Roza grumbled while kicking a stone with so much force that it launched to the sky disappearing for a moment and then appearing right rolling down the slope before her.

She kicked another one just to get the frustration out of her system. All this time she had been precariously and silently following a dud. An Ombrah that she thought was moving quickly and through the shadows outsmarting her turned out to be Betsy, the stupid cow, that had been stunned several times it had lost its mind by now.

“Idiot,” she kicked another one and sent the pebbles rattling down the path till they hit a window of a home close by.

Afraid that someone would spot her throwing rocks she scurried away choosing a different path and found herself heading home as the sun set on the horizon and darkness unfolded in a matter of moments.

It had been a while since Roza went home for dinner. Her stomach growled as she opened the little gate when she found Rhohaz at the front door equally surprised to see her.

“You’ve decided to come home finally,” Rhohaz started but Roza only looked away and walked around and into their backyard. Rhohaz was right at her heel when she quickened her pace and got to Grandma Tilly’s back door.

“Where are you going?” Rhohaz asked even though it was pretty apparent.

“You speak as if you have dinner cooked and ready to go. Grandma probably has enough for the both of us and more,” Roza said nonchalantly and opened the door.

Just as she had predicted the rich aroma of cozy food being cooked engulfed both the Cassian siblings. Roza was right, Rhohaz had no plans for dinner. He was only preparing to half starve tonight for he was too tired after reporting earnings from the Elioth Market and covering up for his sister in front of the council all day long. His eyes were already shutting in tiredness.

“Grandma!” Roza cheered. Tilly startled herself finding Roza giving her a cozy back hug.

She hugged her back with a spoon still stirring the pot she was too focused on.

Rhohaz was right behind Roza making their grandmother even happier. It had been a while since she saw her grandchildren in one place ready for a lovely meal. Despite living right next to each other Tilly often found it difficult to see her own grandchildren’s faces sometimes.

“I had a feeling you two would join us tonight,” she said lovingly while calling out for Joan.

Joan limped her way to come to greet Rhohaz. But her face was puzzled seeing Roza there.

Rhohaz who expected Vanya to follow after Joan remained patiently, although a part of him felt nervous unable to contain the slight excitement he felt every time he saw her face. But the longer he waited the more he felt suspicious especially since Joan gradually looked more and more terrified while staring at Roza.

Roza was sitting at the dining table when Joan limped in. She did not see Joan till she looked up almost instinctively. Instantly, she realized someone was missing. Roza rose from her chair making it crash to the floor.

“Where is Jade?” Roza asked, her voice shaking.

“I thought she was with you,” Joan spoke ever so gently while turning visibly pale.

Roza immediately turned, pushing Rhohaz aside, pulled the back door open, and ran out.

Both Grandma Tilly and Rhohaz remained baffled for a moment. Rhohaz only gave a glance at Tilly and Joan before following Roza outside.

“Roza, wait!” He shouted catching up to his sister who had now sped up to sprint down the path towards the deserted seaside.

“There’s no time to waste!” Roza shouted back.

Rhohaz ran after her but never really caught up to her until she stopped in the middle of a random field calling out for Vanya. Her mind was a blur. She was panicking unable to see where she stood in the dark.

“Roza, what happened?!” Rhohaz shouted while closing in on her.

She ignored him while shouting and calling for Vanya, “Jade! Jade! Please tell me you are okay?!”

Rhohaz felt anxiety kick in. Seeing his sister casting him aside he clung onto her shoulders, forcing her to face him, and shouted back at her, “What happened? Where is she?”

Roza was already brimming with tears. She bit her lip before heaving to say, “We…we were trying to help. We were wanting to help Joan—“

“What are you saying?! Where is she?!” Rhohaz felt himself get restless. His sister was making no sense and being unclear.

“We wanted to track them down, you know. That was the only way. What if, what if one of them got her? They would have torn into her—“

“Who? Who would have torn into her?”

