Loving the Dead

All I hear are screams.

Spirits screeching at me to help.

They pierce my heart and what can I do to help those poor souls?

Nothing.

I wake up breathing hard, a thin coat of sweat over my body. I sighed with relief. It was just another one of my nightmares.

It was still dark outside as I got up and peeked through the hut I was staying in. I was still tired so I walked back over to my bed and laid down. But just as I was going to fall back asleep, I heard screams.

And they sounded real.

I ran outside and saw ships, and people running off into our tiny island, but I couldn't tell who.

I ran back inside and dressed quickly into tight brown pants, boots, and a loose shirt. I put my long black hair into a braid behind me.

Just as I had finished braiding, Zahara popped up in front of me. It almost scared me, her popping up everywhere like that, but she can't help it being a ghost.

"Zahara, what is going on!?" I asked as I went over to the corner to grab my sword.

"The British are attacking Princess! You have to stop them! They're shooting cannons at the jungle and cottages, and setting everything on fire! I've warned Breccan and your parents already!" She said hurriedly.

I run out of the little hut and red flames sprung from the huts around me. Smoke heavily filled the air and I chocked, tears springing in my grey and green eyes. Pirates were scrambling to try to put out the fires but it wasn't working.

I notice some fighting off in the distance and start running towards it. I see it's Breccan, who is locked in battle with a man in red.

The British.

I run up behind the man and twirl gracefully before slicing him though the back, where he lets out a scream before falling to the ground. Breccan looks up with an expression of surprise.

"Annora! What are you doing here?" He asks as he pulls me into a hug, his long brown hair brushing against my face.

"I heard screams and came running outside. What is going on? Was that seriously a British man you were just fighting? What are they doing here? How did they find us?"

"Yes Annora that was a British soldier. I have no clue how they found us but they are attacking us as we speak. Come on we need to go!" He grabs my hand and we start running.

"Wait Breccan, where are my parents?" I say, my voice full of worry.

We stop and look around. I see them, locked in battle with more British. They are fighting as hard as they can and are a whirlwind of beauty and danger. They're slashing every where around them and British soldiers dropping around them like flies. I run towards them with Breccan at my heels. I come up and see there are hundreds of more soldiers pouring in. We can't handle them all. I have to try and use my powers, even though I've barely practiced using them.

See while I am a princess, it's not because of my parents, even though they are the rulers of our little island. I was somehow born with powers to connect with dead spirits, and I become a leader of the Spirit World, or for now just a princess. Apparently it has something to do with my ancestors and their gifts and I'm the next heir to inherit the powers. Therefore I am a princess of the Dead.

Lucky me.

I can't always control my crazy outbursts of energy, and I have hurt people before. I've haven't been able to tap into the Spirit World yet, so we've been trying to figure out how to do it. My parents luckily are helping me by studying ways to control it from recordings from our ancestors and they have been working with on it with me. I've gotten better at controlling it, but I'm scared that one day it will get out of control.

Today is not one of those days.

"GET DOWN!" I scream at Breccan and my parents, and they fall flat on the ground.

I feel all the kept up energy inside me, whirling around. I call upon the dead spirits around me, including Zahara, and just, let it out.

BOOM.

All the British soldiers hit the ground as a wave of blue green energy spreads out and none of them move.

The world stopped as I gasped as what I had done.

I killed them. All of them.

No wonder they call me Princess of the Dead.