The house creaked softly in the cold, its aged wooden beams still holding strong against the weight of years and snow. Inside, a dim lantern flickered on a nearby shelf, casting a warm glow across the old stone walls. Mira sat near the corner, crushing herbs between two flat stones. The scent filled the air, minty and sharp, and mixed with the earthy tones of the house.
Gray knelt beside her, watching as she stirred the crushed herbs into a small bowl of melted snowwater. Steam rose faintly.
"You're sure this'll help?" he asked quietly, eyeing the thick green paste she had made.
Mira nodded, not looking up. "These herbs are special. They grow near the cliffs where the wind is strongest. It forces them to become stronger. They numb pain and help draw out sickness."
'Doesn't look like it...' he pursed his lips but decided to remain quiet. After all they had given him food, water and most importantly shelter.
He watched the way she worked, hands steady, motions practiced.
"How...how do you know all of this?" he asked.
"My older brother," she said simply. "He was good with plants. Became a gardening addict. Back at the sanctuary i also found a book. It detailed a bunch of herbs, plants and medicines found and created here. As shitty as this place is, it has it's benefits."
Gray didn't respond. He looked down at his bandaged arm, then back at the steaming mixture. Mira gently handed him the bowl, and he took it, he brought it over to Adel and gently raised her head. He brought the liquid down. It went down her throat smoothly. Despite that, she winced in her sleep from the taste.
'Is it really that bad?'
Across the room, Calem was inspecting a half-broken cabinet, searching for supplies. But he found all of his stash to be empty, what remained was hollow tin cans and ripped cloth. Still, he seemed relaxed, or at least more relaxed than he had the past few days.
"Tomorrow," he said, brushing dust from his coat, "we should look for our truck. We hid it near a ridge, about a half-day's walk east. Buried the tires a little. Shouldn't be hard to dig out if the snow hasn't fallen too hard."
"You hid it?" Gray asked curiously.
"To throw off the Pale Maw," Calem said. "Its sense of smell is... unnatural. That's how it tracked us. But by the time we found out it was too late."
"We thought it might mask our trail if we separated from the truck and circled back later." he knelt down, throwing more wood into the iron furnace.
'Smart,' Gray thought.
'That's why they were still alive.'
The room quieted again, only the soft crackling of the small fire and the occasional shifting of snow on the roof above breaking the silence. Adel was still resting in one of the back rooms, and Korr hadn't woken up since their return. Orrin had gone out to patrol a bit before dusk, leaving the rest of them to settle down.
Gray stood, wincing slightly as he moved. Lira, who had been seated near the window, looked up as he walked toward the old staircase leading to the roof.
"Need some air?" she asked.
He nodded, and she stood to follow him.
The rooftop wasn't high, but from there they could see the edge of the market district they had explored earlier. The houses stood quietly, their doors ajar, the snow gathered like sand on a long-forgotten beach. Above, the sky stretched in endless dark, scattered with stars that shimmered faintly between drifting clouds.
Gray sat on the edge, pulling his coat tighter. Lira joined him, brushing snow from the stone ledge before sitting.
"It's quiet," she said.
"Too quiet."
"Maybe that's a good thing."
He didn't argue. For once, he didn't want to.
After a while, Lira leaned back slightly, her eyes on the stars.
The stars were scattered around the sky, giving it some sense of beauty.
Some shined blue like sapphires, others shone dimly like ovals.
Lira's gaze was glued on them.
"Do you miss your family?" she spoke quietly, ensuring no one else heard their talk.
Gray didn't answer immediately. His gaze didn't move from the horizon. He looked through his memories. Thinking back to when things were peaceful.
"I don't have one," he said finally. The words were painful to say, but it was the truth.
For all seventeen years of his life, he had no one to call family.
Maybe because he was cursed and useless. Or maybe because fate had decided other things were in store for him.
'Fate...'
It was a word he had heard a long time ago from a close "friend".
It apparently was an invisible force, that changed the past, present and future.
His friend had explained to him in a much simpler way.
Fate was like a river, constantly flowing and dragging itself, and others forward. No matter how much you struggled. You would always end up downstream.
Always.
But Gray didn't believe in fate, it seemed ridiculous to him.
Something that controlled the past, present and future.
Something that controlled him.
Something he was helpless against.
He refused to be held by such constraints, by such a mindset.
If fate did exist, then no matter what he did he would always end up at the same destination.
No matter what he did, he would always die.
Die in this hellhole.
Maybe he would live but the chances weren't very high.
But Gray refused to give up.
He would try, try to live.
Or atleast die trying.
"I'm Sorry," Lira's voice broke him out of his thoughts.
"Don't be, it's not your fault."
Another pause.
"Do you think we'll make it out of here?" she asked.
Gray looked up at the stars. Thinking back to fate he responded quickly.
"I don't know. But we will die trying. That's enough for now."
She chuckled softly. "That's a terrible answer."
He smiled faintly.
"And you?" he asked.
"I don't know either," she said. "Part of me thinks there's still something out there. A place, a place i belong to. Maybe that's why I keep going."
They watched the stars for a little longer.
"What do you think happened to the village?" he asked after some time. It was a question that had bugged his mind. After all, they were to spend the next few days in this small abandoned town. They needed answers, or felt like they did.
"I think it got forgotten," she said. "Not just by people, but by time itself. Something changed. Something big. Maybe they fought back, or maybe they tried to escape. But whatever happened... it left its mark."
Gray nodded.
"Could it happen to us?" he asked.
Lira looked over. "You mean... disappear?"
He nodded.
"Maybe. But we'll leave something behind. Even if it's just memories."
He considered that for a moment.
"Then what should we do next?"
Lira exhaled slowly, watching her breath curl into the air. "We keep moving. Tomorrow we dig out the truck. Check supplies. Maybe head further down the mountain. There might be our answers there."
"More monsters?"
"Maybe. Or maybe answers."
Gray leaned back, letting the cold soak into his coat. The stars above shimmered, blinking slowly in the high sky.
"You're not afraid?" he asked.
"I am," she said. "At every moment."
They sat there for a long while, the cold creeping back in but not enough to move them. Not yet. Not while the sky was still so clear.
Finally, Lira stood. "Come on. We should rest. Big day tomorrow."
Gray nodded and stood with her, taking one last look at the silent rooftops, the snow, the fractured sky.
The world was broken.
But maybe not beyond saving.
They stepped back inside, the old wooden door creaking closed behind them.
And the stars continued to shine.