Songbreaker

Chapter 11: Rupture

At the very beginning of the Great War, all is not as it seemed for the Deathsinger's true encounter with the Tidesinger still remains untold - just another of Achillean's secretsThere is one other person who knows what really happened that night, and she isn't saying anything just yet, either

Author's note: we love a good flashback XD

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Smoke flooded the air around and the grass below starved for oxygen. There was no telling how long it had been since the attack on Kaltaria. The last thing that anyone knew was that Master Odysseus had been murdered by the Deathsinger for the Prime Song in his possession. That's when it all went wrong. That's when the flames ravaged the territory the Kaltaris Ardoni called home and there was barely anything left within bare minutes of the terror starting. The people had no time to react.

That's why there was a small Kaltaris girl wandering aimlessly across the smoke-filled land, coughing, and spluttering as she fought to find oxygen, trudging her way along charred grass, stumbling, and falling and trying to stay awake. Her family was gone. There was no-one left for her. She called for help with her meek, weakened voice, but to no avail. She had picked up her father's Aggressium Song on impulse, thinking she could use it for protection, but it was no use – she couldn't work out how to harness it. At one point, she thought she saw a blue Ardoni running across the darkness into Kaltaria. She knew the Sendaris would help her, but she hadn't the strength to turn back just yet. She had to find her way out of the smoke and into breathable air.

She clutched at the Song in her hands wondering what had caused this madness to ensue. No amount of thinking allowed her to see what it could have been; but then again, her mind wasn't exactly in the right place. She had barely escaped with her life from her village and, even then, she wasn't so sure it was worth the effort as she stumbled again, her lungs failing from the toxic air around her. As she laid on the burning ground for a moment, she thought this was it – she thought this was the end, this was how she was to die. She was still so young, and she wanted to do so much more for the Ardoni – she still had so much left to give, so much that she wanted to give. Tears streamed from her eyes as she panicked and choked.

Suddenly, a powerful blast from a Song landed before her and she screamed in shock, fearful that it was aimed at her – that whoever had set her home ablaze had come to finish the job, to tie up loose ends. When no other shots were taken at her, she sat up and uncovered her head from her hands to look around. She could still hear the sounds of Songs around her, but they were not aimed at her at all. When she located the sound of powerful tunes in front of her, she stood up and slowly crept towards them, darting in and out of burned shrubbery and tried to keep herself focussed so as not to fall to the smoke again. On the other side of the treeline, she spotted the vibrant glow of a Nestoris Ardoni wielding a double-bladed staff, dancing with a bright yellow enchantment as strong as the markings he adorned. He was young – he was no elder, no Master, but she knew that the Nestoris were friendly, just like the Sendaris she thought she saw earlier. She was about to call out to him when the Nestoris spoke first, but not to her. He had not seen her small green glow hidden amongst the burning florae.

"Why didn't you come back to me! I could have helped you! We could have helped you!"

The Kaltaris girl had no idea who the Nestoris boy was shouting at, and she opened her mouth to gain his attention, but she was cut off before she could make a single sound. Someone else had responded to him.

"There is no helping me!"

Across from the Nestoris, tense and angry, stood a red Ardoni. The Kaltaris girl remembered what her family had said about the red Ardoni. She remembered what she and her friend had spoken about regarding their presence. She had never seen one up close before and she shivered at the sight of this one. He looked evil and menacing. He stood with the aura of a power-hungry hunter, with a staff in one hand and a broadsword in the other. His broadsword spit flames all over the ground on which he stood, and she realised that the red Ardoni she spied was the one who had ravaged her home and destroyed her family, the one who had caused the furious flames that choked her tiny lungs as she fought for life. She looked to the staff that he furiously gripped in his other hand. It reminded her of Kaltar. That's when she realised that this was no ordinary red Ardoni. Her skin crawled and her body quaked in fear as she crouched down by a tree trunk to remain hidden, backing out on her previous decision to gain the Nestoris' attention. She watched silently as the two Ardoni fought one another with the viciousness of animals, clawing at each other with their hands, and slashing each other with their weapons, firing Songs off in all directions, desperate to take one another down.