Almost There

Maro sprayed the scentless perfume onto Lefric's whole body and then to himself. They're both scentless. Lefric couldn't even smell the paint on his fingers.

When they're both ready, they grabbed their bags and walked out of their rooms quietly. Lefric let out a gasp when there's a flash outside the window. The earth shook momentarily, and the raven jumped toward Maro.

Maro sighed. "It's just the thunder,"

"Thunders can kill," Lefric mumbled.

"You've been planning on escaping and live free out there in the wilderness. But you're terrified of thunders? Really?"

"Shut up and get moving,"

Their hushed whispers silenced by the downpour outside. It's eerily dark. The only light that illuminated their path were torches that latched on the cobblestone walls. Windows clattered because of the harsh rain.

But this is good. That means the sisters would have a hard time looking for them in the rain.

"We gotta hurry. I smelled someone nearby," Maro whispered. Lefric nodded.

They both arrived at the back door, and the wooden door let out a subtle creak. Lefric nudged Maro's shoulder, silently telling him to open the door slower. Maro slipped through the doors first, and Lefric followed.

But the straps on his satchel caught the bent nails on the doorframe. His wings shifted and flapped, clearly panicking.

"Who's there?"

Lefric and Maro went into a complete still. Eyes bugged and mouth slightly parted. Maro clamped his palm on Lefric's mouth, making sure the raven shut his mouth as he helped Lefric pull the straps that held him up.

"I'm going to die," Lefric muffled from Maro's palm, looking absolutely mortified.

"Shut it," Maro whisper-yelled, equally as panic.

"Who—"

It was sister Antia.

She held a candle, widening her eyes when she saw Maro and Lefric.

"Abandon ship!" Maro exclaimed. Lefric quickly slid his satchel off and ran off with Maro, wings curved upward to make him run faster.

"Lefric!" Sister Antia roared. Her voice boomed, louder than the downpour.

They both ran as fast as they could. Bare feet muddy and scraped because of the tiny pebbles. Twigs snapped, and thunder roared in the air, making Lefric's heart stutter.

Lefric wasn't sure if it's the thunder or the image of sister Antia's angry face that made his heart thudding erratically.

This escape felt a lot more different than the previous ones. The difference was that he didn't fear for his life before.

But now he is.

Maro ran faster, his hand tightly wrapped around Lefric's small wrist. They both panted heavily. They trudged through the shrubs, jumping over giant logs, and avoided huge trees on their way. Because of the rain, his wings were drenched and turned heavier by tenfold.

The raven whined tiredly. His calves were burning painfully.

"They're close. I can smell them," The werewolf sniffed the air. "We need to run further,"

"M-Maro, my legs—"

"Don't you give up now!" Maro barked. Lefric flinched, looking up at Maro with wide eyes.

Maro didn't look at him since he's the one navigating both of them toward somewhere safe. Lefric clenched his fist, furrowing his eyebrows and tried to curve his heavy wings to run faster.

He couldn't give up now.

He didn't want to give up. This is the furthest he had ever been. He remembered passing the familiar boulders, the familiar blueberry shrubs, and then the tiny lake. He went past all of them.

"A-Are they getting closer?" Lefric asked a little louder, struggling to open his eyes because of the rain.

Maro sniffed again, and then he shook his head.

Lefric breathed in relief, and his steps slowed down.

"But that doesn't mean that we should let our guard down. We need to keep moving until we reach the village,"

"You know where the village is?"

"Nope," Maro replied, emphasized the 'p'. He slowed down, too, looking backwards to check if they're still being chased. "But I'll know when we're close,"

"But Maro, my legs hurts," Lefric said, frowning when he looked down to his scraped feet. Maro clicked his tongue, tugged Lefric's hand.

"Stop whining, hatchling. We need to keep moving. You know how persistent the sisters are,"

"Right,"

Lefric left it with that. He ignored his legs' plea on taking a rest and kept walking.

His steps felt a lot heavier by the second, and the rain wasn't helping. And before he could comprehend what was happening, all he could see was darkness.

The serene sound of raindrops was the last thing he heard, accompanied by an unfamiliar whisper.