《Flock of Doves》89- Thanus- The ashes and cinders left behind. [Announcement]
Advertisement
Thanus89
It was early that morning, and Kiromir and I woke in a tangle of limbs and blankets. We didn’t have the energy to repeat the hours before but having him there was enough. So we didn’t have to start getting fancy.
I ran my hands through my hair. “I’m going to find them today.”
“Just do your best.” Kiromir’s hand moved to mine and squeezed. He gave me a lick of his fire.
“I think if we get them back… I’ll…” Kiromir pushed his face up against mine and went quiet. I cut him off.
“Shh. You’ll do what you want when you want to. I’ll wait, even if we have to stave it off.” I don’t know why he felt such pressure. What was I going to do, leave him? Hah!
He gave me a parting kiss and jumped up to get ready. Then, I rose, showered again, and in the twilight morning hours met my group to find Rehn already waiting there for me—surly but willing.
I rested my hand on his shoulder. “Any more reservations?”
“Nah. Let’s go find the kids.” He didn’t meet my eyes, but pride was hard to set aside.
We locked hands with a goal in mind, starting with the sentinels that day, then the barracks, and then back to the Songbirds. We could technically have one more stop, but I wasn’t going to chance anything.
We arrived in the barren fields. The hollow shells of campers lay split and burned from the inside out. Collapsed tents flapped limply in the breeze, and in the distance, rows of houses, once kitschy and quaint, lay in ruins.
“Kah!” Balester said. Kah was very applicable, our swear that meant ‘what’s left after the fire.’ It meant cinders, ashes, dashed hopes, and dreams, far more severe than poop or sex words, which were just funny. Instead, this had meaning. The worst swears always did.
Advertisement
I wandered across the flat expanse with my team at my back. The grass crunched underfoot, and grey skies threatened rain above. We walked to where Kiromir’s camper had been and stared at its burned-out form. A crooked parking post stood right before it, and I had an idea. “Anyone have paper and a pen?”
Everyone rummaged in their pockets until someone found an old punch card from a car wash place and an almost dried-out pen. I hastily scribbled on it a single silhouette of a songbird and slid it into my wristband to get my ault over it. I tucked it between the sign and the post. Then, thinking better of it, I pulled a feather from my hair and tucked it in. The feather would only last a day or two without enough of our mana around. They burned to self-contained ash when there wasn’t enough around to sustain it.
The desolate area made Kahera tear up. “I had family here.”
Lerrin patted his shoulder consolingly. I had known that same grief and comfort these past few days.
We wandered the grass and stepped over the ash of fires and our burned kind. I wondered who the sentinels were without magic, without wings. This annual excursion they’d been taken from would have surely broken their spirits. They were so broken already, and my heart ached for them in ways I couldn’t understand. They were so weak.
Senson sniffed at the air. “This doesn’t even feel like Wildling lands anymore.”
I nodded. “It hasn’t in a while.”
I’d left my mark and fought sadness at everything around me. “We wanna salvage anything?”
Collectively we shook our heads, then took our hands and left.
We went to the Barracks next. I knew what to expect, but then again… It hurt just looking around and seeing the destruction around us. The little paradise we’d worked to make for ourselves had been reduced to just Kah.
Advertisement
“They got here too,” I said as I broke from the formation and walked across the lawn.
“My home…” Nodak breathed softly. Krell teared up. I felt so vulnerable that I was shaking, and Kahera patted my shoulder consolingly.
I almost started to cry when I lifted my head sharply. I smelled ault.
“Anyone smell that?” I turned in circles, narrowing my eyes.
“Smells like… Salt, sand…roses.” I knew parts of those scents.
Kiromir… No… Family but not Kiromir…
Kahera’s lip curled. “Smells like rose cough syrup.”
Bingo.
I hadn’t smelled that particular ault in years.
I didn’t want to jump the gun. I didn’t want to assume, but I had to know. “Let’s get to Rev’s. I think I smell something.”
They bolstered up behind me, and we ran full force the mile and a half to Revik’s old office. Curious onlookers watched our ragtag group run through. Of course, they never got to see us decked out in war gear—lucky them. As we got up to the office, my heart twisted in my fucking chest. A car sat behind Revik’s, something new and fancy. The scent of Roses, salt, and sand permeated the area, almost intentionally so. Amid the scents wafted the smell of winter steel and, if I wasn’t mistaken, an old grill.
