Phoenix Warriors

Chapter 10

I was a child again, so small and frightened, my limbs trembling as I ran. I didn't know what I was running from or to, only that I needed to get away. My breath hitched in my throat, my tiny feet stumbling as I tried to push forward, but the ground beneath me gave way, turning slick and heavy, like mud swallowing me whole.

No matter how hard I struggled, my body grew weaker, and before I knew it, strong hands wrapped around me, pulling me back. I screamed, kicking and thrashing, but it was useless. Their grip was like iron, dragging me into darkness. I could feel the cold against my skin, the icy touch of stone beneath me as I was thrown into what felt like a dungeon. My body hit the floor with a dull thud, and the air was knocked from my lungs.

It was pitch black. I couldn't see a thing. The only sounds were my ragged breathing and the faint echo of water dripping somewhere far away. The walls were close, too close. I reached out, my fingers brushing against the stone—freezing, rough, unforgiving. The cold seeped through me, a biting chill that made me shiver uncontrollably. I curled up, trying to make myself as small as possible, the ground beneath me hard and unyielding.

I was so scared. My heart pounded in my chest, a wild, frantic rhythm that seemed to echo in the silence. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I couldn't stop them. I couldn't stop the sobs that shook my small frame, the fear that gripped me tighter than the hands that had thrown me here.

As I lay there in the suffocating darkness, I tried to calm my breathing. I closed my eyes, hoping that if I just stayed still, if I just waited, the fear would go away. But it didn't. The darkness pressed in around me, thick and overwhelming.

And then, I heard it.

A voice—soft, gentle, like a whisper carried on the wind.

"Don't worry, darling. It's all alright."

My eyes snapped open, and I scrambled to sit up, my heart hammering even harder. The voice was soothing, but there was no one here. I was alone.

"W-who's there?" My voice was small, barely above a whisper, shaky with fear.

Silence.

I waited, listening, straining to hear anything, but the voice didn't return. The only sound was the quiet drip of water and my own terrified breathing. I backed into the corner of the cell, curling up tighter, my back pressed against the cold stone. My tears fell silently now, but the sobs kept coming, shaking me to the core. I felt so alone, so small. The darkness was swallowing me, and I was powerless to stop it.

But that voice... it had felt so real. Almost comforting, like someone was watching over me. Yet, the fear remained, and I couldn't shake the feeling that something—or someone—was always there, lurking just beyond the shadows, waiting for the right moment to step into the light.

I closed my eyes again, but the cold and the darkness held me captive. And the only thing I could hear was my own sobbing, echoing off the dungeon walls, as the presence of that unseen woman lingered somewhere in the depths of my mind.

I jolted awake, my heart still pounding from the dream. No, it wasn't a dream—it was a memory. The first time I ever heard her voice. Aeloria, the Lady in the Breeze.

I lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling, the echoes of my sobs from that dark, freezing dungeon still ringing faintly in my ears. That voice... her voice... had been with me ever since. It was strange how accustomed I had become to her presence, the way she lingered in the back of my mind, always there like a quiet whisper, even when I didn't notice. But now, it felt like I was... alone.

The realization hit me hard. I hadn't heard Aeloria in days. Not a single word, not even a fleeting feeling of her there. I couldn't deny how much it unnerved me.