eyes can't shine unless there's something burning bright behind
It was like a vast void, the darkness that took her. There were moments when she thought she could see things; huge constellations and untouched galaxies. The last thing she saw before she was sucked into this warped tunnel was the scowling face of the archmage. His grizzled muzzle tipped into a snarl while blood oozed from the blade in his left eye. From behind her, she had heard her partner calling her name.
"Let her go!"
Aurelia was unable to move her body, not a single fiber of it. So she couldn't see what Seren was doing. Forced to stare her killer in his dark eyes, fear had turned her blood ice-cold. She always thought that she could look death in the face and feel nothing. Nothing but determination or vengeance but, at her core, all she could feel was dread. She wasn't ready to die. What would become of her sisters? They would be forced into a life of poverty, at best, without her. They were capable young women, surely, but... they didn't have the same fire that Aurelia did. She knew that they were too soft, they were a different cut of the same cloth.
"No!" It was Seren again. If anyone could put a stop to this, it was him.
No time was spared for him to save her life before the archmage's mouth started to move. Expecting an unbearably painful death, Aurelia felt a scream build within her throat. If only she could move the muscles required to let it out. In a flash of black, everything was gone. Her untimely death was silent - and figurative.
It seemed like seconds that she was caught in between here and there. When she felt the ground beneath her once more, she found she had lost the strength to stand but had regained the ability to move. Her scream, trapped inside her chest, freed itself. Her body collapsed onto the wood and her agonized cry split the midnight air. The brown hood of her poncho fell back as Aurelia frantically looked around for Seren or the archmage.
"Damn it! I was so close!" she spat, slamming her hands down on the wood.
Everything around her was... strange and unfamiliar. On the surface, an entire city. An entire city. on. the. surface!?!?
People walked the streets casually, though it was late and there were drunk stragglers. A few who heard her yell glanced in her direction. They didn't seem interested, though. Dimly lit buildings lined the ocean's shoreline and disappeared into a jungle as waves collapsed upon the sand. This did nothing to comfort her.
Her heart was pounding with sickening thuds against her chest. She was sat upon some sort of bridge, a loading station perhaps. Her home did use ships to cross small oceans, though she had never been around them before. She had only heard of them, of the stories about terrifying sea monsters breaking entire ships like a twig and eating everyone on board.
I am really far from home... really, really far. What happened?
"What happened, damn it!?" she cried, eyes welling up with tears and her hands balling up into fists against the rough boards. Her mind was racing along with her heart but, she could not think clearly. She jumped from worry for Seren to worry for her own situation and boomeranged back and forth between the two. She looked around at the meager crowd in the area, most of them looking unapproachable. Fuuck, I need to get out of the open, her mind felt foggy and her strength was zapped. Survival instincts were telling her to get somewhere safe to form a plan. If only she knew where to go. She looked down at her fists, mumbling, "Where in the aboveground hell am I?"
The sound of approaching footsteps made her start. A single hand reached down beneath the blood-splattered poncho, along her waistline. What she was fumbling for could not be seen yet, but she secured the handle of a small knife. She looked up with fiery green eyes and practically growled through her teeth, "Fuck off or die."
"Let her go!"
Aurelia was unable to move her body, not a single fiber of it. So she couldn't see what Seren was doing. Forced to stare her killer in his dark eyes, fear had turned her blood ice-cold. She always thought that she could look death in the face and feel nothing. Nothing but determination or vengeance but, at her core, all she could feel was dread. She wasn't ready to die. What would become of her sisters? They would be forced into a life of poverty, at best, without her. They were capable young women, surely, but... they didn't have the same fire that Aurelia did. She knew that they were too soft, they were a different cut of the same cloth.
"No!" It was Seren again. If anyone could put a stop to this, it was him.
No time was spared for him to save her life before the archmage's mouth started to move. Expecting an unbearably painful death, Aurelia felt a scream build within her throat. If only she could move the muscles required to let it out. In a flash of black, everything was gone. Her untimely death was silent - and figurative.
It seemed like seconds that she was caught in between here and there. When she felt the ground beneath her once more, she found she had lost the strength to stand but had regained the ability to move. Her scream, trapped inside her chest, freed itself. Her body collapsed onto the wood and her agonized cry split the midnight air. The brown hood of her poncho fell back as Aurelia frantically looked around for Seren or the archmage.
"Damn it! I was so close!" she spat, slamming her hands down on the wood.
Everything around her was... strange and unfamiliar. On the surface, an entire city. An entire city. on. the. surface!?!?
People walked the streets casually, though it was late and there were drunk stragglers. A few who heard her yell glanced in her direction. They didn't seem interested, though. Dimly lit buildings lined the ocean's shoreline and disappeared into a jungle as waves collapsed upon the sand. This did nothing to comfort her.
Her heart was pounding with sickening thuds against her chest. She was sat upon some sort of bridge, a loading station perhaps. Her home did use ships to cross small oceans, though she had never been around them before. She had only heard of them, of the stories about terrifying sea monsters breaking entire ships like a twig and eating everyone on board.
I am really far from home... really, really far. What happened?
"What happened, damn it!?" she cried, eyes welling up with tears and her hands balling up into fists against the rough boards. Her mind was racing along with her heart but, she could not think clearly. She jumped from worry for Seren to worry for her own situation and boomeranged back and forth between the two. She looked around at the meager crowd in the area, most of them looking unapproachable. Fuuck, I need to get out of the open, her mind felt foggy and her strength was zapped. Survival instincts were telling her to get somewhere safe to form a plan. If only she knew where to go. She looked down at her fists, mumbling, "Where in the aboveground hell am I?"
The sound of approaching footsteps made her start. A single hand reached down beneath the blood-splattered poncho, along her waistline. What she was fumbling for could not be seen yet, but she secured the handle of a small knife. She looked up with fiery green eyes and practically growled through her teeth, "Fuck off or die."
Aurelia
