“Miriam, slow down!” Mariana complained between labored huffs. “Come on, Livio, back me up here. Our legs aren’t meant for such long climbs.”

Miriam only laughed, “Aren’t you guys supposed to be the young ones? How are you not keeping up?”

Livio took her teasing for the respite it was meant to be and plopped himself down on a boulder. He was faring a little better than his wife, but even he marveled at Miriam’s stamina.

Of the three halflings Miriam seemed to be the only one who considered this outing a light walk, even though they were deep in the mountains and a week away from the nearest city.

“Ahh, come on, Mia! Look at this view! Worth the trouble, don’t you think?”

Reluctantly, Mariana came up to the older woman. The view was indeed gorgeous – the low clouds have finally cleared, giving them an unobstructed view of the entire mountain range and the valley below. Further to the north Mariana could even make out the ruins of the old city, climbing up onto one of the taller peaks.

The wind picked up and Mariana held on to her hat, trying not to think of what it would mean to stumble. As beautiful as the view was, there was something eerie about the dead city just a few miles away.

She thought she heard a murmur and turned to Miriam, “What did you say?”

“Mariana?..” Miriam was looking over Mariana’s shoulder, the worried frown on her face making Mariana herself freeze up.

“Y–yeah?..” she felt a presence to her side that definitely wasn’t Livio, and together with Miriam’s weird expression it made her feel uneasy. Was there a bear, or a wolf? Surely they could handle some wild animals, they all had their weapons and were decent fighters.

“Run!” Miriam cried out, something flashing in her eyes that Mariana had never seen before. Against her better judgment, she turned to look.

A dozen of empty, bottomless wells of eyes stared right at Mariana. They seemed to be smiling, though Mariana couldn’t see any mouths or other features. They were smiling, and laughing, and reaching out to her.

She screamed.

—–

Mariana woke up with a start. Her ears were ringing and her throat hurt as if she’d been screaming, but she couldn’t remember why she could have done that. They were in the mountains hiking, she knew that. Her hip hurt, so she imagined she might have taken a nasty fall.

“Livio? Love, are you there? Help me up, you oaf!”

Everything was eerily silent. Suddenly worried, she finally managed to sit herself up to look around. Livio was on the ground a dozen feet away, and with a panicked shriek Mariana stumbled to his side on all fours. He was unconscious but breathing, no injuries beyond some scrapes and bruises.

It was only then that she remembered about Miriam.

“Miriam?” she shouted into the mountain, vaguely wondering if it was a bad idea. “Miriam, this isn’t funny, where are you?”

There was no answer, nor was there any trace of the other woman.

Cautiously, Mariana looked down from the path they were on. The precipice was steep and definitely dangerous, making her lightheaded, but she stubbornly peered into the misty depth, hoping to get a glimpse of her friend.

The darkness smiled at her, and Mariana felt her throat constrict with the need to scream.

Miriam’s voice reverberated in her head, a forgotten memory.

“Run.”

—–

I feel like this didn’t really fit the prompt in the end, but whatever, I’m sick and can’t come up with anything better.