Ch. 34 – Camarin
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Lightning flashed across the dark sky as the heavy rain continued to beat down on the little group of travellers. Thunder rattled their teeth not long after the searing sky fire momentarily lit the way for them.

The motley group consisted of four adults and two children. They continued their muddy slog, the two children walking close to the adults in an effort to hide from the driving rain.

Their clothes dripped, soggy and soaked all the way through, the thin coats the adults wore barely did anything to shield them from the rain. It slapped them in the faces, the cold adding to the pain as they continued their trek.

The two children, both little girls, shivered as they soldiered on, little teeth chattering. Their little dresses barely offered any warmth as they hugged their adult companions as tightly as possible, hoping to siphon some body heat.

One of the little girls fell over with a splash, crying out in pain. A puddle had hidden a particularly deep hole.

“Come on! We gotta keep moving!” The man tugged at her arm.

She answered with a pitiable moan as she pulled her foot out of the natural trap. “I can’t! I thi-think I-I twisted my a-an-ankle!”

Her tears mixed with the rain as her face crumpled in pain. The man quickly swooped her up in his arms, shifting his thin coat to cover her. “It’s alright. We just gotta keep going.”

He cradled her and they resumed their march. They all remained mindful of their steps, aware of the danger that the muddy ground posed.

The other child sniffled as she continued to walk, coughing every so often from the cold rain.

“We’re almost there!” One of the other adults yelled over the howling wind. Above them another booming clap of thunder filled their ears. The announcement spurred the group on. They all huffed and puffed as they continued their hurried march, trying not to think too much on what was possibly following them.

Heads low, faces filled with determination, the group trudged through the storm. The little girl who was being carried began to doze off. Her ankle throbbed painfully but she couldn’t fight the beckoning call of sleep. Her head lulled and relaxed against the man’s chest.

---

She dreamt.

Of flashing lights that danced around before her eyes. The lights beckoned her as they twirled round and round. The air was filled with giggling as they approached.

She could just barely make out faces in the lights. They were little more than shadows yet she could feel their beauty, their elegance. Something about them filled her with admiration.

The little girl reached out, hoping to touch one of the beautiful little beings before they flew away. As she did they giggled and floated around her hand, making high pitched squealing noises as they appeared to play tag around her arm.

They flew up along her arm, weaving all-around her as they chased one another. She smiled as she followed their carefree play.

They filled her with a profound sense of contentment as they playfully twirled around her.

“Who are you?” She asked, barely able to contain her smile.

The little things answered in nonsensical blabber. To her it sounded like sped up gibberish, as if they spoke so fast that the words melded and became new words.

“Wear ethe mes seng erso fthe oneab ove.”

She stared at them in confusion as she tried to make sense of what they were saying. It didn’t help that all of them spoke at the same time, saying the exact same thing but not waiting for any of the others to go first. A cacophony of voices stumbling over one another, all saying the exact same thing.

“You have to go slow, please.”

Another shrill chorus of nonsense assailed her as they simultaneously answered.

“Ho wwhe nwe’r ealre adyta lkin gpret tys low!” Their tiny bodies bobbed and weaved as they spoke. They flailed their little arms as they tried to communicate.

The little girl shook her head slowly, eyes large as she tried to think of a way to bridge the communication barrier. The little lights patiently waited for her next question, tiny wings flapping furiously to keep them afloat.

As she thought, she noticed a creeping darkness. It began in the corner of her vision. She didn’t really notice it at first, it just happened to be there while she was thinking of a solution to her current problem.

“What’s that?” She asked as she pointed at the odd patch of darkness. As her eyes turned their gaze on the darkness, it moved with her. It stayed in the corner of her vision.

The little lights turned and looked at where she had pointed. When they turned back to her they shrugged and shook their heads as they all answered in their nonsensical way.

“wed on’tse enot hingl ittleo ne.”

She focused her sight back on them and the patch of darkness moved back to where she had pointed. Frowning, she tried looking at the spot again. It followed her gaze, sticking to its little corner of her vision.

“Anyways, who are you guys?” She tried her first question again, trying to push the odd thing out of her mind. It didn’t help. Her eyes began to water and ache the more she ignored it.

The little lights gave their nonsensical answer once more. This time they tried not to speak over one another but were still unsuccessful in getting her to understand.

“Why do you guys talk so weird?” The little girl wiped at the corner of her eye, trying to see if maybe it was something actually stuck on her eye. As she pulled her hand away she noticed that her hand now had the weird darkness on it. It was like it had smeared itself onto her fingers.

“wed on’tta lkweir dyo udo!” The little lights buzzed as their lights flashed indignantly. They noticed that the little girl was staring at her hand so they all took turns examining it as well.

The darkness slowly spread across her hand, creeping and crawling along her fingers as it slowly engulfed her. She whimpered a little as the little light people suddenly backed away from her. She couldn’t see their faces but she could feel the overwhelming fear emanating off of them.

