The New Clear City piers were bustling in the midday Australian sun. Dock and warehouse workers were moving like ants dotting the concrete surface. In a certain musty warehouse however, darker business was proceeding.
Men wearing cheap suits strolled around patrolling the area with assault rifles. In the rear warehouse office sat old men in high quality suits and a single middle aged man in patterned leather and cloth clothing.
The old men talked among themselves while the middle aged man sat in silence.
“Ey Witchy, when’s the cocaine gonna get here?” One old man questioned the middle aged man named Witch Docturban.
Witch Docturban turned to the old man. “It’s supposed ta be delivered by 5pm. 50 tons is a lot so it may take longer, mate.”
The old man nodded and shifted back to talking with the others.
A crash resounded, then another. Gunshots rang out before dying down.
The old men lept to their feet and took out their handguns. Witch Docturban leisurely stood and mumbled something to himself.
An old man asked, “Where’s Saby and Shoty?”
The room stayed silent. Footsteps clacked on concrete heading towards their room. The men readied their handguns and pointed them towards the door.
The footsteps stopped and the door was kicked open. The men fired on the uninvited visitor, a tall woman clad in tight fitting white robes with red and blue streaks across it.
White light was pouring from her like a miniature sun blinding anyone who looked. Her face was covered by cloth, but it couldn’t hide burning white light shooting from her eyes.
When bullets hit her, they harmlessly fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. The men kept firing, filling the room with the smell of gunpowder, but it was hopeless.
Physical light ropes extended from the woman’s hands and restrained each man until they reached Witch Docturban.
As they neared, he finished mumbling. A female ghost in a white dress rose from the floor. It reached for the invading woman, but paused when it touched light emitting from her.
The woman stared at the ghost as her brown hair whipped around like it was in the middle of a storm. Light gathered before the cloth on her face and shot out in a beam. The beam went straight through the ghost making it burst into dark smoke and pierced a hole deep into the floor.
“Damn bogan!” With the ghost dealt with, Witch Docturban panicked. He was soon restricted and gagged so he couldn’t cast any more spells.
Once everyone was captured, the woman pulled out an old, low quality flip phone. “Everyone has been arrested. Witch Docturban is among them.”
From the phone was a man’s voice. “Good on ya, Lightstrider! He’s been givin’ us a fair bit of trouble.”
“Yeah. Send the money to the usual bank account.” Lightstrider terminated the call. Waving her hand, light strands rose from the floor to lift each man into the air.
She walked with them trailing her into the main warehouse storage area. On the floor, the guards were bound similarly.
Lightrider set all the men down and grabbed a chair to sit on while waiting for the authorities. She looked through the walls by turning on her x-ray vision to track where they were and how long she would have to wait.
“Mmmph! Mmmmmm!” Witch Docturban was glaring at her and trying to yell something. Lightstrider deliberated about undoing his gag. He could cast curses, but she figured if he had a curse powerful enough to affect her, he would have used it already.
She twirled her hand and the solid light band covering his mouth disappeared. Witch Docturban took several deep breaths before staring at Lightstrider. “Sheila, you should do me in before the coppas get here.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Why would I do that?”
“I’m in too deep. If they nab me again, I’ll be shoved in solitary for the rest of me life, mate. End me as mercy.”
Lightstrider shook her head. “I don’t kill people. No one deserves to die.”
He laughed. “Naive one ain’t ya. I’ll give ya one more chance to do me in before I do it meself. I’m a Kurdaitcha, mate. That wouldn’t be good for ya.”
She rolled her eyes and placed the gag back on his mouth. Witch Docturban shook his head and stared at Lightstrider with mirth in his eyes.
Then his eyes lost focus, staring off into nothingness. His cheeks grew hollow and his muscles atrophied. Lightstrider stood, but it was too late. Witch Docturban fell like a leaf, only skin and bones.
She walked before him and faltered. She didn’t want to touch him, but she needed to know if it was a trick. Lightstrider reached out with her finger which sunk into his arm with a squish. She squeaked and stepped back.
Once the police arrived to arrest the gang, she had to explain how Witch Docturban died. “What’dya mean he just shriveled up?”
She shrugged. “He was completely bound and gagged. It was as if his will to die was powerful enough to kill him.”
The policeman rubbed his chin. “Hmmm. Come with us to the shop. Need your testimony for the paperwork.”
Lightstrider smiled and shook her head. “You have no jurisdiction over me. I’ve got somewhere to be.”
The man groaned as Lightstrider floated into the air and rocketed through the window she used for her entrance. She shot through the sky slower than sound, but only because the shockwave would be too destructive.
Lightstrider spotted the watch of someone on the street as she passed by. “5:30. I still have time.”
