Smoke & Blades

CHAPTER 1

Gone
Anika

I tensed up as I watched one of the rose's petals fall from its place. The rose has been holding poorly through the cold and even now, with the early rays of sun and cool winds, it was decaying.

I looked down at the dark marble, overgrown with small buds and dry leaves, with the inscription Mariebel.

The memories of my mother suddenly overwhelmed me and, not being able to stop it, a tear slid down my cheek.

Desperate not to melt into those memories, I rose from Mother's grave and turned away, starting to walk back to our home. Pirus grabbed my arm whilst rising up too and wrapped his strong arms around me, rubbing my back soothingly.

I stood there numbly, waiting for my body to somehow react, but it seemed to be frozen. At last, another tear slid down my cheek, followed by a muffled sob and series of tearful hiccups.

A blow of wind made me shiver and my copper-brown hair blew upwards as Pirus' slightly long blond hair trembled.

My tears made their way from the crook of his neck to his white shirt, creating small dark spots on the soft fabric. I never imagined that, as siblings, Pirus and I would have become so close.

The cool afternoon seemed darkened by merely the thought of what happened approximately twelve years ago. The reason for Mother's disappearance was still a mystery.

I had always hoped that she was still out there, alive and safe, that she would come back home someday. But now, all my hopes seem like a child's desperate dream - naive and unrealistic.

I still gripped onto my sweetest memories of her. Like our parents' tenth anniversary, when we sung and danced around a bonfire for the first time, or the times when we played down at the river, imitating fish, often tripping and slipping on the mossy rocks.

My most important memory of her was her name - one that I'd always been envious of, that I'd wanted for myself.

My mind spun out of control, being filled with sorts of memories. Her melodic voice, singing to me in the middle of the night, a smile so bright it warmed anyone's heart, a distant sound of bells like that of the ones she loved so much.

Without realizing, I dropped to my knees, tears finally dry. The world seemed like a slow blur - a sort of mellow I was trapped in, blinded and numb.

My ears were still filled with the bells when I glanced at Pirus.

He was shaking me, shouting something that I couldn't understand. Very few words I was able to make out - Father... fire... dragon...

The realization of what had happened was the snap that made everything clear.

He helped me stand up and gestured me to follow him. I interrupted myself from going anywhere when an ear-piercing roar erupted somewhere above me.