Kadian

The Great Damnation

There were several things Alaba was said to be good at, and amongst those things was running. Cloaked in black, she sprinted up Shango effortlessly, clutching her late mother's wooden star.

"Do you know how many people would die to go to Shango La La?" she recalled her mother saying as she turned the wooden piece over and over in her hand. "This is the most precious thing I posses. I must use it wisely, for I can only use it once." But she never had the opportunity to use it, so Alaba ended up pocketing it after her death.

To some, using such a charm to observe a dead body would be considered a waste. After all, the charm had all kinds alternative, practical uses. It could've been used for extensive research, which could've resulted in a better understanding of Shango. A death that Alaba witnessed when she was ten could've been prevented. All of these alternatives had occurred to Alaba, but none seemed to outweigh her intentions.

When she reached the top of Shango, she froze. Her eyes fell upon a medium sized corpse that had been burned to a crisp. Burnt ropes of hair lay detached from the victim's scalp. There was no denying that Kadian was, in fact, dead.

A slow smile spread across Alaba's face, and a squeak escaped from her throat. Her body was ever fouler than she had imagined it to be. She walked towards the girl's flaky remnants, and stared down at them in awe.

A glower replaced her smile when Alaba noticed that Kadian was lying on her side. Even in death, the girl had went out of her way to be different. To leave her like that would be simply unforgivable. "Crushing her head would be much more appropriate," Alaba decided.

To feel her sandal sinking into the girl's cooked face would simply be a priceless experience. When the skull smashed, there was sure to be a noise. The sound-oh the glorious crunch sound it would produce!

And suppose Kadian's head was a bit...under cooked? To draw brain or blood from such an irritant would be the best gift Alaba had received in a long time.

The anticipation was too much to bear. Alaba raised her strongest leg-her right one-and aimed it over Kadian's blackened head. Before she could make her newfound dream a reality, a gust of wind threw her across the stone floor.

"What the hell?!" Alaba spat. When she leapt up, she was immediately torn back down, landing flat on her back. When she attempted to push herself off the ground, she discovered that she could no longer move. It felt as though a trance came over her body. Her eyes, however, were not affected. They scanned her body until landing upon her left hand, which had been clutching the star.

What had happened to her immunity? Shango shouldn't have had an effect on her. As she struggled to move her body, the corner of her cloak began to flicker.

"Gah!" She attempted to tilt her chin and frantically blew at the corner, despite her the fact that the wind was blowing. The flicker turned into a spark, a spark that grew and grew until it burst into a vicious flame- and engulfed Alaba's entire body.

"AHHHHH , ARRGGGH!" She could do nothing but cry out and watch herself be burned alive, the excruciating heat and pain consuming her being.

The wild winds whisked away at Kadian's corpse, removing all the flakes of ash. New, fresh skin began to emerge on the body, all as Alaba's skin seared and deteriorated. Eventually, the winds settled down into a soft breeze. Kadian sat up, stretched, and watched the wind carry some unusual debris off into the night.