At the Fields of Fire and Blood

Chapter XXVIII

Kayla knelt in front of the dragon, the warm air coming out from the beast's nostrils buffeting her dress, her hair, her veil. They had taken the time to rest and then reactivated their relics for the journey back to Aries and the tree. At Kayla's request, the cat had led them back through the garden so she could see the dragon again. They had fought another cloud of pollenbats on the way and Vivien took some as samples. The others, they had killed. This still didn't sit well with Kayla. Even if they didn't know whether they could heal the creatures or not, ending their lives rather than trying to sneak past them or locking them up didn't seem like the right choice. When she had tried to bring it up again, Vivien's face had become as cold and stiff as a statue's, Joshua had simply reminded her how she had felt living locked up and asked her if she preferred that or death. Kayla didn't have an answer, so she kept quiet.

Now she looked at the dragon's pitiful state, how ragged her breathing had become and she wondered if they were right. The cats came and went from the grove as if tending to her, even though they didn't do much more than rub their bodies against her scales and curl up by her side. They didn't seem scared of becoming infected and Kayla wondered how contagious the illness was, how the cat locked up in the chapel had become infected. It seemed like the first trial had given them no answers whatsoever, only more questions. That and the map. The most important thing of all, the secret to the Pilgrimage. Yet what small a victory it seemed when the world around them was rotting.

"Viv," Kayla called and her voice almost broke when she tore her eyes away from the struggling beast. "Can we please try, at least?"

"It'll take time," Vivien said, curt and matter-of-factly. "If you want to do the Pilgrimage and kill God to save the world, then do that. You can't stop to help everyone on the way."

Kayla bit her lip, looked down at the grass between her fingers. It almost seemed unfair that it could thrive while everything around it was dying. The cat that had guided them came into view, rubbed her face against Kayla's as if sensing her distress. Kayla petted her neck, thought for a moment.

"What if I want to save everyone?" she asked. "Saving the world from being destroyed by God only to end up with a heap of blood and ash on our hands doesn't sound like a great deal."

Kayla's gaze passed through Vivien, Joshua, and Darren, gauging their reactions. Vivien and Darren looked away from her, the first seeming annoyed and the latter pained. Only Joshua held her gaze, his expression inscrutable to her.

"That's naive, love," he said. "You know better than that. We'll have to make sacrifices if we want to do something as impossible as killing God."

It was Kayla's turn to tear her gaze away from him. She looked back at the cat purring on her lap, unable to face the dragon again. It sounded like they were sentencing her to death.

"But you're also not wrong," Joshua continued.

Kayla turned to look back at him. The others had done the same, brows furrowed as if that was the last thing they had expected to come out of his lips. She couldn't blame them. Out of all of them, she thought Joshua to be the least likely to support her.

"There's no point in saving a world we can't enjoy afterward," he finished with a shrug.

Kayla allowed herself to smile, gave him a small nod. "Yes, exactly."

Darren's face broke into a smirk and he leaned forward to catch Vivien's eye.

"C'mon, Vivi," he said. "We'll help you figure out a cure. Let's help the little cat lizard out."

"Don't call me that," Vivien snapped. "And I want you nowhere near my lab. I'll find a cure myself if that keeps you out."

Darren looked at Kayla, threw her a conspiratorial wink and her smile widened. She looked down at the cat, petted her head.