Aurea POV

Blood and screams filled the air as my people were slaughtered in cold blood. I could only stand and stare in horror as the people I had grown up with and known my entire life had their throats slit and guts strewn across the crimson earth. It was as though I was watching the events through a glass plane, unable to interact with anyone or anything. I ran around the burning ruins of my village, feeling the bile in the back of my throat as I recognized more and more corpses.

“The butcher’s wife…Mr. Faber…Euila….” I thought to myself, reciting the names of every still body I saw.

My legs began to feel weak and unsteady, and I collapsed onto my knees.

“Is that your daughter, old man?” A rough voice said behind me. Turning around, I saw a scarred man with a black scruffy beard holding a knife to my fathers throat. I tried to do something, anything, but my limbs felt like they were moving through mud.

“Aurea…” My father croaked out, his normally strong voice becoming hoarse and weak.

“Perfect timing then,” the bearded man said with a sinister smile. I knew what was about to happen even before the man slid the knife across my fathers throat, causing a river of blood to flow out of his arteries. I cried out and lunged to catch my father before he hit the ground. Cradling him in my arms, I tried to stem the flow of scarlet ichor to no avail. He only managed to let out a strangled gurgle before the light in his eyes finally disappeared.

“No, please no…” I blubbered. “Please don’t leave, I’m not ready, please please please…”

But nothing changed. His body still layed there, eerily still. My panic and grief turned into white-hot anger in an instant, and I spun around to pummel the one who had taken my father from me. Suddenly, I felt him move. Relief flooded my body for a moment, thinking that my father was still alive, until I turned my head to look at him. With his throat still glistening wet with his blood, he grabbed my head and pulled my face close to his. His eyes were still empty and dead, but I couldn’t look away.

“You useless child,” he spat venomously. “What did you do to prevent my death? The deaths of those you knew and cared about?”

“I-I c-couldn’t sto-” I stuttered.

“Nothing,” he growled. “YOU DID NOTHING!”

“I t-tried..”

“Your cowardice and stupidity caused my death,” he said accusingly. “Maybe if you had been a better or useful daughter, I wouldn’t be lying in the ground where the worms devour my flesh and my bones turn to dust.”

“I’m s-s-sorry…”

“Apologies mean nothing now.”

My father stood up, and it was only now I realized that the dead townsfolk had encircled me. Every single one had a fatal injury, be it a caved-in skull with brain matter still leaking out of the edges, a punctured heart, or a gash across the belly.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Useless,” they all chanted simultaneously.

“Cowardly.”

“Stupid.”

“No…” I mumbled covering my ears with my hands.”

“Selfish.”

“Unfilial.”

“Manipulative.”

“Stop it!”

But they didn’t stop. They simply kept chanting, pointing out my every flaw and shortcoming. My hands did nothing to stop their words from entering my mind, and I curled up in a ball on the ground.

“UNGRATEFUL!”

“WEAK!”

“IMPUDENT!”

“SHUT UP!” I screamed.

I woke up covered in sweat and gasping for breath. I looked around wildly before realizing I was still in my cabin. Wiping away the tears that lingered at the edges of my eyes, I took a deep, shuddering breath to calm myself down.

“When will the dreams end?” I asked myself. Looking at my trembling hands, I forced them into fists to stop the shaking.

I sat there for several minutes until my racing heart finally calmed down. While I waited, I recalled the conversation I had with Evan a while ago.

“He wants to explore the world, huh?”

“...”

“What do I want?”

An unbidden memory surfaced in my mind from when I was younger. I had been outside, helping my father repair one of his tools. We were chatting about my future, and what kind of profession I wanted to specialize in.

“I’m guessing you don’t want to follow my line of work?” he had asked.

“No,” I whined, “I wanna be like that monster killing lady in Ocaephis! I heard she killed a water snake monster a few weeks ago!”

“That’s a dangerous job, y’know. I don’t think it would be a good idea.”

We had argued over what my career was going to be, and as much as he wanted it, I refused to be a simple farmer like him. I shook my head as I realized how grand my youthful dreams had been.

“ ‘Pfft. You think some bigshots over in Ocaephis care that much about a few villages out in the middle of nowhere? The only reason we were sent out here at all was because the Blood Brigade was starting to disrupt the lumber trade. If they hadn’t done that, well, we wouldn’t be here,’ ” the voice of the mage echoed in my mind.

The words made my rage flare up again, and it took some effort to force it back down.

“This Empire and its leaders are corrupted,” I thought. “They don’t care about the people, or their suffering, or their troubles. They just care about the money they can get from them. And if it means letting them die or sending some off to war, so be it.”

An abrupt knocking on the door shook me out of my thoughts. Sliding out of bed, I opened it to see one of Evan’s Enforcers standing there, holding out a piece of paper.

It’s 30 minutes to sunrise! Meet me down at the mine entrance whenever you’re ready.

I smiled slightly at the little smiley face doodle he had drawn at the end of the note. Going back inside, I grabbed everything I had packed the night before. I let my mind wander, but as I grabbed the last of my belongings, I had a sudden epiphany.

“If this Empire is rotten to the core…then maybe it should be reborn…like a phoenix from the ashes. The Empire can be rebuilt, but this time with justice and honor. And with him, maybe that’s not impossible…”