An Ember Bright

Chapter 5b

The city wakes up as Kaya and I head for the marketplace. With every step, my mind wars with the desperation to stay away after yesterday's horrors and the determination to find something for Nona. Kaya quickly notices.

"Hey," she slows to a stop. "Are you sure you want to go back there? I can search in there by myself, and we can go together to the places outside of the market."

I shake my head. I won't let my fear hold me back. I won't let it prevent me from helping Nona.

I won't let it make me useless.

I press forward and Kaya doesn't argue. This is too important to the both of us and we can't afford to waste any more time.

We reach the edge of the market and my heart begins to race. The air is blissfully clear and the only negative behavior is from the tired, grumbling merchants setting up their stalls. A few people stroll along, making early morning purchases before they head to work.

Still, I can't stop looking over my shoulder and occasionally batting at my arms. Agonized screams sound at every turn and every wisp of black causes my skin to relive the burns. We pass through the center and my breath catches. Evidence of the dead stain the jagged pavement. Severed vines are dyed with patches of dark crimson. I can't move, only able to stare at the place where three lives met their end.

"You're fine," Kaya's voice breaks through the sea of terror. "It's over. I'm here, Cara. Take a deep breath. You're okay."

Inhale. Exhale. Again. I release a shake breath, my eyes squeezed shut. "Okay," I whisper. "Okay."

My eyes snap open and I avert my gaze from the area. "Let's go."

Kaya leads me through the market, stopping at every stall with the slightest mention of healing. None of them can offer any explanation for Nona's condition, just like the first time we came. A few offer something to help with an aspect of the sickness, but nothing certain. Kaya takes everything that suggests a possibility of healing Nona, but nothing fades the troubled expression set on her face.

We leave the marketplace as seven bells sound. Kaya's bag is disturbingly light on my back, giving me little hope.

"Let's try some of the smaller apothecaries," Kaya suggests. "Maybe they'll have something that isn't as widespread."

She doesn't wait for a reply and heads places only she knows, and I silently follow.

The early morning heat promises an unusually hot day as sweat drips down my back. We spend two hours hitting every single healer in the sector. We almost went into the next one, but the guards stationed there happened to be the ones who had it out for me the most.

"Cara, don't blame yourself," Kaya says. "It's not your fault."

"Really?" I scoff, kicking aside a stray branch. "It's not my fault we can't search in the other sectors because my stupidity caused me to be on the wanted list of nearly every guard in the damn city?"

"Still, it's not as if we would have had much of a chance even if we did go. How likely is it we'd find something there when no one here has a clue about Nona's sickness." A hopeless note enters her voice at the end.

"What do we do now, Kaya?" I spin around to face her, throwing my hands up. "We've looked everywhere and just like the first time we came searching. We may have tried a few new places, but we ended up with the same infuriating result."

Kaya sets her gaze on the ground and I feel a pang of guilt. All Kaya wants is to find something to heal Nona, and our failure affects her, too. But unlike me, she doesn't lash out.