Page 127 of A World of Ruins

It sounds like a lie.

I decide to focus ahead as we move through the dappled light of the dense woods, an unspoken tension hanging between us.

‘You’re strangely quiet,’ Idris says, breaking the silence. ‘I thought you would have accused me of lying by now.’

I hesitate as I glance at him. He’s trying to find humour in all of this, though it has never been his style. Shrugging, I say, ‘I’ve got a lot on my mind.’

He nods. ‘Same here.’

‘I was thinking, though,’ I say. ‘About the times you told me I couldn’t train to become a Venator.’

He quirks a brow.

I chew on my bottom lip. ‘I wonder what would have been like if you had never let me leave that day.’

Idris stops, so I turn on the spot to face him. ‘There was never an if,’ he tells me quietly. ‘You know yourself it was meant to happen.’

‘I know,’ I say, my eyes flickering to where Darius now laughs at whatever Tibith might be saying. ‘But I’d like to think of a different life in which I went back to our home, shouted at you for not letting me go and then continued on our days undisturbed.’

He gives me a tight smile. ‘Me too.’

I don’t know what comes over me, but my heart urges me to embrace my older brother. So I do just that and wrap my arms around him. It makes me feel young again. Back then, I would argue with him and later on say how I couldn’t sleep. Idris would lift me up into his arms with a sigh and sing this lullaby our mother used to sing to send us all to sleep.

‘Close your eyes, the day is done,

Rest in my arms as the sun sets,

Let sleep take hold,

And your dreams raise a new beginning.’

As the last note of the lullaby fades in my mind, I smile but it doesn’t last too long as an uneasy silence falls upon everyone.

Idris tenses as I step back and glance around the clearing. Dense thickets border it as a rustle from deep within the forest sets every nerve on edge.

Freya nocks one of her arrows in readiness. My eyes narrow against the dimming light, and at that exact moment, a shape emerges.

‘Shit!’ Rydan yells as the familiar screech of a Rümen splits our eardrums.

My brothers and friends reach for their weapons as Darius stalks towards it.

My heart pounds in my chest and my protective instincts flare to life as I step forward, palms outstretched between everyone and the Rümen. ‘Stop!’

The all come to a halt.

The Rümen included.

It cowers, flapping its leathery wings in a form of distress.

‘It’s hurt,’ I say, frowning as I look closer. The Rümen’s wings are shredded to bits, blood dripping and painting the grass.

Something palpable connects us as we come face to face. It is a sort of sadness and pain that reminds me that this creature is alone and likely the last of its kind.

I stare and stare at it, at the venom seeping through its sharp teeth, and I hear its weak cry.

A hand then comes across my waist, its immediate warmth and scent telling me it is Darius. I don’t notice I am crying until he wipes the dampness away from my cheek, and I lift my head up to him.

‘It’s not our—’

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