Page 14 of Voices in the Stars
Hundreds of people were running through the town below us. Lachlan was separated into circles that got progressively smaller. The largest circle looked like it was surrounded by shops and wooden stalls. I was certain that’s where most of the yelling came from, since all I could see were people packed throughout the path. Hands frantically waved above heads as they tried to gain attention.
The next three loops surrounding the first were small houses. From here, they all looked identical to each other. They were all simple cottages made from wood and stone. Brightly colored flowers decorated some of them. Pathways curved through the loops until it looked like a spider’s web.
I let out a gasp as my gaze worked its way toward the furthest section of the town. It looked like someone tried to rip their way to the large building in the center. Chunks of houses thrown around with piles of rubble marked where I assumed houses originally sat. The grass turned from green to black. Even from here, I could make out the darkened sections of burnt houses. The damage lessened closer to the center.
“What happened?” I whispered.
“We have a very determined king,” Klyn grimly muttered as he stood beside me.
People moved about the houses as they headed toward the outer circle. No one from the damaged houses emerged, even though there were people moving everywhere.
For every one person that left the outer circle, five more entered it. Whether it was from the other rings or the many branching paths that left the village. It was shocking that we hadn’t come across anyone on our way here. Maybe even they were afraid of the things that lived in the wild. Looking toward the different paths, there were many that left the way we were facing. There was only one other path that led deeper into the forest that no one else was using.
No.I squinted my eyes, taking a step closer. There was one person strolling down it toward Lachlan. My gaze lingered on them before turning back to Klyn, my mouth parted with all the questions I wanted to ask.
None that I got to ask before he started walking down the path. I glanced behind me before looking back at Klyn and then the town. Everything was quiet around me. Even the cries of wild animals had died out. The air felt tense, like the world was watching, waiting for my decision. It’s not like there were many options left. I could either follow this creature, or turn around and get killed. Not that I could get back into Donnaway. Klyn at least kept me alive. For now. Maybe he was a pack animal trying to lure his prey in until I was surrounded.
Even knowing this had to be real, every part of me wanted to go back to thinking this was a dream. All of this was too strange. I had to have been sleeping in my bed right now. The thought comforted my frayed nerves.If anything happens to me, I’ll just wake up back home.I kept repeating that thought like a prayer as I ran to catch up to Klyn.
Sharp body parts jabbed into me as we walked into the village. I flinched as someone’s spikes scraped against the cloak, tugging it away from me. I pulled it closer to my body, trying to make myself as small as possible—though that was difficult when I was a good head taller than everyone else here.
My eyesight was mainly limited to watching my feet as the hoodslid further down my face. Glimpses of the creatures nearby came whenever they cut off in front of me, which happened more than I would’ve liked. Klyn’s fear was making me jumpy. His claws were wrapped around my elbow, acting as a sharp guide through the crowd. Every time he thought too much of me showed, the hood was pushed further down my face.
Not that it was helping much. From the quick glances at everyone I got, most of them were stopping to stare at me. I couldn’t blame them. It was obvious I stuck out here.
Smoke thickened the air as we walked. My stomach grumbled at the smell of food cooking, reminding me that it had been almost a day since I had last eaten. It had the thick scent of meat, though I couldn’t even guess what kind, considering I was surrounded by monsters. My mouth watered as I tilted my head, sliding the hood back a fraction so I could see what was happening around me.
Stalls lined up along the rounded path. They blocked out any sight of the houses I knew were surrounding us. Most of them were made of stones crudely stacked together. Liquid had seeped out between the large stones, leaving lines between them. Whatever it was, it was doing a great job of keeping everything standing. Between creatures ramming up to the stalls, pushing and shoving to get a closer look, and the ones standing on top, screaming as loud as they could, the stones didn’t even wobble.
Signs hung from the top of the stands, foreign scrawl written among them. A dull throb took place behind my eyes as I tried to make out the different shapes and syllables. It had to be saying what each stall sold. I may have been illiterate in this dream, but I could still see what everything was.
