Flames of Ashes

Chapter eighteen. Journey

"If all the answers were given to us, our minds would become soulless"~Cadvere.
***
Again, I walked on the shores of the same beach but nothing about the way the sun shone, the wind blew relentlessly at my hair, seemed to bring warmth or calmness that it usually does. The darkness, the eeriness penetrated every fiber of being and the worst part was the person I walked with.

It was short reaching my waist and I was just above 5 feet, small bald head, no ears, and orbs absorbed by a completely dull white. It was sickly, pale, managed to hunch even with its height, and wore a sleeveless gown made out of brown rags. I would be a fool to pretend not to know what it was. It was called, "The Child".

The last god ever born but unliken the beauty, height, and splendor of the other gods, it was deformed. The last god that came to me was Purity, so maybe The Child of Prophesies would finally have answers for me. The answer I desperately craved. I stared out into the sea, realizing that it was only in my dreams I could walk, and even better swim.

"You delight in the waters," its voice made my lips press into a thin line. It spoke in a cackle-like, old voice, slightly monotonous.
"Yet you are the daughter of fire."

"How did you know that?" It peered at me but it was difficult to tell if it was displeased or disappointed because of the eyes, for even I knew that was a stupid question so I rephrased, "Do you know how I got my powers?"

"Seems the Flames were right about you just yet. I will you tell this, and only this: you will make a choice and that choice can damn us all, or save us all."

"What choice? If you a god, come this far to visit me a mortal, and all you have for me is an ultimatum, why did you come?" My face hardened and I could almost pull my hair out.

The Child suddenly turned to face me and said, "I am sorry," "For what?" I wanted to ask but everything started fading away and I woke up, disoriented, breath ragged, sitting up.

Foolish of me to think that my dreams would start to make some kind of sense at this point. Purity, Wyn Eomer, and The Child yet none of them had anything meaningful to say or maybe they did and I could not understand them. Did I even want to? I asked myself, as the silence of the night carried an uncanny feel into the room. Months had passed and I had not gotten used to the dimly lit room.

I turned my head to see if I had woken Alex up but let out a yelp when I saw a pair of green eyes watching me, sitting on her bed, her legs dangling. "Don't worry, you didn't wake me up. Another dream?" The softness of her voice made me in turn soften and I found myself nodding.

"What are you doing awake at this time?"
"I couldn't sleep." She shook her head.
"I am going to meet the others at the lakeside tomorrow, would you like to come?" I stared at her hopefully. In truth, I did not want to be alone when I finally faced them. The last time we spoke, I was not the kindest with my words.

"I don't think I can, I dislocated my shoulder." She pointed at it and my eyes widened in shock. "And you did not tell me? How is it? Does it still hurt?"
"I wanted to come visit you in the aid bay but by the time I got there, you had been moved. I'm sorry for what happened to you. You didn't deserve it." I clenched my fists but managed a smile. "It is not your fault, you also had an injury, so tell me why you cannot sleep."

She bit down on her lip and took a deep breath, "Months have passed and I expected to have gotten better at something, anything yet I'm just as terrible as the first day I came." Even in the absence of good light, her tearing up did not pass by me.

"Alexis," I called out softly. "We are only just four months in, and we have eight more to go, so there is still time for you to get better."

"That's the problem, there is no time for me." A tear slid down and I had to bite my tongue to stop mine. "During the raid on Riverelves led by the Caramatian soldiers, my father, and little brother, Tareek were killed while I was hiding away in a box, helpless as they slit their throats," her voice cracked and I thought she would break out in a sob but she sniffed, wiping her tears away, reminding herself to not get washed away by emotion, "And it was on that day I promised myself that I would become a knight and never be powerless, but I couldn't train," the sadness seeped into the last part.