Time's Tragedies- The Books Of Beginning [2]

12. No One Left Behind

Lili was nearly to Abigail's street - or at least she assumed she was, she really didn't know her way around the city - when she realized Eternity hadn't followed her. And from all the stubbornness the girl exhibited earlier, Lili doubted she would have just left even with the danger. She had already said she was taking Lili to Abigail's after all. So it didn't take a genius to see that something had gone very, very wrong.

Lili's speed slowed to ambling walk as fear gripped at her insides. If Eternity had been captured by the imps, she was in serious trouble. The imps and Robert wouldn't play nice, especially once they realized she had none of the information they needed. And while Eternity seemed like a strong girl, Robert had dark magic on his side somehow. 

By now it was obvious. Eternity was in serious danger, and Lili was the one who dragged her into it. Well, alright, to be fair the pink haired teen had argued her way along out of curiosity. But still, the monsters had been after Lili, so she felt like she had some responsibility for putting Eternity in danger.

More than that sense of guilt and responsibility was worry. Sure, she had only just met Eternity. The girl was a stranger to her, and maybe she shouldn't have been so concerned. Yet she was. Eternity had helped her out, had seemed like a bold young woman that under different circumstances Lili would have been pleased to meet, and more importantly, she was a living human. No living human should be left to suffer in the clutches of Robert Lloyd. It just wasn't right.

Was Lili scared of the monsters that were after her? Absolutely. She wanted nothing more then to run to her family and flee from this place. But she had always been raised to be good, good and moral. So she didn't waste another thought before turning around and running towards where she had last seen Eternity, determined to save the other girl. It was the right thing to do, even if it was a risk. No one was getting left behind today.

A part of her, the cynical part of her, told her that it was ridiculous to risk her own freedom and life for a stranger. But her heart told her that even though she didn't yet know Eternity, that didn't mean the other girl deserved this. She couldn't place her own value above Eternity's, that wasn't right. They were both people and their lives were both valuable.

'Why can't someone else handle it?' The scared and cynical side of her complained. 

There was no one else, Lili told that part of herself. Eternity had admitted all too easily that she was alone in the world and that no one cared for her. Which, in Lili's opinion, was all the more reason to go back for her. People needed others more often then not. They needed their care and their respect. It would be a great sadness to let Eternity die without either. 

Lili was going to make sure that didn't happen.

To pull this rescue off, she would have to use magic, she knew. The thought filled her with a mix of dread and excitement. Excitement because she liked a challenge, even if the challenge was her own power. Dread because if she couldn't figure out why her magic was acting strangely, she was screwed. 

The moment came sooner then she had hoped. She made her way through the maze of streets, waking as fast as she could without breaking into a full on run like a crazy person, trying to go back the way she came and hoping that she didn't end up getting lost. It was on this trek that she encountered the screecher, emerging from one of the hidden entrances to the abandoned tunnels.

It's rags were dusty and grimy in the light, it's limbs unnaturally bony as it turned its dark and empty eyes toward her and straightened up, lumbering towards the end of the alley and the sidewalk where she was standing. Lili knew running wasn't an option. Screechers were fairly fast, unlike imps, and could see her well in the light, unlike in the tunnels.