Thankfully, there wasn’t much that was different than what I was used to. There was a mix of metal and leather armor, clothing that looked like the stitching was rushed through. The lines were shaky, making the stitches look like waves along the fabric. The rest of the stands we walked by were selling food.
The only other thing I could easily see were the people. They all seemed to be some variation of the creature Klyn turned into. The differences seemed to be in the shades of green and brown of their skin. There were different patternsand shapes of the spikes along their bodies. I pressed closer to Klyn, my stomach twisting as I tried to avoid eye contact with anyone.
“Grilled Taku!” I jumped as one of the sellers yelled at me. Glancing up, I could see them sneering down at us. Their glare was mainly focused on Klyn as he flashed us his dark yellow, sharp teeth. “Come on, your little companion looks far too skinny.” He reached a hooked claw out to grab at me. I flinched away before it could grab my hood.
I pulled it down further, catching a glimpse at something skewered on a stick that he was waving at everyone who passed him by. My noise wrinkled as I took it in. It looked like the fish I saw in the water. Now it smelt like someone rolled it in the mud before burning it. It made my stomach churn, chasing away any hunger.
“Ignore ’em,” Klyn muttered, tugging harder on my arm as he pushed my head down until I was staring at the ground.
I was left staring at the bare, dirt covered feet around us. They had claws that dug into the pathway. Some had moss growing along their toes. It trailed up their ankles until it was hidden in clothing. I almost gagged until I realized mine weren’t in much better shape. They also had mud and crushed leaves caking them with red, angry scratches that ran along the tops. I winced as I inspected them. The soles had to look worse. Each step I took was met with sharp stings that had dulled to the background when I wasn’t thinking about it. I was in desperate need of some shoes. If only I knew I was going to be ripped away from my home. I probably would’ve risked grabbing my shoes before chasing after the boy.
“Is it always like this?” I asked, trying to distract myself and test my imagination. My mother always said my head was too far in the clouds to do any good. She would’ve laughed if she could see what it had come up with now.
He snorted in response. “Course, only reason anyone bothers comin’ all this way.”
I nodded my head. It made sense. Anyone traveling near would come through if they were truly selling everything one could need. The thing that didn’t make sense was the need to hide me. The majority of creatures here were the same as Klyn. There wereothers, though. Ones that looked just like someone who would be wandering through Donnaway—besides the fact they easily stood over eight feet tall, making them look like giants compared to Klyn. Not that they looked much different compared to me. Some had ears that dropped like Klyn’s, while some stuck straight up. A few had ears that matched mine. Some of the more human ones had small spikes along their shoulders and hands.
We walked around most of the circle before Klyn took a sharp turn onto a barely visible dirt path. The sounds from before slowly faded away until they were a quiet call on the wind. I glanced back, lifting my hood when I stopped seeing people around us.
Houses loomed in front of us now, and each were copies of the others. They were mainly stone with wooden beams holding the structures in place with little chimneys stuck out of thatch roofs.Above each door was a wood plaque that had the same writings as the stalls. They reminded me of homes deeper into Donnaway. Each house was a copy of the other to hide any abnormality that might be within the family.
The houses started to change once we got past the sixth circle and walked into the destroyed section of the village. The grass between paths went from a mix of greens and brown, to charred black. There was almost a perfect line from where the fire stopped. Same as the houses. One house was crumpled in a pile of blackened wood and stones, while the one next to it was perfectly fine. What kind of king would let something like this happen?
We stopped in front of one of the run-down houses. The wood beams were singed black from flames licking up the side of the house. The thatch roof was singed where it barely managed to avoid catching fire. Cracks ran through the large windows that rested on both sides of the front door.
I shifted my weight from foot to foot. This house didn’t simply look destroyed like the rest —It looked like someone tried to rip it apart. The front door had long gauges through it that looked like claw marks. Large rocks had been pulled out of the foundation and thrown around the yard. The beams weren’t simply burnt, they were bitten through, revealing bright brown wood on the inside. My head tilted as I looked it over.
