The Mayaware's reign has to end.
In a world of demonic beings with a hunger for human flesh, and thirst for blood, Hesi Renen knows it well. When her siblings are taken to the harvesting farms, she must do everything she can to get them out, even if...
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She rounded one last corner until her eyes caught a familiar bob. "Pai!" she whispered, picking her way past a mess of carts and piles of hay for the mules. The mass of dark hair snapped up. Her sister's eyes widened.
"Hesi," her sister hissed back, watching her drop to her knees and figure out the lock to the door keeping them apart. For a civilization who couldn't even get the language right, they sure were advanced enough to know how to keep their possessions protected. Keys. She needed the right keys for this. Or...
Her gaze zeroed in on the slab of rock laying a few steps away. It was slicked with dried blood, with some locks of human hair still stuck in it. Must be the place where the arms get chopped or something. She made a move for it when a hand closed around her wrist.
"Hesi, stop," Pai pleaded. Tears streamed down her face and wiped clean a trail down her dust-stricken cheeks. Beside her, Unsu never raised his head from her chest. "It's useless."
Yes. She might draw attention if she broke the lock with the stone. That'd generate a lot of noise and Mayaware senses were heightened than that of humans. No number of deshet would save them this time.
She turned back to Pai. "I'll get you out," she said. "Just...hold still. I'll find a way. Somehow."
Pai shook her head. "That's what I meant, Hesi," she said. "Stop. It's not going to get us anywhere."
Hesi's hands slammed into the wooden rails, startling her sister and the rest of the children inside the cage. "What are you talking about?" she demanded. "I won't let you become a part of this place. I'll get you out and we'll escape. We'll be free."
"It's not freedom when all we do is run," Pai said, her voice thick with emotion Hesi had never seen the girl show, even after they found what's left of their parents (an arm, chunks of their heads, and an unidentified thigh) and burned them to ashes. When they scattered the soot to be part of the ever-shifting landscape, not a single tear crept down her sister's face.
Hesi knitted her eyebrows. "Running is better than this hell on Tjarma," she said. "Don't fight me on this, Pai. Remember the rules."
"The rules didn't involve when we're already captured," Pai said. "Because we've never been until now."
Hesi bared her teeth. "Don't turn my wheels around, Pai," she snapped. "I'm getting you out and that's final."
She stalked towards the slab and was about to heft it up when she heard a small voice behind her. "I don't want to ride carts anymore," Unsu said. Her fingers froze. Her heart fell to her feet and shattered to pieces. It had been the boy's dream to crest the dune without having to walk, to feel the wind on his face as they dive down. They have no idea how to tame horses or even mules, so those weren't viable options. They had different versions of freedom and to Unsu, it was the feeling of flight, of never having to worry about his toes blistering, his ankles snapping, and his legs scabbing and throbbing.
