Tyrant in the Shadows

Challenge 6 Part 7

Miriam woke up to darkness. It was odd, it didn't seem natural. She lit her lamp and gasped. One of the shadows had moved. 

Shadows don't move. Not... natural ones.

"Julie," she whispered to her little sister, shaking her awake gently, "Julie, stay here. Call me if you see a shadow coming for you."

Julie frowned, "Mpff?"

"No, don't go back to sleep. Watch for the shadows. Make sure they don't touch you."

Julie's pure white eyes flashed with fear, "Sissy, what?"

"Just watch. I'll be right back."

She ran to the main room, then to her parents. They weren't there. So she ran to her brother's. She sighed when she saw his figure under the covers.

"Henry, hey," she went over to his bed but gagged when she looked at his face. "No... no, no, no." There was no skin on his face. It had been peeled off. She sobbed, turned around, and ran. Her parents weren't alive. They had been killed. Most likely in their sleep like Henry.

Suddenly Julie screamed, "NO!!"

Miriam ran through the door, her fists and even eyes flashing with flames. "You won't take her!" she yelled at the shadow. It was creeping towards her, but she shot her flame at it, causing it to move away from the small girl quickly.

"Miri... Miri, it said I was alone," Julie ran to Miriam and hugged her, "I don't want to be alone. I have Mommy and Daddy and Henry and you..." she sobbed, "I'm not alone."

"No... you're not alone. I'm right here."

She held her little sister and swirled the fire around them, keeping it close enough to leave small burns on her arms before sending it out in a bigger circle to keep them safe. 

Get here soon. Please get here soon. She thought to the heroes from earlier.

...

She didn't know how long she'd been there when she heard the first voices. Just a few at first, but within minutes there must've been hundreds. Shouts and orders rang out. 

"Shadow weavers!"

"Energy weilders!"

"Teleporters!"

Once or twice she thought she might have heard a, "Life givers!" but she wasn't sure. And she had no idea what that meant. She just held Julie. The poor girl was back asleep. She'd cried herself to sleep. Miriam wanted to go to sleep. She was exhausted, but she had to protect Julie. 

"Just a little longer," she whispered to herself countless times, "Just a little longer and then you'll be safe."

She didn't know if that was true but she didn't really care. She wasn't going to give up. She was going to hold out. 

There was a conversation going on right outside her fire, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. Her hearing was starting to blur out by that point. 

"Just a little longer..."

"... girl..."

Miriam's eyes flashed open when she heard the voice outside say that. Where there children in the battle? Or... were they talking about her?

"Energy weavers!" was echoed through the woods again, and then all the sounds of battle moved closer. Were they losing? They couldn't be losing. 

"Closed!" again a single saying was echoed and within a few minutes, it was silent other than the sound of hundreds of humans trying to catch their breath. Had they won? Or had they given up? She kept the fire burning even still.

"Just a little longer," she whispered to herself, "They won. Just a little longer."

Of course, she didn't know if they had actually won or not but the thought gave her hope.

A girl appeared in front of her then. She looked to be about 18. And she looked like she was crying recently. But Miriam recognized her as one of the heroes from the day before.

"Hey," the other girl tried to smile, "I'm Sophia. You ready to get out of here?"

Miriam sighed, and then the world faded to a silent, calming black. She smiled as her back hit the ground. She felt nothing.