“The Ombrah. We were near their cave in the afternoon. I…I can’t find it anymore, Rhohaz. I can’t find the cave. I can’t find where I left her. What if they dragged her back? What if they got to her?…”

Roza’s cries died out in Rhohaz’s ear once he started realizing what his sister was saying. His heart started beating faster and his mind racing with all the possibilities of what might have happened to Vanya. All he could think of was how Vanya may have been hunted by the Ombrah while they bit her apart and left her to die in some remote location that would take them at least a day to find her body.

He immediately shook his sister, wanting her to fall back to her senses.

“Listen to me. You must go back now,” he said, peering at her shaken eyes.

“What?” she asked back in confusion.

“Take the path she may have taken home. She might be heading home already. Do you understand me?”

“And…and what if I don’t find her?”

“Then let’s hope she’s still alive somewhere,” he struggled to let the last words out as his mind started believing the chances she would have still been alive out here in the dark were slim to none.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

***

Vanya had held the little amulet closer to the heart all the while carefully stepping through the spikes made of rock jutting out of the earth ready to take her out before the Ombrah ever came close to her.

She was well past the opening of the cave with barely any moonlight left to guide her in. She waited with each step to observe her surroundings. There was no sudden movement nor anything out of the ordinary. She wondered if the amulet was making her invisible to the Ombrah. She wondered if they would appear out of the shadows and into the moonlight where she could see them clearly.

Out of the desire to speed up the process, she did the unthinkable. She untied the thread from her wrist and placed it right next to her feet, only an inch away from her body. Just as she took her hands away from the touch of the amulet, she felt a shift in the surroundings. The wind seemed stronger and that same ominous feeling she felt at the infirmary the first night in Shalom flooded back in an instant.

“It was the amulet. Such a powerful thing it is,” she whispered to herself and looked ahead with her hand held out ready to grab the amulet as soon as she saw something come at her.

Yet nothing happened. She saw no movement nor any sound out of the ordinary. Her eyes narrowed in confusion.

Maybe this is not the right cave…

Just then she heard a voice in the distance, the voice of a woman shouting. She heard it ever so faintly, making her turn around and squint her eyes to see if she could spot anyone.

A gusty wind blew past making her dress flutter harshly. Her hands grabbed the cloth and calmed it till the wind stopped a moment later. Her eyes naturally looked to the amulet on the earth next to her. Her eyes widened and she gasped in shock to see the amulet no longer sitting next to her feet. It has disappeared.

She was about to jump into looking for it when she felt a warm huff closer to her face. She did not dare turn but her eyes moved to see a large dark figure towering over her. It was as if the darkness itself had taken a human form. Red eyes beamed out of a scaly scabbed skin covering its entire body. It was pitch black even in the bright moonlight while it grunted at Vanya.

She felt her blood turn to water. She felt unable to breathe as if her throat shut itself up.

Suddenly, the creature grabbed her hand with its rough skin, hurting her with its tight grip. She tried screaming but nothing came out of her. She tried again to scream as it started dragging her into absolute darkness in front of her.

She heard the rest of them grunting as if to celebrate they finally had some food to dig into.

Vanya held back and tried to get free of its grip yet she only stumbled and fell on the rough rock that caught a piece of her coat making her being pulled in half.

It turned back to grunt loudly and pull her harder making her coat tear away and exposing her to the freezing night.

“NO!!” she finally managed to shout aloud. But her body only kept moving towards the cave.

Grunt after grunt she saw them one by one appear before she got dragged into the darkness whole. Tears streaming down her face, she pulled out a fist and tried punching but her knuckles only felt the hard exterior as if she was punching a bark rather than skin. Then she grabbed its hand and pulled as hard as possible only to have her nails sanded while scraping against its skin.

She found one grabbing her hands and locking her in place at once. She felt the rough hand of another grip her neck tight. It was just like that night, the night when she got chased out of her castle by a man who held her neck as if it were a twig ready to break. She could have kicked her feet and pushed it but she only froze. Her entire body was frozen as if she was reliving something she had already experienced but this time in pitch darkness with nothing to see.