She landed next to one of many tall buildings in the city. Looking with x-ray vision, she spotted an empty women’s restroom. Lightstrider entered and locked herself into a stall. She opened a light portal and took out work clothes and a purse.
She quickly changed into her everyday wear so she appeared to be an average brunette with high waisted pants and a long cardigan. Her hair was in a bun and she put on useless glasses.
She walked out of the bathroom and entered one of the nearby buildings. Then she walked up the stairs and entered inside a stuffy room marked “Excelpert Construction”.
Inside was a waiting room complete with a reception desk and several chairs resting against the wall. The woman at the desk stared at the visitor. “How can I help you?”
“Hello. I’m here for an interview. My name is Ameliah Hawthorn.” Ameliah clenched her purse.
The receptionist typed some stuff into the computer. “Ah, you’re applying to be a project director. Have a seat and they’ll call you in when they’re ready.”
“Yes.” Ameliah bobbed her head and settled in a chair. While she waited, her eyes darted around the boring room, trying to find something to take her mind off the impending interview. She went over common questions and answers in her head to make herself less nervous.
15 minutes later, the receptionist called her name. “Ameliah Hawthorn? They’re ready to see you now. Go ahead through the door on your right and down the hall. They’ll be in the conference room.”
Ameliah walked through the door and entered a long carpeted hallway that forked halfway through. At the end of the hallway, Ameliah entered a door marked “conference room”.
Inside were three tired looking men behind a long wooden table. She took the seat before them and tried to look as confident as her hero persona.
The one in the middle, a grey haired man, looked at some papers on the table. “So you’re Ameliah Hawthorn, right?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“You graduated from Questern University with a bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and worked at Tefile Construction for 3 years, right? So why did you break it off with them?”
“Well, my husband got a job here so I quit and moved with him from the states.”
The man on the right cut in. “So you’re an immigrant then?”
“Yes.”
The man in the middle scratched his chin. “Hmm. You’re quite young too. What projects did you complete at Tefile?”
“Mostly low income housing projects and new studio apartments.”
The man on the left chimed in. “Are you familiar with Australia’s building codes?”
Ameliah nodded her head. “I’ve familiarized myself with them.”
The old man crossed his arms sending over wafting body odor and shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think you’re what we’re looking for. If you get a Masters or PhD in construction science feel free to apply again if the position is still open.”
Ameliah sighed. This was the third rejection this week. She stood from her seat. “Okay. Thank you for your time.” Then she left the building.
Ameliah hung her head as she caught a smelly bus back home. She tried calling her husband, Garrith, but it didn’t even ring before going to voicemail.
30 minutes later, she trudged to her one story house in the suburbs outside the city. She rustled with her keys, trying to find which one was for the front door.
“G’day Ameliah. Back from work?”
Ameliah turned towards the voice. Carly was weeding her garden in the evening sun with her curly red hair covered by a wide brimmed hat.
“Hello Carly. Yeah, something like that.” She stood there awkwardly for a second watching Carly garden before going back to looking for her house key.
After finding it, she dashed inside before Carly could continue the conversation. Inside the sanctity of her house, she sighed and took her shoes off.
In the living room, Garrith was reading the news on his laptop while drinking tea. He was a short Asian man with brown eyes and black hair. Ameliah walked into the kitchen to look for something to eat, but when she opened the fridge, nothing seemed appetizing.
She walked back into the living room and plopped onto the couch next to her husband. He ignored her as he sat with rapt attention staring at video footage showing police officers raiding a warehouse. A woman wrapped in light flew out a window like a blazing comet.
Ameliah tried to make conversation. “Wow. She's pretty amazing.”
He finally acknowledged her with a grunt. “It must be fantastic to have powers.”
Ameliah shook her head. “It probably comes with its own problems. I’m sure the government can’t wait to get their hands on her.”
He looked at her side-eyed. “What would you know? That is all conspiracy nonsense. How could the government even catch someone like that?”
Ameliah shrugged and changed the subject. “How was work?”
He grumbled. “Not great. I will most likely have to stay overnight in a couple days. This was not what they promised.”
She patted his back and smirked. “Hey if it’ll help, I could relieve some of your tension tonight.”
He glowered at her. “Yeah right. You always disappear at night and go off to who knows where until morning. Why do you refuse to tell me what job you took?”
She pulled back. “It’s not every night. My part time job is a bit secretive, that’s all. It pays well too.”
“Hmph. There are a couple well paying jobs you could do at night. I pray you would not stoop that low just because you cannot find anything in construction.”
Ameliah was mortified. “Excuse me! I am not-“ She glanced around and whispered, “like that.”
He scoffed. “Why are you whispering? No one else is here.”
“I don’t want Luna to hear these sorts of things.”
