[Entry for the Once Upon A December, @ComeAndSitWithUs Winter Prompt - Unedited - word count: 4k]
Ever since that fateful night where she'd lost everything precious to her, Iliana was frozen in time...trapped in a vicious cycle of endless winter. Sh...
Snowflakes fell in slow, hypnotizing twirls. Each one, suspended in the frigid air, sparkled like a miniature crystal, catching the ambient light and casting a gentle radiance across the landscape. The night's silence was punctuated only by the hushed whispers of the wind as it swept through the skeletal branches, causing the snow-covered boughs to release their delicate cargo in a silent cascade.
The air was frigid, and her breath hung in the darkness like a fleeting specter.
Her thoughts spiraled into a tempest of questions. Should she kill the infant and save them from upcoming struggles and consuming hatred? Should she kill herself? Or both?
The fire crackled, eagerly asking to be fed. Its flames licked their lips, teasing the wood she offered. They swayed, growing and bathing the clearing in delicious warmth. The baby smacked her lips, suckling on air. A slight frown furrowed her brows before it disappeared with a sigh.
Iliana's heart sank.
How could she rid the world of such innocence? Then, her mouth was set into a grim line. What use was it to preserve it when it was going to be snatched away anyway? Life was unforgiving, and reality harsh.
One day, this child was going to grow old and seek to avenge their parents. Hopefully, by then, Iliana would be alive to grant them their wish.
"Fuck," she muttered, willing her mind to shut up. She was making baseless assumptions.
Shaking her head to rid it of the useless, dark thoughts, Iliana traced the outline of the little piece of life. Female rogues were rare, almost nonexistent. They never survived the harshness of males. They have to endure all kinds of brutal assaults, spared by none, not even life. Most end up committing suicide, seeking solace and safety in death.
Iliana tucked the threadbare blanket around the infant before placing her down, safely close to the warmth, and then rose to her feet. Unable to determine her species, she had no other choice. Kids always smelled like their parents until they grew older, slowly acquiring more features befitting their bloodline.
Snow crunched below her heavy feet until she knelt next to the sprawled body of the sole female in the group. With knitted brows, she inspected her teeth. A Lycan. She balled her fists, her hardened hazels turning to slits upon seeing the injuries littering her skin. The female had undoubtedly been forced to offer her body so both she and her child could be spared.
Blood stained the insides of her legs. Her jaw was dislocated, her legs broken, her neck bruised, and her soul extinguished before she could heal any of her injuries.
Anger swelled between her breasts, screaming inside her chest.
Suddenly, her previous breakdown flashed before her eyes, followed by a bizarre sense of relief. Whether one of the rogues fathered the child, or both she and her mom were captives, Iliana had inadvertently avenged them. Her moment of vulnerability, it seemed, was much needed. It opened her eyes to another side of this world, of herself.
Not only did she regain a repressed piece of her soul, but she'd also been offered a new mission, a fresh purpose.
Unsheathing her sword, the vampyr dug, dug, dug, until a decent hole was made. After burying the mother, she knelt beside the grave in a silent prayer with the child in her arms.
A farewell to a mother, and a vow from one woman to another.
"I'll take care of her."
With the weight of a new responsibility draped over her shoulders, Iliana cinched the knot, securing the infant to her chest, and ensured that the cloak enveloped them both to ward off the biting cold.
The baby, it seemed, had a penchant for long, frequent naps. In a strange yet comforting way, she was a better companion than the usual deafening silence that accompanied Iliana on her journeys. For so long, she had traversed the wilderness alone, surrounded only by the natural symphony of the world. Yet, as time passed, the solitude became increasingly maddening, alleviated only by the agonized screams of her prey.
But this time, with the sleeping infant nestled against her, the journey felt...less lonely.
A myriad of new tasks awaited, however, courtesy of her demanding new travel partner. When the child wept, she'd rock her gently. When hunger summoned cries that cut through the stillness of the woods, Iliana adapted, her solutions contingent on the circumstances. At times, fortune smiled, providing encounters with wild female animals for milking; other times, makeshift formulas crafted from melted snow became the solution.
Iliana hoped the kid would hold on until they reached a village for proper nourishment, as well as help and information regarding lycans. There was a lot to learn, this being her first time seeking to understand and take care of someone else, a different species and a child at that. The vampyr couldn't risk inadvertently causing harm to the pup.
Giving her up wasn't an option.
She made a vow. Her heart and soul were committed, revived through the wails of an orphaned infant. When their eyes first connected, blue pouring into hazel, Iliana knew she was never going to be the same.
During one of their rests, Iliana discovered a delicately stitched butterfly in the corner of the blanket with "Yara" carefully sewn below.
The little girl wrapped her small hand around Iliana's much larger index, swinging it around before thrusting it into her mouth to nibble on it.
"Yara," Iliana whispered in the quietude of the night, her eyes softening when the child flailed her arms, babbling in delight. The purity radiating from the tiny being set the woods ablaze, thawing the ice and dispelling the pain. Yara's toothless grin infused the coldest nights with an irrepressible warmth.
At that moment, Iliana knew that winter wasn't so bad anymore.
Love, it appeared, came in different shapes and at unforeseen moments. It never bothered with knocking. Instead, it barged in uninvited, seizing the most significant space in one's heart.
Yara, a tiny bundle of life, had transformed Iliana's life without having to do anything. She just had to exist and the vampyr found herself filled with unfathomable feelings, grappling with blowing winds of hope and reeling from the phantom pains of rebirth. The child had anchored Iliana's soul to her body, freeing her from the blues of endless winter.
As Yara revived the wandering ghost of Iliana, the snow had finally shed its sticky crimson cloak, exchanging it for a river of butterflies.
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