Loving the Shadow

Lyss

Lyss' side pressed against the wall as they watched out the window. They were alert and ready to bolt at a moment's notice. Their gaze strayed to the beauty on the bed, her eyes resting closed which gave her an innocent look. Her silver hair sprawled out over the bed, it matched the markings on her face, they glimmered in the fading sunlight. Lyss looked away feeling their face growing warm, They decided to check the room that was closed off to them.

They stayed close to the walls as they snaked around the room cautiously. When they reached the door they pressed their ear against it they didn't hear anything on the other side and deemed it okay to open, with a swift tug they opened the door and found it led to a small bathroom. A small round wooden tub rested in the middle of the room. Lyss relaxed after seeing the room, they returned to their position by the window and started to meditate. A few hours passed and Lyss started to feel tired, there wasn't much to do in the room aside from sleep. They sighed and walked around fending it off, but it stretched its arms out and pulled at Lyss' consciousness. Lyss felt tired, they had been running on little energy, the trek to the inn took a lot out of them and they weren't sure they could stay awake for much longer, but Perla was sleeping so peacefully that they didn't want to wake her.

They looked around the room again before they decided it was time to rest. They slumped into a chair and their eyes closed almost immediately. Dreams of a city passed through their mind.

A sound outside the room alerted Lyss, they quickly scanned the room to see Perla still sleeping, they looked at the door leading to the Inn and moved quickly to the doorway, Their breath slowed as they strained their ears to hear, it was muffled but it sounded like there were people in a group talking. "Looking- elf- let- know." Was all they could seem to make out, Their brain started to spin as they thought of all the possibilities of the conversation. It was a short while before footsteps could be heard down the hallway, Lyss was on full alert and looked to Perla they would have to wake her, and soon if it was the guards. They crossed over the room to Perla's side as the footsteps got closer.

"Perla!" They whispered harshly as they shook her arm. Perla bolted up and looked around alarmed.
"Lyss? What's happening?"

Lyss didn't get a chance to answer her as the noise stopped at the door.

"We have you now! Come out where we can see you and the punishment might not be too severe."

Perla grabbed onto Lyss' hand and looked around the room with wide eyes. Lyss pulled her to the window, it wasn't too far from the ground. They opened it and looked down before they looked at Perla.

"We have to jump."

Perla nodded to them looking hesitant, Lyss jumped down without any hesitation, the landing was a little rough on their knees, but they managed to stay standing, they looked up at Perla and held their arms out. Perla quickly jumped out the window and flew into the air briefly before she landed, Lyss' toned arms encircled around her and they spun around a little from the impact.

"Let's go."

Lyss grabbed onto Perla's hand and started to run, Perla was not far behind them, she had in the time it took to jump out the window, put her cloak on. The amethysts clacked together as they ran, They could hear the door to their room being forced open. The door scraped on the ground letting out a loud sound. Lyss disappeared down the street Perla in tow, They reached the edge of the woods once again, They ran through the forest and sped away from the Inn it was a close call but Lyss thought they managed to lose the guards. They started to slow down. Perla was breathing heavily. They felt bad as they forgot she didn't have as much stamina.

They looked around for any sign as to where they were. They didn't think about where they were going. They found themselves in unfamiliar territory. "I think we lost them."

Perla didn't say anything other than a nod in their direction, she was half bent over panting for air. The crystals clacked together as she gasped. Lyss felt a twinge of guilt as they watched her. They grabbed their satchel and thought of a bottle, when they pulled their hand out they were holding a water bottle.

"Here." Their hand stretched out to Perla. Perla looked up at the bottle and smiled as she gently took it out of Lyss' hand.

"Thankyou." She opened it and chugged some water gasping as she drank the whole bottle.

Lyss felt slightly relived that she atleast had something to drink. They looked around again in hopes that something would look familair but to no such luck. "We need to be careful, they're alot closer than I thought."

"I don't think it was lack of being close or not, I think the Inn keeper ratted me out. She sighed. Lyss thought back to the Inn keeper and how she stared at Perla. They thought something seemed off about her at first but they had hoped she would pay them no mind and let them be.

"Damn!" They excalaimed. They chided themself for acting so foolishly, they would have left sooner had they thought she would tell the guards Perla was at the Inn. "Come on, we should go further." They held their hand out to perla and grabbed onto it as they continued their treck through the woods.

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After a little while, they reached another clearing. It had an expance of tree's surrounding it and was hidden by leaves and bushes. Lyss thought it would be a good place to set up an encampment for the night as they watched the low hanging sun sink into the sky. They stopped walking and dragged Perla to a halt as well.

"Here." They gestured around themselves and Perla looked too, she nodded and quickly set up the same spell as in the cave. Lyss decided to make a shelter, they had some tools and they knew how to make one out of trees and leaves. They worked tirelessly for what felt like forever but eventually a shelter was made. It was crude but it would work for the night. They laid out the skins and settled down feeling the exhaustion from the excusion they just had. Perla sat by a fire she created, she stared into it seeming in a sort of trance, it reminded Lyss of the dream they had about her.

What had she meant about the moon? Was it really that powerful, never had they seen a moon so red before, it made them wonder. What was really going on? There was something they were missing. It had something to do with the Duke but they weren't sure what exactly. They felt like they needed to figure it out though. And they needed to figure it out fast.