Garrith froze. “Balls. I forgot to pick Luna up from Life After School.”
Ameliah shot up. “What?!”
He placed his arms in front of his chest. “Geez, it just escaped my mind that Friday was my day to pick her up. Do not get irrational with me over that.”
Ameliah threw her hands in the air. “I can’t believe you! Give me your keys. I’ll go pick her up myself.”
Garrith mumbled obscenities while fishing in his pockets for his keys. He threw them to her and she slipped on her shoes to rush out the door.
She hopped in Garrith’s car and sped from their neighborhood heading to the city. Wherever she could, Ameliah went above the speed limit. She used her x-ray vision to dodge cops and quick reaction speed to handle the car at high speeds.
Riiiiiiiiii-
At some point in the drive she heard an annoying, persistent, ringing noise. Ameliah looked around, but couldn’t find anything. She was almost to the school her daughter attended so she ignored the ringing.
As she passed by a bus, the earth shook. An earthquake strong enough to split the street and raise part of the road sent her car into a telephone pole and caused the bus to flip.
Ameliah was fine, but the ground was still rumbling. She tried to escape the car, but a ghostly hand reached through the steering wheel to grab her.
“Witch Docturban?!”
She clad herself entirely in light to hide her identity while fighting off the female ghost and blasted it from existence. The light beam tore a huge hole through the car and revealed countless ghostly hands reaching through to grab her.
“Oh my god. How can he be alive?” She flew away from the car and was followed by innumerable ghosts rising from the ground. She wiped them all from existence as they appeared, but they were like an endless stream.
“No. I watched him die. He has to be dead.”
People disembarked the wrecked bus, helping those who were injured through the emergency door on the roof. When they got outside however, they stood transfixed at the sight of a woman made of light playing whack-a-mole with ghosts.
Some ghosts split off to attack the gawking bystanders. When they touched the living, it was as if time accelerated. Healthy young men grew old, shriveled, and died.
“No!” By the time Ameliah saw people getting killed, most had already perished. She screamed and light spread out to cover everything, wiping out stray ghosts.
She formed solid light platforms in the air to lift the bus. Now she could vaporize the ghosts before they could harm anyone.
After an agonizing ten minutes spent eliminating ghosts, the earth finally stopped rumbling. Ghosts ceased to appear, but the ringing in her ears continued.
She hesitated to set the bus down, but after a few minutes without ghosts appearing, she placed it on the ground. She sighed and ripped off the rear of the bus to let the survivors out.
There were few left. Some were crying and holding what she assumed were loved ones’ remains. They left the bus and tried to walk on the pavement littered with holes from her lasers while glaring at her in hatred.
Ameliah couldn’t look them in the eyes. These people died because of her. They were merely in the area when the curse triggered and she couldn’t save them.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
She pulled her flip phone from a light portal and called the only number in it. After it rang for a few seconds, a man picked up. “Sup?”
“I was attacked by Witch Docturban’s ghosts. There were multiple citizen fatalities.”
The line went silent. Keyboard keys clacked in the background. “His body’s still here. It’s gotta be someone else.”
“They appeared exactly the same as his so look into it. For now, help me clean up this mess.”
Ameliah looked around. “It’s on the intersection between High and George in the residential area outside New Clear.”
The man huffed. “Okay okay. A team’s sent.”
Ameliah smiled. “Thanks.” Then she hung up and placed the phone back into her portal.
She floated to the survivors sitting near the bus talking on their phones. “The police are coming. Wait here and they’ll take care of you.”
Some nodded and others ignored her. One person even gave her the middle finger. She tried to ignore it by flying towards her daughter’s school.
Ameliah landed near the gate and used her x-ray vision to make sure no one was around. When the coast was clear, she removed the light surrounding her and smoothed out her wrinkled clothes.
She rushed into the school and traversed down steps to the bottom floor. There, her daughter was waiting outside next to a scowling woman on her phone.
When Luna saw her mother, a smile bloomed on her face and she rushed over. “Mommy!”
The woman peered from her phone and sneered at Ameliah. “You’re her mother? It’s 7. You should’ve been here at 6.”
Ameliah grimaced. “I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”
The woman glared unamused. “Yeah it won’t. This isn’t the first time you’ve been late. If it happens again, we’ll be forced to remove you from the program.”
“I know. I’m really sorry.” Ameliah lowered her head and scurried away holding Luna’s hand. Because Garrith’s car was totaled and shot to pieces, she called a Scüber to take them home.
While waiting, Luna babbled about her school day. Ameliah listened half-heartedly because she was ruminating on what happened with the ghosts. The ringing in her ears also still bothered her.
Sensing her mother’s mood, Luna stopped talking and they stood in silence. When the Scüber got there, they quietly boarded.