The kids.
Revik.
Advertisement
- In Serial125 Chapters
Fallout: Vault X
An original novel set in the Fallout universe, written to be accessible to all, featuring unique people and places. Vol.II. out now Fallout: Vault X tells the story of John. A vault dweller, who spent every day of his twenty five years underground. Like his father, and his father before him. Proud to live in the last remaining bastion of humanity, all that survived The Great War of the atomic age. Hidden deep below the surface of the earth, toiling under brutal conditions. Year after year, decade upon decade. All to expand into the natural cave system the Vault occupied, building for the future. However, John knew what his forefathers did not, that everything he’d been taught was a lie. After finishing school at the age of ten, John received his standard issue pipboy. An arm mounted personal computer, worn by everyone in the Vault. Used to coordinate the relentless pace of expansion, needed to work as an apprentice. To learn the craft that would be his life’s work. A noble calling to ensure a future for all that remained of the human race. A quirk of fate saw John equipped not with the crude, clunky, pipboy model his father wore. That almost everyone around him wore. His looked smaller, sleeker, finished in a jet black sheen. And capable of doing far more than its drab counterparts. The world above had been ravaged by atomic flames, yet life clung to its bones. The Red Valley fared better than most in the century since the bombs fell. The clean water and rich soil protected by rolling hills. All spared from direct strikes, for the most part. Life survived here. Trees spawned from charred ground, misshapen, green leaves turned red. Along with simple crops, grown wild at first, then cultivated by the survivors. The scavengers of the old world were inventive, hardy people. All determined to rebuild in the ruins of a world they never knew. In the decades that passed settlements emerged. They grew, spreading along the valley floor. Reclaiming the pre-war remnants of the once industrialised heartland. Salvaging the robotic wonders of a bygone age to build their walls and work their fields. To protect them in the dark of the wasteland. But such things are uncommon in this world, and the rarer something is, the greater its value. And the worth of pre-war technology had not gone unnoticed. The last, real, power in this world rested in the mechanised hands of The Brotherhood of Steel. Forged from the mortally wounded old world military. The Brotherhood used its access to the weapons made for a conflict no one won to strike out into the wastes. Men and women were equipped with advanced armour, aerial transportation, high grade weaponry. Accompanied by the training, strength, and will, to put them to use. They established chapters and set up outputs far and wide. All dedicated to a single purpose. To ensure the technology left abandoned by its long dead creators didn’t fall into the wrong hands. Namely, any hands that were not their own. This is the world John escaped into. A place of horrors brought forth from atomic fire. A place where survival meant battling against the darkness. Fighting a war each day to get to the next. And war...war never changes
8 130 - In Serial12 Chapters
Paravir
After an unexpected incident, a new era had begun in the world.
8 141 - In Serial6 Chapters
Fallen Winter
He wasn't sure if waking up on that beach was supposed to happen, but considering the alternatives when it comes to your time after life, he sure as hell wasn't going to complain. He was going make the most of his new start, and do what he had always dreamed of doing. He would explore an untamed world, one full of lush forests and creatures only ever seen as products of imagination. it wasn't like he was starting as a child either - he was as fully grown and augmented as he ever was. With his rifle by his side and armour on his back, he was ready for a fight and he was going to make sure anyone who wished him harm would know so. ----- You can also find our stories on Reddit under u/not-so-british-brit
8 71 - In Serial25 Chapters
I'd rather trade it all while somehow saving you[a Synyster Gates story]WTTYAWDS
8 136 - In Serial7 Chapters
The Granger-Swan Reunion
This is a take on the granger swan reunion.Hermione Malfoy nee Granger has not gone to a reunion in 24 years. No one but her parents know she is married to Malfoy and most of her cousins hate her. But how will they react when she sees them again. P.S I OWN NOTHING BUT THE PLOT OF THE STORY oh and this is my first book that I'm writing and publishing on this app so please don't hate.
8 81 - In Serial29 Chapters
Is This Love? ||Byler|| (Finished!)
Will Byers falls inlove with his bestfriend Mike Wheeler. The only problem is Mike is straight and has a girlfriend. Will has to hide his true self from the world out of fear of anyone finding out the truth. Things go downhill fast
8 169
Prev Chap
Next Chap
Chap List
Boy
Girl
