Bodaway snuck him out that very night. Achi had awoken to a gentle prod and a warm smile, a great bulk hovering over him. Bodaway had clearly inherited his father's gigantic frame, unlike his brothers who were either lean and muscular or lithe and willowy. His bright orange eyes twinkled mischievously in the dark. Different. Unlike his brothers who both wore their hair long, Bodaway sported a buzz cut, lines shaved into his head behind his left ear forming a cross. His shorn head made his ears appear to stick out, both double pierced where small hoops of silver sparkled. He did not have the same high cheekbones that made Oponti look so ruggedly handsome or Hakan look like a porcelain angel. Instead his face was round and slightly chubby, a bold nose prominent on his face. In it another silver hoop resided. Full round lips like Hakan's grinned at him, a childlike smile that put Achi at ease. The big ears and large almond shaped eyes giving him the impression of being younger than he probably was. Different. Oponti felt like a wild untamable force and Hakan behaved more like a prince than Achi could ever hope to act. Bodaway felt more...human, and he was supposed to be some great talent who was on his way to becoming a legend.
"Are you going to keep staring at him or are we going to go?" Hakan asked, appearing at the doorway. Achi opened his mouth to protest, after all he had only just woken up when Bodaway spoke.
"I've never seen a prince before allow it"
"You can look at him on the way dumbass" Hakan replied "Lets goooo" Bodaway sighed and rolled his eyes mockingly. Achi smiled. Bodaway smiled back and made a face like "this guy am I right?" Hakan stalked towards the bed, his fluid movements demanding Achi's attention. He stopped next to his brother, a head shorter even though his willowy limbs seemed to stretch him. "We are going to get you outta here, but you have to trust us". Hakan turned his head to his brother and nodded.
"All right Achi, Prince Achi I mean," he gestured towards a large black hiking bag next to the bed "get in"
"He can't get in himself shithead"
"Oh, oh right...you're right yeah my b" Bodaway looked at Achi carefully "I'm going to pick you up.....sir"
"You don't have to do that" Achi replied
"It's not like you could do it yourself"
"Not that, I mean call me prince and stuff"
"Oh..... you sure?"
"Yeah"
"Okay" said, lifting Achi into the air. OW. Bodaway smelled sweet like verda fruit. A citrusy scent that seemed to match him somehow. Slowly he placed him into the camping bag, carefully lowering him trying not to jostle the prince. "I'm a tallotsman, I don't spend very long at home, no one would question me leaving for a few days. The cav-"
"The cave about an hour's walk away let's goooooo" Hakan interrupted, turning on his heel muttering under his breath about fat head shits. Bodaway watched him leave with a small smile before turning his attention back to Achi.
"I'm going to zip you up now"
Dark.
...........
Bright. Too bright. Achi had forgotten how Ehlathini shone at night. He was in a cot. How did he get there, he couldn't remember. Probably passed out again. Warmth on his left turned his attention to a crackling fire where the three brothers sat. Hakan leaning on Bodaway, half asleep, his eyes dulled to embers. Bodaway and Oponti staring through the fire, barely moving. Glazed over. A slight smile playing on the former's lips as if revisiting a fond memory. Achi caught his breath, astonished, just like the jungle, they glowed as well. He stared unable to speak, different hues of turquoise to bright green to royal blue pulsed along their body like tiny rivulets , painting their faces. They were Ehlathini, it could not be clearer. There they sat, ethereal. So painfully beautiful. He wished we was back home so he could paint them, but what colours could he mix to truly capture this beauty? It seemed unfair that only he got to bear witness to this resplendence. This deserved to be immortalized. They were like him but not like him. They were....tired. They wore reddened eyes weighed heavy with bags. Oponti had rescued him from the wreck, Hakan had welcomed and fed him and Bodaway dropped everything to hide him. All without a second thought and Achi had never even spared them a thanks. Pitiful. His father would be so disappointed when he tel-. Oh right, his father. He could feel the painful lump forming in his throat again.
"Thanks" he choked out. Oponti and Bodaway's heads snapped towards him. Wide smiles beaming. Bodaway gently nudged his brother awake and hurried over to his cot where Oponti knelt. Hakan followed blinking himself awake his eyes slowly getting brighter. Suddenly Achi had found himself surrounded by three spectral musketeers. He felt....safe. "Thank you guys...for everything. I shouldn't be alive."
"I ain't had nothing else to do" Bodaway replied.
"What he meant was it is the right thing to do" Oponti corrected.
Achi smiled sadly, "Regardless, I've done nothing but cause trouble for you, I'm sorry for that."
"Someone tried to kill you, this is nothing to be sorry for. It's not your fault." Hakan said softly "Plus you are the Prince, this is like a national service." He said half jokingly.
"Still, thank you guys"
"Go back to sleep, we have to get mom to look at your wounds tomorrow" Oponti whispered, reaching forwards and rubbing Achi's head softly. "We have to get back before dawn." He said rising. "You'll be safe here for now, we'll bring more food tomorrow." By now the three brothers lined the cave entrance, their glowing almost indistinguishable against Ehlathini. Then just like that they were gone. Achi smiled, sleep weighing heavy on his eyelids.
Achi's eyes snapped open, panic gripping in his chest. He was back on the plane falling like a rock. The terror felt too real. He looked out the window at the rapidly approaching treeline. He fumbled for his seatbelt, shaking hands struggling against the cold metal clasp. The steward must have noticed and was slowly making his way towards him, clutching white knuckled to the furniture around him, his visage contorted, a mask of pale faced terror. CLICK. Fastened, he managed it himself. The steward nodded, a slow smile spreading as he turned around. Achi knew what came next. He forced his eyes shut, the terrible screeching of metal almost drowning out the scream of the steward. He suddenly felt weightless. Not again, he thought. Suddenly he was in the cockpit, the damn skelskir swinging at the glass. He instinctively scooted back towards the wall, looking around for his weapons. The sound of crashing glass sunk his heart, the pungent scent of burning glass stinging his eyes, Achi forced himself to stare at the incoming monster who seemed to grow in stature by the second. He could hear nothing but his pulse so he was oblivious to the second creature, only made aware of it's presence by a warm gust of air on the back of his arm. The prince opened his mouth to scream but suddenly it was filled with cold, slick sludge moving sickeningly slowly, agonizingly advancing down his throat and into his lungs. As he watched, the skelsirs morphed into something more....human. Two bodies lay before him one on top of the other as if one was trying to shield the other, their skin rubbery and devoid of hair, discoloured, stinking of burnt flesh, tears flowed as he realised who he looked at. Achi knew what was in his lungs now, sadness and guilt distilled, thick like treacle and bitter like rum.
"Wake up Achi" whispered a voice. Unfamiliar, yet not. Achi blinked open and found himself face to face with a woman.
