I am running. I don't know where to or why but I'm running. Scenery fades in and out of my view. On one side of me I see a lake, the water so deep it's shining black, and on the other big grey factories, casting a long shadow over the cement road on which I run.
I hear a snarl, far off, in the distance ahead of me and I pick up my pace, pushing my screaming muscles harder and harder. The black shapes merge into view, circling around her, closer and closer. "Nec!" I scream at her, "Nectar! Nec!"
The factories pass in a blur and still I push myself harder, faster.
The pack of spries are closing in the circle, snapping and snarling at the small, helpless girl. She screams my name and I hate myself for not being there for her, for being too late. "Nyla!" Her voice is shrill, high pitched with youth and fear. "Nyla! Nyla! Help!"
And then I reach her, no plan in my mind other than to run straight through the circling beasts, and pull her into me. Hug her until the danger seeps away. Protect her from the world.
I stumble through the spries, push past their sleek fur. My hands shoot out from beside me grasping for where Nectar should be. And nothing. Nothing. I whirl around searching for her, but she's not there. All that's left of her now is her screams, still bouncing off the metal walls of the factories. I turn to the spries. I am going to destroy them.
I throw a punch at the largest beast's snout but it disappears, evaporating into a thin black mist. I move on to the next monster and it too disappears, then the next, and the next, and the next, until they are all gone.
Her screams are all that's left.

I wake up to a cold sweat, my thin cotton shirt plastered to my skin. I push off my blankets and attempt to peel strands of my black hair from my forehead. I reach over to the cave wall and grasp a stray tree root, using it to pull me up from the ground. I reach for a long stick next to my bed, Dawn's idea I guess, and lean on it, staggering over Tom, Fern and Dawn, Dawn with a broad grin on her face and Fern doubled over laughing at some joke Tom made.
I lean over to Dawn, resting an elbow on her shoulder to support myself.
Tom smiles, "I was just saying, what if—figuratively speaking, of course—we were to—" Tom stops mid-sentence looking up at me for the first time. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," my voice is strained, but I manage to conceal most of the pain in it. "Just...Uh...Yeah."
"You know you shouldn't be walking yet—"
"All I've done for two weeks is sit." I say flatly, "you can't seriously expect me to sit around any longer."
Tom sighs. "Well if it were anyone else...Yeah okay. I guess I know you too well."
"You look like you just went for a swim. In your clothes." Dawn seems to just notice that I'm saturated in sweat.
"Well I might have done a lap or two," I say with mock sincereness. "You know—a bit of butterfly, some freestyle, that sort of thing."
"Yeah I'm sure. No seriously, Nec again?"
I nod, pulling back the sleeves of my long sleeved white, or once white, shirt. Fern looks confused, but I can see that Tom understands, he was with me long enough to know that nightmares of my sister tormented me.
"Reef? Daff?" I ask suddenly realising that they were missing.
"Getting stuff," seeing my confused face Dawn elaborates. "Apples, water—more yummy dandelion salad—got to love that stuff,"
Fern makes a face beside me, and Tom snorts, pretending to clutch at his throat.
"Yes we know you love it," Dawn says sarcastically. "You can stop going on about it though. They should get back soon, before dark at least."
"Got it," I wink at Dawn.
We stand in there for long enough that the silence becomes awkward. Limited to a pained shuffle, the day drags on, slow and deliberate. Eventually I give up and sit down, just under the overhang of the cave. Fern comes to sit beside me, her skin glowing in the sunlight.
"You lost you're sister didn't you."
I turn to face her, shocked. "How did you—who—"
"I can tell."
"Who told you, Tom or Dawn?" I feel a little betrayed that they told her without asking me, even though she would have found out eventually.
"I just said: I can tell."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know how, but I just know. It's like I can feel it, but all I do is pick up the hints. The ones people always miss."
I stare at her, torn between anger and awe. "That's...That's amazing," I say, settling on the latter.
Fern simply shrugs and goes into the cave, disappearing behind a lump of rock. I push myself up and stumble over to a tree, leaning against the rough surface to wait for Reef and Daff to return.
Two figures stride into my field of vision, one tall, the other medium sized and both way to thin. They are both hauling packs, shredded and tatty, but full. They jog the last few metres, dumping the packs under the overhang of the cave.
"No problems?" I ask.
"Considering that I'm alive..."
"Ha ha so funny," I roll my eyes at Reef, refusing to make light of our destroyed world.
"NYLA!" Daff practically jumps out of her skin when she sees me. "You are so not supposed to be walking yet! The wound could get infected again—and—do you know what happens when a infection hits? Well—"
"Please—" Tom interrupts her. "I've tried. You would have to knock her out to get her to stay resting for any longer."
I fold my arms in front of me and raise my eyebrows at Daff, in a playful try me pose. Her shoulders slump defeated, "Fine...just...please be careful."
I nod, a golden bubble of happiness rising up from within me. They really do care. The bubble pops. You don't deserve it. You don't deserve them.
For some reason I am not hungry, and manage to dodge dinner. I resume my post in front of the cave, volunteering to take first watch. Everyone's breathing I regular, and they lie still, but I can tell that no one is asleep.
An hour later the stars are shining brighter than ever, and the silence is crisp and clear. Until breaks.
"Freaking hell! Open! Goddammit!" Hands pound against the stone gates, sending dull tremors echoing through the air. "Open the hell up!"
And then I'm running. Or staggering painfully. "Espa! Espa! Artimis! Oh my god guys!" I yell out to them: I'd be able to recognise Espa's voice anywhere.
"Nyla? That you?"
"Yes! Yes! It's me! You guys—you—oh my god!" By now the others have woken up too.
"Nyla? What the hell is going on?" Tom asks, his voice groggy and heavy from sleep. He pushes off his blankets, clumsily getting two feet under himself.