Above the Clouds

  The space was crowded as before, yet I pushed through the bodies to find my family.

  “Eralla!”

  Gibralla ran up to me, wrapping his nimble arms around me.

  “Calm down.”

  “Eralla…”

  I looked up; Ma’s warm hand cradled my face before her arms wrapped around me.

  “Ma, I am fine.”

  “Don’t ever do that. Ever.”

  “I won’t,” my lips pressed against Ma’s shoulder. In the corner of my eye, I saw the red hooded girl watching me. I ignored her gaze and focussed on Ma’s embrace.

  Shortly, we pulled away and suddenly, Agile-Eye’s eyes were no longer on me. I was tempted to search for her, but held back.

  Instead, I looked for Aourine.

  I had not seen her ever since our last talk. I looked around the space, my sight relentlessly searching for her, yet it didn’t find her. There were many who looked like her, yet she looked like no one. My eyes could always find her, but now they seemed to fail.

  Where is she?

  “Motalla,” I grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her away from Ma’s range of hearing.

  “Have you seen Aourine?”

  “No. But don’t try looking for her either. You have no idea what happened between Ma and her while you were stuck on Rotana.”

  Did Ma confront Aourine, or did Aourine confront Ma? I couldn’t know without Motalla telling me.

  “What happened?”

  “Aourine wanted to know your whereabouts; Ma saw her and confronted her and told her to leave you alone. She confessed that she loves you.”

  Loves me.

  She still loves me.

  Despite not standing up for that love, she cherished it.

  There was time. There was still time to fix it.

  I had to fix it.

  Before Motalla could finish, I ran past the crowd, my eyes tirelessly searching for the red tint of her skin. Her silky, soft red hair. That distinct smell of iron on her.

  Despite the endless search, I couldn’t find her.

  Where was she?

  Where was she?

  She must be with the elders.

  At the moment, I forgot about the pain from the injury or the warning Agile-Eye gave me to be light on my feet.

  All I could think about was finding Aourine. No matter what.

  I spotted Donttano on the elevated hallway. I rushed up the ramp and saw Donttano speaking with Ouubuutt and Tohthorayn.

  “Donttano!”

  I rushed over, a tear leaving my eye from being too heavy on my left leg. I ignored the pain and pushed forward.

  “Tig-eralla-”

  “Have you seen Aourine?”

  “N-no. I have not.”

  I looked at Ouubuutt, who shook his head.

  “Ka-Tohthorayn! Have you seen her?”

  “No.”

  My heart raced and I moved forward.

  “Tig-eralla, calm down. You seem to be hurt.”

  I was hurt. My heart was hurting. My heart was racing. Where was Aourine?

  Fear crawled up. Is this how she felt when she learned of my trip to Rotana?

  If she isn’t in the main deck, then she must be with the Guardians of the Unirex.

  I rushed through the halls, muscle memory pulling in and leading me to the ship’s command room.

  “Aourine!”

  All five heads snapped towards me. Their eyes gawking at me yet the only thing mattered to me was finding Aourine.

  “Tigeralla.”

  Agile-Eye said.

  “Aourine. Have you seen her?”

  “Aourine? The undeniably smart one?”

  I nodded.

  “No, we have not seen her.”

  Night-Coven answered.

  “Is something wrong?”

  Agile-Eye said.

  “I have not seen her anywhere. No one knows where she is. She is still out there. I know where she lives. I can go and get her!”

  “It’s too late.”

  My heart dropped.

  No.

  I could…

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “You can’t run with that wound and time is up. I can’t push the time further.”

  “But you came to my aid! You can make one more exemption.”

  “No, sorry.”

  My legs wobbled beneath me.

  Aourine.

  Aourine.

  Aourine.

  Things happened in a flash. One moment I was standing in the ship’s command room, and the next I was in an empty hallway with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, giving a clear view of the outside.

  I don’t remember walking away.

  My mind was crowded with thoughts about Aourine. Her luscious, vivid hair glowed. Her smile burned brighter than Ma-Oktava. Her soft skin against my rougher one. Her slender hands graced my stomach. Her lips were the color of molten lava. They always burned against mine.

  My hand moved subconsciously, my fingertips brushing my lips.

  “Tigeralla…”

  Aourine.

  “Tigeralla…”

  Aourine.

  “Tigeralla!”

  My head snapped to the right. There stood Agile-Eye. When did she come by?

  I took a deep breath, imagining Aourine calling me instead.

  “Are you alright?”

  I averted my gaze when I felt her piercing through me. Trying to look inside me while all I wanted was to fold into myself and just…

  “I am sorry. I am sorry that your friend couldn’t be saved.”

  “You s-saved me, so why can’t you save her?”

  My voice trembled.

  “There was time to save you.”

  Warm, bitter tears dripped down the corner of my eye.

  Time.

  My hands curled up, fingertips digging into my palms.

  A faint static buzz came from her suit.

  “Right. I will be there,” she said to no one. She turned around and walked back from where she came from, leaving me alone.

  Soon the ship began to lift. My palms pressed flat against the glass, as if trying to keep the ship grounded.

  Aourine.

  She is still out there.

  Still alone.

  Aourine.

  My heart twisted as the distance between the ground and the ship continued to grow.

  Aourine.

  We were no longer on Ma-Oktava, but for the first time, we were above the dark gray clouds that always covered Ma-Oktava. The view above Ma-Oktava was mesmerizing…

  Aourine.

  Shimmering stars sparkled as the ship pierced through the rich atmosphere. We were beyond Ma-Oktava now. The sky beyond the clouds was beautiful. A massive red globe loomed as the ship passed it. Beyond the globe were more globes. Tiny, tiny white dots were splattered across the dark sky.

  Aourine.

  She should be beside me, looking at the sky. Holding hands.

  I took a deep breath, too much. This was too much.

  Aourine.

  My heart felt too heavy to carry, and my legs gave out beneath me. Yet I didn’t hit the ground; there was someone to catch me before my fall.

  Agile-Eye.

  My head snapped towards her, staring at her covered face. She returned far too quickly. Her grip on me tightened. Was she looking at me with pity? Had she been through this? This pain of losing the life you dreamt of.

  Orange-tinted tears filled my sight, and before I knew it, they flowed down like the streams of lava flowing from qualtentk*.

  She didn’t utter a single word, instead wiped the unshed tears with her gloved fingertips. With her support, I stood back on my feet.

  I turned my gaze towards the window, watching as we drove further away from Ma-Oktava, the more hopeless I felt.

  Agile-Eye stood by my side, a hand lightly rested on my shoulder. Tears continued to flow down my cheek as I stared at our once home. It was hot. It was harsh. But it was still our home.

  My home. The place where Fa’s ashes rest. Where Ougine took his last breath.

  The distance only grew between the ground and space. My hands clenched up beside me.

  “Eralla!”

  My head snapped towards Ma who was coming over to me. I quickly wiped away the orange-tinted tears and turned around. Not before I saw a small white shape pierce through the clouds in the distance — rising instead of falling. What was that?

  “Come along now, Fattaralla is looking for you.”

  Agile’s hand slipped off my shoulder as I followed behind Ma.

  I didn’t look back. Not at Agile-Eye. Not at the glass.

  ???