Machine of Fire and Blood

EIGHT

Calaithe glanced down at the makeshift headstone one last time. It had taken her a while to find a sharp enough rock, strip the bark off of the nearest tree, and carve the message into its flesh. It was a simple but heartfelt sentiment.

Here Lies Kade Barwood, Beloved Brother.

She tore her eyes away from it, forcing herself to turn away. She began slowly stumbling back toward the tree house. She was faintly aware of the fact that the sun was now hanging bright and burning over her head, signaling it was mid-day. That meant she'd spent most of the day at Kade's grave. She barely watched where she was going. She was focusing on picturing Kade's face in her head, tracing his features over and over within her mind's eye. She was determined that she would not allow herself to forget what he looked like. She felt like there was a hole inside her chest, opening wider and wider as it slowly devoured her from the inside out. Images of her life with Kade swirled through her head. Kade, the person she knew better than herself. And yet, there was still so much she didn't know. So much she would never get to know now.

Dimples. He'd had dimples. And I only got to see them for a two days before never getting to see them again.

Calaithe pushed through the trees and stumbled into the clearing in front of the tree house. Elden and Adithreel were perched on rocks in front of a small fire just to the left of the house. They were roasting something over the flames. Calaithe glanced at it with little interest. It didn't look or smell appetizing to her. If anything, the thought of food made her nauseous.

"Calaithe..." Elden trailed off.

Calaithe blinked slowly at him. She couldn't tell if she was swaying on her feet. It sounded like there was more Elden wanted to say, but perhaps even he wasn't sure what it was.

"Eat," Adithreel commanded without looking up.

Calaithe shook her head slightly. She reached for the door to head inside.

"Eat," Adithreel repeated, more forcefully this time. "Even if you don't want to, you need to. We're leaving after this meal. No time to waste."

"Leaving?" Calaithe questioned. "Do we even have a plan?"

Adithreel nodded.

Calaithe glanced back toward Kade's grave.

"Will we be coming back here?" she asked.

"Likely not anytime soon."

Adithreel took whatever was cooking off of the fire and pulled out his knife. Calaithe's stomach churned. If she left she wouldn't be able to visit Kade again, possibly for a long time. Possibly ever, if they failed their mission.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Adithreel stated, as if he could read her mind. "You could just stay here."