Chapter 106: The Exchange
The sun was warm against her back, and the wind whispered through the leaves with a gentle, hushing sound.
"Anya, just a second, okay? It's almost done!"
Lily's fingers were being stubborn. The thin green stem of the wildflower refused to stay in place, slipping out of the woven loop again and again. She furrowed her brow, using the tip of her fingernail to carefully, delicately tuck the stray fiber back into the circle.
There!
Lily lifted her handiwork with a satisfied grin—a slightly lopsided but vibrant flower crown. She looked up, intending to place the crown upon Anya's head.
And then, Lily froze.
The Great Oak was gone.
The soft, overgrown grass was gone.
The quiet, secluded garden had vanished entirely.
Lily found herself standing in the center of a crowded street. Beneath her feet were grey, uneven cobblestones slick with grime. The buildings on either side were made of wood—short, cramped, and covered in webs of deep cracks. The air didn't smell like flowers; it was heavy with the stench of mildew and the pungent odor of horse manure.
This wasn't the Evernight Academy.
This wasn't Iron Fortress.
At least, it wasn't the Iron Fortress Lily knew.
"Anya?"
Lily spun in a circle. The girl in the grey dress was nowhere to be seen.
"Anya! Where are you?!"
No answer came. The street was teeming with people—far too many people. They were moving with a frantic, feverish pace, their faces masks of raw terror. Some dragged massive, overstuffed bundles; others had wailing infants strapped to their backs. Ox-carts piled high with furniture jolted over the stones, their wheels creaking in protest.
A middle-aged man sprinted past Lily, nearly knocking her over. Lily staggered, her grip on the flower crown slipping as it fell to the dirt. The man didn't stop. He didn't even look back. He just kept running.
Lily knelt to retrieve her treasure, dusting it off with her hands. "Mister! You almost stepped on me!"
The man offered no reply. Lily chased after him for a few steps, reaching out to grab the hem of his tunic.
"Mister!"
Lily's hand passed directly through the man's body.
She stood rooted to the spot, staring at her own palm. Then, she reached out again, trying to catch the arm of a woman hurrying past. Her fingers slid through the woman's flesh as if she were grabbing at smoke. There was no resistance. No warmth.
It was as if... as if she didn't exist at all.
Lily's heart began to hammer against her ribs, a frantic, rhythmic thud. She remembered the morning at the training grounds. Miguel-oniichan had said he couldn't see Anya. Tom had said the same. None of her friends could see her.
Now... have I become like Anya?
"Hans-nii..." Lily whispered. Her voice was so tiny it was swallowed by the wind. "Is anyone there...?"
No one heard her. The crowd surged forward, their bodies passing through hers again and again. An old woman tripped ahead of her, her bag of belongings spilling across the stones. No one stopped to help. The crowd simply swerved around her, driven by a singular, desperate impulse.
"The Undead Calamity is coming!"
"Flee! Viscount Andrew ordered everyone to run for Jade Territory!"
"Move, or we're all dead!"
The screams drilled into Lily's ears.
The Undead Calamity? What was that? The instructors had never mentioned such a thing.
Lily stood motionless as the tide of humanity washed through her. She felt no touch, no heat. She clutched the flower crown against her chest; it was the only thing in this world that felt solid.
She began to walk.
Where is the Academy? She followed the layout of the city from memory, crossing street after unfamiliar street. She recognized the intersections, but the buildings were all wrong. There were no spacious, sunlit halls. No scrubbed, clean avenues. And there were no Skeleton Uncles to wave at her as she passed.
Lily quickened her pace. She ran through a filthy marketplace where rotting vegetable leaves were being trampled into the muck. She crossed an empty plaza where the central fountain sat dry and choked with dust.
Finally, she reached the coordinate where the Evernight Academy should have been.
It was an empty lot.
The land was overgrown with weeds and littered with broken wooden crates. There was no towering school building. No wide training field. And there was no Great Oak for Lily and Anya to sit under.
Nothing.
Lily's eyes began to sting. Tears tracked down her face, falling onto her clothes.
"Hans-nii..." she sobbed, calling for the man who always scooped her up when she cried.
No one answered. Just as her vision was beginning to blur, she spotted a familiar silhouette.
A faded grey dress. Long, raven-black hair.
Anya!
The girl was standing a short distance away at the edge of the clearing, watching the panicking crowd with a vacant, hollow expression. Lily sprinted toward her.
"Anya! Anya!"
Lily reached Anya and tried to grab her hand. Again, her fingers found no purchase. Anya gave no sign of recognition. Her eyes were fixed on the street, but they seemed to be looking through Lily at the empty air behind her.
"Anya, it's me! It's Lily!" She waved her hands frantically in front of Anya's face. "Can you see me?! Anya!"
Anya turned and merged into the crowd, following the flow of people toward the city gates. Lily blinked, stunned, before scrambling to follow.
The press of bodies grew tighter. Everyone was funneling toward the same exit: the Great Gate of Iron Fortress. Lily trailed behind Anya, passing through the chests and shoulders of dozens of people. She tried to catch Anya's hand over and over, only to grasp at shadows.
"Anya..." Lily's voice broke into a whimper. "Why won't you talk to me...?"
Anya walked just ahead of her—so close, yet infinitely far away.
Together, they passed through the towering gates. Outside was a muddy dirt road choked with refugees. The wails of children, the barks of soldiers, and the sound of wheels sinking into the mire created a wall of noise.
Lily instinctively looked back.
The ramparts of Iron Fortress were packed with knights in shining armor. She saw a man in a particularly magnificent suit of plate standing at the highest point of the wall, shouting something to the people below. The wind was too fierce; his words were lost to her.
Who is that?
Lily squinted, but the distance was too great to see his face. Why are these people running away?
Anya kept moving, her steps mechanical and rhythmic. Lily bit her lip and chased after her.
"Anya!"
No one heard.
"Anya! Wait for me!"
Still, silence was her only reply. Lily ran until her chest burned with every breath. Finally, she managed to pull alongside Anya again. Anya's face was a blank slate, her eyes fixed solely on the road ahead.
The crowd surged. Anya surged with them. And Lily, clutching her flower crown, followed her only friend into the unknown.
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you