Ramera, now in the sky let her self-pity sink away as she buried herself in her watch duty. However, her worries were quickly replaced by another, form this height it was suddenly apparent how close the dead were getting. Not long ago she’d viewed the horde from such a differing height and they appeared far off. Now however, they made themselves apparent to Ramera, and despite the other group’s efforts their numbers were still vast. It seemed quite possible the dead would make it to Paradise, but assuming the number of people out there currently fighting them, the opposite didn’t seem impossible. So long as nobody else gets injured, they’ll be able to do just fine, Ramera thought to herself.
But then, at that moment the yellow streak of a flare gun went into the sky. Something was wrong, they were retreating. Although, Ramera couldn’t explain her dislike of the action, it didn’t sit well with her. They were warriors built as the defense of this city. The only retreat available should be that for the dead or dying. That was, unless they’d been overwhelmed somehow. Perhaps the plan was a failure. Perhaps there was the dying among them. Her thoughts shifted to her sister, Anora! Ramera would kill her if she died.
Ramera let herself down onto the wall, staring at the ground with her teeth clenched. Clo had been in the same situation before as well, but Ramera had walked away, abandoning her sister. She hadn’t even bothered to see how she’d faired; all she’d done was look away. She could feel her muscles tense. There wasn’t another person that she’d hated more than herself at that moment. Then, she saw a figure in the distance, while the sight didn’t surprise her; it brought a relieved feeling washing through her like cool water. It was the sight of her sister Anora, quickly closing the distance between them with powerful flaps from her wings.
Anora landed beside Anora and didn’t break stride as she described the situation. “Paradise is under lockdown and the others have headed straight to the infirmary. For now it will just be you and me actually doing our duty to defend this city. A massive horde of the dead is approaching,” she said, while wiping her swords off of a piece of cloth, followed by her sheathing her swords. Ramera knew of the distance between them as well as her sister, nonetheless saying something would be pointless. “I’ll gather the collection of pointed rocks we have been chiseling into shape. I don’t want to lose any more of my throwing knives.” Ramera could feel her regular, dedicated habits slipping back in place in her mind.
“Of course sister, if you wish to use them over the knives, that is your choice. Not mine” She said, nodding her head down and closing her eyes as she did it. She followed her sister as she made her way over to their shack atop the wall. She stood in the cloth doorway as her sister drug a mat from the corner of the room. The carpet had an assortment of rocks, some large, some small, and others with small makeshift handles chiseled out of the stone. Anora turned to her, with a look of concern strewn across her face.
“Are you alright, sister?” Ramera could feel her jaw tense as she heard the question. Telling her sister would only distract them during their confrontation with the incoming invasion.
She let out a long breath before looking her sister in the eyes and giving a soft smile. “It’s nothing, I’ll tell you afterwards,” she said as she bent over to help her sister shift through the make shift knives. She started to put some into her pockets, before feeling a brush of paper on the inside of one of her pockets, it was the fortune. She pulled it out, laying the crumpled paper onto a bench off to the side before continuing inserting the rocks into her pockets. “By the way Anora, I wasn’t down there myself, but from back here at Paradise they seemed kind of… organized.” She looked into her sister’s face. “Did you learn anything regarding them while you were down there?” she said, inquiring to her younger sister about the incoming dead.