Page 71 of The Souls Harvest
The two clash into a loud hug, patting each other’s backs and stopping the friendly bickering only to breathe and laugh.
“Thanks for coming on such short notice,” Tabitha says as she steps away from Jyn, sliding her hands down his forearms. “It’s good to see your face.” Her words are warm and weary. “They’re both here, by the way,” she states with a relieved smile, gesturing towards us.
Jyn’s face turns a cold shade of blue under the pod’s spotlights when he bows his head through the melted door. The many switches of the control panel flicker and flash, illuminating his gentle expression and big eyes—the same eyes that stared at me back in the square, when I had coffee and doughnuts with Galen on our bench…
“You put yourself and them in danger—a big, deadly danger,” he says to Tabitha while studying us.
“We had to rethink our plans,” Tabitha states from behind him.
“Thought so. Things are escalating too fast. Can you two manage a short walk?” Jyn asks, extending a strong, bare arm toGalen, revealing a square scar on his left wrist.
Galen shifts next to me, hissing every time an inch of his skin folds or a muscle flexes. “I guess we don’t have any other options.”
Hearing his voice like that hurts me, but it also brings a smile to my face, and forces me to set aside the thought that the happy stranger outside the pod was in Libera only a few days ago, watchingme.
Tabitha mirrors my hopeful expression and pats Jyn on the back, while winking at Galen. “That’s my strong boy—but better safe than sorry. Jyn, lift him up; you’re carryinghim.”
Chapter 29 - End of Darkness
July
Even the darkest place feels like home if it’s filled with the people you love.
But it can reach a deeper shade of black when the souls of those you love act like strangers.
What if Galen faked his friendship all this time? What if…What if….But it’s hard enough to run in the dark, wounded, tired and in pain, let alone with your head full of dangerous thoughts.
What was a cautious, silent walk to put enough distance between us and the destroyed Chella has rapidly turned into a race to safety, hushed only by the soft, wet forest’s undergrowth. Or at least this is what I think it is because all I can hear, over Tabitha’s whispered orders to keep moving and Galen repeating he doesn’t need to be carried like a sack of potatoes, are the songs of night birds and the frantic scurry of animals running away from our approaching steps.
If not for the intermittent rays of moonlight slicing through the treetops, I would fall on my hands and knees every few steps.
“I thought you were taking us to Sector 43.” It’s the first thing I dare say, and in such a low voice that even Tabitha, leading the wayinches before me and mimicking the sounds of birds, probably didn’t hear me.
“She is. We’re actually inside its last, natural green heart. Also—we don’t call it Sector 43. Our home is not a lab.” Jyn’s voice hops behind me whenever he adjusts Galen on his right shoulder.
“What do you mean in the heart—” I must have misunderstood, but Tabitha cuts me off.
“Why don’t we stop and start a campfire to make it easier forthemto find us? Keep your feet moving and your mouth shut. All of you.” Her steps are surprisingly light. “The glorious Sector 43, as you call it…well, you’re about to see what’s left of it with your own eyes. And, once we’re there, please refer to it as Ventiol.”
None of their statements makes sense to me, but this is all I can get given the situation.
Our steps grow slower with every leaf that crunches, with Galen’s every uncomfortable moan. Each disembodied sound freezes us until everything around us is silent once again.
“We will soon be unable to lift even a finger if we don’t rest and take a breather. Tabs, please,” Jyn states, as Galen’s pain becomes too loud and impossible to ignore.
But she replies without stopping, “Not a chance. If we stop, Merya and the others will gather our remains. We’re too exposed. And we’re on the wrong side of the river…”
Checking my back for the invisible threat Tabitha has been mentioning since we set foot in the forest, I pick up the pace.“Who arethey? Are the Herionos after us?” I cover my mouth,blaming my empty stomach and fatigue for my audacity.
Tabitha comes to a sudden halt. An amused note softens her voice when she comments, “I forgot how—” but Galen starts coughing, interrupting her.
She casts him a quick glance before adding, “I forgot Galen warned me about your mouth working faster than your brain sometimes.”
“I never said that,” Galen objects, trying to get off Jyn’s back without much success.
“Alright,” Tabitha throws us a quick look, “Brilliant brain. Is that better? Now, if everyone can please stay quiet and stay low—”
Without warning, she grabs my arm and yanks me down to my knees just seconds before small dots of light start flashing in and out of the foliage before us.
