Chapter 43

The hot potatoes tasted buttery and heavenly to Arya and she savored every bite, ignoring the burn she got from eating food too hot.

She ate the potatoes with the skin on. They tasted a bit bland to her and could use some seasoning and butter but Arya wasn't picky. When you're hungry and haven't eaten anything in days, you don't have the luxury of picking and choosing.

Arya learned that lesson from years of living as a beggar and working her fingers off for scraps of food. 

Ezekiel, Assyrian and Freya ate their own potatoes with all the elegance and grace of a royal and Granite was shoving potato chunks into his mouth right now.

Owen and Lily sat side by side as they ate their potatoes, snuggling up to each other and just enjoying each other's company.

They only have each other, Arya thought. 

The fire was crackling and warm and they were safe and free from the monsters lurking in the darkness, at least for now.

It was pitch black outside now. Silence was sometimes scarier than the sounds and noises because…you don't know what's lurking out there anymore. 

Arya felt her eyes dropping and her head was nodding back and forth like crazy.

She finished the last of her potatoes and staggered up onto her feet.

Freya, who was sitting the closest to her, helped to steady her and keep her from falling over.

"Arya-"

Arya was already asleep and her dreams were dark and scary.

…

Arya was drowning.

Or at least she thought she was.

She couldn't breath, darkness was all around her. She floated suspended in the air.

Incoherent whispers and voices surrounded her and some sounded human, some demonic, some like children.

Where am I? Arya thought.

She felt the sensation of people grabbing her leg and when she looked down to see the withered and decaying faces of the dead and dying looking back at her.

She screamed as they tried to overwhelm her and take her with them to the afterlife.

…

Someone was shaking her and Arya groaned as she woke up.

The sun was rising over the horizon and her head was still groggy with sleep.

It was Lily.

Arya slowly got up, pushing herself off the floor, and looked around.

Everyone else was awake already and it looked like they were all concerned and worried about her.

Arya felt tired and like she wasn't able to get a good night's sleep at all.

The feelings of drowning and some nasty dead hands all over her still remained.

….

Ezekiel ended up having to carry Arya on his back as the small group with two new additionals started their journey. Arya did not sleep well at all last night and nobody could blame her at all. All the shit they went through, all the fighting they did, the corpses of the dead villagers: All of that left a toll on them even if they were doing their best to hide it. Ezekiel just stared at the wall blankly for a few hours before he was finally able to sleep, Assyrian was crying and looking like he was in shock as Granite confronted him and finally got him to sleep. He and Assyrian snuggled up close to each other and Assyrian fell asleep in his arms. Freya hummed a lullaby as she sang Lily and Owen to sleep, the two kids snuggled up next to her as she herself was still haunted by the images of death and destruction. This ghost village was once lively and full of life but now, the life is gone now, killed off with violence and cruelty.

Freya saw the corpses and the horrible cruelty of war. This was essentially war right now, humans vs monsters. And war was never pretty or merciful.

Arya was sleeping better now and it looked like she wasn't having any nightmares now.

Everyone decided to let her sleep.

Lily and Owen wanted to come along with them after Freya proposed that idea.

"Your highness-"

"Just call me Freya. No need for such formalities in a time of crisis like this."

Owen repeated himself.

"Freya, I want to come along with you. I'm scared for both me and my sister if we stay here. So far, we were lucky but our luck might run out soon."

Lily nodded in agreement.

"Me too. I don't want to stay here anymore. I risked leaving the village to go get help for Owen and that's how I met you guys."

Lily nodded, eyes shining and determined. Both kids were mature and rather calm despite the fact that they were about to go on a perilous journey with strangers.

Freya admired them for their courage. She herself was shaking and she cried herself to sleep last night. These two were little kids, one of them was only 6 or 7 while the other looked 8 or 9. They should be crying, scared for their lives, but they acted more like veterans of war who saw too much violence and loss. Surviving and witnessing the bloody massacre and then having to take care of themselves must have robbed them of all the childhood innocence.

Kids should be innocent and carefree, not having to suffer through so much violence and trauma like these two did, Freya thought.

They were leaving their home behind and their future looked uncertain.

She held those two, hand in hand, as she walked with them. She liked kids and looking after Lily and Owen took some of the stress and worry off her mind.

She made flowers bloom along the roads of the dirt path to entertain the kids. She also created flowers from thin air and she slipped a blue one behind Lily's ear.

They smiled and giggled and they started making requests.

"A red one!"

"I want a white one!"

Freya was more than happy to fulfill their requests.

A trail of rainbow colors was left behind in their wake and the air was scented with flowers.

Granite and Assyrian walked together and it looked like they were going on a date in the countryside right now. If only that really was the case, Freya thought. Instead, we're in the middle of a monster infestation/apocalypse and trying to survive it.

Ezekiel's eyes continued to scan around and he was on high alert.

So far, no monsters or other nasties but you never know.

The sunrise was beautiful and stunning, painting the sky shades of orange, pink and yellow as the sun slowly made its way up into the sky.

It made Freya stop in her tracks for a bit to admire it. It gave her a sense of hope and joy. 

Then a large bird-like beast descended upon them, squawking and screaming for blood that destroyed the sublime and scenic sunset. It was making a nose dive for Freya and the kids.

Assyrian was the first to react. He summoned and fired off a bolt of lightning at that monster bird in a matter of seconds. Thousands of volts of electricity shocked and electrocuted the bird and it fell out of the sky where a few tons of fried monster bird almost squashed Freya, Lily and Owen. Instead the bird went sailing a few feet behind them and crashed landed there.

Expect that this wasn't the end of things. 

An angry swarm of those monster birds screeched and screamed in the distances, their silhouette very clear and visible.

They came to avenge their dead.