Ashfall: City of Shade (UNDER EDITING)

Chapter 9 | To Talk of Souls

GRETA

"You're getting your tunic soaked. Are you not cold?"

"No!" I holler over the ocean waves.

Brommy sets down his lantern. The sands shimmer with millions of sparkles. Melted gold at my feet. Itchy too.

"Can we go under the docks? Mirth!"

She looks up from her seat on the sand. Her plaited hair drifts above her shoulder in the wind making her look very beautiful.

"Go on you two. I have readings due for tomorrow's study with my sisters," Mirth answers.

Mirth returns to reading her book.

Brommy races ahead of me. He doesn't stop under the dock though. He wades further into the sea water where his father's fleet of warships float in the calm of the waves.

The water is luke-warm. Seaweed twists around my ankles above the discarded mass of broken shells. My trainer touches the wooden surface of one of the many empirical ships.

A familiar shine glows in his eyes as he watches me finally catch up to him. "Your eyes are like mine, aren't they?" I ask.

"Yes," he answers. The other eye appears damaged though for a scar runs down its middle making it dull in shade in comparison to the other vibrant silver one. "I am of the most elite of our ranks. Injury is susceptible to happen. My one eye is normal though. Can you guess which?"

"The injured one. It is dimmer to me. What happened to it?"

He begins to return to the sand bank.

"War, but I will not complain. It is considered one of my treach. Adler is waiting above to hear from my inspection of our ships. It's time we go meet up."

"I think I'm going to play in the sand for a bit more...please."

"Of course."

After Brommy leaves my sight, I sit down in the mushy sand where darkness travels for miles and miles beyond ahead. So much water.

The planks above me thud as Brommy and the other advisors move over it.

My tunic spreads out as the water begins to reach me. Tiny little silver fish dart back and forth by my legs. I laugh watching Mirth swat a squeaking winged creature away from her cooked fish dinner.

I want to be like Mirth.

She always seems certain of herself. Stable and content with just Brommy and her books.

When will I get my share of happiness that her and Brommy have?

Brommy and I told her what happened last week after dinner. Mirth wasn't upset with me. Brommy and her know about the scars and lumps on my chest. The salve helps with the scarring and eases some amount of pain on them. Brommy admitted what he did and for some reason Mirth thought it was funny until he mentioned Adler striking him with a whip.

No one thought that was funny.

The water turns cruel as it reaches my knees. My thinning hair weighs me down in these sands. My feet feel fuzzy as the ice water reaches my thighs.

Absentminded, I comb through the thin layer of my hair. My hand easily comes away with a clump of it. The dead hair leaves my hand as a breeze whirs at my back.

The air is strong of salt. It burns my eyes as I turn around finding the silver silhoutte of Brommy standing right behind me.

My limpnut, the precious creature, swims the short distance to me from his palm.