Luna leaned on Ameliah during the ride home. Halfway to the house, she spoke up. “Do you still like me?”
Ameliah was surprised from her thoughts. “Of course sweety. Why would you even need to ask?”
Luna stared up at her. “You and daddy never talk to me anymore.”
Then she looked down. “I hate Australia.”
Ameliah’s face fell. “Your father and I will always love you no matter what. We’ve just been really… stressed. We’re tired from moving too. Have you made any new friends?”
Luna nodded. “Yeah, but they aren’t the same.”
Ameliah combed through Luna’s hair with her fingers. “I know you’ll come to like it here. You’re strong.” Stronger than me.
She left the last sentence unsaid. Luna burrowed into Ameliah’s side bashfully.
Soon after, they got home. Garrith wasn’t in the living room, but she could see with her x-ray vision he was on his tablet in their bedroom.
She made some food for Luna and herself, then had Luna brush her teeth before bed. Now she had to tell Garrith his car was destroyed.
Ameliah knocked before entering the room. Garrith was sitting under the covers and reading a book on his tablet. He peeked at Ameliah and grunted to acknowledge her existence.
She stood at the door pondering how to phrase it. “Hey Garrith. Um, there was an earthquake on the way to Luna’s school and your car was destroyed.”
He looked at her appalled. “What?! How am I supposed to get to work on monday?”
“Wow.” She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m okay too. I was thankfully able to avoid being swallowed by the ground.”
He laughed in ridicule. “Oh nO. NoT a TiNy EaRtHqUaKe. Do not get hysterical.”
Ameliah balked. “Hysterical?!”
“If it was an earthquake large enough to open a chasm, I would have felt it from here. Do not make excuses for your carelessness.”
She balled her fists. “How can you be so-!”
A sound rustled behind Ameliah. She turned around and Luna was standing there in her pajamas waiting to be put to bed.
Amelia shifted back to Garrith. “I’ll speak with you later.”
She took Luna by the hand and brought her to her room. “I’m sorry you had to hear that, sweety.”
Luna shook her head. “I’m used to it.”
Ameliah‘s heart ached. She tucked Luna into bed and read her a bedtime story.
When Luna fell asleep, Ameliah snuck from Luna’s room and headed to her own. She paused when her flip phone rang and opened the portal to take the call.
“G’day Lightstrider. We’ve got a cyborg prayin’ mantis man callin’ himself Mantor tearin’ up the city center. So far he’s killed tens of civilians and a handful of government sanctioned heroes.”
She sighed with exhaustion. “I’ll take care of it.”
Ameliah closed the phone and chucked it back into her portal, then opened the door to her room where Garrith was still reading on his tablet.
“I’m going out.”
He grunted and she took that as acceptance. Ameliah changed into her white hero clothes and left through the front door.
She flew off into New Clear City and soon arrived at the city center. Glass panes on skyscrapers were shattered and furrows were torn into the road.
There were many heroes making a defensive perimeter to keep Mantor in an enclosed area. Crowds of citizens watched from behind the line of defence.
In the enclosure’s center, a 3 meter tall green man with carapace and steel alloy skin stood fighting several heroes. He chopped at them with long scythe-like arms. Every time he cut the air, fantom scythes would shoot out to cut ground, buildings, and people.
A telekinetic hero levitated and threw building pieces at Mantor, but the cyborg was able to ward off the flying stones by slicing them to pieces with his arms. Mantor disappeared and reappeared behind the telekinetic with his scythes through the telekinetic’s chest. He pulled his arms apart and the man was ripped to pieces.
Ameliah wasn’t going to let him kill more people so she landed and shot light beams at Mantor. He tried to reflect the light with his scythe arms, but the beam’s weight blew him into a building.
She went to follow, but Mantor teleported to the same spot as before and roared. He cut at her by swinging his scythes through space, but they bounced harmlessly off her so she didn’t even bother blocking.
Ameliah stalked closer while sending physical light ropes to bind Mantor. She wrapped him completely in a light cocoon, but it went slack as he teleported next to her to batter her futilely.
She flew directly above him and focused a morsel of her inner light before her chest. It concentrated into a burning white pebble-sized light and she released it.
The roar created by the 5 meter diameter light beam shook the city and caused the people’s ears close to the blast to bleed. Only pure white could be seen until the beam ended.
In the aftermath, a large hole was created in the road too deep for a normal human to see. The soundwave also shattered nearby buildings’ windowpanes.
Mantor was nowhere to be seen so Ameliah grew worried. She didn’t want to kill him, merely incapacitate him.
She looked around warily and realized something was strange. Mantor had stuck his scythes through her chest.
“That can penetrate you, ey bitch.”
