Eris Vanserra Fanfiction-A Land Of Lavender And Thistle-Book One

CHAPTER XIII

Ruth

I opened my eyes and found a sky of swirling gold above me. I blinked before propping myself up on my elbows, the sound of the grass a bit too loud, making me glance down.

The short threads waving in the wind weren't the natural, healthy green shade. They were as dark as coal, as if burned until all the color was gone. I drew my fingers through the grass, and it felt like stroking needles.

Sucking a breath, I stood up and twisted on the spot, inspecting the land around me. It was a mass of blackened hills rolling in every direction; there was no end to it, no sun in the sky. There were no clouds, either. Only the view of citrine light coursing across the surface of the sky. 

"Hello?" I shouted.

My voice reverberated over the valley, my toes curling in the crisp grass. It was so lonely here, so quiet and sad. I sighed, ready to march in some direction, when a strange sound came from behind me.

I whirled, my eyes narrowing as I assessed the empty land. Another, similar noise appeared. Then another, and another, until my ears were filled with the sound of pained weeps and moans. I staggered, my eyes roaming the burnt ground, when something grabbed my ankle.

I yelped and moved, looking down. A scream slipped over my lips as a frail hand plunged the earth. More of them emerged, all hungry and reaching for my legs and the hems of my dress while their cries expanded through the valley.

Then, the sky began to fall.

A roar exploded from above before the sound of fire hissed in the air, making my heart drop to my heels. I looked up, forgetting the withered, bony arms from the ground, and gaped at the flaming sky threatening to gulp me.

The ground began to shake and heads poked up from the cracks forming in the earth. The scorched grass lit on fire, the golden tongues slithering toward me, their roots in the ground as black as the grass had been.

Everything became aglow, my vision turned blurry until light was the only thing I saw.

Gasping, I arched against the firm bearings of the couch. The blankets I'd tucked to my chin at midnight were now as heavy as stones as I pushed them off me, kicking my feet until they were fully removed from my heated skin. I sat myself at the corner of the couch, my head in my palms and my breathing uneven.

Dropping my hands between my knees, I patted Brux's head once he padded over to me from beside the couch. It was about time I gave back to Icelyn her bed. Besides, I had slept on worse surfaces than a velvet couch. 

Blowing a breath, I stared at the window above the sink in the kitchen area, the dim moonlight illuminating the room. I closed my eyes for a moment, tremors running up and down my spine as the whole world rested in silence.

In less than two days, I wouldn't be sleeping here anymore. In less than two days, Prythian would no longer know me as just Ruth.

I was glad when the big white bear, Boreas, began to snore from outside the cabin. 

Letting that be my lullaby, I curled myself up on the couch, leaving the blankets ruffled at the other end. My body felt like it was on fire – I did not need more warmth. Closing my eyes again with my fingers tiredly scratching Brux's ear, I prayed for sleep to find me soon, and pretended I didn't see the camellias I brought now burned to nothing in the vase. 

***

The sound of our feet over the fallen leaves on the ground sang in the lazy wind as Icelyn and I journeyed to the northern border. Just a couple hundred yards south of it, as Icelyn had told me earlier this morning. Why, I was clueless. Apparently, she would tell me on the way; an hour already passed.