For The Children

Pilot Teaser

Written by AW

It was always the same. A night of terror and fury, tempered by a soft pale moon hung over by a blood drawn sky. The taste of iron filled the rotting air, embers fell while smoke choked the blackened earth, and charred corpses left writhing in their endlessly blazen torment. It never failed, the vivid and daunting detail of that grotesque hellscape. No matter what, it always remained exactly the same.The painted screams of men and women flooded Althea's ears. No matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't escape that ghastly scene of endless horror.

The flash of swords like vicious lightning and the bashing of their shields howling thunder. The roar of desperate battle and the muddled confusion of war, this is where she would find herself. Her mind set on the reality of her circumstance, snapping her back to the here and now, to the fear and death, to the fire and flame.When she looked up, she looked for any sort of sign, some sort of hope.

Through the thick, crimson leaves she almost couldn't see anything. She wondered how many souls have been caught between the tangled bewitched branches on their way up to The Makers. But through all the despair, the torment, and the chaos, she saw them.The stars shone through those twisted lies and facades. They were nearly out of sight,  but visible still. Parts of her, Light and Dark themselves. An endless sea of opportunities. That's when she knew her answer. She knew what she had to do. She would end it.

She would end this war. For all those who still lived, and those who have passed on this tainted soil. The clash of swords no longer scared her. It now fueled her. A burning sensation in her soul she never knew she had. It appeared in a white fury of light around her. Her very soul seemed to wrap around her mortal form in a veil. She put her bow together, and raised it towards the battle, towards the mass of people. With one motion, it would end. All the torment would be no more. Then suddenly, the burning hot sensation of determination was replaced with something completely different. Cold. A freezing, numbness, one she had felt long ago. Then came the pain.

That is when she awoke.

Althea's eyes shot open, a scream dying in her throat. She gasped for breath as she tried to ease her racing mind. Tears stung her eyes, and flowed down her cheeks and neck. Something new startled her though, as she blinked her eyes, trying to get them to adjust to the darkness around her. When she took a deep breath, her lungs seemed to scream as she breathed in cold, frosty air.

"It's... cold?" She thought, her mind stilling for just a moment. Oh yes, it was quite cold. Cold enough to make her small, thin body shiver. Her fine, thin nightgown not enough to stop the chill in her bones. She wrapped her arms around herself to try and gain some warmth. Her mind began to race once more, panic settling in.

"Where am I?" Althea whispered, feeling her breath fog in front of her face. She whipped her head round, looking for any light source, but there was none, just complete darkness. With a shudder, she stepped backwards. Every instinct was telling her to run, while her mind was trying to figure out if she should fight or flight. Once she took another step back, she was met with a sharp pain underfoot. She felt rocks, pieces of broken sticks and dirt.

"I'm outside?!" She gasped out, her breath shaky. She suddenly heard twigs snap to her right, followed by an unearthly voice.

"Althea."

And with that, Altheas mind had made up. It was time to run. She spun around and ran back the way she thought she had come from. She staggered her way, nearly tripping on loose stones and her own two feet. There was still no source of light, nor had her eyes adjusted to the dark. She couldn't see anything.

"Althea!" This time another voice called to her. This time more desperate, more louder than the first.

Althea screamed in terror as she propelled herself forward, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She prayed to Light above that this was just another dream, that she would wake up soon. This thought was immediately abandoned when she tripped over a smooth cut of stone, which sent her falling and sliding onto a larger slab of cold marble. She had found the entrance back to the castle. She could feel the fall had scrapped her knees and palms when she tried to brace herself. She cried out once she did. As she brought her shaking hands up to her face to try and see the scrapes, it all got quiet. Too quiet.

"Why can't I see? Why can't I see?!" She cried out as she brought her knees into her chest as she sat up, the wind hitting her back.

"Why can't I-" Before she could finish her thoughts, she heard something else. Crying. Soft, painful, yet familiar crying. She slowly turned her head towards it, her breath hitching in her throat. Where had she heard that crying before? As she was thinking back, a harsh, terrifying realization hit her.

"I"m blind. I've never been able to see anything."