Starfall

Chapter 3 - Elyse

It doesn't take long for my gaze to catch in the fluid movements of our newly fashioned flag. In the twilight's pastel fluorescence, the remnants of our sails whip in a highlight of what once was, giving me a strong sense of melancholy toward the past, and hope for the future.

"Hey, girl," Leola says from somewhere behind me. My gaze remains glued to the mesmerizing flow of the fabric in the wind. Her footsteps crunch beneath the pebble pathway as she comes and stands beside me. "Think we'll be spotted?" she asks, craning her neck to get a good look at it. It took both brain power and brute force to get the flag set up against a Doxem pillar, but we managed. Now we can only hope that it'll pay off.

I shrug. "We better. We had to have veered at least a couple clicks off course, and the next route cycle probably starts in an hour or so. Who knows when someone will pass by?" Finally I tear my eyes from the sight and start heading toward the shrine's entrance.

"Well, if it's all the same to you, I found one last bottle of malt cream," she says, bouncing over to meet my stride. "Actually, I never told you, but I hid it under some planks in the Millashu a few years back."

Her comment only makes me smirk. "I know, Lee. I've known the whole time."

"Wait. Really?"

This time I laugh. "Don't you know the captain of a ship sees everything that happens under her watch?"

"You weren't even there! You were literally out of port." She groans. "This whole time, I thought I had a secret. Guess not."

As we step inside the large, airy space of the Doxem shrine, I wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her into a side-hug. "Come on, let's get some dinner divvied out. Where's Kamal, anyways?"

Leola sighs, separating from my side and stepping over the ringed pits that line the floor. "I think he said he was scouting the area. Whatever that means."

As she makes her way to the stained glass wall to examine the details, I rummage through the crates of rations until I find something suitable.

With a chuckle, she says, "If anything, he's making sure we're not going to get raided by any leftover cult followers around here."

"Doxemity wasn't a cult," I snap, my tone strung taut through my throat.

She snorts. "You sure about that?"

When I look up, I see that she's gesturing to the large, circular window of stained glass. I don't have to look twice to tell what the art depicts: a holy heart at the center, surrounded by three ghostly spirits of worship.

I just shake my head. "Careful where you tread, Lee."

"Was that a threat?" She gasps dramatically, and I can hear the smile in her voice when she speaks the words. A grin finds its way onto my lips, too.

To lighten the topic—to change it, even—I chuck a ration her way and call, "Think fast!" The package hits her shoulder with a disappointing thump, and she turns to me with wide, challenging eyes.

"You better go get that cream," I say through a lazy smile.

Leola picks up the ration and straightens. "Definitely."

"Careful not to get kidnapped by leftover Doxems," I joke as she passes me, heading for the door. Then I call after her, "And if you see Kamal, tell him to come back! It's dinnertime!"

She just waves me off as she saunters off toward the Millashu.

Alone in the shrine, I glance down at the rations that are left. We better get picked up soon, at least within the next two cycles—I doubt there's much to salvage from these abandoned grass fields.