Wingless [Complete]

Chapter 29: Heartbreak

Alicia smiles gratefully at me, and Kaylie nods in her easygoing way. I let out a sigh if relief. Even though I doubt Kaylie had it in her to fight about smething like this, when she could clearly see the rationality of it, we didn't need anymore tension on top of the loss of Isabella . . . or at least her materiality. 

Lina stepped forward. "Should we . . . ?"

"Yep let us go now. No use standing around here." Isabella declared as she lept up from her seated position.

We all followed Kaylie on foot, giving our wings a rest, weaving through the statues of fey folk, all in different positions. I wondered why this courtyard was filled with so many statues. Especially ones that were placed so haphazardly and with such horrifying faces. Mouths torn wide open in a frozen scream, others faces screwed up in pain and agony. Some statues stood straight upright, others fallen to the ground, their faces hidden from view, and others still, fleeing in all directions. It wasn't a sight I would want to see every time I looked out the window or stepped outside the castle walls.

"Looks as if someone had froze time just as disaster struck. Like a perfect picture in time." Lina comments, as she peers at each one. "And the detail is just . . . wow."

I look at her disbelivingly. "Only you would find something creepy amazing."

Lina laughs a little. "Yeah, but look." She reaches out a hand to stroke one, but then jerks it back in surprise. "Oh!"

Lucas was walking so close behind me I could feel the change in him as he went on the defensive, pulling me against him. "What?" He snaps.

Lina didn't seem afraid, more curious, as she tilted her head to the side and peered even closer, looking at the statue of an old woman cradling a little bundled up child as she appeared to shelter it from the castle. Everyone else who was talking ahead stopped in curiosity to see what Lina was up to.

"We haven't got all day and we need to get to shelter as soon as possible." Groans Alicia.

"It's warm. This thing is as warm and smooth. Not rough like you'd expect stone like this to be." Lina stands up straight and stares at the sky. "I know it's just sunlight, but there must be something special about it if it can ward off the plants and also warm up stone like this. Wonder what these statues are made of anyway." I hear as she gets more and more excited. "These statues coud be ancient."

"But who woud want to build horrifying things like these? It doesn't seem pleasent." I say.

"Dunno. Maybe it was something everyone did at the time. Remember, we don't know anything about this place."

Alicia shifts impatiently. "Can we go?"

At Alicia's plead we all move forward once again. It got a little harder to move as we went further on, as there were spots where the statues were more dense and placed closer together, which meant we had to snake our way through, rather than going directly towards it. I don't mind though, because even though I nagged on Lina for her interests in statues, I saw it too.

Each little section seemed to tell a story. I could see the appeal in filling a huge courtyard like this with statues, as it made for a very interesting morning walk. I, myself, probably would have chosen a more peaceful scenery. Something that would have made me smile, instead of flinch.

It was all silent all the way there. The adrenaline rush that had come over us when we were fighting to survive and when we had found Isabella (mostly) unharmed was now dying down. I watched how Kaylie stumbledover her feet a few times and the way Lina keot having to push her hair out of her eyes because of the way she slumped forward while she walked. Even Lucas and Corrin didn't walk with that tall and commanding air that had been drilled into both of them. Isabella, as immaterial as she was, didn't seem to be as affected by exhaustion as the rest of us.