Inked

26

Night had fallen, not that the difference was perceivable in the perpetual darkness surrounding the castle. Dustfinger wasn't big on sleep, as he'd had plenty of rest in the land of the Dead, but a week of sitting around interrupted by short trips into the forest and fits of thinking of Roxane as well as the new potential threat of that girl and her dark magic had left him a little weary. Deeming it unsafe to doze off right by the castle, Dustfinger ventured deeper into the forest, whispering to the fire-elves to leave him alone unless they were trying to warn him of someone coming close to finding him. 

He settled on a low-hanging branch and almost instantly fell asleep.

He was back in the land of Death. But he was not alone. A voice was calling out to him, tiny and high-pitched, the voice of a child. He spun around, looking for its source, but he could see no one. 

A bird tweeted above him, and he recognized it as Death itself. As he listened, its sound changed from a chirp to a human voice. "She's looking for you," it said, not in a threatening way, but in a helpful way. However, Dustfinger couldn't help but notice that it also sounded kind of sad. 

Turning around once again, more slowly this time, Dustfinger noticed something in the distance that had definitely not been there before. It was a person, lying down on the black earth, reaching a small hand out to him. Not letting his eyes stray from the body lest the image disappear, Dustfinger followed the calling voice until he was standing over her. Kneeling down, he saw that she was a girl, her light eyes wide and scared. She was pale and looked too weak to stand, and her orange hair fell limply around her face. 

He lifted her head, trying to find the source of her pain, but she remained limp and confused in his arms, unable to lift her head, barely able to speak. "What's --" Dustfinger started to ask, but he froze in horror as the girl's unfamiliar face morphed into one he knew well. Rosanna. His daughter.

Dustfinger scrambled backwards on his hands and feet, letting the girl's head drop. There was a small thud as it hit the dark earth, and Dustfinger rushed forward to pick it up again. The girl's eyes were still wide with terror and pain. Dustfinger didn't understand. She shouldn't be feeling anymore pain. Not now that she was...that she was dead.

Yes, he told himself. She's dead. You know that. She's been dead. 

But now that he was holding her in his arms, he was filled with sadness and remorse. He should have been there. Should have done something. It was his fault, all his fault. He hadn't noticed tears forming in his eyes, didn't even know if that was possible here, and he watched them fall against her thin, young face, evaporating immediately on contact, as if her skin were as hot as a pan over the fire. 

It's the fever, the fever that killed her. It was so bad, how was it this bad? Why didn't I do something? Why didn't I save her?

They were irrational thoughts, as he had been trapped in a different world entirely during his daughter's illness, but Roxane had blamed him for it, and the guilt still hung heavy on his heart.

More tears fell, each turning to puffs of steam as they hit Rosanna's skin, until her whole face was hidden beneath the vapor. He swatted his hand through it to clear it, but the face underneath was familiar for a totally different reason now. It was no longer Rosanna's sickly, pallid face. No, it was that girl's. Soleil's. The eyes were the same color, but now they were focused, a darkness and determination inside that wasn't there before. Her hair had darkened, and her nose had sharpened, but the similarities were quite noticeable and equally shocking. Soleil began to laugh, loudly and wickedly, completely unlike Rosanna's soft giggles, but Dustfinger couldn't get his body to move. Suddenly, Soleil's laugh cut off, and she lay there, smiling cruelly up at him. Then, pursing her lips, she blew a burst of fire and sparks at him. Dustfinger could have sworn he felt the blistering heat as he ascended out of the dream and back into the shady greenery of the forest...