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T he darkness suffocates her, but Kamaria forces herself to keep breathing. She knows it would be easier to lay down under Islas’s watchful eyes and sleep until the sun returns. She is tempted to succumb, to let the shadows’ inkiness soak into her blood and pull her down. With each breath in, she can feel the darkness fill her lungs, twist through her heart, and land solidly in her feet.It makes each step feel heavy, but the perlino dun fights the exhaustion that threatens her little body. She has decided to explore the shore that winds along Loess, this time with Islas’s permission. Her mother hadn’t been thrilled about her first adventure alone, even when Kamaria had used what amounts of peace she could control. The girl had learned from that experience, and now Kamaria can explore by herself as long as she tells her mother where she is going and when she will come back. The smell of the ocean on the breeze had been exciting at first, but now it is overwhelming and stings her nose. Kamaria has been walking long enough to realize that the land over her left shoulder is not Loess anymore; in the near distance, she can faintly make out the blurred edges of a forest. Her homeland is sprinkled with trees, but they have twisting limbs or sharp edges and often prefer standing alone. This forest is different from what she knows — and this newness guides her away from the beach and into the thick trees. |
credit to nat of adoxography.
@[keyna]