Ameliah laughed as Mantor tried to pull her apart or do any damage at all. When he failed, Mantor tried to remove his scythes to no avail.
She focused a light beam behind her and shot it before he could teleport away. Mantor screamed and reappeared on the ground with a hole through his chest.
Ameliah landed smiling at him. Her wounded chest closed and healed in seconds. Mantor’s face contorted and he gazed around at people cheering beyond the barrier.
“They know nothing. They think I’m a monster just because of how I look. But you, government dog, are the real monster.” Mantor spat blood on the street.
Ameliah shook her head. “As soon as you started killing people, you became the monster. No one deserves to die.”
He laughed in ridicule. Before he could react, Ameliah ran to his side and punched him in the cheek. His cybernetic parts in the area shattered revealing the wiring and knocking him out.
She wrapped him in physical light to hold him captive and gave him to the soldiers on standby. The crowd beyond the barricade cheered causing Ameliah to smile despite it breaking her mysterious superhero facade.
She floated high into the air and waved at them while grinning. They chanted her name.
“Lightstrider! Lightstrider! Lightstrider!”
RIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-
She prepared to fly away, but before she could, the persistent ringing in her ears amplified causing her to feel pain for the first time since she was a child.
She screamed and held her head as the earth shook again. The crowd below shrieked and soldiers scrambled to protect themselves against the shaking earth. Ravines opened to swallow entire skyscrapers while hills and mountains rose without reason.
Ameliah tried to regain her poise, but the pain was unbearable for someone who didn’t even remember what pain felt like. She struggled to ignore the pain and was eventually able to disregard it.
But she was too late. When she looked below, there was no longer a crowd of people, only a crowd of corpses. Ghosts feasted on every last person before turning their attention towards her.
The pain felt like nothing to her now. Something in Ameliah’s brain popped and a paralyzing buzz ran down her as the knowledge of her complete failure suffocated her ability to feel.
She tried to cry because logically she should feel sad, however she felt nothing but lethargy. Hungry ghosts reaching for her blew away the lethargy though, instead filling her with anger.
She formed light before her eyes and shot beams everywhere she looked. Ghosts were vaporized in droves, but they kept coming. Ameliah didn’t care. They were a memento of her failure she felt great pleasure erasing.
No one around could have survived so she didn’t hold back. Wherever ghosts appeared, they would find a light beam in their face.
By the time the ghosts stopped coming, any building in the city center left standing after the earthquake was long disintegrated by Ameliah’s tirade. Mountains were eroded and ravines were smoothed into valleys. The whole area was like a warzone.
Ameliah collapsed into a heap and finally cried. She couldn’t save anyone. Although she could feel the flip phone buzz in her light portal, she didn’t bother answering.
Once she let everything out, she flew home emotionally exhausted. The ringing in her ears continued at a painful volume, but she could now ignore it. Ameliah changed from her costume into nightclothes and lay to sleep with her back turned to her husband.
The next day, she woke and went through the motions. She made breakfast for Garrith and Luna, but barely touched her own. Garrith could tell something was wrong, but didn’t mention it.
Luna grabbed her mother’s hand after breakfast. “Mommy, can we go to the park today?”
Ameliah smiled for the first time that day. “Of course. I’d love to.”
Garrith was in the room, but he didn’t say anything. He continued reading the news on his computer. Ameliah stared at him and glimpsed the headline: City Center Destroyed by Rogue Earthquake, 1400 Dead Including 40 Heroes.
The gross feeling from earlier came back and reminded her she hadn’t informed her government contact about the situation. She walked to the porch and reached into her light portal to sneakily withdraw the flip phone.
After a single ring, the man on the other side picked up. “Blimey, I thought ya were done in by the earthquake last night. Glad ya survived.”
She took a deep breath. “That wasn’t a normal earthquake. It was Witch Docturban’s curse. I know it.”
“Well Lightstrider, don’t know what to tell ya. Gotta plan to break it?”
Ameliah shook her head. “I can’t think of anything yet, but something must be targeting me. It’s triggering earthquakes and sending ghosts. I’ll try to call it out when I have the time.”
She hung up and stored the flip phone again. Then she walked back into the house to get ready for the park.
Ameliah took a quick shower and slipped on some comfortable clothes. By the time she was ready, Luna was already waiting by the door.
“Let’s go! Let’s go!” Luna must have been excited because she was much more animated than usual. She pulled on her mother’s hand and they walked outside.
They walked past the neighbor Carly weeding her garden on the way. Carly smiled and waved while Ameliah gave a cursory nod and walked faster.
At the park, Ameliah sat on a bench and watched as Luna ran around. Sometimes she would also go and play with her. The ringing in her ears was preventing her from truly enjoying playing with Luna though. She was trying hard to bottle her irritation.
