Hell of Earth

Chapter EIGHTEEN

Even walking through the bed chamber was becoming an event. The gifts from the hallway were piled past the top of the window. Opal examined the small stack that had been put on her own bed.

Where did all of this come from? She couldn't imagine Corax had all of this stored away somewhere, especially not the clothing which although not perfectly tailored was clearly made for them. Even if the assistance were nearly her and Kait's height she had yet to see any of them near Proga's size. She watched him examine his own gifts with a slight frown. All of them were very muted in tone.

"Is it normal for this kind of send-off or is it a prince thing?"

"This amount is for sure a prince thing- more of a bribe than a gift, however its normal for hosts to see guests off with tokens. Guests usually bring something at the beginning of the stay. Obviously we broke that tradition."

"Great. What are we going to do with all this crap?" Spark shook his head, he pushed a box out of the way with his foot. "If we really are chasing that group its gonna be in the way."

"Definitely will make it hard to be inconspicuous."

"Means we won't be hidden well." Opal lowered her voice when she saw Spark's jaw set. He gave her a glance and then returned to picking through the clothes.

"We won't take it all. It might help get us more information or places to stay though. Some of these oils are pretty rare."

Opal examined the trays of bottles. Some of them were very small, like the ones in the baths, but there were also tall ones and some that looked heavy. She thought she recognized a blue bottle and opened it to see if it was the flowery scent she'd combed into her hair the night before.

"Don't-!"

Proga's warning came too late as she inhaled the scent. Immediately she felt herself falling backward, although it wasn't unpleasant. He managed to catch her and the bottle before she dropped it.

"Some of these gifts are more for wicked fun I think."

Opal laughed and ran her fingers over the material of his shirt. Her eyes went wide. "Sooo soft."

She heard Spark's laughter from far away and started to laugh with him.

Kait took the bottle. She had the sense not to put her whole nose in it. "Its Cloud. Good thing you didn't let the vial break, Proga, or we all would be floating away with her. I think she only got a little bit."

"A little bit?" Proga was trying to hold both of her hands away as she tried to pet his face.

"She won't be like that long." Kait chuckled.

"Why? I like being this way." Opal felt herself being lifted and placed into her own bed. Proga stuffed a pillow into her arms. It was the most wonderful thing to squeeze.

"What else we got?" Spark picked up the bottle nearest to him and squinted at it.

"You just saw what happened to Opal!" Kait protested.

"Hey, if we are rushing to our deaths soon, might as well enjoy ourselves first. Like you said, we can't take most of this with this anyway."

"We aren't going to die, stop talking like that."

Spark chose a clear bottle with an alternating red and purple liquid. He slid down the wall to sit, opened it and took a swig. Opal slithered out of her bed.

"Want some?"

She nodded. He pushed her out of his lap as she tried to crawl across him to get to it and helped her take a small sip. It tasted bitter, but not unpleasant and reminded her of the smell of the dirt before rain. It left a burn on her tongue. She licked her lower lip.