petals of blood

Chapter 2

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Eloise...

...It could have been better...

"Such frail young soul..."

I turned to behold a maiden lying within her cage, her back turned towards us.

"Too skinny to feed on," she uttered, her voice cracked and dreary, as though weaving a tale of woe.

I attempted to approach her cage with caution, only to be met with a growl that froze me in my tracks.

"Stay in your cage," she warned, her voice carrying an ominous weight. I retreated to my own cage, chained as I was. The other girls who had gathered around me dispersed, returning to their own dismal business.

I lay upon my side, seeking solace in the darkness, attempting to ignore the searing pain and biting cold that gnawed at my flesh. If death claimed me here and now, so be it.

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The sound of my labored breath was the sole companion as I made my way back to the ruined temple. It was a curious thing, how I had managed to escape the accursed auction house. I could not recall the manner of my escape nor the path that had led me here.

Slowly, I approached the entrance of the temple, the air thick with a foreboding stillness. The shadows clung to the crumbling stone, casting long, twisted shapes upon the ground. It was almost dusk, and yet the temple lay shrouded in an unnatural silence. Something was amiss.

As I stepped inside, a strangled gasp escaped my lips at the sight that greeted me.

Bodies... bodies of those I held dear lay strewn across the desecrated hall. The stench of death hung heavy in the air, mingling with the coppery tang of blood. My heart twisted in agony at the sight of their broken forms, torn asunder by some unseen horror.

I longed to weep, to release the torrent of grief that threatened to consume me, and yet not a single tear would fall. And then, a voice echoed from the darkness behind me.

"Eloise... Save me."

What manner of sorcery was this?

Trembling, I turned to face the source of the voice, but there was naught to be seen save for the lifeless husks of the fallen. The voice was familiar, soft and plaintive, like that of a lost child.

I opened my mouth to speak, but the words caught in my throat, choking me with their silence. And then it dawned upon me.

The voice was mine.

"Eloise... Help!"

Driven by instinct alone, I followed the sound, each step heavier than the last. But with each stride, the voice seemed to slip further from my grasp, fading into the darkness.

"Eloise..."

And then it was gone, leaving me stranded in the oppressive silence of the forest. My knees buckled beneath me, the damp earth rising up to meet me as I fell.

I had lost everything. My family, my clan... and now, my voice.

"AAAAAHHH!!!!!!!"

I awoke with a start, the flickering torchlight casting eerie shadows upon the cold stone walls of my cell. It had been but a nightmare, and yet the terror of it lingered still. The other girls had been roused from their slumber by my screams, their eyes wide with fear and astonishment.

Soon, a deep, angry voice thundered from beyond the door, sending shivers down our spines.

"Worthless maggots!"