She pushed Luna on the swings having the time of her life. “I’m glad you’re finally playing with me, Mommy. I’ve been waiting forever~.”
Ameliah chuckled uncomfortably. “What do you mean by that?”
“Well~, you never play with me anymore and it makes me sad.”
The irritation from the constant ringing pushed Ameliah to become defensive. “What are you saying? I play with you sometimes. I’m NOT a bad mother.”
She neglected to control her strength with the next push and sent her daughter flying through the air. Luna screamed and hit the ground.
Luckily she seemed fine though because she sprung right up. “I’m sorry Luna. I didn’t mean to push so hard.”
Ameliah walked closer with her arms outstretched, but Luna ran away crying towards the jungle gym. She hid behind a pillar. “You’re mean.”
“I know sweety. I’m sor-“
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGG
The ringing noise increased in volume. Ameliah crouched with her head in her hands feeling as if her ears would bleed at any second. “No! Not now!”
The earth shook so she had to disregard the pain to protect her daughter. Ghosts could appear at any second.
Ameliah opened her eyes and watched in horror as the jungle gym collapsed into a caving ravine. She rushed forward. Luna looked up and let out a scream as the jungle gym fell and crushed her with a boom.
Ameliah’s heart dropped to the depths of her stomach. She didn’t care anymore about keeping appearances as a normal human and flung the large jungle gym pieces away.
Ghosts rose from the earth, but Ameliah fired light beams all around her to keep them all away no matter the collateral damage. Finally she tore away the last fallen strut to reveal her daughter underneath.
“M-mo- mmy?” Luna lay on the ground struggling to breathe with a 5cm diameter pole through her chest. An arm was bent the wrong way and a broken femur stuck through the skin on her leg.
“No no no no. This isn’t happening.” Ameliah couldn’t process what she was seeing and hyperventilated.
“M- I ca- n’t see. Sca- red.” Luna’s words woke Ameliah from her stupor and she dialed 000.
“Come on come on pick up.”
The phone kept ringing until an automated voice appeared. “Don’t hang up. We are experiencing heavy call volume-”
Ameliah raged and hung up. “I’ll just do it myself.”
She cut the pole’s ends without removing it, lifted Luna, and flew towards the nearest hospital not affected by the earthquake. Ghosts chased after like a swirling death tornado, but Ameliah kept them at bay.
She was flying to her destination fast, too fast. Ameliah glanced down when she felt liquid on her arms. The pole had gotten dislodged from Luna’s chest and she was rapidly losing blood.
“Damn it!”
Ameliah blocked the hole with physical light and hoped that would do. Then she created a light shield around them so the air resistance wouldn’t injure Luna any further.
Ameliah flew slower to make the trip easier on her wounded daughter. Ghosts were still following them, but they were thinning out. It seemed they could only emerge from the area affected by the earthquake.
Soon they made it to the hospital. Ameliah landed and ran into the emergency room. The nurse at the desk looked at the visitors and her eyes widened.
She stood and informed some nearby doctors of the situation. A trauma team including doctors and nurses rushed out and placed Luna on a gurney before wheeling her beyond double doors.
Ameliah sat in the hospital waiting room with her head in her hands. She glanced through the walls at her daughter’s state, but it gave her too much anxiety.
To take her mind off her daughter, she filled out the paperwork a nurse gave to her. She tried to call Garrith, but he didn’t answer.
Roughly ten minutes later, a nurse and doctor came out from behind the doors. The nurse pointed towards her and the doctor nodded.
He walked to her with a straight face. “Ma’am, I wish to discuss something about your daughter with you. Would you mind heading to a more private room with me?”
Ameliah nodded. “Okay. Let me try calling my husband again.”
He agreed. “Please call everyone related.”
She stood and walked past the double doors. On the way she tried calling Garrith again, but he wouldn’t pick up.
In a spare examination room, she sat with the doctor sitting in front of her. He looked her in the eyes. “Ma’am, are you aware of the severity of your daughter’s condition when she was brought in?”
A bad feeling bubbled from Ameliah’s stomach. “I-It seemed pretty serious.”
The doctor sighed. “Unfortunately we have some bad news. When your daughter, Luna, was stabbed through the chest, her left lung was pierced and a major artery was nicked. Her broken femur also punctured an artery in her leg. By the time she got here, she had already died of blood loss.”
Ameliah felt numb like she was having an out of body experience. Then when she came back to herself, she broke down crying.
She was devastated and couldn’t shake off the feeling this had been her fault. If she had stayed away from Luna until the curse was resolved or if she had killed Witch Docturban when he requested it, Luna would still be alive.
The doctor patted her on the shoulder and offered her some tissues. “I know this must be hard. I wish the situation was different too.”
