"My dearest Mireya..." His cold hand wraps around her wrist and guides the blade away from her heart.
"...Do you believe your death is something I want?"
***
Aitháli was an empire known for its lush for...
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Mireya prided herself in her knowledge of the forests in Aitháli.
She can recall the times she would be in town square, listening to the hunters go on about a new area they ventured into, and smile to herself knowing she had already discovered those areas before them. The hunters would brag about their latest big catch and Mireya would know exactly where they had been and what was surrounding them at the time. It's only now, as she wandered through the dark forest at night, how much that pride was only surface level.
Maybe she had been so confident because she knew it was daytime and the lanterns and lamps from town would lead her back home safely, or the fact that she knew to walk in one direction so she would only need to go the opposite direction to make it back home. Now none of that knowledge could truly help her here. She had no clue which direction was home. She didn't even know which way the castle was if she ever wanted to go back. The panic in her heart brewed to the surface, waiting to spill over and release as a frustrated shout into the quiet night.
There was something so maddening about the silence. Hearing nothing but the crunch of her footsteps over the dirt and soil, her breathing and occasionally, her stomach growling in hunger. Mireya soon started to appreciate the chilling sound of a growl or hiss in the distance, or the leathery flap of wings over the trees. It was a little reminder that she wasn't alone and that if all else fails, there was an optional choice to make.
It was times like these that Mireya would remember the people that would bring her comfort and safety. Her memory of Ruben had forever been tainted by the demon. Any sort of thought about him would remind her of what she believed was his corpse in that nightmare.
The only other person to make her feel comfortable was her mother. Just the thought of her brings Mireya's boiling panic to a simmer. The smell of flowers and cookies made with cinnamon that surrounded her mother at all times and the soothing sound of her voice washed away all her fears and doubts in that one moment.
Mireya sat down, letting her legs rest, and turned her face to the dark sky covered by the trees. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and recalled the nightly routines they would never forget to repeat. The creaking of the wooden floorboards when her mother would walk around her room and make sure everything was secure, the smell of jasmines, tulips, lilies, and other flowers coming from her mother as she leaned over and tucked her into bed, and the phrase she would whisper before leaving the room.
"There shall be no night here; and we need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord, God, giveth us light: and He shall reign for ever and ever."
Mireya whispered the phrase to herself over and over. Having heard it so many times, it was ingrained in her brain and she would never stutter as she muttered the words.
A pair of loud footsteps broke her concentration. She swiftly got up to her feet with as little noise as possible and squinted her eyes to see who the footsteps belonged to. She hoped it wasn't another demon, but deep down she secretly wished it was.
