Obsidian (2022)

10.Bit Beastly

Chapter 10

Bit beastly

"Without pain and sorrow we can never really grow but without the happiness of little things we will always remain feeling like a victim"

The ferry stopped near the island a little bit after sunrise.

Getting by on foot, they were cutting a way through thin grass and grey parches of earth that seemed like a burial ground for charred bones and unsettled souls snatched before their time.

The earth held darkness and there were no blooming trees for miles. Only skeletal remains of the trees rooted to the barren soil, with branches like gnarled hands, as if desperate to regain youth.

Time only festered the wounds of the flora, and the ground was dead. The air tasted thick and bitter.

"This is the most morbid sight I have seen in years and I live next to lava grounds." Kieran was on his toes, scanning their surroundings. Behind him, Darya tried to make sense of where they should head.

Rin looked at Jade who dawdled behind him. Sensing his judgment at that point, she patted his back.

"I've had my fair share of these kinds of places in the outskirts of Cerasus. I can manage."

"I might have been too quick to judge what you can or can't handle." Rin shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Yes, but I won't hold it against you, you are a Royal after all." She nudged him.

Rin smiled. "I have a feeling none of you do well with authority in any parts of your lives."

Jade crossed her arms. "Well, ...you can count on me." Her dimples showed as she smiled. "Though you might not always like what I have to say."

"When you say it like that, I feel like you're provoking me."

"Oh." Darya and Kieran both looked at the sight before them.

Ahead was a small village, abandoned and tarnished. It didn't look like more than a hundred people use to live there. But the place was chewed down to bits.

The ruins of the homes were almost gone, their structure, eroding under the elements of nature. The hollow oak tree that had been blooming in the center of the village in the past, was falling apart, its week and naked branches barely holding on. Strange haunting emotions dwelled in the air of the abandoned village.

It was a pitiful village whose remains were like strings playing a tragic song. The aftermath of something horrible lingered in the air as it had happened just a few seconds ago. There was pain in the dry land, despair in the peeling walls, hopelessness dwelled on everything.

Rin gritted his teeth between words. Ruling the whole world wasn't enough. It was never going to be enough. Shitty things like this were going to keep on happening. Taking a step further, his boots crushed something. Stepping away, he looked at the ground. Bones remains of whatever died just became crumbs under his weight.

Between the wretched homes and the despairing view, they had missed to notice the piles of bones almost everywhere.

Skulls and ribs were soiled with dirt, thrown as garbage collecting flies and centipedes.

The wind echoed in sprinted steps.

Kieran scanned the place, dragging a dagger out. It sounded like footsteps. Three, maybe four people. He turned towards Darya. "We should..."