23: Running
A memory from an emerald shard, belonging to Peter Lymettos
Umbriere Day 36
Dawn
—
I have not had to run so fast in my entire life.
I have never been a runner. I did what I needed to for sport, back when I was a child. On the farm, there has never been a need for anything more than a brief sprint. Caution is more beneficial. Running throws up the mud.
Yet here I am, shard in hand. My heart is thundering. My lungs are burning. But I’m still pushing to keep at this ridiculous speed. The arches of my feet hurt. My back aches. I try to stop thinking about all this. I don’t want Delilah to hear it later when I pass my shard to her. And tell her to look at the memory I had stored in there some minutes ago.
I need her to see it for herself… Hopefully that would help her to believe me.
And listen to me when I tell her that she had to find some place to hide. Quickly.
Some minutes ago…
I had bolted awake. It was completely silent. Very strange, for a farm. Usually some animal or other was making some sort of noise. Not now. Now, it felt like everything was holding its breath.
I shook myself, and strained to listen.
In the next room I could hear Father speaking. Not too out of the ordinary, sometimes he does that, for reasons unknown. But there was Mother, walking about. Talking back, instead of telling him to be quiet. She sounded worried.
Then the roar shook the air again. The roar. That was what had woken me in the first place, I knew. That was why all the creatures had fallen silent. It was the roar of something huge. An apex predator.
Father burst into my room. “We need to leave. I know where we can hide underground.” He turned and went down the stairs without waiting for me.
“What is it?” I called after him.
“Dragon!” He yelled back.
Dragon? We have heard dragons roar before. The ones at the Rim. This one was much louder…
Could it be that it was a lot closer?
I got up to go, and grabbed my shards. I was knocked onto the ground the next instant by another roar. This time it felt different, like there was a presence weighing on me. No… Like someone had grabbed me by the collar, and shoved me up against the wall.
WHERE
IS
DELILAH
I heard in my head.
I said nothing. I would have liked to say that I was thinking about protecting her. I wasn’t. I was just terrified. The mind behind the voice was enormous, and complex. It… also got bored easily. After a moment of me not answering, I felt its attention leave me. And I slumped.
Delilah… I thought after my mind had cleared.
I have to warn her.