Out Of Orbit

Chapter 26

REBECCA

Tomorrow. Tomorrow we fight. Tomorrow... Rebecca stirred her surbit, the mantra repeating itself in her head. By this time the next day, some people she knew could be dead. Dead.

The images flashed past her again. The smell of tyre burn on tar. The tangled mess of metal at the bottom. Rebecca squeezed her eyes shut. The memories were getting worse. It had been 2 years. She thought she'd gotten past it. She thought she'd made peace with it.

But tomorrow more people would die. If she wasn't strong enough, people would die. She had to strong enough. This time.

"Rebecca?"

"Huh?"

"You ok?" Naytan's worried eyes peered into hers. She shrugged and tried to give him a smile.

"You know, you don't have to fight. It's not right..."

Rebecca cut him off before he could continue. "No! I'm going to fight! I have to!"

"Becca?"

Rebecca rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath. After all the horrible stories of the deaths and tragedies the Dysantians had experienced because of this war, her own story seemed lame in comparison. So her family had died. Many others had too. Most of the people in the room had lost family members. The only difference was it hadn't been their faults.

"It's ok to be scared."

Rebecca looked up to see Trystia and Vyllania standing beside her at the end of the table.

"We'll make sure nothing happens to you," Trystia promised, her Amylthia glowing. Rebecca silently wondered what that jewel would be doing during the battle the next day. Would it be dull with fear or flashing in anger?

"That's not what I'm scared of," she replied. She caught Vyllania's eye and saw a glint of understanding.

"You can't save everyone," he said softly.

Rebecca smiled. Maybe she wasn't the only one who had something to make up for. While Rebecca had understood Vyllania's meaning, Trystia took it badly.

"What is that supposed to mean?!" she cried, smacking Vyllania on the shoulder with her sheathed blade. "Of course we're going to look after Rebecca! How could you say that?!"

Rebecca grinned, her fear and worry loosening their grip for a moment as she watched the familiar sight. Vyllania ignored Trystia's tirade, giving Rebecca a nod of farewell before stalking away.

"If he's not careful, I'll kill him before the battle even starts," Trystia complained.

"I'm going to miss this."

The conversation ground to a halt. Rebecca blushed as she realised she'd spoken out loud.

"Why? Where's it going?" Trystia asked, her smile a little too bright to be true.

Rebecca raised an eyebrow but Trystia simply shrugged her shoulders in pretend misunderstanding.

"Well...even if everything goes well...it's not going to be the same, is it?"

"Hey, I don't know about you, but I'm planning on killing some Barreners tomorrow! That means they'll be even more cause for celebration and mock banter!"

Rebecca froze. How had that not even crossed her mind? She'd been so focused on the fact that she wanted to protect her new friends that she hadn't even considered what she'd have to do to achieve that. It was one thing to blast Jarryd across a field. It was another thing to...kill someone.