PRESENT DAY
My head pounds, and I suddenly force myself awake. What happened? Where am I?
I look around me and realize I was laying down in the back of a carriage. A grey-wool blanket rested atop of me.
Quickly surveying my surroundings, I spotted Von sitting beside me, and Litton hunched in front of me as if mulling something over.
Von noticed I awoke first. "Hey, you're finally awake."
Von and Litton were here, but where were the others?
As if Litton read my mind. "We got separated from them," He said briefly. "I can tell you're a little confused. Maybe its best you rest a bit more."
As he said that, the carriage rolled over a large rock, and it caused the cart to kick upwards. The road ahead was too violent for rest it seemed.
Litton noticed my expression, and then looked away from me. "Yeah. Well, me neither." Both him and Von had bags under their eyes. Why? What happened?
Suddenly, the events from before came rushing back into my head, and the pain in my leg returned. Quickly I clutched it, but the pain continued.
Litton looked back towards me. His eyes showed sympathy, but his face, disappointment. "You might never be able to walk properly again."
Even Von turned away from me. He couldn't stand to look at it. The dark blistering burn in my leg, which had started to bleed again, began to seep through the now red bandage that was placed around it. Blood poured through its openings.
Litton continued though. He was never one to dwell on things too much, although this was a little severe. He looked away again. He too didn't want to be reminded of what happened. Our failure. Our mistake. Our biggest regret.
"We're heading for Viralis... The free city." It looked as if the words had a hard time coming out. "This merchant was generous enough to give us a ride. After he saw our current state." He said as he leaned in the direction of the man leading the carriage. He had two horses pulling the cart. He took off his straw hat as a greeting gesture before putting it back on.
Von glanced in my direction and glared at my leg. It was obvious the bandage needed to be changed, and perhaps the wound needed to be disinfected too.
He turned himself to face me. Unlike Litton who was having a hard time composing himself, Von didn't seem to be wounded, physically nor mentally, he wouldn't look at me directly though, and he did seem a little lost in thought, which was uncommon for him.
He leaned into a bag at his right and pulled out a fresh bandage. I suppose he must have scavenged it from our village. Or maybe he bought it from the merchant. I don't know, and I wasn't in the state of mind to ask such trivial things.
He poured alcohol from the bag onto the new bandage and wrapped that around my leg. The pain was unbearable. Comparable to when I first received the wound. "Th- The others, what happened to them?" I tried my best to ask, as Von applied pressure to my wound.
Litton's eyes were tired. They showed desperation. He looked as if he'd gone mad. "I already told you. We got separated. For all we know--" He paused, as Von took over the conversation.
"They're fine. They have to be." Von stated plainly and confidently. He turned to Litton. He wasn't upset, and his face formed the smallest smile. It was forced. "He's still confused, Litton. He's been through a lot more than you and me. He's had it the worst."
Litton leaned back with his head out of the cart and looked up to the sky. "Tell him what we know." He said after a couple of seconds. "I never want to think about that nightmare again."
Von looked to the floor of the cart. The wood riddled with dirt distracted him from what he was about to tell me. "The others. Litton's right. We don't know where they are. Like he said. We don't even know for sure that they are alive."
I prepared myself for the worst.
"We know that when we were separated, for the most part, none of us were alone. The last we saw of them, was when Gilles ran towards the center of the village, in the direction of his house. Kurt chased after him."
I swallowed the information the best I could. For what I remember, Kurt and Von had something close to a rivalry back in the academy. Gilles was Kurt's friend ever since they both enrolled.
I remember when I first met the two. The day we were all appointed to be the apprentices of the next generation. I met them outside the academy in the courtyard. I was with Von at the time when Kurt and Gilles came to gamble with him. They ended up owing him a favour. Such trivialities now seemed like a blessing.
They were both so nice. I know its selfish, but I hope they survived. Survived the chaos from before. And I hope they continue to survive until I can meet them again.
"What about the rest?" I asked.
Von didn't even need to think about it. He had been waiting for this question, and thinking about everything that had happened to us, repeatedly. Before answering, he poured alcohol onto my wound. I screamed out in pain, but he didn't flinch and continued explaining what happened. "Litton and I stayed behind to help you when everybody else was panicking during the chaos."
"You better thank Rainne... If it wasn't for her, calling for somebody to help you, I wouldn't have stayed back for you." Litton added. It made me feel good to know he always had my back. That was sarcasm of course.
Von only stared at him with piercing eyes before continuing to recount what happened. "After Rainne said that, Litton and I came to help you. But by then, you were already unconscious. Cierra said it might have been blood loss. But your sister said it could've been spirit exhaustion too. Of course, if it really was spirit exhaustion, I'm not sure you would be here today."
Von looked towards the floorboards and clenched his hands into fists. I noticed Litton gritting his teeth, as tears welled up. "That's when things really went to shit." Litton began. "After we rushed to help you, the battle that was being conducted on the other side of the village caught up to us. Walls of flames and true-ice pillars danced all around us like we were their play-things, and we weren't able to do a goddamn thing."
Von placed a hand on Litton's lap as if to calm him down. "After that, Cierra stayed back to help Elaine, who was struggling to keep up with everybody, when the Ex-Guardian that was attacking the village stepped between us and them. It began to chase after us. We had no other choice." Von said with regret.
"Litton picked you up and put you on his back. We ran away from the village with Ela and Rainne. But the other attacker caught up with Ela, and Rainne stayed back to help her. We couldn't go back though. We had you to worry about." Von continued.
I felt horrible. I might have killed our comrades. If I wasn't so weak. If I was even half as strong as the others. Maybe none of this would have happened.
"It's not your fault, Meseal," Von said as if reading my mind. He could see the regret I was trying my best to suppress.
"Don't bullshit him, Von. He's one of the reasons we don't even know what our losses look like." Litton said, snapping at him.
"Fuck off Litton! You got injured too!" Von said pointing at Litton's arm, "None of us were ready for something like this, and we lost everything because of it!" He snapped.
Litton stood up and yelled back, "I told you it was a horrible idea! We never should have left the village in the first place!"
Von couldn't control himself anymore. "Don't give me that shit Litton! Leaving the village might be the only fucking reason we're still alive!"
Von's breathing was ragged. He was tired. They both were. After that, the two went quiet for a moment. But I noticed something. I looked at the two, and they both knew what I was going to ask. They looked as if they had been caught in the act of committing a crime, but the remorse and pain in their eyes said it all.
"Meseal..." Von said; a tear welling in his eye. "We don't know..."
Litton looked at me with pity. "Please..." He hung his head.
Finally, I forced the words out, "What happened to my sister?"