Bʀᴏᴋᴇɴ Hᴀʀᴍᴏɴʏ || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ: Fᴀʟʟ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Bᴇᴀsᴛs Bᴏᴏᴋ Oɴᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜɪʀᴛᴇᴇɴ || ғʟᴀɢs ғʟʏ ʀᴇᴅ

Skye

The three allies had introduced themselves as Redcloaks. I had no idea what it meant, but neither did any of the others, so I tried to keep my opinions open. The Redcloaks' names were Promise, Loyal, and Loving— Promise being the one with the bird mask, Loyal the lizard one, and Loving the cat one. The masks made it immensely easy to remember them, especially since they never took them off. Or their hoods. They always left those on, too.

It made it harder to understand them, though. I appreciated the dedication to the whole 'mysterious saviours' bit, but was annoyed by the lack of reading I could get on them.

They'd explained the situation between The Many and the parasites, which was as fascinating as it was sickening.

We were preparing to leave now, the Redcloaks having promised to accompany us to our ship. They insisted it wasn't safe to go through town, so we'd taken the long route along the edges and outskirts.

I recognized the path, but didn't say so. My eyes traced the roofline, remembering the hot shingles under my feet. Before I knew I could stick, before I couldn't fall. I remember running, until I couldn't run anymore. The old pain in my chest twinged at the memories.

"You alright?"

I blinked away, looking over. It was the redhead, Navia. She watched me with her unsettlingly piercing green eyes, as if she could read my thoughts.

I shook the thought off and shrugged. "I've lived here my whole life. Feels weird to leave."

"You don't seem sad, though." She pointed out.

I laughed. "Straight to the point, huh? Yeah, I'm not too broken up about it." I glanced around and nudged a rock with my toe. "I'm not sad so much as... nostalgic. I don't have a lot of good memories."

"Not here or not at all?"

I shot her a look. "Sorry, you have to know me at least more than a day to unlock my tragic backstory."

"Right, sorry," she laughed.

I smiled at her laugh. I could see why that other boy liked her so much. "I figure I'll miss it most when I'm gone." I sighed finally.

"Like homesickness," she agreed.

I shrugged. "Sorta. Except I'd rather not come back."

"Well hopefully you won't have to." She patted my shoulder. "Now I know that I haven't known you for more than a day, but I think you'll fit in nicely, kid."

Something warmed in me at that. I smiled. "Thanks. Sabien's very lucky to have you as his girlfriend."

She blushed. "I'll tell him you said that."

I nodded as she walked away, falling into step beside the boy we'd just been discussing. I watched as she slipped her hand into his and he turned to catch a glance at me.

Seeing them together made me ache for a moment.

Then I returned my gaze to the rooftops, scanning for anything.

Behind me, two of the others were arguing in low tones. I listened intently, curious. I recognized their voices after a moment. It was Zay and Lucia.