She nodded at his words and blew her nose. “H-how could this happen? She was so lively this morning.”
Ameliah struggled to talk through her sobs. The doctor sat back in his chair and listened to her talk to herself.
When she was finally able to calm herself she put down the tissue and stared at the doctor. “What now? How am I supposed to live normally?”
The doctor met her gaze. “We will hold her body in our morgue until you figure out how you want to bury her. There will be a bit of paperwork for that. Then if you want, we can set you up for an appointment with a therapist to help you cope with losing a child.”
He closed his eyes. “I lost my son a few years ago too so I know how this must feel for you.”
Then he opened them again. “Things will get better. Therapy helped me and my wife greatly. I recommend it.”
Ameliah nodded and stood. The doctor stood with her and gave her another tissue which she welcomed. They walked back into the ER waiting room and Ameliah spent some time filling out paperwork.
When she was done, she walked outside. It was still afternoon. So much had changed in the last hour, Ameliah almost broke into tears again, but she kept it together.
She attempted to call Garrith again, but his phone was either dead or off. She hated needing to tell him the news, but he had to know.
She mumbled, “What are you doing?”
Ameliah made sure the coast was clear before wrapping herself in light to hide her form then flew off. Because her mind had time to think without being under massive stress, she could hear the ringing in her ears louder than ever.
It threatened to drill a hole in her head if she didn’t deal with it soon. It even affected her ability to fly, making her sway in the air.
Soon, she made it home and landed at the front door. She looked around before removing the light covering her.
Hesitating, she fumbled with her keys before unlocking the door and slipping in. She glanced around with her x-ray vision and stiffened at what she saw.
Ameliah walked into her bedroom and opened the door to Garrith and the neighbor Carly screwing. He seemed shocked Ameliah was there and was petrified.
Carly peeked over and screamed, trying to cover herself but failing. Garrith rose. “You are back so early.”
Ameliah looked down and didn’t say anything. Garrith continued. “This is the first time I have done this, I swear. You just have not been around lately and never tell me what is going on so I was frustrated.”
Ameliah whispered, “Your daughter is dead.”
Garrith froze again. “What? I do not think I heard you correctly.”
Ameliah gazed up. Pure white light overflowed from her eyes and her skin shone like the sun. She balled her hands into fists and all emotion drained from her face.
She spoke as if she was whispering, but it came out as an ungodly voice loud enough to shake the house. “LUNA IS DEAD!!!”
Light overtook her body and made her look like the physical manifestation of a malevolent god. It kept spreading and burst from her in a shell. Garrith and Carly screamed and were blown away then melted into slag.
Ameliah blacked out.
When she awoke, it was already evening. The painful ringing in her ears broke her from her stupor. She was laying in a wasteland.
The land looked worse than if a nuclear bomb had gone off. It was as if the land itself was torn and overturned then melted into lava flows which already cooled into basalt formations.
She lay back on the dirt with her arms spread on the dust but didn’t cry. She was too emotionally drained at this point. “I’m a monster.”
Ameliah felt the flip phone buzzing in her portal so she retrieved it and answered. The familiar government man’s voice washed over her.
“Thank heavens ya’ve picked up. Been tryin’ to contact ya for hours. Listen, there’s been a massive explosion in the suburbs outside of New Clear. They’ve been wiped off the map along with a good chunk of the city.”
Ameliah chuckled. “I know.”
“Good. We need ya to investigate immediately. We have drones on sight lookin’ at a possible suspect as we speak. She’s a brunette layin’ in the middle of the blast zone unharmed.”
“I know. That’s me. I’m the source.”
The line went silent for a moment. “Is this a declaration of war?”
She laughed. “No. I just lost my cool for a second and exploded. Literally.”
Her contact talked with others in the background. Soon the talking died down and the man went back to the phone. “I’ve discussed it with my superiors and we’ve decided that we can sweep this under the rug as long as ya become a government licensed hero.”
Ameliah snorted. “I refuse your offer. I’ll end myself soon so don’t worry about a rogue hero running around.”
The man on the phone panicked. “Woah woah, don’t be hasty. Ya‘re too important.”
Ameliah shut the phone and crushed it to dust in her hand. She had already made up her mind. She reached for her neck and charged all the light she could muster into her hand.
As she was about to release it though, she stopped. She had something she still had to do. Ameliah floated into the air and flew at her top speed to the north.
In minutes, she reached the Pinnacle Desert. The shockwave from breaking the speed of sound made explosions in the sand.
She made sure no one was around before speaking to the air. “I know you’re there! Show yourself!”
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG
The ground shifted and formed a massive dome around her at least two kilometers in diameter and a mountain rose before her. A jagged hole was hollowed into the mountain’s face reminiscent of something seen on a Halloween pumpkin.
