LYRA
He left without saying a word. A part of me thought of following him. Just one step.
Just enough to call out his name.
But I didn't.
I stayed where I was, my fingers still curled slightly at my sides, my breathing uneven but controlled.
I wasn't that weak. Not anymore.
Not after everything that had happened.
Not after what he had done.
I forced my body to still, forcing my thoughts into order the way I always had quietly, carefully, without letting them consume me.
The silence he left behind felt heavier than his presence ever did.
It pressed against my chest.
Unsettling.
Unfamiliar.
For a moment, I closed my eyes.
Why did it feel like something had been taken with him?
My chest tightened faintly, like a thread had been pulled too far and hadn't yet snapped.
The bond.
I didn't understand it.
I didn't want to.
I inhaled slowly, pushing the feeling aside.
Survival first.
Everything else later.
When the time came, I stepped out from the slope where I had been hiding, my movements cautious, my senses sharper than they had ever been before.
The forest stretched around me in shadows and silver light.
The moon hung high above, bathing everything in a cold glow.
Every sound felt louder. Leaves shifting.
Branches creaking. The distant howl of wolves.
My body reacted to everything.
Too aware.
Too alert.
Like something inside me had woken up and refused to sleep again.
I didn't like it. But I didn't fear it either.
Not completely.
I moved forward slowly, heading east. Away from the main territory. Away from the forest. Away from them.
Each step felt deliberate, my body adjusting to this strange new awareness. My breathing steadied as I walked, though the weakness hadn't fully left me.
It lingered.
Quiet.
Waiting.
My fingers brushed lightly against the bark of a tree as I passed, grounding myself.
Think.
I needed water.
I needed somewhere safe to rest.
And I needed to stay hidden.
My mind automatically went back to what I knew.
Herbs.
Roots.
Edible plants.
The things I had spent years learning while everyone else dismissed me.
At least something I learned still mattered.
I slowed near a cluster of low shrubs, crouching slightly despite the stiffness in my legs. My gaze scanned the leaves carefully, instinctively.
Not this.
Not that.
My fingers hovered over a small cluster of berries before pulling back immediately.
No.
Too bright.
Too smooth.
Poison.
I stood again, exhaling slowly.
I was still thinking clearly. Still in control.
But the dryness in my throat worsened with every step.
My body was beginning to remind me of its limits.
The forest grew quieter the further I moved.
Even the wind seemed to thin out.
It wasn't peaceful.
It was watchful.
I didn't like that either.
Minutes passed.
Or maybe longer.
Time felt strange now.
Stretched.
Uneven.
Then I saw it.
A low-hanging branch from a twisted tree, its leaves darker than the others around it.
And beneath it…
Fruit.
Small.
Deep red.
Not bright like the berries I had avoided.
Muted.
Almost… natural.
I stepped closer.
Something about it felt familiar. Not fully.
Just enough.
My hand lifted slowly, hesitating just inches away.
Think.
Where had I seen this before?
My brows furrowed slightly.
It wasn't in the common herbs we used in the medical wing.
Not in the ones I handled daily.
But…
There was something. A faint memory. A book. An old page.
Something about...
I stopped. My throat burned. My body swayed slightly.
I didn't have time to think this through forever.
I needed something.
Anything.
I reached forward and plucked one.
For a moment, I just stared at it in my palm.
This could be a mistake.
I knew that.
Every instinct told me something was off.
But survival didn't always give you perfect choices.
Sometimes it only gave you chances.
I exhaled slowly. Then I took a bite.
The taste wasn't unpleasant. Soft. Slightly bitter beneath the sweetness.
My jaw tightened as I swallowed.
I waited.
Nothing happened. At first relief tried to settle in my chest.
Maybe I had remembered wrong.
Maybe...
The world tilted.
My breath caught sharply.
No.
Not maybe.
My vision blurred at the edges.
My fingers tightened instinctively as a wave of dizziness hit me harder than expected.
"Damn it…" I whispered under my breath.
The ground shifted beneath my feet.
My heart began to beat unevenly, faster, then slower, then too fast again.
Something wasn't right.
The weakness returned but this time it was different.
Heavier.
Deeper.
Like it was reaching inside me.
My knees buckled slightly, and I grabbed onto a nearby tree to steady myself.
Think.
Fight it.
My breathing grew uneven as heat spread through my chest, not the same warmth from before.
This was harsher. Burning. Uncontrolled.
poison.
But there was something else. Something pushing back deep inside me.
The same presence that had been quiet before now stirred violently.
Awake.
Angry.
The heat clashed with something colder.
Stronger.
My fingers dug into the bark as my body trembled between two forces I couldn't understand.
"Not… now…" I whispered, my voice barely steady.
I forced myself to move.
One step.
Then another.
I needed water.
If I collapsed here, I wouldn't wake up again.
The sound of flowing water reached me faintly, pulling me forward like a promise.
Or a warning.
I stumbled toward it, my vision blurring further with each step.
Branches scraped against my skin. My breathing grew louder in my ears.
The world felt distant. Like I was slipping out of it.
The trees began to thin. And then I saw it.
A narrow stream cutting through the land, its surface reflecting the moonlight like liquid silver.
Relief flickered weakly in my chest.
I made it.
Barely.
My legs gave out just as I reached the edge.
I fell hard against the ground, my hand barely catching myself before my face hit the dirt.
My body refused to move after that. Too heavy. Too tired. Too gone.
The poison spread deeper.
But something inside me refused to let it settle.
It pushed.
Fought.
Resisted.
My breathing grew shallow as my eyes struggled to stay open.
The sound of water filled my ears. Closer now.
Too close.
My body shifted slightly.
Dragged.
The current.
Weakly, I tried to move. Tried to stop it.
But my limbs didn't respond. Not the way I needed them to.
The water reached me.
Cold.
Unforgiving.
My body slipped slowly into it, the current catching me before I could fight back.
I should have been afraid. I should have struggled harder.
But I was too tired. Too far gone.
As the current pulled me under, my vision darkened at the edges.
The world faded.
But something inside me didn't.
It remained.
Watching.
Awake.
Refusing to disappear.
If this was how I died… The thought came faintly.
Distant.
…then at least I died running.