Rift

Chapter 8: Well deserved rest

"I think I misunderstood, but did you just say that the Apocalypse happened two months ago?" she asked in disbelief.

"That's what I said, what's so strange about it?"

"But, how does... this doesn't make any sense, how is-", she was raising her voice too much and I didn't want the others to hear us, so I covered her mouth while shushing her.

She was first taken aback, then she looked at the finger I had brought to my nose, a little confused. I lifted my hand from her mouth soon after, and explained whispering: "That gesture means that we have to be as quiet as possible."

"Yeah, I got that. Sorry... it's just that... I don't understand how it is possible that in just two months your world was reduced to such a state."

She got up and went towards a window — what was left of it — to look at the surroundings of the school, and I followed her. What was once a small town was now lying on the ground, a field of rubble and scorched earth was all we could see from here. Of course, not all the planet was like this, but it was safe to say that not a single city was still standing, although there were many places that were far from civilization to begin with and that looked almost, if not completely, untouched by the events of two months ago, as I had the opportunity to ascertain with my own eyes thanks to the journey of the last weeks.

"When did it happen in your world?" I asked her while she was lost in thought.

"It should have been about sixty years ago, I wasn't born yet, but despite this long time since the start of the invasion, my world is doing pretty well" she said still gazing outside.

As she wasn't going to ask anything else, I was about to continue with my questions, but when I looked at her, I noticed she was very absorbed in her thoughts, so I decided to settle for what I discovered so far, for the time being.

"I think it's better if we continue this conversation tomorrow. It's getting late, I should go get some rest now, and you should too, unless your people don't need to sleep" I said, already preparing to turn around and reach the others to finally get my long-awaited sleep.

"I agree, and of course my people sleep, well, most of them do, anyway" she replied. I averted my eyes and began walking in the opposite direction to her immediately after she agreed, so I couldn't see what expression she was making while saying the rest, but her tone betrayed a hint of homesickness, at least that's what I received from it.

"Good night, then, assuming that you are part of the ones who do, that is" I just said, ignoring the impression I just got. Even if I was right, that had nothing to do with me.

I went downstairs and found everyone else already sleeping soundly, except for Lemmy, who was still keeping watch, as today was his turn to do so. He nodded at me, both to say that it was all calm and to acknowledge the fact that I had returned.

I slipped into my bedroll and instantly felt my body shivering from the comfort of it, despite it not being nearly as cozy and soft as a real bed. It was without a doubt thanks to the tiredness of the facts of the last hours, which I didn't notice until now, probably because of the adrenaline rush caused by the very same facts.

Despite having a stranger — that wasn't even human — not too far from me, I didn't feel like I needed to keep my guard up. It was probably due to the fact that she saved me back there, I would probably still be stuck inside the rift if she didn't enter with me. Now that I think about it, why did she even come in with me? One more question to add to the already-long list.

CELARA FAERIUTH'S POV:

That guy, Christopher, I think, walked away after his last statement. The meaning of the first words initially eluded me, but judging by the rest of the sentence I could only guess that it was a sort of farewell aimed at someone who was about to go to sleep.

"Good night, was it? Good night to you too, then" I murmured, looking in the direction he went, but he had already left.

What should I do? Is staying here the right thing to do? I wonder if I can really find what I'm looking for in this godforsaken place. Even if I keep thinking about it, I can't arrive at an answer. I think I'll have to go and take a look around to get the whole picture. Sticking with them looks to be the safest option, for the time being, at least.

My eyes naturally went to the body of the man who just died, fighting my battle while I stayed hidden. No, calling it my battle was wrong, after all, their world is in the same boat as mine. But hiding was wrong too, as Christopher said, although I really had no means to be useful in such situations.

Fighting on my own is impossible, but I can at least provide assistance, I'll ask him if I can join his group, but will the others find it strange if I just pop up from nowhere? It doesn't look like there are a lot of people in this area, maybe I can try to pass for a traveller.

"Yes, that will work", I was already beginning to feel more optimistic.

I shapeshifted into that long-tailed little beast that I had seen in this world for the first time in my life, and whose form I had already used several times in the last few days. I went into the corner where I used to sleep since I came into this world, and where I piled up some rubble to protect and hide me. Then I set up a small barrier just to be sure. I've never been attacked while I was sleeping, but a barrier just big enough to cover my current small form didn't require too much effort from me, so I deemed it a good compromise.

I wished myself a good night and began sleeping.

I woke up some time later, completely recharged, and left my den. The sky was just starting to lighten up, but I couldn't hear any noise coming from downstairs, where Christopher's group should have been. I decided to go take a look, but I didn't want to be seen just yet, and it looked like Christopher was of the same opinion, judging by his words and actions.

To begin my research for their encampment, I had to first climb down the plants that connected the first floor to the ground floor. With no little effort, I began doing so, but I quickly discarded the idea and retraced my steps. Despite the little creatures whose shape I was now borrowing looked to be more than capable of climbing, even surfaces more impervious than the one before me, I still found it difficult to coordinate my movements.

I decided to search for another route to the ground floor, but I couldn't find any in the tiny room. Searching in the big one was the only other option that came to mind, other than the obvious possibility of taking my original shape to climb down, but I considered that to be overly risky, I still didn't know what to do in case someone other than Christopher saw me. Luckily, the search for another way down didn't take long, and I found a small crack in the wall that gave me access to the outside. To be precise, what I could now call outside must have once been one of the rooms of the building, because there were still traces of the walls that surrounded it. The floor of this former room was not in perfect condition either, and thanks to a spot where it had collapsed, I could have a view of a little room downstairs.

I saw a closet and jumped on top of it, then on top of one of the desks that filled the room, and lastly on the floor. With that, I managed to reach the ground floor, and headed to the only door of the room. I noticed some sophisticated bedrolls and I understood that they were camped here, I took a look, being careful not to get noticed , if all of them went on the first floor back then, there should be a total of six of them, excluding the one that died. I could only see one person awake, it was the guy wearing a helm and wielding that weird rod with a hole at its tip. Everyone else was still sleeping, Christopher included, but I couldn't see two of them, the youngest ones. On a more thorough inspection, though, I found a sort of hut, but it looked more advanced than the ones I knew, just like the bedrolls, and it was smaller in size. Two person-shaped shadows could be seen inside, so that had to be where the other two were sleeping.

I could just go back to the first floor and wait for them, especially Christopher, to wake up, but I decided to simply wait here, slightly hidden at a safe distance.