𝔽𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕟 || 𝕂𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕠 𝔸𝕪𝕒𝕥𝕠

10. Friend or Fire?

Kanari sunk her head lower into the plush pillow, trying to block out the strange smell filling the room. She lifted her linen sheets over her head. Tomorrow was a busy day, as always, so she really needed to get some sleep. Unfortunately for her, someone was making a racket outside her door.

She turned her head up, about to chastise whoever was causing the crackling noises, but instead, she was met with a sight she wished she could forget.

Fire.

Crimson flames licked the walls of her room, leaving black scorch marks in its trails. Heat filled the air around her, radiating in waves from the flaring blazes. Thick clouds of grey smoke started to form and swirl around the room, a constant reminder of her inevitable death if she chose to stay in there for any longer.

The raging inferno grew with each second Kanari spent staring at it, terror lodging deep in her heart. She leapt out of her bed, her heart racing. Fortunately, the door was still somehow untouched, allowing her to sprint out of the room with relative ease.

The entire hallway was lit ablaze, pillars of fire reaching up to the ceiling. Her breathing was ragged as she stared at the smoldering ruin before her. Her feet seemed to be glued to the floor as she watched the flames consume more and more of the palace.

Somehow finding the courage to move, she ran through the corridor, her footsteps muffled by the crackling fire. Strangely, there were no screams, no shouts of panic, nothing to indicate anyone else still within the building. As she raced through the palace, she found no other signs of life. The halls were completely devoid of people.

Suddenly, she came across a dead end, though she could've sworn she was on the right track to getting out. Wasn't she? Wasn't this the right path? By now, she was hyperventilating. Her chest was bubbling with pure terror and panic. Why was she panicking. She was a knight, wasn't she? Why was she panicking. Why. Why. Why.

Just as she was about to turn around and go on a different route, she spotted a figure standing at the end of the corridor. Against all common sense, she ran back in.

What a mistake that was.

As she approached the figure, the mysterious person fell on their knees, apparently overcome by the flames. Kanari's breath was completely knocked out of her once she got close enough to see who it was.

Dark brown hair? Hazel eyes? Small, lean figure?

Who else could it be but her mother?

"Run."

The weakness in her mother's voice sent shivers down Kanari's spine. The sound that escaped her lips was nothing more than a mere whisper, barely audible above the roaring fire.

She wanted to run.

She had to run.

But she couldn't move as her eyes fell upon the burns on her mother's body. Her fair skin glowed red as the fire consumed her, leaving countless blackened scars.  Her flesh became visible as the flames tore away at her skin. The skin Kanari would bury her head into. The soft skin that held Kanari as they cried together under moonlight, fresh red marks on both of them.

How could she run away again?

She sprinted towards her mother, tears streaming down her cheeks. She wanted to feel her embrace just one more time.

Just.
One.
More.
Time.

Please?

Of course, the universe would never comply to any of her requests.

The floor itself tore open in a split second, leaving Kanari suspended above a void. She locked eyes with her mother for one last time before falling into the blackness below. The glowing hues of the flames she'd left behind faded from her vision, leaving her falling in a pitch-black abyss.