The Atonement of a Writer

23. Astray I

Sweat rolled off her in waves, from both the effort and the surrounding heat. She was almost there. Just a few moments more, and it would be done.

All she saw was a mix of lava and rock. Most of her attention was on its mental state, so she did not see him until it was too late.

She thought she heard someone cry out her name, but when she turned, all she saw was the leather especially made for the army uniform. She'd know that anywhere--she had just spent a lot of time surrounded by the army after all.

She only had time to blink at the sight before she felt an excruciating pain in her stomach. She immediately lost her hold on the creature and it roared, free of its mental confines.

Suddenly, everything was hot, loud, and annoying. She felt herself fall--but there seemed to be no end to the fall. Something was burning, and it hurt--gods, it hurt a lot.

Then, just as sudden, oblivion beckoned her and she knew no more.

~*~

The four of them stepped on shore together, some of them more wary than the others. Killian and Clovis kept throwing side glances at Julien.

The town ended where Lili could see it. Wary of the towering volcanoes just behind it, the village was kept small, with only a few people living there. People had been warned to stay away for at least the day, and villagers commuted inland for work everyday anyway, so what greeted them was an empty village.

Lili peered at the volcanoes. Clovis followed her gaze and muttered, "Which one is it in?"

"Probably the smallest one," she answered, already walking in that direction.

"Shouldn't it be the biggest? I'm just guessing, but that beast is no small creature," Julien remarked.

Lili shook her head. "I'm pretty sure it would be the smallest. It's one of the most active, and no one would haul a kicking and screaming sacrifice up a big mountain."

Even though she said smallest, it was, in no way, small. Everyone had been expecting a cone-shaped volcano, but what greeted them was instead what looked like a giant fissure scarring the island. The rift stretched for miles and miles, clearly visible even though she knew they were at least a few hours' hike from it.

"Surprisingly, Lili, you know your way," Julien, who was walking beside her, murmured in her ear so no one else could hear. Lili managed to contain her surprised flinch at the sound of her name. "I thought you were the type to get lost easily. I've already lost count the number of times you passed me repeatedly when looking for a classroom on campus."

She punched him lightly in the arm. "That was when we first entered high school. Anyone would've gotten lost--the school was one of the biggest." That school had no business being so big and complicated in such a small and simple town.

"Not as big as this place," he pointed out.

Lili snorted with no small amount of derision. "You have no idea how much research I've done just trying to get past this scene. Not that it worked, but at least it's useful now."

Someone cleared their throat behind them. When Lili turned to see who it was, she realized that, in an effort not to be overheard, she and Julien were so close their heads were almost touching. She hurriedly created some space between them and looked over to Killian, who was, as always, smiling gently at her. "I think we should stop here."

She nodded. They were nearing a cliff's edge, and right below that, was the rift. "It's close enough. Now, we wait."

The first step of the plan was to wait for the last of the five years to pass. From what Clovis said Colette told him, it was usually around this time sacrifices were made, so they were going to wait for that time to pass and for the Cherufe to get impatient. Once it was time, they would lure it out.