The colour of silence

Chapter 47

Glow:

A loud bang shook the door to their chamber in its hinges. Glow jumped into action and, overbalancing, landed on the floor with a thud.

"Ouch!"

Another bang reverberated through the room. In an instant, Dusk was at her side, clapping a hand over her mouth. Glow's head pounded and the banging threatened to crack her skull. Her groan was muffled against Dusk's hand. Her eyes darted towards him. He held a finger to his lips as the banging on their door continued, a heavy object connecting with the wood in resounding cracks. Muffled voices sounded from the other side.

"What are we doing now?", she hissed.

Dusk motioned towards the narrow window right next to the bed. Glow inspected it. The drop wouldn't kill them but the threat of pain loomed nonetheless. She drew back.

"I could use my magic," she whispered.

Before she'd even finished her sentence, Dusk shook his head vehemently.

The door broke down the middle with a splintering crash. Dusk's eyes widened as he grabbed Glow and hurled them towards the window. There was a loud clank of metal and Glow looked over her back. A couple of Untsik hacked at the hole in the door with axes and swords, their eyes narrowed to slits, hissing sounds surrounding them and invading the room.

"Fasssst. They will get awayyy."

Dusk wrenched the window open and Glow squeezed through. Drawing a deep breath, she let go of the ledge and dropped to the ground. Her stomach lurched and she squeezed her eyes shut. It turned out the drop had not been that steep and Glow managed to land inelegantly on her feet. Not a second later the Commander dropped to the ground next to her in a graceful crouch. Glow refrained from rolling her eyes, barely.

She still heard the commotion up in their room when the Commander's hand wound once again around her wrist and pulled her after him. They broke into a run, the muddy streets turning this more into an effort than usual. Every step reverberated in Glow's head with a painful throb. The village wasn't big and they soon left its dilapidated shacks behind, running over flat marshes towards the cover of trees. Glow had no idea where they were and she trusted the Commander blindly as they ran through the dark of night. Her breaths echoed in the silence all around them.

Dusk only stopped once they'd reached the cover of the trees. He spun around, listening intently. Glow put her hands on her knees to catch her breath. Her head now pounded with constant pressure. After several minutes, Dusk turned toward her.

"I think we're good."

Glow nodded, her breathing still labored.

"Fuck!"

She jumped, heart beating out of her chest when Dusk hit his fist against a nearby tree with a crack that announced broken bones. He didn't even seem to feel it as he paced the forest, eyes roiling with anger.

"Would you care to tell me what the problem might be?", Glow finally asked, raising an eyebrow.

Dusk growled. "We didn't find Cybil! We don't even know if she's here and now we can't go back without fighting our way through the scum!"

Glow looked at him, unfazed. "She's not in Krk."

Dusk whirled on her. "What?"

"She. Is not. In. Krk," Glow repeated, shrugging. "It's the first thing I asked when I entered that dingy place."

Dusk stared at her, mouth agape.

"I wanted to leave you here, remember? So I asked the Untsik and they told me she'd moved away a while ago to a place they called Sker or something." She paused, furrowing her brows. "Do all the places here have such weird names? Krk, Sk-"