The light of Proxima shone through the clouds littered across the milky blue sky, marking dawn. The once-thin clouds began to thicken, their beautiful, snowy white color turned to an unpleasant, concrete grey.
"Rain," Lyra murmured. "Probably will come in a few days."
She flew high in the sky, her angelic white wings flapped as she hovered above the endless expanse of forest.
Her gaze fell from the sky and back onto the forest, and scanned around for a spot to rest. After a few minutes of searching, she spotted a small clearing beside a river. Lyra flew over and scouted for potential danger. After confirming its safety, she flew back to the group.
...
Starlight leaned against a tree, gasping for breath. All morning, they had ran throughout the forest, ducking branches and avoiding hordes of monsters. The maze-like terrain did not help at all; they frequently ran in circles. Roots seemed to rise from the ground, they caught his feet, and sent him face-first to the ground.
He looked toward Liriel. She rested against the trunk of an enormous tree, her hair covered her face. She was awake, but barely. Aster had checked her wounds, assuring she would be fine after rest. When the monsters shattered her armor, pieces broke off and stabbed into her flesh.
Starlight didn't feel like he had it that bad anymore.
Rustle!
He lifted his gaze to the canopy above. Something broke through the branches and leaves. It was Lyra. After getting past, she slowly descended to the ground. Her wings retracted into her back, as if they never existed.
"How is she?" Lyra asked.
"She's fine; it's only blood loss. She'll be back on her feet in a couple of days!" Aster responded.
Lyra stood in silence, and stared at the barely conscious Liriel for a few moments.
"I found us a clearing; it's only a couple of miles away from here," Lyra said, breaking the silence. She raised her hand and pointed off into the woods.
After hearing this, Aster turned and faced Liriel. He crouched, whispered into her ear; and sat her up. He turned around and Liriel fell onto his back.
Lyra turned to Starlight, her expression softer than before, though her gaze was cold.
"Have you been marking the trees?" she asked him.
Starlight nodded in response. He turned around, retrieved a small knife from his pocket and carved an arrow in the direction Lyra pointed. After he carved the symbol, Starlight put the knife back into his pants pocket and walked towards the group.
Lyra confirmed everyone was ready she started to walk into the woods, followed by Aster and Starlight.
'I'll finally be able to take a bath, or at least wash my hair.' He wished. 'Ever since last night's sleep, there have been twigs and other things trapped in there. I want to get them out.'
...
Lyra picked up the pace; the walk turned into a full-on run.
Starlight clenched his fist, swaying his arms in motion with his legs. His lungs burned; he'd been running since morning, and now he had to run more. Every muscle in his body screamed; the short rest while Lyra had scouted ahead was not enough.
He glanced around the forest, a melted muddy mass of brown, black, and green. The feeling of ever-present eyes continued; he had felt them ever since last night.
"Gahh!" Starlight moaned.
A sharp sensation originatef from his thigh spread throughout his body. "It must've been the knife," he cried to himself.
The lining in his pocket split open on the sharp blade of his knife. They'd already been torn running through the bush. Starlight had neglected to fix them, and this was the result of his actions.
He bit his lip, trying to draw the pain away from his leg. He couldn't fall behind the others; they were already ahead of him, if Starlight left their company, who knew what the forest would do after it swallowed him up.
Starlight looked ahead as blood streamed from his mouth.
"Light!"
Aster and Lyra disappeared into the light ahead. As Starlight ran closer, he began to make out shapes: a cluster of large rocks, and a faint roar of water gushing over rocks could be heard.
He sprinted harder, not caring about the forest's watchful eyes or the dark that surrounded. Breaking through the trees into the light, he landed in a clearing of lush green grass, swaying gently in the light breeze.
Starlight collapsed onto his hands and knees, gasping for breath. He clutched his leg, with his other hand he fumbled into his pocket, and tossed aside the knife. When he raised his hand to his face, it glimmered red in the light. He stared for a moment, then dropped it and reached into his pocket, and poked around the sliced flesh.
Tears stung his eyes. He brought his bloodied hand to his mouth, tracing around his bitten gums.
Hack!
Starlight choked as he spat out blood.
He brought his cloak to his mouth and wiped off any remnants.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Starlight looked up, the sight of Aster filled his gaze.
'What did he want?' He cursed
Aster crouched beside him, lowering himself to Starlight's level. His eyes caught the blood seeping out of Starlight's wound and scowled.
