sparks || r. reyes

prologue.

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AN INSUFFERABLE RINGING SOUNDED THROUGH DAWN'S EARS AS SHE WAS THROWN OUT OF THE TREE. Fire had singed her arm, emitting a painful cry to escape from her lips.

Dawn had been hiding in a tree, shooting arrows at as many Sky People as she could as the rest of her people fought on the ground. That was until all the Sky People hid themselves in their ship and set off a ring of fire surrounding it. Dawn's tree had caught fire and she had been knocked out of it by the large quake the ship had sent through the ground.

It was like the ring of fire was moving in slow motion. Dawn scrambled to her feet, using her speed and quick thinking, sprinted as fast and far as she could in attempts to escape the flames chasing after her. She was lucky the tree she was in was already relatively far from the walls of Skaikru's camp. The flame barely singed the back of the cloak she was wearing to keep herself hidden in the tree by the time she escaped it's grasp.

Dawn's heavy, fearful breaths were silenced by the deafening ringing tone in her ears. She wanted to stop, to sit down to calm the agonising pains in her whole body from the force of the fall. But Dawn's smart. A trained warrior. She knew she couldn't stop until she found somewhere safe, so that's exactly what she did.

She found her way to a cave, running in case any Sky People were behind her. By the time she got to the cave, she was out of breath, leaning against the stone wall with her hands on her knees. She wasn't very out of breath from the running, Dawn's actually very fit, but it was more the adrenaline and pain that had a strain on her stamina.

The raven-haired girl allowed herself to slide down the wall until she was seated on the dirt floor. She took a breath, recollecting herself. That's when it hit her.

The ring of fire.

Dawn's father was fighting in that battle. Her friends, too. They were on the battlefield during the fire. There was no way they could've survived or escaped it.

Dawn wanted to cry. To scream. To do anything but stay in that cave, helpless and useless. She let out a shout of anger as she stood up and threw her fist at the grey, rock wall, refusing to let the threatening tears escape her eyes. Over and over, Dawn punched the wall with all her might and rage. The anger had to go somewhere, and the poor cave wall was enduring it. By the time she had broken down, falling to her knees, her fingerless leather glove had been tattered and scuffed, blood seeping from her broken knuckles beneath.

A single tear escaped her dark brown iris as she pulled her head up from where it was buried in her knees, bringing sense back to herself.

A warrior doesn't mourn the dead until the war is over, She repeated the phrase her aunt had told her so many times. And her war most certainly was not over.

The sky outside was dark, lit only by stars. Dawn knew it would be unwise to go off on her own at night, not being able to see where she was going.

She started a fire, deciding to wait until dawn to head back to her village, or perhaps Polis. Anya was killed in the fire, so that means either her aunt, Indra, or Heda, were the next ones to be contacted.

Night passed, and Dawn got little sleep. The reality that her father really was gone took over every thought in her head. He was the only immediate family Dawn had left. Her mother was kidnapped and killed by Azgeda when Dawn was 10. Dawn never had any siblings, however there was her cousin, Gaia, and aunt, Indra.

Dawn was close to her father. After Azgeda took her mother away, the two became closer than ever. He was a great warrior, too. Maybe even as good as the Commander. The man was talented, strong, and had a heart as great as his skill in combat. He could use any and every weapon to perfection, and had trained his daughter from a young age. Cassian kom Trikru was a good man, and an even better father.

The sun had began to rise when Dawn's eyes slowly opened. After getting up, stomped on her fire, silencing the last remaining embers with dirt before getting up and leaving the cave.

After about an hour of a combination of running, jogging and walking, Dawn heard voices in the distance.

"Keep moving. Hurry up," A commanding voice ordered.

It sounded like Tristan's voice. Dawn knew Tristan. She trained with him on many occasions, and often was paired to scout with him. The girl didn't particularly like Tristan, but they were from the same clan, so she had nothing against him.

Dawn hid behind a tree as she looked at who Tristan was with, just in case it was a Reaper or something.

But it wasn't. Instead, it was Tristan riding a horse with two Sky People tied up behind it. Dawn saw this as an opportunity to at least get a little revenge for her father and friends.

She unsheathed a knife from her thigh and charged at one of the Skaikru boys. He had a strange, puffy blue jacket and dried up blood covering his face. Dawn tackled him to the ground, throwing punches at his face before attempting to stab the boy in the throat, only for him to dodge it while the other boy kicked her in the side, knocking her over.

Dawn Sparta-kicked the other boy, knocking him down, the rope on his wrists pulling the horse back with him. She turned back to the one in the blue jacket, who was still on the ground, raising her knife, seething, "For my father," before she was rudely interrupted.

"Dawn! Enough! Save them for the Commander. You'll get your vengeance soon enough," Tristan shouted.

Dawn stopped, biting her inner cheek in annoyance and resistance before angrily getting up in compliance. As the Sky Boy attempted to get up with a groan of pain, Dawn sent a kick right in between his legs, sending the teenage boy doubling over in pain.

That was when the other one sent an elbow into her temple and everything went dark.