KZ's and Dragoln's Short Stories [2022 EDITION]

Follow the Swallow

10.9.22

She decided to go to her father's grave to ask for his advice. She didn't usually speak to the dead, but because the headstone that sat near the edge of the cemetery was the only tie left to her remaining family even if deceased, she had no other options. 

"Dad, I know nothing," murmured Avalyn, as she played with the solemn tone under her breath. "The necromancers are advancing and Mum was wrong. There's nothing left for me." 

The girl wept, knelt, and gently laid purple roses in the cracked glass vase. The little swallow bird figurine that her dad always kept stood in front of it. Avalyn gifted it to him on his birthday so that whenever he was at work, he'd always be reminded of her. There was another thing that stood out in her memories. Purple roses. The flashback of her father going on about stories of the colour of flowers pondered aimlessly in her mind. Red was the colour of love. Everyone knew that. There was a myth mentioning that blue roses were impossible to find, so if someone laid purple roses at one's grave, it meant that they- 

"Hope for the impossible. That's what you told me to do." Her voice wavered, synced with the rhythm of the wind bullying the trees. "I need something, Dad. Anything." 

Of course, the only audible response was the overgrown blades of green grass that rustled by the little memorial. No hints of any whispers. No words formed in her mind. No connection to the helpless situation she was in at all. Avalyn stood up after what felt like hours and dragged her staggering foot around, dumbstruck. It ached after it numbed whilst resting on her knees for a while. She felt so foolish for actually believing that she could get something out of it. The dead were voiceless and silenced. Surely she made sense of that. 

The girl pressed her lips into a firm line, slightly disappointed. It's what she expected more or less, but her hope was there. Was. Now it was fading like the stars drawing nearer to the time of sunrise. Her father didn't just ignore her completely. He didn't bother to give her any trace of a signal. No spark, no message, nothing. 

Avalyn exited the rusted cemetery gate, not forgetting to retrieve her sword that was impaled into the soft soil outside. She wasn't just mad. A storm was brewing inside of her. A consuming flame was swallowing her alive. 

And as she ploughed on, she knew she had to make that painful decision to leave her father completely, resting peacefully under the grave and the grass and the purple roses. 

The fifteen-year-old girl came back from the Golden Oasis only to find it in ruins. Her knowledge of sword-fighting and survival was both minimal and she had hoped to find something, anything, even just a speck of a solution to this mess she had gotten into. It was nothing but a worthless trip to what used to be a thriving city. Her dedication was plentiful. After all, her mother had sent her a letter about how she could hide long enough to sort things out there. There would be survivors and an enchantment to rid the world of the necromancers. There were none. Sending that letter was futile. She thought that now. 

Her stomach did the talking for her, nagging on about her hunger. As it rumbled under her shredded denim jacket, she had her next location in mind. Next stop, the river. 

She and her dad frequently picked berries there. They weren't the proper 3 course meals that she yearned for, but they were something at least. 

By the time she got to the bridge, her feet were sore, the sword hanging on her back pretty much worsening her posture. 

It was getting dark. The sun bidding itself goodbye as it slipped under the horizon meant one terrifying thing to Avalyn: the necromancers harvested the energy to move up. The chase between them and humans intensified every minute. 

Thorns layered the end of the bridge, and that's where the deadly whoosh of the river water was at its loudest. She couldn't hear any form of life. She couldn't hear her own hammering heart. She couldn't even hear her humming thoughts pummeling at the edge of her skull. 

When she tiptoed to reach for the first berry, that's when she saw it. 

An envelope was placed in the centre of the hedge. Attached to it was a small watch, a symbol of a familiar bird painted under the glass. This wasn't there before. Was it meant for her? 

She made a grab for it and carefully ripped open the envelope. She hadn't eaten a thing but by now, her stomach had hushed itself to the curiosity. 

Avalyn unfolded the heavily creased paper and read.

*

Av, 

I know the Golden Oasis was a flop. 

I'm really sorry I sent you there, blind. You're so strong. Unfortunately, I can't send you any details about where I am. But I want you to know this. Don't stop and don't look back. 

I need to tell you something. Something big. 

I'll give it to you straight. Your dad isn't there. You see his grave, the stone that commemorates him. But he's not there. 

I don't have much time. Or much I'm allowed to say. 

This is the only thing I can give you. 

Follow the Swallow. And don't let the raven deceive you on the way...

*

The rest was illegible. But the handwriting was noticeable. It was her mother's.

She read it over and over until she knew it by heart and zoned out. 

That was until she heard the booming footsteps of the enemies, the ones that wanted to take her alive. They were coming and the night was raging. 

And as if nature answered her silent pleas, the shadow of a bird emerged from the riverbanks and dashed down the streets in the distance. The figure was hard to see and its shape was incomprehensible. 

Follow the Swallow. 

It was difficult to tell what type of bird it was. 

But once she saw the first faces of the hideous loom from the bridge, she had no choice. 

She ran. 

She ran and she didn't stop, following the potential thing that reminded her of her dad everyday…if it even was the potential thing that reminded her of her dad every day.

Don't let the raven deceive you on the way...

~