Pleading, she whimpered as her upper lip quivered. The darkness continued its march, now covering half her arm.

The brilliant light show of the little people faded as the little girl's dream world was drained of all color. Her hearing became muffled as everything began to sound distant. Even the bumbling slurry of words that rushed out of the little peoples mouths seemed to fade.

She took a last look at her arm and saw that the darkness now fully encompassed it. It was now creeping up her shoulder and nearing her neck.

She began to feel light headed, her head pounding as her hearing began to resonate as if everything were moving back and forth, bouncing and ping-ponging off of everything.

As her eyes fluttered she was able to make out one word from the little people. Their high pitched, squeaky voices suddenly dropped in pitch when it hit her ears, becoming a deep rumble.

“Run!”

---

The little girl slowly awoke, half submerged in a shallow puddle. The rain continued to assail her as she stirred. She could barely make out muffled crying and the panting breaths of a struggle.

As she pushed herself up into a sitting position a flash of lightning lit the dark sky. For that split moment she saw the carnage all around her.

Not far from her, the adult that had been carrying her lay face down in a puddle. The murky puddle mixed with blood that continued to drain out of what used to be the man's shoulder. What was left of his arm lay haphazardly near his prone figure, savagely ripped apart at the shoulder and the elbow. The man's head was submerged in the shallow pool as he lay inert.

The other 3 adults were sprawled out along the muddy road. The only other man among the group had been ripped in two. His torso sat propped up against a bush as his lifeless eyes stared at the little girl. A bloody trail ran across the small, dilapidated road and into the bushes across from him.

The other adults, both women, were kneeling next to one another. They were the sources of the muffled crying as they held each other close, arms held over their heads as they appeared to shrink, trying to get as close to each other as possible.

The last figure that the girl had spotted during the flash of lightning was her sister, standing over the two women with her hands balled into little fists. During the brief moment of illumination, the little girl had seen a much larger silhouette encompassing her. That of a man wearing a hood and jeans.

“Sissy?” The little girl croaked as she tried to get on her feet. It was in vain as a sharp pain flared up her leg, making her cry out as she fell forward. The mud splashed up and into her open mouth as she landed, sobbing and shivering.

Her sister turned her gaze towards her. Her eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, making it easier to see her features.

“Don’t worry sissy, I’ll be ok.” The other little girl spoke with the brevity of an adult. Her features softened as she spoke to her little sister. “Just wait there. Close your eyes until I tell you to open them again.”

The little girl obeyed, rolling over onto her back and closing her eyes tight. The rain continued to fall, unabated, but her shivering had ceased. Behind her closed eyes a bright light flashed again before the booming thunder followed.

Just below the thunder she heard the women scream. But she wasn’t too sure, maybe it was the wind howling in her ears?

Another bright flash as her tightly shut eyes lit up. Another booming thunder clap. Another moment where the howling wind became a little more shrill, just below the thunder.

The little girl didn’t know how long she kept her eyes closed. The shivering had started again. Her teeth were starting to hurt from the chattering.

“Sissy? Sissy, open your eyes. It’s me.”

Her sister's warm breath tickled her nose. Why was she so close? She couldn’t feel the rain anymore.

“Sissy, open your eyes. It’s ok now.”

Her sister sat next to her and pulled her into her small lap. She hugged the little girl and tried to rub some warmth into her. All around them the rain had finally slowed.

The little girl cracked her eyes open, just barely. She felt really tired, the energy to open them eluding her.

“Mmmm sissy, it’s so warm.” She mumbled. She wanted to give her sister a hug, but couldn’t muster the strength.

Her sister continued rubbing her arms and back.

“Sissy, you have to focus. Ok? It’s not warm. We’re almost to a warm place. But you can’t sleep here.” Her voice was frantic, choked.

The little girl couldn’t understand what she meant. She was warm. Why wasn’t her sister warm? The rain had stopped, so they didn’t need to worry too much.

“But sissy, I’m so tired…” The little girl's voice began drifting, becoming wispy. She could see the little lights dancing around.

Her sister rubbed her face and forcibly opened her eyes.

“Sissy! Please, don’t sleep! Look at me, please look at me!”

The little girl felt her sister's cold fingers pry her eyes open and she saw her sister's beautiful little face hovering above her. She smiled, happy that her sister was in the warm place too.

“Hi sissy, it’s warm. Stay away from the dark…” The energy fled from her once more as she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. “Lemme sleep just a little bit.”

The other girl wept, her tears mixing with the pounding rain, as she held her little sister in her arms.

__________________________________

Fiti and Talua embraced as they wiped the tears from one another's eyes.

The beautiful young Tu’i pressed her lips to the newest Tu’i’s cheek, kissing her tenderly like an older sister would for their precious little sister.

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