Sharp teeth dug into her collarbone. It stung at first before it forced her to unconsciously let out an excruciating scream of pain. But the Ombrah did not stop there; it sunk its teeth deeper making her scream till she could feel the vibration of her throat overcome the pain engulfing her body.

Her head felt lighter. The smell of her own blood made her vision of the little light left fade. Right before her eyes gave in, she saw a figure appear under the moonlight outside the cave. Her vision shut out in a flash leaving only a memory of two golden eyes shining brightly with vigor.

***

“Come on, wake up,” two three slaps to her face made her jolt awake.

Vanya’s body was ready to fight throwing its hands at its savior. He caught her elbow right in time before it thrashed on his chin.

“It’s me…it’s me, Rhohaz,” his voice was gentle, calming every cell in her body letting her know she was in good hands.

Her vision formed and her eyes widened seeing him bent over, one hand holding her shoulder and another clasping her cheek.

“It’s you…” she barely let out a sound.

“Shhh don’t talk,” he said, patting her head and immediately looking to her shoulder.

“You are losing blood and you’ve been bitten a few times,” he said quickly as a concerned look overcame him.

She looked around to see the cave she willingly trotted into in the far distance. They were in the middle of an empty field. She was sitting against a rock holding her up while Rhohaz tore the hem of her dress to gather some makeshift bandages.

“I’m dying, aren’t I?” she asked, taking a look at the horrifying bite marks dug into her shoulder.

He looked up at her, shocked to see her speak so nonchalantly. He shook his head frantically, “Not today.”

“I can feel it—“

“Stop talking,” he said, fear taking over his mind.

Vanya saw him restless for the first time as if everything was slipping away from his grasp so quickly. He was panting as if he had run for days. His eyes were bloodshot and frustrated.

“Roza told me, she told me it takes only so little to die after an Ombrah’s bite—“

“I don’t care what she said, you aren’t dying tonight,” he said reaching for her shoulder then asked, “May I?”

She nodded. He tore the part of her dress revealing the bite. Her shoulder was swollen with veins of black already branching off from the bite mark. She felt it sting, making her hold in her scream as he observed her wounds.

“It’s worse than I thought,” he whispered.

“I told you so—“

“Stop it,” he warned her despite her trying to lighten the mood.

She only smirked but that was only out of wanting to spite Rhohaz till the end. She felt her legs go numb and her heart begin to falter, slowing itself as if it was beginning to go into a deep slumber.

Despite her doing her best to not show it, Rhohaz saw right through her. He clasped his hands on her cheeks to say, “Let me help you, I can only do so much with such a deep bite but I will try my best. Do you hear me? Stay with me, please.”

She blinked while cold sweat clung to her body.

He wrapped his palms around her bite mark, covering it. He closed his eyes for a moment before he opened them back up to show their bright display of iridescent gold filling those pale irises Vanya so obviously loved. She watched as they calmed her as if they held a lullaby that put her to sleep with them. She felt warmth fill her body and her breathing improved. Yet she felt her legs remain numb and her body frail.

He felt it too. He felt he could not heal her tonight. He felt his lack of power to battle with the darkness taking over hers. It was as if the moment he was needed the most he had nothing to offer. He was having to watch her, his odd little light at the end of the tunnel, lose her light in front of his very eyes.

“What is it?” she managed to whisper.

He huffed louder looking away. He was shaking in fear.

“It’ll be too late to take you to Grandma. And even then it’ll be impossible to heal you. Their venom is all over your body. It’ll only be a moment before it’ll take over your heart. I can’t—no one can save you. There’s no way—“

Rhohaz trailed off seeing Vanya move her hand trying to lift it. He held it down to command, “Stop moving.”

She shot him a glare before she managed to voice the words, “I’m trying to help.”

“Help?—“

He paused to see her open her balled-up fist to show him two scales of dark bark-like pieces crushed in there. He looked at her puzzled.

“Roza said it would help draw out the poison. It’s their skin. The skin of the Ombrah. I managed to scrape some so when you find my dead body you could use them to cure Joan.”