Free All Things Eternal (Book 2) by Alex Villavasso Page A

mingle to its own devices. Originally, he did it to spare her emotions, but as he grew, he often speculated if his actions were to truly save her or instead to protect himself. It would kill him to watch her face turn as he told her about the note or the sudden disappearance. It would destroy any child to know that they were unloved and thought to be an affliction. That’s why he lied to her. The story he told her was that they died for their sake, an epic last stand against the ones who threatened to take their children’s lives so that they could escape.
    It always left a bitter taste in Omari’s. The lies sat well when Skye was younger, but now, perhaps she knew. From time to time, Omari wondered but never dared to turn that stone. They rarely talked about them now, but when they did, Omari was always sure to keep the conversation brief. He could tell that she idolized them, or at least wanted to, but Omari found no comfort in his lie. At the very least, he was satisfied that the world had not yet tainted his sister’s heart.
    “Mhm. I don’t worry about it,” Skye said as she smiled. “I just focus on the good in the world.”
    “Oh, really?” Omari said as they both continued to walk. “And what is that?”
    “Well,” Skye tilted her head back, letting her dark hair fully extend past her shoulders as she looked up at the shining sun, “the sun’s shining. The birds are singing. The leaves are green…um, I’m okay, and you’re okay…I know people can be mean out here but for every bad person in the world, I’m sure there’s two more that are good. Just trust me on this, I feel it.”
    “Yeah, I feel it, too.”
    “Don’t call me crazy, but I had this dream one night that everything was okay. We were older and happier and everything was alright. I’m not stupid. I know things are bad, but when I have dreams like that one, it keeps me going. One day this will all be over, and we won’t have to worry ever again.”

Chapter 8: What Was Lost
    “Skye?!” Amidst the rubble and ash, Omari gasped as he returned from the coma he had been subjected to. The world had transformed in his absence, no longer barring any resemblance to the place he called home. Omari violently coughed as he forcefully expelled the soot that had filtered through his mask and rested in his lungs. “Skye, what happened?” Skye ignored his question as she shakily rose to her feet, drained from her exhaustion.
    “I’ve…got to get to Emil.” The words lagged from her mouth as she left her brother where he laid.
    “…Emil?” As Skye grew closer to Emil’s body, Omari lethargically rose to behold the destruction of his city. The city square was unrecognizable; a wasteland riddled with the dead and the dying and scattered debris. The crackling fire that blazed in the background rang in his ears like an untraceable audience, clapping with approval at his sudden defeat. “How…” Omari whispered as he slumped over. “How could this have happened?”  He tilted his head up to the heavens but the sky was darkened by the ash and smoke that filled the sky. “How did they know?” Omari sluggishly began to walk towards his sister, bracing his wounded abdomen with his right arm as he stumbled through the filth of the land. “It was that man who did this…where did he go?” Omari said tensely as he called out to Skye who was now laying her hands on Emil.
    “I don’t know,” Skye said as she turned to face her brother. “He left.”
    “Where did he go, Skye?” Omari roared as he looked to her. Skye turned to her brother again, displaced by the anger that bubbled underneath his black uniform. She watched him as his body flared with every breath he took; knowing the pain he felt from within surmounted the damage already done to his body. “W-we can still catch up to him. We can sti—”
    “He could have easily killed us if he wanted too… Instead he said he only came to deliver a message. It’s over. Let it