Shards and Feathers

Eclipsed

The crescent moon shown only as a sliver down upon the world. The trees waved in the wind, dancing to a silent melody. To one who was ignorant of the deeds happening that night, the forest would have been a peaceful surrender; but to many this night was one they would forever remember with dread.

A light shimmered in the horizon. Flames lit of the sky like an early dawn. Other than the crackle of the fire burning the mansion, all was quiet. It was an eerie serenity, not caused by harmony, but by the lack of screaming. The lack of people.

A burst of fire shot out of the main body and licked at the edge of the forest. Danger comes from a fire in a forest, but the silence remained. No one dared to even watch. They were all gone.

Except one.

A cry was set loose upon the silent air and shattered it. It wasn't a woman's scream, or a man's shout, but a child's cry. The building began to collapse on itself, and the crying intensified. A cry for help, anyone to help. Instead, the forest grew ever more still. The wind ceased, billows of smoke hid the moon, and not a single leaf in the trees stirred. Coughing interspersed the cries of pain.

At the door of the ruined house, a small figure appeared. Burned and smoke-filled, the child stumbled out of the house, ash covering his face. He tried to walk, but fell. For a long time, he did not move. Anyone observing would have believed that he would never rise.

But as the wind seemed to mourn his loss, stirring again the branches of the forest trees, he moved. First, his breathing quickened, then he began to rise. As he stood as a silhouette against the illumination of the fire, he tried to clear his brain. He was a small child, only seven years of age, apparently too naive to understand why this was happening. However, from the determination in his stark blue eyes, he understood one thing: he was alone.

He made his way slowly away from the heat of the fire, into the cool moistness under the forest canopy. Just before he disappeared into the darkness, he looked back with knowing eyes at the place he called home. "I will find you," he said. "I know you did this, and I will give back everything you have given me."

With that he was gone, fading into the shadows of what would become his past and lead into his future.