Crimson Skies

Part 19 - Talk to me

Sarla wakes to find the canyon floor half bathed in shadow.

            Pale eyes rest on Dyle and she watches the steady rise and fall of his chest, asleep. She glances around the shelter; Aila and Jex are not here. In the distance, on the sun-kissed red sand, ripples wash by. She stands, dressed in little more than a ripped shirt, and wipes sweat from her brow. Even with the Sun making its descent; heat scorches the land.

            Glancing around, the other two are nowhere in sight. She steps towards the blanket and removes the weights, lifting the sheet. She bends down to have a closer look at the scribbles in the sand. Although there are four symbols, the message is detailed:

Gone out into the shade. If we aren’t back by the first edge of the sunset, leave. We’re being tracked.

            She drops the blanket and steps outside of the shelter, shadow extends through half the canyon bed now and they aren’t restricted to only the cover. She glances back the way they came, then peers down the side snaking path they must still travel. She finds nothing save for sand, rocky walls and vultures.

¥

“Should we jump?” Aila asks eyeing the space between two shadows.

            “We should wait,” Jex tells her. “Unless you want the demons to sharp-jump up and grab you the moment you’re in the light.”

            She shudders at the thought and takes seat in the shade next to him. They are both fully clothed now in pants and shirts, waiting for the moving sun to cast shadow and bridge the gap in their path. She drops her gaze to the red, feeling the fine grains pass through her fingers.

            “We should talk...” Jex starts.

            “It’s long passed the time we needed to talk,” Aila says. “There is little left to say now, save let’s make it to the Other Side alive and see what happens then.”

            “No. We’ve needed this for a long time, the needing has not stopped...” He sighs, looking up at the red sun, sweat dripping down his temples. “You’re hiding from me, yet every time I call you come running. Are you afraid of me? I used to think perhaps... you liked me, but you’re pulling away.”

            “Me?” Aila snaps her head up, glaring. “You’re the one who’s always kept me a length away and then reeled me back in when you’ve wanted...”

            His brown eyes close. “So you finally went there. I was starting to think you’d never hold that against me, that you were too good a person- ” He stops himself then. “That isn’t what I meant. You’re the most kind hearted girl I’ve met and I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

            “When you start saying things you do mean, I’ll stop hiding.”

            He is silent then. They are both silent. The sun crawls in a slow curve.

            “Come, the shadow’s here, let’s cross now, Aila.”