Skye

The three allies had introduced themselves as Redcloaks. I had no idea what it meant, but neither did any of the others, so I tried to keep my opinions open. The Redcloaks' names were Promise, Loyal, and Loving— Promise being the one with the bird mask, Loyal the lizard one, and Loving the cat one. The masks made it immensely easy to remember them, especially since they never took them off. Or their hoods. They always left those on, too.

It made it harder to understand them, though. I appreciated the dedication to the whole 'mysterious saviours' bit, but was annoyed by the lack of reading I could get on them.

They'd explained the situation between The Many and the parasites, which was as fascinating as it was sickening.

We were preparing to leave now, the Redcloaks having promised to accompany us to our ship. They insisted it wasn't safe to go through town, so we'd taken the long route along the edges and outskirts.

I recognized the path, but didn't say so. My eyes traced the roofline, remembering the hot shingles under my feet. Before I knew I could stick, before I couldn't fall. I remember running, until I couldn't run anymore. The old pain in my chest twinged at the memories.

"You alright?"

I blinked away, looking over. It was the redhead, Navia. She watched me with her unsettlingly piercing green eyes, as if she could read my thoughts.

I shook the thought off and shrugged. "I've lived here my whole life. Feels weird to leave."

"You don't seem sad, though." She pointed out.

I laughed. "Straight to the point, huh? Yeah, I'm not too broken up about it." I glanced around and nudged a rock with my toe. "I'm not sad so much as... nostalgic. I don't have a lot of good memories."

"Not here or not at all?"

I shot her a look. "Sorry, you have to know me at least more than a day to unlock my tragic backstory."

"Right, sorry," she laughed.

I smiled at her laugh. I could see why that other boy liked her so much. "I figure I'll miss it most when I'm gone." I sighed finally.

"Like homesickness," she agreed.

I shrugged. "Sorta. Except I'd rather not come back."

"Well hopefully you won't have to." She patted my shoulder. "Now I know that I haven't known you for more than a day, but I think you'll fit in nicely, kid."

Something warmed in me at that. I smiled. "Thanks. Sabien's very lucky to have you as his girlfriend."

She blushed. "I'll tell him you said that."

I nodded as she walked away, falling into step beside the boy we'd just been discussing. I watched as she slipped her hand into his and he turned to catch a glance at me.

Seeing them together made me ache for a moment.

Then I returned my gaze to the rooftops, scanning for anything.

Behind me, two of the others were arguing in low tones. I listened intently, curious. I recognized their voices after a moment. It was Zay and Lucia.

"You said you agreed, that you didn't like them." Zay was growling.

Lucia made a noise of disagreement. "Yeah, but I've changed my mind. Skye's saved my life three times at least. I don't think they're a threat."

I was startled at the mention of my own name, but it only made me more interested.

"I think you're a fool for letting your guard down. I don't have that liberty, I wasn't born with a golden spoon in my mouth and an army to protect me." Zay snapped.

"This has nothing to do with my upbringing. It has to do with your inability to trust anyone!" Lucia hissed back. "I know what snakes are like, you're not the only one who's been betrayed here!"

"Oh, lucky me." Zay spat so sarcastically that even I was impressed. "If you know so much about betrayal, then why didn't you sense Lizzie's?"

Lucia spluttered indignantly.

Zay continued, cutting her off. "That's what I thought. Don't forget that I said we shouldn't trust her. But none of you listened, and look where that got us!"

"That's not my fault." Lucia answered coldly.

"Right, sorry. I forgot that the princess is never to blame."

Lucia said something else, but my attention was diverted by a pale blur on the rooftops. I squinted at it, recognizing it a moment too late.

"Look out!" The shout made it halfway up my throat before a mass, no, an army of pale bodies streamed from the houses.

"Ambush!" Niko screeched, as if we hadn't already registered that.

I saw Sasha draw his sword and cursed the fact that I was weaponless.

But then Tyler grabbed Sasha's shoulder, shaking his head. "We can't fight this many!" He called. "We have to make a break for the docks!"

I spun on my heel without needing further prompting, sprinting toward the edge of the city. I pushed through crowds of The Many, shoving them aside and shaking off any parasites that they dropped.

I heard the beat of footsteps beside me and saw that Niko was keeping pace, using his staff to clear his path as he went.

"Come on!" The Niloan boy called, "we're almost there!"

I wanted to call that I knew that, but then the ship came into view and I stopped. It was magnificent, unlike anything I'd seen before.

Loyal the Redcloak raced past, grabbing my wrist and tugging me back into motion as he went.

"Go, climb up!" He shouted, shoving me at the ship.

I didn't even pause to look for a ladder, just summoned my spider and leapt onto the wood. I scaled it quickly, barely beating Tyler as he used the ladder.

"Watch out!" I shouted as the captain— or what used to be the captain— lurched out and scratched at Tyler. The dark haired man ducked and sent the Infected captain reeling overboard with a kick.

"Thanks, kid," he panted before leaning over to drag Niko up.

The rest of the team, plus the Redcloaks, appeared within minutes.

"We have to get out of here if we want to live," Promise said. As she spoke, Loyal and Loving scurried about, lowering sails and doing other ship things that I didn't know the names for.

Tyler nodded. "Thank you."

Promise acknowledged his gratefulness with an awkward jerk of her head.

"I don't think any parasites got on board," Sasha added as the ship started pulling away from the dock. "And I doubt they can swim."

I wrinkled my nose, sincerely hoping he was right.

"We'll set course for Greenhaven and hope that they, at least, have some answers." Tyler's hair whipped lightly in the breeze, his face grim as he stepped up to the railing and stared out at the destroyed home we'd left behind.

Something like sadness rose in my throat, thicker than nostalgia and more tangible than homesickness. I hoped that would be the last city that fell to The Many, and wondered for once, not how to kill the poor Infected people, but rather if they could be cured.

I really, really, hoped that they could.

12/08/21
well that got dark but uh
enjoy! xx