Harm and Harmony

-Chapter 43-

Day: 22

Days Left: 5458

Lives Saved: 0

For three weeks, all Corinna had seen was sand, desert, and flatlands that stretched as far as the eye could see. The small shrubs and twigs of saplings were a nice change of scenery. It reminded her that the world wasn't so desolate. Harmony explained as they walked that behind the mountain was the Carrion Steppe, where actual trees grew. However, the reason why they weren't living there was due to the danger as most prisoners head there for easy shelter. By living in the desert part of The Eternal Abyss, they were far safer as others tended to avoid it.

As they continued their journey back to the wooden house, Harmony pointed in different directions, explaining which landmarks to follow to get to the rock spire, the Land of the Lost, Ivette's trading post, and any other notable places from their current location. Corinna made a mental note of all of them, remembering to write it down in her notebook once they returned back. Her notebook... she bit her bottom lip, hoping that it had not been caught in the explosion and was still intact. Corinna had put into it too many days work in recording her most precious memories for it just to be gone just like that. With this thought in her mind, she picked up her pace, wanting to get back sooner.

In the meantime, Harmony rambled on about anything that she could think of. She made any excuses to continue speaking and use her returned voice. It was beginning to put a strain on her throat to the extent that it became so hoarse she feared she would lose her voice again. But that pain was not as agonising as her two sabre-teeth that chafed against either side of her jaw. Despite this, the chimaera continued in her long ramblings, occasionally gaining a response from Corinna, who answered half-heartedly. She was too distracted and concerned with the safety of her notebook than anything else.

"And that's where the drop-off location is," Harmony continued. "Where we'll be going tomorrow to get more food. They also drop water, but we have a tap so we won't need those-" She stopped, spluttering out the last word. Her throat seized up, dry and throbbing.

"Hey, hey," Corinna hushed the chimaera before she spoke another word. "Don't push yourself, Harm." She smiled, but it soon faded as she reached out her hands to the blood staining the fur beneath Harmony's fangs. "You've only just got your voice back, you need more time to adjust." With her sleeve, Corinna wiped away most of the blood off Harmony's face, staining her white dress sleeve red and pink. "You have plenty of time to be able to talk to me, fifteen years in fact."

Harmony looked down at the beaming woman. Just for that moment, she was glad she was currently unable to talk since if Harmony could, she would have let it slip that their time together would be a lot shorter. For a while now, Harmony had felt that she would escape any day now. Something inside of her knew that she would. There wasn't much time left for her to teach Corinna everything about the Eternal Abyss and how to survive so that she could escape without any guilt or doubts.

For the rest of the journey, they remained contently silent. Occasionally, Corinna commented on their surroundings and expressed her hope that the house and her notebook were not too damaged in the explosion.

When they had finally arrived back to the house, the sky had grown dark, and Corinna swore she could see it moving, hear it rumbling. They were both relieved to see that the house was still standing. The only apparent damage was the gaping hole in one corner which spread above to the roof where the fireplace had been. Scattered on the dry grass outside were debris of bricks, wood, and roof tiles.

Harmony opened the front door and immediately went inside, turned on the tap and swallowed several mouthfuls of water, swishing and gurgling it around her mouth to soothe her sore throat.

Corinna, however, remained outside on the porch, her feet almost stepping through the front door. She stared up above at the pitch-black sky.

Then, something dropped. It slid down the roof and splattered onto the porch. Corinna stepped closer to it and crouched down. She hesitantly reached out and touched the dark and damp spot on the wooden porch. 

Rain... it was rain.

Suddenly, another droplet plummeted down, then another, and another, and another. In a matter of seconds, like a turned-on tap, water gushed down from the sky in cold and thin pellets.

Her hand outstretched, Corinna caught the raindrops in her palm, watching them as they glided down her arm. A smile spread across her lips.

Rain. It really was rain.

For over three weeks the Eternal Abyss had been dry and dark and cold, but now there was finally rain.

Corinna rushed down the porch steps and stood out in the open, arms and legs spread out. She gazed up and closed her eyes, letting the rain flow down her face and hair.

Harmony looked out from the open front door, a frog umbrella in hand, and called out to Corinna. But the young woman could not hear the chimaera from the downpour. Reluctant at first, Harmony sprinted out, huddling her body as small as possible to fit under the umbrella as well as spreading out her wings to guard against the rain. She reached Corinna who was now drenched and giggled at the sight of the frog umbrella.

"You're shivering," said Harmony, attempting to guide Corinna back inside but she merely laughed and grabbed hold of the chimaera's hands, lowering the umbrella down. Her ears flattening at the contact of rain, Harmony growled in annoyance but quickly gave in and joined in with twirling around and splashing the pools of water at their feet. Holding hands, the young woman and the chimaera swung around in circles, smiling, laughing, almost toppling over as the rain continued to pour down from the sky. 

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Recommended Song for Chapter

Title: Umbrella (Cover)

Artist: Annella

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