full,

Well either way, you won't be going thirsty."

Her curls dance gently as her head nods with every word.

Liam and Tyson were wrangled in a debate. Tyson poked at Liam's noir armor, but like a mule, Liam defended his point. I wondered if he only did so to irritate Tyson. Tyson gave up after a while and ran his hand through his head. I see Liam smirk as he drinks form his flask again.

Sam and Janeiro walk hand in hand. I see Sam gently bobbing her head to Luciana's tune.

Riley and Jenna are at the front of the pack, keeping silent vigil. Jenna's eyes scan her front. Her head perks whenever she looked to detect something of interest.

An hour later the trees taper off and we're met with a fork in the road. Two paths that spread from one another.

"We'll split up here." Riley says sternly. The wind blows roughly, but Riley still stands tall. He motions for his group to come to him. Jenna and Liam walk forward.

Charlie turns to me. Her scared eyes look to mine.

"Thank god your eyes aren't cold. They actually kinda remind me of dominos." She says quietly so only I could hear her words.

She smiled, "You be safe."

She rushes forward and hugs me tightly.

"You too," I say leaning my chin on the top of her head.

We break apart and her hand traces my arm and lingers on my own hand for a little longer than I was expecting.

We split up, not knowing when we'd meet again.

The first few hours were uneventful and quiet. No one seemed to want to talk much. It was as if the group splitting up was an unhappy experience.

Luciana took the lead of the group and remained singing. Her song took a somber tone. It was one about a man begging his love to return to him.

"Maybe several hours of singing is enough?" Tyson suggested.

Luciana turns to him and without breaking eye contact, rises in volume. Her song becomes more of a mockery and lacks the sweetness of her voice before. Tyson shakes his head and keeps on walking.