The coldness is coming again.
Reena.
Creeping veins of frost to disrupt your life.
Wake up, Reena. You need to put more wood on the fire.
Dwindling, just like her. Hehehehe…
Get too cold, and you’ll never grow old.
Her eyes slowly opened, with the restless voices’ pleas reaching her. Her hand searched the dark that was warmed by embers for a piece to place upon the starving flames. After a moment the fire was fed, and her familiar hopped out from under the blankets, gently flapping its wings to breathe life into the dwindling fire before skipping back into her warmth. She adjusted her cloak while gently petting her familiar’s head, earning its soft purr.
Hm hm hm hmmm hm hm hm hmmmm…
She’s falling asleep again.
Safely tucked away in the warmth of the furs and the love of the fire.
Love? It burned her.
Just like everyone else… Just like the Unworthy.
She doesn’t need anyone else.
The silent night continued with the whispers never ending in her mind as she rested to the one that hummed a soft tune for her as it did every night. However, she never slept deeply with the random bouts of unhinged laughter, jeers, taunts, and constant streams of the endless questions.
Do you ever wonder why we’re here?
What was that?
Reena, wake up. Something’s in the darkness.
Will you tell me what chocolate tastes like?
Reena!
It’s not safe!
The fire crackled with its promise of warmth as the soft furs held it close to her.
A heavy breath and crushing weight violated the pristine snow that smothered the forest.
Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!
REEEEENNNNANAAAA!
Death would be happy to claim her as we.
It’s hunnnggrrryyyy! Ehehe
Claws and teeth.
Teeth and claws.
Her eyes finally flew open to the pleading voices, and she sluggishly began to recognize the world around her. First, she heard the compaction of the snow, then the groans of the yews as a weight tested them. Her breath shook as she silently gathered her belongings, securing what she could to herself while fear began to strangle her mind.
She may shake, but she will not stop. Her hands fumble skillfully, guided through the memory of the motions to secure her belt and cloak. Taking advantage of the moments granted.
Time grew short, and another appointment with death haunted her. Fear drove her heart to shred against her chest.
You’re out of time.
EVADE!
It’s not safe!
EVADE!
Reena! Evade!
EVADE!
She dove as impossibly sharp claws slashed through the yews, destroying her home of the past three weeks while she quickly started to move to her feet until sharp fangs dug into her right shoulder, ripping her from the broken shelter.
She’s hurt!
Don’t give up!
Run away!
She’s too weak.
You are a fighter. You will survive this.
Attack!
Tears fell from her eyes as the pain tore through her. The beast tossed her aside. Blood stained her cloak, seeping through the punctures left to paint the snow. She rolled onto her side with a pained cry that excited the beast. She attempted to reach for her sword before its claws swiped at her, claiming ravines of flesh in her side, and throwing her on her back yet again.
Useless.
She’s too weak...
Try harder!
She’s too hurt…
She’s remembering.
The pain is reminding her.
Her own teeth sunk into her bottom lip as she forced herself to her feet while drawing her sword. Her voidal eyes were sparked by the souls that never left her.
“May time forget your life.” her voice was timid, almost regretful, and green flames washed over her sword as her hand passed over it, the stars dancing in her eyes.
The beast swung at her with her sword meeting it, but her grip was weak. The sword was thrown from her while the two of them howled in pain together. It limped back from her as the fresh wound upon its paw began to rot with the green flame. The beast’s eyes flew to her, holding a disdain that she had always been met with.
Beast or man, it did not matter, they all hated what she was.
She gripped her shoulder with blood trickling down her lip from her self inflicted wound as she watched panic envelop the creature. She turned her back to it as she retrieved her sword, closing her eyes and praying that she could not hear the noises of the beast ripping away its own rotting flesh.
“I’m sorry.” she whimpered into the freezing night’s air before she turned back to the creature.
So desperate to survive.
Why would you use such a cruel spell?
What choice did she have? She’s too weak to be merciful.
It had no intentions of mercy!
Just like everyone else.
Ehh heh heh… Poor poor little Reena. She’s crying for the beast.
Honorably she risked further injury to herself to grant the creature a mercy.
A coward’s kill.
Reena moved to the beast, raising her sword above its head while it gnawed the flesh away from its own paw, and in one swift motion, she ended its suffering. She drove her sword down with her weight behind it to ensure the kill, adding as little as possible to the beast’s pain. She shuddered as her body shook on her knees, deep in the blood-stained snow while she clutched the hilt of her sword to her chest.
“I don’t know how much more of this I can endure.” she cried while her tears threatened to freeze her eyes shut, and she felt his cold hand upon her shoulder.
Although his touch was cold, it was a welcomed comfort. A friend that always stayed at her side like the familiar that loved her.
His presence was forced. He has no choice.
He grew soft as he learned more of her, as he grew to understand her.
Pity was the driving force after revenge was forsaken.
True friendship and a deep care for one another is what she gained with her ghostly companion.
However, he will always be trapped with her for as long as her hellish existence continues.
She cried against the back of her hands that still wailed of their meeting with the fire. The tears would not stop while she accepted the loss of yet another home. The tears would not stop while the mountain reminded her of the fear she had always been fond of. The tears frosted her cheeks with the dreadful cold while she failed to pull herself together.
She can’t stop crying.
Do you remember the last time you questioned what you could endure?
She remembers.
It’s why she was near her end before the tea man.
So many wounds.
So many invisible.
The morning rays peeked through the snow-covered needles of the trees that loomed over the frozen mountain.
Did she sleep?
There is no rest for the wicked.
She huddled against the beast for the night.
She’s weak. Body, mind, and soul.
It’s a miracle she did not bleed out.
Never without perseverance.
“Life has forgotten you, but I have not.” her voice sounded warm under the snow that soon shifted, falling away to reveal the undead beast with her beside it as its eyes reflected a starless void within them.
She tightly wrapped her cloak around herself, unable to deny the unshakable cold that threatened to shatter her bones. In her state, she was unsure if the spell had risen the beast or her, but she shook the thought from her head and nodded it forward. The dead beast ambled through the snow, creating an easier path for her to walk on in her more-than-weakened state.
‘What are you doing?’ he scolded as his ghostly form appeared, sitting on the beast’s back.
“Continuing the barrier.” her answer was drier than the air that cracked her already split lips.
‘Suicidal idiot.’ he growled, earning a tired smile from her as the undead beast stopped at a tree.
What is she doing?
Retrieving what she hid in the canopy.
She could not take it all with her.
Bones of betrayal. Bones of survival. Bones of the dead.
Silly little Reena. The work will kill her.
She’s so hurt.
Will she make it?
It’s not safe.
The mountain is not safe.
Nowhere is safe for Reena
Because she belongs to death.
She needs a hero.
Like that worked so well last time.
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