Parallel World

XV. Nylie

MY FEET HURT," LIZZY muttered. "How far is this Cime Cave thing?"

"We are almost there," Tia said patiently. "Just a few more minutes, and we will be before the Cime's entrance."

Aella rolled her eyes. "I can't believe I'm spending my last days with a bunch of whiny idiots."

Lizzy looked on the verge of ripping out Aella's hair, so Tia quickly interrupted her before anyone lost their head. "Have a little faith in your friends. You might live longer than the next few days. You might end up saving the world, after all."

Aella only glared resentfully at her. "They. Are. Not. My. Friends." she snapped, storming off ahead of them.

Tia shook her head, glancing back at them. "You will all need to learn what teamwork means if you are going to survive these next few days."

"Who said we wanted to survive?" Maynar muttered. He had the tone of someone about to jump off a cliff to end it all.

Nylie hung back from the rest of the group, her face solemn as she put one foot before the other. Rehan walked a few paces ahead of her, hands in the pockets of his Daize as he surveyed at the ground. His absense was a pale, burning star beside her, and she did not know how to fill it. But there were other--more important--things to worry about now.

"Tia," Nylie said, throwing a pointed glare at Lizzy who had been about to speak, "what the hell are we supposed to do once we get to Cime? Johan told us to go to Iowei. Not Cime."

Tia nodded. "And you will proceed there after. But first, you need all the assistance you can get, and you will not find that anywhere other than Cime. My people can help you. I promise that they will be crucial to your mission."

Nylie disregarded the resolve in her friend's words; it was hard to believe anyone anymore, after what she had been through.

"I don't give a damn about your promises. Just tell me we're not wasting our time. We have five fucking days until this nightmare is over, and I plan on surviving."

Tia sighed, looking over at her. "You are not wasting your time, Nylie."

"Good."

Tia shook her head. "I wish--"

"Do I look like the blue fairy to you? I don't care what you wish. Just leave me in peace," Nylie snapped.

Her friend said nothing as she made her way back to the front of the group.

Nylie continued walking as she listened to the ultimate quiet of the forest. There was something deceptively peaceful about it. The silence always hid something sinister.

As the group continued to walk, the trees seemed to grow thicker, casting longer shadows on the ground. Owls visinolated in and out of view, shifting their position to better watch the group.

Living in Wayward for five years had distorted the memories Nylie had of living in Paravald; she sometimes forgot how strangely beautiful it was. But when something was beautiful, it didn't take away the ugly; it only obscured it. But the ugly never stayed hidden for long.

Paravald was beautiful, but underneath all the scenery and glamour was a lie. That's what her friends did not understand. But the longer time they spent here, the more they would begin to see it.

At the head of the group, Tia suddenly stopped, creating an abrupt train of surprise throughout the group. They all looked at her, eyes growing solemn as they took in her expression.

"We are here. But there are a few things I need to discuss with you first, before we head inside.

"The only thing you must know," Tia said, straightening her posture, "is that you must never reveal this location to anyone. It does not matter if you are Nylie's trusted friend. I will end you before you can even lay a hand on anyone here. Do you understand?"

That fun, playful girl they had all met in the beginning--the same girl who had pecked at Nylie in her pixie form--was the same girl now threatening to kill them all, if they even considered hurting her friends.

Everyone looked surprised, but they all nodded their agreement.

"Good," Tia said cheerfully, shoving Maynar and Lizzy in front of her. "Now off you go."

"Go where?" Maynar said, looking bewildered.

"Keep walking straight. Relax. You will know when you see it."

With the bright smile Tia was wearing, Maynar looked the opposite of calm. But he and Lizzy continued to walk until they eventually vanished into dark, heavy mist.

Aella looked at Nylie. "Did you see that?"

She smirked. "Yeah."

"Good. I thought I was going insane," Aella murmured, shaking her head.

"Who says you aren't already?" Nylie responded, following the invisible Lizzy and Maynar into the mist. She wondered why she smiled slightly as she heard Aella snarl behind her. She ignored the surprised look Rehan had as he glanced at her, quickly brushed it from her mind as she walked closer to the spot she had last seen Lizzy and Maynar.

But before she could get there, Nylie stopped in her tracks. The forest was just as silent as it had been before, but it was different this time. The kind where something was about to happen. Goosebumps rose along her arms, even in her warm Daize. The suit did not stop her from feeling the icy chill that swept over her.

Something was wrong.

Nylie whipped her head around to tell the others to watch out, that there was something out there, watching them. But even as she turned, she knew exactly what she would find.

Every last one of her friends was gone.

Except one person.