Tales from the Tower World

Children of the Tower - The Rain

When the rain came, Odine was relieved. The fireplace of the old basement they were sheltering in was still mostly intact, and with the wet weather, she could finally risk a fire. Peter's condition was worsening, a fever taking hold, and she knew soup and warmth against the damp would help. Even better was the fact that she could scout out herbs in the cover the rain provided. The fire could wait until she was back to stand guard.

While she slipped into the drizzle, she cursed her inattentiveness to the old witchdoctor's ramblings. Though the man was crazy, he knew his herbs, herbs she needed now if she were to bring his fever down. Though the needed herbs were as elusive as she'd suspected they would be, she did find plentiful berries, onions, greens, and even an unfortunate goose setting on a large clutch of eggs. Both the eggs and the beast itself would provide them with hearty meal. She hoped it would be enough for her injured companion.

As she worked to stoke a fire, he watched her warily. "You shouldn't be helping me." His voice was hoarse, and she handed him her canteen.

"Drink," was her stinted reply.

"If they find you..." he tried again after sipping a bit of the liquid.

She sighed, concerned more with the sputtering flames than his worries. "Loud, all of you. I not be found." Satisfied now with the fire, she turned to him. "We are survivors, my people." She cocked her head to the side. "Trust me, eh?"

He laughed, a sad, raspy sound.  "I'm still not convinced you're not a fever dream. A hallucination."

She patted his shoulder. "No dream."

His gaze left her and found the vine covered entrance of their hideout. "You said you watched." His eyes found hers, searching. "What did you see, before you found me?"

"You yell 'Run!' Then Kane cut you. You help girl from tree, yes?"

"Yes..." he whispered in reply, looking out at the rain once more.

Odine nodded and set the pot of soup she'd prepared over the fire to cook. "That is why I help you. You help others, you kind." After long consideration, she turned back to him. "But why, why your people, Tower people, kill own kind?" She shook her head, knowing her words were feeble, wishing for the eloquence she knew from the vids, could hear in Peter's own speech. She gestured to the outside, struggling to clarify. "The Earth reborn. Healthy. No need to fight, no reason to kill."

Peter sighed, leaning his head against the wall. "Sacrificial lambs."

Odine knit her brow, wondering at the meaning of this answer. She had some vague understanding of the concept, but it did not explain. "Why?"

He shrugged, sadly. "The Sisters decided. Sacrifices must be made to earn our keep. To remind us of our place."

"Then you come with me. Safe. No sacrifice needed with the water people, my people."  Odine replied, patting his hand.

He took her hand and squeezed it gently. "Thank you, Odine. But I can't. I have to make sure Katrina is okay."

"Ah..." Odine nodded pulling her hand from his, turning to the fire, hiding her disappointment, the tears that welled up in her eyes. "Girl from tree, one you save." She blinked furiously and spooned soup into a cup. She stared into the broth, willing away the emotions rising in her.

"Yes," he replied softly. "I would die for her, for her to survive."

The words pierced Odine's heart She'd been a fool, misguided and stupid. Why would she ever think he would care for her? Wait, was that what she had thought? She had thought to save him in the hopes that he would care for her? Her father was right. The entertainment vids had rotted her brain. Such foolish notions, starcrossed lovers, fate, happy endings.