"Hey, Star. Need a hand with that?" his tone firm but kind.
'Huh?' The thought flickered through Starlight's mind, which cought him off guard.
He looked up at Aster's wide hazel eyes, then back at the ground.
"Yes... yes, please," Starlight responded.
Aster didn't reply. He picked Starlight up into his arms, His light eyes meeting Starlight's jet-black, then adjusted his position until he looked comfortable. Then, with steady steps, he brought Starlight over to the riverbank and placed him along its side.
Starlight looked at the river; streams of clear water roared as it smashed into jagged, moss-covered rocks. He shivered as the cold water rushed around his ankles. Flinching whenever the water exploded against the rocks, sending drops at his face. The air smelled fresh, which reminded him of the lovely tap water in the government buildings.
Without saying anything, Aster ripped off Starlight's torn pants around his cut, startling him. He dipped his hands in the water and splashed it over the wound, Starlight jumped, he stood in the water then looked down at Aster, and back at his cut.
"Sorry," Starlight said as he took his seat.
He clenched his fist as Aster continuously poured water over the wound. Aster held a small towel and dried it, then took out a small circular metal container, and held it in front of Starlight's injury.
"This is a type of Vaseline for cuts like yours; it might sting," Aster said, still staring at the wound.
Starlight nodded, bracing himself as he flexed his leg and clenched his jaw. Aster twisted off the lid and dipped his finger into the cloudy beige substance. He smeared it along his fingers then moved to the edge of the wound. The moment it touched, a burning sensation burst up his leg and traveled throughout his body.
Just as quickly as it had come, the pain disappeared. Aster pulled back his finger and wiped the remnants against the edge of the container. When Starlight looked again, the substance had already melted into his skin. His deathly pale thigh started to regain some color, and the wound didn't feel so painful as before.
"How does it feel?" Aster asked, as Starlight looked at his wound in amazement.
"It doesn't hurt as much, now. Thank you, Aster," Starlight responded with a slight smile plastered on his face.
Aster smirked and opened his mouth.
Rustle!
A sound came from the bushes behind them, both Starlight and Aster turned their heads, looking back. Two men came out of the tree line, bloodied and worn.
"Godric, Bram," Aster mumbled. He stood up and walked towards the duo.
Starlight stared at the pair, wanting to check up on them, but pulled away his gaze. They looked exhausted, and he didn't want to burden them with his presence.
His attention shifted over to the group of heavily eroded giant rocks. Their surface was plastered with worn-down images -so worn he had to squint even to make out the outlines.
He stood up and limped closer to the rocks. Upon arrival, he examined the images more closely. Drawn onto one of them were rows of small black stick figures, all bowed before a four-pointed star. Beneath them were unfamiliar symbols etched deep into the stone. He didn't recognize them from any historical books at the countless strongholds he'd been to -not that he read a lot.
'I wonder if I ask the Hex, will it translate the symbols for me?' Starlight thought.
Dimly glowing symbols appeared beside Starlight.
***
[Warning: Unable to translate... Language not supported]
***
"What? Language not supported," Starlight blurted out.
Forgetting about how he kept the Hex a secret from the other members of his group.
He realized his mistake and covered his mouth glancing around; luckily, no one seemed to notice.
He studied the stone painting carefully, checking for anything he had missed. Once he was sure he'd seen it all, Starlight turned to the neighboring rock, which stood beside the previous and was nearly identical in size.
The image was different then the last; the painting depicted an altar; on both sides of the altar were long, white pillars that rose from the ground. Before it stood a creature with two heads, a human torso, four arms, and a serpent's tail instead of legs.
'Weird,' Starlight thought. 'And what's in front of it?'
In front of the creature was another black stick figure, which was holding a golden spike in one of its hands.
Starlight looked below the painting again; there were a few more symbols.
'I wonder if the Hex would translate this? Starlight thought as he placed his hand against the rough stone.'
***
[Warning: Unable to translate... Language not supported]
***
'Again? What's with this so-called all-powerful Hex if it can't even decipher a few old letters?'
Starlight glanced over toward Godric, Bram, and Aster, who were deep in conversation. He drifted a bit closer, attempting to listen in on their conversation, while posing to look at the third rock.
Pressed against the side of the third massive rock, just out of sight from the trio. He could hear them, but not clearly. With the sound of water crashing against rocks, all he made out was mumbling.
"What does it mean? This is obviously all his fault."