“For pride and avarice and envy are the three sparks which set all hearts ablaze.”

Dante’s Inferno

My creaky back ached as I stood up straight, looking over the roofs across town from my station on the stone wall. The chainmail, bow, stock of arrows, and spear I was forced to keep on were weighing down mercilessly on my aged body. I wasn’t about to break from just this, though. I’d been in this here militia for well over two decades, and a little bit of old age weren’t the last enemy I was gonna fight.

The piercing scream of a hauntingly familiar voice threw me into action instantly. I ran for the nearest ladder, sliding down and ignoring the splinters it gave me. My chest was poundin’ as fast as my feet were hittin’ the ground. I grabbed the familiar shaft of my spear and pulled it from my back, pointing it to the sky as I ran with it in my hands.

It felt like I was there in an instant, but at the same time feared I was too slow. “Elly!” I called as I saw her around the corner. “Elly! What happened?!”

“It… it’s…” She trembled as she spoke. Her enchanting eyes, surrounded by wrinkles from years of stress and anguish uncovered, were wide as if in shock. I couldn’t rush this. She’d never been this way before. “It’s Estera… I saw her.”

I froze.

It was simply impossible.

It had been over ten years since her disappearance, but just hearing the name made those old scars surface. I felt the grip on my spear tighten, and my words couldn’t come out right. “That’s not possible. We wouldn’t even know who she was if she came back.” I didn’t want to believe it. I desperately didn’t want to believe it.

But just this once, I needed to. It hurt too much to bear. I carried her weight on my back every day, and I carried ten times that weight on my soul. “Where?”

---------

My boots clashed against the road, kicking up a cloud of dust that trailed into the path the rest of my squad was leaving behind them. Our destination was my home. We were told to be on our guard and ready for anything, but I had no idea what I was supposed to be ready for.

As we finally reached the front of my home, I damn near tripped and fell flat on my face.

Stolen novel; please report.

There, right in front of me, was… someone I knew. Her shining black hair had bleached itself and turned a pale shade of purple. She had the pale complexion of a corpse. The dress she had returned in had a stained tear, the same damage that one of our spears would have inflicted.

The only thing that was the same was her enchanting pair of eyes.

No matter how I looked at it…

This imposing presence couldn’t possibly be Estera, could it?

It was just impossible.

One moment, Elly had sent her out to the market…

The next, she was gone. She never came back. Search after search was mounted, and all the while, Elly’s heart was wasting away. I felt my own heart shrink a few sizes as I remembered her face, stricken with worry and guilt.

That day, reality had warped itself from a bright, beautiful place to a dim gray pit of loss and shortcomings.

“How dare you!” I stumbled as I was shocked out of my own mind. The jarringly loud voice of my captain struck me and I looked over to see his face contorted in anger. Looking back to Estera, her eyebrows were raised and her eyes widened in confusion.

“If your goal here was to inflict pain, you’ve done well to succeed.” He muttered, pulling a wrapped staff from his back. It was a magnificent spectacle, the Captain’s glaive, and it was always a terrifying privilege to watch him unfurl its majesty. A golden ring bound the long, artfully engraved blade to the haft of the weapon. With his forearm, he directed his intents toward Estera. “For the crimes of murdering a loyal guardsman’s child and attempting to return to destroy the rest of her family…” An aura like that of a phoenix enveloped his body. The rest of us knew that this was no more than a light show - using magic couldn’t possibly have much of an effect on the real world. Such a useless hobby was a target of much wasted time by the Captain, for whatever reason.

But with this grandiose presentation, all Estera did was heave a huge, exaggerated sigh. “There really is no reasoning with you, is there?”

The lack of respect was incredible. This was certainly not the quiet, meek Estera I had raised. The last of my doubts were gone.

This was no child of mine.

I steeled myself as Captain continued.

“You will be punished with death!” He exclaimed as he ran forth, glaive in hand and preparing to slash.

I was less ready than I thought I was. To watch my own daughter, or even someone who looked like her, be executed…

I fell to the ground, curse my weakness. I couldn’t watch, I couldn’t even bear to think about what was going on around me. Tears clouded my sight.

My life was taken over once again by these demons.

“No--!” I heard the panicked cries of my wife. Of course she’d resist, she never wanted to witness her own child dying right in front of her, whether this was Estera or an intruder.

Everything went silent.

It stayed perfectly still, maybe even tranquil for a few beats too many, and I dared to bring my head up from the ground.

Whatever I was witnessing, it was beyond belief. I stared on, breathless in my shock.