The hole shifted, making horrible crushing and scraping sounds. Soon, the crunching became intelligible words spoken with the deep voice of a rockslide. “As thou summoned, I hast arrived.”
Ameliah narrowed her eyes. “So you’re the one who’s ruined my life.”
“Nay, I merely seek retribution for my Kurdaitcha. He perished with grievance in his heart towards thee. However, I hast not dreamed thee would survive my hostility.”
Ameliah grinned and gathered light in her hands. “I’m stronger than anything you can dream of.”
The mountain bent and cracked. “Verily. I assumed thee human, but I wast inaccurate. Willst you grace me with thine presence, young one?”
Ameliah was confused. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
The light stopped gathering in her hands against her will. It wriggled and stretched like a living thing and she couldn’t help but scream in pain as the light forced its way out of her mouth, nose, and eyes.
When it stopped, she felt like all her strength had left her. Ameliah crumpled to the floor, struggling to stand for the first time in 22 years.
She watched as the light coalesced above her. The raw power radiating from it tore rifts in space and time. What emerged from the light was a horrifying monster.
It was like a colossal lion with thousands of wings and millions of eyes covering its body. The lion’s body collapsed and folded in on itself nonsensically.
It had rings on each ear. Sometimes the lion would shift and be consumed by these rings making it look like massive rings with wings and eyes. Other times they would shift into and meld with the lion’s skin before disappearing inside its body.
Even looking at it hurt Ameliah’s brain. This being was not something from this plane of existence.
The lion monstrosity gazed at the mountain. “Behold and do not be afraid, Manang. I bear no ill will.”
The mountain crumbled under the lion’s stare then rebuilt itself. “Chayot, I judgest it to be thee. For what purpose dost thou tread my domain?”
“Your kin are dying out. My believers strive even in these arid lands to spread my benevolence. Our dominions now overlap.”
Manang let out a displeased rumble. “This may be legitimate, but I pray thou willst not interfere with the elimination of thine host. As the fate of rain ist to fall and the fate of heat ist to dissipate, so too must your host face the consequences of gaining the ire of my Kurdaitcha.”
Ameliah was finally able to stand against gravity’s oppression to face both grotesque beings. She tried to draw light in front of her to blast a hole through them, but it was as if the abilities she’s had all her life were taken from her. All the light she held inside her was gone.
Chayot gazed apathetically at Ameliah. “I have spent but a moment within this host, but I recognize she no longer has the will to live. In deference to you, I will obey your laws on this occasion.”
The mountain crumbled and the land beneath Ameliah opened like a beast’s bloody maw. “Many thanks, young one. I willst not forget thine favor.”
Ameliah ran to escape the earthly jaws, but she was painfully slow without her powers. She yelled at Chayot while running. “How can you just leave me to die like this? I haven’t even gotten my revenge yet.”
Chayot stared at her and she felt the heavy gaze of millions of eyes. “It is impossible to resist fate, child. Even if I lent my strength to you this day, combating an ancient fragment of your universe is not possible for a mortal.”
Ameliah tripped on a rock and face planted on the ground. Her nose let out a sickening crunch and she couldn’t help but scream in pain. She was so weak and vulnerable without Chayot’s power.
She staggered to her feet and was about to run again when she heard howling in the wind. She turned around and was faced with a swirling ghost hurricane emerging from the rift in the earth. Not only that, on every inch of the dome’s surface, ghostly hands clawed their way from the void and revealed more ghastly forms aiming to consume her.
There was nowhere for Ameliah to run. They were everywhere besides the sky and she lost her ability to fly, but she would not stop fighting. In the end, this thing named Manang was her mortal enemy, the reason for all her problems.
But there was nothing she could do. How can an ordinary human fight against the Earth itself? They can’t.
As she was running from the hurricane and the walls, hands rose from beneath her and grabbed her ankles causing her to trip again. She looked on in horror as more hands reached from underground and grabbed her, holding her down.
She braced herself to turn into a husk like all victims before, but something worse happened. The ground became fluid and the hands pulled her into it. Ameliah could only watch as Chayot stared impassively at her in the sky.
“Bastard! Chayot save me! I know you can destroy these ghosts! Please!”
Chayot shook his head at the pitiful human and flew through the walls, abandoning her to her fate. With him gone, there was no light left within the dome. She was now blind and alone.
She felt her mouth pass under the earth and she was no longer able to breathe. Ameliah tried to struggle, but the hands on her were like iron vices.
As her awareness became hazy and she lost the will to fight, a voice within the earth reverberated. “Thou must not fear. Thou willst become a part of me and live on as one of my army like all who perished before thee.”
The hands released her and the Earth hardened. Ameliah succumbed to the dark and eternally lost consciousness.