Primal

Chapter Eighteen

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Chapter Eighteen

 

A man whose life has been dishonorable is not entitled to escape disgrace in death. ~Lucius Accius

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Aeron knew that they would be somewhat close to the end of the forest now, the dense trees slowly fading out into rolling hills. Beyond that stretch, along the horizon would be the outline of the tall peaks that they were heading for. The days leading up to their arrival were rough, their feet dragging behind them. “We’re close.” He told her, taking her hand and pulling her out of the trees and into the fields. “If we run, it’ll take half a hour until we can see them.” He began to speed up, dragging her behind him until she tried to keep up with his pace.

 

They moved along the hills, their bodies running uphill before rolling down. Every movement contained a new light, a new motivation as they were finally close to her future. During one roll his arms wrapped around her, pulling her body to his own. They came to a stop like that, Noor resting inside of the cocoon he formed just for her. “Now Noor,” He whispered as her head rubbed against his chest softly. “No matter what happens, when this journey comes to an end I won’t leave you alone.” He said it without thinking, the words automatically coming out of his mouth. His thoughts scared him; they were now scaring him constantly. Attachment to any kind of person was never good when living day by day.  With any bad call, someone could be dead or lost in the deep wilderness. With any extra minute of sleep, Noor could be killed by a passing Felamus or a pack of wolves. He should let go of her then, and they should have continued on their travels without moving any further.

 

“I don’t believe that.” Noor muttered, her hand rubbing against his arm gently. “We’re only bonding over this now, once it’s gone we will have absolutely nothing.” Her words stung, but he didn’t bother arguing with her. Nothing he could possibly say would change her mind, but his future actions could prove her wrong. He should have told her that she was right, that he would probably take her home and allow her to live her life. He didn’t do that, and his thoughts only pushed him deeper into their mixed trap. How could one person affect him so greatly? He couldn’t allow it to go on, but he didn’t want her to feel as if she had done something wrong.

 

He loosened his arms to allow her to pull herself to her feet, brushing the dirt off of her arms. “Come on, slowpoke.” She smiled, holding her hand out to pull him up to his feet as well. “My future awaits.” He took her hand and soon the two of them were running over the hills again. The wind made him forget about his true self, allowing all of his worries to fade into nonexistence. For the situation they were in, their thought processes were normal. If you separated them from everyone else on the planet, they were perfectly fine and ordinary. However, if you were to mix them into a group, you would realize that the baseline you were previously examining them on was tainted. The truth was that they were never normal individuals, even when before their paths crossed. For their entire lives, they could have always been classified as absolutely clinically insane.

 

Time passed, and eventually a light gray outline began to peak out in the distance. “That’s it!” He said, and he looked over to see a large smile on her face. She ran faster, somehow outpacing him. “Slow down! Noor!” He called out as she left him behind, her feet kicking up a cloud of dust behind her. She ran out of his sight, disappearing behind the fall of another large hill. When he finally caught up to her she was standing on the edge of the open space, staring up at the large gray blobs in the horizon. Just across a single large lake rested the mountain range, their pointed peaks hidden behind the thick clouds above. She was breathing heavily, her whole body heaving, her hands held at her hips in a proud stance.

 

She was proud of herself. That much was obvious.

He was proud of her as well, his finger pointing up towards the largest mountain in the center of the line. “That’s it.” He whispered, smiling over at her. “That’s where she lives.” He heard a small gasp escape her mouth in awe, her hands gently clapping together in excitement. They sat at the edge of the lake, their bare feet gently brushing against the water’s moving reach. While he watched her he smiled, his gaze steady upon her face. After all this time, he was still absolutely addicted to her, the idea of her filling every crevice of his mind. If Tilly were there now, she would smack him. She always smacked him whenever he thought something stupid.

 

“Life,” He mused, her body leaning against the rough skin of his arm, “is probably just a coincidence anyway.” He swore he could hear every lovely winter hue falling to the still waters in front of them as he paused to take a measured breath. He let it out slowly and smiled at her. “And I’m done thinking about that.” He wasn’t sure if his words were true. Many of the things he had told her now were a lie, and he in no way could deny that many of his actions were based off of selfish intentions. The reason behind his actions didn’t matter much, because in reality the beautiful art that she made brought him a true joy that he had never felt. Beautiful, just like the lives she had ruined. The vibrant shades of the wavering water crawled on the sand, through the particles, painting the ground below as dark as the mountain ridges before them. It takes you a moment to realize you’re staring into the dark, at disgust if ever the word knew a face, waiting for everything to end.

 

“Aeron?” Noor whispered, bringing him back to reality, her tone sad even though they were only a day’s journey away from saving her life. “Can I tell you something?” Her words were heavy, making him feel like she was going to tell him something that would ruin all of the time they spent together. Did she not want to live? Did she know the true cause of the curse? He moved silently away by a few inches, turning to face her but keeping his distance. Maybe it was nothing; she meant nothing by it. There were still so many problems to fix, but for the first time in what seemed like forever, he allowed himself to believe it would turn out all right.

 

“What is it?” He asked, leaning back onto his hands away from her. She didn’t seem to realize that anything was wrong with him, and she continued on to say the worst thing that had ever touched his ears. It might have been better just to live in ignorance, maybe he never should have asked her what she meant at all.

 

“I think I love you.” She said it with a sigh, as if her feelings had become a burden to her. When you walk out to the edge of the world, there’s most likely a bar at the end of the road. And in the bar, you sit down, nursing your drink with hands that have been to the other end of the world and back. And you listen to a soundtrack of all you’ve heard in your life. Her words then would be a track he asked the bartender to skip every time it came around.

 

He had been waiting to hear those words. He had longed for them to come out of her mouth, but now he just wanted to run away from her. She knew what mountain contained the original; if he fled she could still save herself. Isn’t that what she truly wanted anyways? Hadn’t she always wanted independence? She could remove her own curse then go and find Zander, and they could live happily ever after.

 

His fingers grabbed at the sand, forcing his body to stay by her side. He did the only thing he could think to do that didn’t involve him fleeing away into the forest—he didn’t say a single thing at all. They both grew silent, and he could feel her eyes trained on her as he watched the gentle movement of the water. He heard her sigh, and he felt a burden fall onto his heart. He stood up, brushing the sand off of his hands. “Let’s start moving again.” He said simply as he started making his way along the sand. He didn’t look back to see if she was following him.