The fire is everywhere.

Floating helplessly in the void I saw Rafar's once proud space station broken, scattered, and on fire. The remains of the once proud structure fell down to Rafar, where they too began to burn. Only brief moments of light showed as the debris entered the toxic atmosphere of my homeworld. Clouds covered up any trace of existence the debris might have had.

I felt a pull on my foot and as I looked down I saw countless souls climbing onto me.

“Save us!” shouted one. “Where were you when we needed you!” shouted another. ”Why did we have to die!” each soul wailed in agony as they climbed up my legs.

Overwhelmed by the utter sensation of hopelessness and death I looked around for anything and anyone that could help. And then I saw it. The big carrier stared me down, as it released countless pirate bombers at the station, each letting loose a devastating package of tnt. Every time a bomb hit, the station further cracked, until eventually the whole structure collapsed. More bodies ejected from between the flames as the station fell down to join Rafar’s wastes.

The souls were now grasping at my hands, and with tears streaming down my face I pleaded for mercy. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry for not saving you! I’M SORRY!”

I felt sweat covering every inch of my body as my eyes shook open. Taking a minute to breathe I noticed that I was in what looked to be a medical bed in one of Rafar’s medical bays.’ Besides the bare essentials and some weak lights, the room was empty.

After recovering for a minute I tried heaving myself up and fell face-first onto the hard sterilized ground. I was not yet used to only having one arm. As I tried recalling how I lost my left arm memories flooded back to me, of the General’s assault, of the pirate attack some hours later. Of the extreme loss of life and damage to the station. I hugged myself and instinctively went into the fetal position. After an unknown amount of time, I slowly and steadily helped myself up. Looking around I found a spare set of clothes and began putting them on. It was hard to close the buttons with one hand but I did what I could before moving out of the room.

As the door opened I was greeted by a bewildered guard. “My lord!” Saluted the guard.

That voice sounds familiar.

“Do I know you, soldier?” I asked groggily. The soldier nodded, and then suddenly he seemed to fall to the ground. As the soldier caught me a second later I realized it was not him that had almost fallen.

“Thank you… uh..”

“It’s Belleran, my Lord.”

“Ahh, I remember now, so Belleran. Did we avenge.. Was it Hugo?” I squinted. My vision wouldn’t clear no matter how many times I blinked.

“Almost right my Lord.“ Belleran said with a sad smile. Or was it a normal one? ”It was Haruk. But more importantly, right now we need to get you a doctor. So let’s bring you back to bed for now.”

I shook my head weakly. “No I need to know what happened Belleran, did we win? How many were dead how... Uh. were… I…” Having trouble holding my head upright my vision angled down. Where I spotted something unusual. The drab metal floor of the medical facility had gotten a nice dark red paint job, though it seemed the painter had done a haphazard job, as much of the floor was left unpainted. A second later I found out that I was the painter, and the blood coming out of my mouth was the paint.

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“MEDIC!” shouted Belleran. And then all went back to black.

When I opened my eyes again I saw a familiar metal grey tiled ceiling. My head felt empty yet heavy.

“Doctor he’s awake again!” Said an excited Belleran, making me instinctively use my hands to cover my ears, only to be reminded of what I lost.

“Please keep your voice down..” I groaned.

“Sorry, My Lord..” said a much quieter Belleran.

As footsteps approached I looked over. “And you are..”

“Greetings your Highness, I’m Gustaf, the doctor assigned to you.” He then took a step back to reveal a woman wearing a nurse outfit. “And this is my assistant Emily.” Emily gave an easy smile a wave and went back to work in one smoothly trained motion.

I plunged my head back into the soft embrace of my pillow. “How long was I out for doc.”

The doctor and Belleran shared a look. “Give it to me straight doc… no bullshit.” The doctor sighed.”You’ve been out for a week and a half. Your condition wasn’t looking great and we were debating whether or not we were going to implement more extreme measures, but last Saturday you suddenly woke up.” I nodded “That’s when I met Belleran in the hallway.” The doctor nodded. “Precisely. You moved your body when it wasn’t in a condition to move, and the excessive strain caused your body to shut down. Thanks to Belleran’s swift actions we were able to stabilize you just in time. Ever since then, we’ve been more careful in monitoring you.”

“First of all thank you Belleran for saving my life.” I said as I gave or at least tried to give Belleran a heartfelt smile. “Now doctor going back for a second you mentioned we, who exactly were you debating with?” The doctor smiled. “Ah that’s right you weren’t there to hear the good news. Your parents have made a full recovery.”

Emily chimed in. “I’ve gotten word back from Lord and Lady Rafar, they are on their way to see you now.”

I felt a weight leave my shoulders upon hearing the first good bit of news in what felt like forever… Time passed as I chatted a bit more with doctor Gustaf and nurse Emily to inquire about my condition, once it was clear that I was stable Emily went out to get some more medical supplies while the doctor went to one of his screens to more carefully monitor my condition. Belleran in the meantime caught me up on what has happened so far. Those whom I knew by name had both survived and recovered from their injuries. However the same could not be said for the rest of our comrades.

“So they’ve been laid to rest.” Belleran nodded solemnly. “It was a beautiful funeral, the resting flowers have already begun to sprout from their remains. Lord and Lady Rafar have brought forth the healthiest soil we have to honor our fallen heroes.”

I nodded solemnly as I let his words sink in.

“Belleran. I’m asking this from one human being to another. Would you help me perform a quick prayer for our fallen comrades?” Belleran offered a bow. “It would be an honor..” Bellaran’s hand moved and soon covered the left side of my mouth from my jawline to my nose, my right hand did the same on the right side of my mouth. I closed my eyes and the praying could begin.

Dear Virja, let what remains of our comrades bloom into a beautiful sight so that we might see them shine one last time, as they follow your flowery path into the afterlife. Virza.

I opened my eyes as both of our hands moved away. “Thank you Belleran.” He nodded in silence. We remained quiet for a while, at least until the door opened again. Belleran took that as his cue to stand guard outside. Emily got nearly pushed aside as both my father and mother rushed to my bed and tackled me in a hug.

“Jason your alive!!” My father said with tears rolling down his eyes, my mother gently caressed my face as carefully as she could, worried that I might fall like a sandcastle would. Her teddy bear-colored eyes, the same ones that I inherited worked overtime to deal with the excessive fluid leaving her tear ducts.

The hug we shared conveyed so much more than those stuck-up Autarch nobles would ever give credit for. I let this feeling of safety and warm comfort nourish me, in a way that only family could.

And for a few precious minutes, I could finally let go of the world and all my worries.