Fallen Moon

Chapter 21: Raine's Tale

The blistering flames proceeded to burn a once peaceful town. It was nothing more than a huge campfire to her eyes. She has seen both vampires and werewolves turn several towns and villages into nothing but a pile of ash. This town, as huge as it was, was no different, it'd burn the same. She stood there with Fang and Vanilla. The three of them were watching from mountain tops as people screamed and the flames grew bigger and bigger. She was used to these screams.

Raine remembered a time where those screams were her beckon call. She'd jump into the carnage and save those in need of her strength. But the war had gotten so out of hand, she couldn't play the hero anymore. She soon realized. She couldn't save everyone. Even, she had her limitations. So there was no point in her risking her life to save a select few. But for some reason, this town burning wasn't hitting her like all the others. She was starting to feel the desire to save them and rush into the flames and risk her life yet again for a pointless battle. But why, it was pointless, a waste of her strength.

"We have to do something." Vanilla's voice broke the long silence growing between the three of them. "We can't just sit here and do nothing, our job is to help humans right? So why aren't we helping those people? They need us."

"They aren't "our" people." Fang explained. "We can't just rush in and save every human in danger. We have to pick our battles."

"Pick our battles," Vanilla repeated. "What about all those people," She pointed back at the burning town. "They need our help. We're just going to abandon them because we need to pick our battles. I thought we were supposed to protect humans from these types of attacks. Not sit there and watch them-,"

"Enough Vanilla," Raine argued. "I'm the leader of this team. I make the decisions, I'm not fighting another pointless battle." She glared at Vanilla. "Say we go down there, we save what? Maybe two or three people, it's a wasted effort. We can't save all of them so it's best to leave them to their fate."

"She's right, we've been there, done that." Fang added. "We tried being the hero and it never works. So we save like a handful of people but at what cost? More than twice that number is already dead. So, I agree with Raine on this one." She crossed her arms. "Plus, there's way too many vampires down there. We run the risk of being killed."

"Yeah but we can't just sit here and do nothing." Vanilla argued. Raine felt a jolt as one of Vanilla's thoughts crept into her mind. "It may be pointless to you but I'd rather save one person than to abandon all of them. I refuse to do nothing." She started to run off but Raine blocked her path.

"You won't go near that town, it's too dangerous." Raine argued. "Jake, put me in charge of protecting you and that's-," Vanilla ran past her and into the town. "Vanilla, why doesn't she ever listen to me." She went to chase after her but Fang stopped her.

"I'll go get her," Fang offered. "The last thing we need is for you to go out there going on a vampire killing spree." She took out her spear and rushed into the burning town. She was trying to catch up to Vanilla but she had a head start on her.

"Fang will get her and bring her back," Raine took a deep breath. "There's no need to worry. Everything will be-," She cringed as burn marks appeared on her arms. These burns? Where did they-? Shit, they're linked, if Vanilla dies, she dies. How could she have been so reckless? That foolish girl is going to get them both killed. "She's in danger, I've got to do something. I need to save her somehow. Come on, think," Raine touched her lip as blood dripped from it. Soon after, she felt pressure on her throat like she was being choked. She dropped to her knees trying to breathe.

"If I don't do something soon, I'm going to die." Raine held her throat as her life was being choked out of her. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe. Think, Raine, think, there had to be something she could do. Someway to save Vanilla's life. Surely her master had something that could help her out here. Come on, think. Think. She shut her eyes trying to focus on her master's teachings. There had to be something, anything.