Perilune

Chapter 13

Nyx was soon amazed by the strain the woman put on herself as she traversed the woods.  They had followed a trail along the face of the cliff up to the land it marked the edge of, a feat Nyx had hoped to rest after.  She didn't even pause to see if they still followed.  When Nyx's legs grew weak, they noticed more labor in each of her steps as well.  When blisters sprouted at the touch of their shoes, they saw drops of blood blossom within the fabric of hers.  It did not slow her as she ignored the miles of world to which Nyx was careful witness.

Towering trees wrapped in deep maroon bark hosted thick curtains of peacock ivy and violet thorns from their branches.  Mushrooms of various sizes grew throughout, some small multicolored buttons hidden amongst the vegetation, others towering over a ring of decaying trees, their caps reflective in defense from the sun they eclipsed.  Neon flashes of green, yellow, cyan and tangerine alerted of the potent poison peppered throughout the scenery.  Grass had been stomped out in competition with resilient coral flowers, their vines a netting along the ground as if created to capsize trespassers. 

Every step was occupied by life intent on resistance, and despite their constant avoidance of thorns, Nyx's shins and forearms were soon littered with cuts.  Hours dragged on both as years and minutes as Nyx's full attention turned to the tedious labor of travel .

"I think we should set up camp before it gets too dark," Nyx finally begged out of exhaustion, pleading with the sunset to join their protest, "Don't forget humans aren't the only creatures who might wish you harm."

"You can camp wherever you want."  She didn't slow her pace.

"You won't save Amaris if a bear eats you," Nyx's voice was almost a sigh.

The woman finally paused, and she only said "fine."

Slipping back to consciousness was disorienting after the venom.  Amaris took it as a reminder of what Lyra had suffered, of why the only true apology was her absence.  It took the edge off the images of her anger, the sound of her sobbing as she begged to stay.  She was only unable to see the light for now; soon memories of Amaris would be eclipsed by her new life. 

The relief that Lyra's pain would end and the agony that her own wouldn't were intense in ways that contradicted, but refused to cancel out.  In the distance Amaris heard the door to her cell open.  Dutifully she rose to her feet and took flight.

The new human stared in confusion at the two carts piled with Amaris's last meals as they wheeled in the third.  It caused them not to notice Amaris until she had descended upon them.  With a shriek they were swept up in her claws.   She turned in midair, ignoring the memory of Nyx pointing flight out as terrifying to some humans; the ordeal would hardly last more than moments. 

When Amaris returned to where she had slept, she cut a new opening into the wall of the cell.  For a moment she almost expected Lyra to be waiting there.  Once again joy and sorrow refused to dull one another in a way that spared her agony when there was no sign of her.  Even her scent had faded in the breeze, vanished from the cell.

Amaris placed the human near the opening.  They frantically scrambled away.  She hardly watched them disappear into the distance.  A loud growl and a jolt of pain reminded Amaris of the food waiting for her.  The entrance of the cell seemed too distant to bother with, however.  She bit her own tongue again, and drifted back off to sleep.

"Can you please just tell me your name?  It's starting to feel weird addressing you as 'you' constantly."

"Still don't see why you care," the woman said as she prowled through briars.  Nyx cautiously stepped around them as they followed, panting.  Their determination to keep their promise was tested by the woman's pace and persistence.  At the first bird's call she had packed up her supplies, and Nyx had awoken to a groggy rush to catch up as she attempted to disappear into the distance.