The Fall of Eden

Chapter 3

 Silence - Femi found herself face first in the cold dirt. Everything was silent. Only a soft ringing filled her ears. She could feel heat warming the skin on her back, while the cool ground comforted her face like a pillow.

            A blur – As she opened her eyes, she could make out the faint silhouettes of people through the blurred leaves of grass. She slowly regained vision and awoke to a nightmare. Femi's eyes widened as she watched people flee in terror.

            Still – utter silence. Her arms shook as she struggled to push herself up. Femi desperately looked around to piece together what had happened.

            A crater – a gaping hole in the ground, sat behind her. A flaming boulder had impacted nearby, tossing her and some others to the ground. The blissful ringing in her ears faded and turned to screams of terror as people frantically ran by her. She was surrounded by pure chaos.

            Femi watched as another boulder of flaming coal plummeted through the sky and slammed into the ground, throwing up a wall of dirt. Her body froze in disbelief as fire consumed the houses around her. Femi cried out for Aiden and Damien. She heard no reply. She wiped the dirt from her face and looked around. They were nowhere to be found. Femi ducked as one of the houses was pummeled by another boulder sending pieces flying. She then remembered that her mother was still at home. Femi wasted no time and took off at full sprint in search of her mother.

            Femi shoved passed people fleeing the village. She ran up to what was once her home - only to find a raging fire. In anguish, she opened her mouth to scream but her cry only added to the sounds of terror that surrounded her. Her home and all it once held was now engulfed in crimson and gold.

            "LOOK OUT!" A woman's scream caught her attention. Suddenly a hand grabbed her waist and Femi was tackled to the ground. Another boulder slammed into Femi's house and shattered it into flaming splinters. Femi sat up and looked at the destruction and could barely handle the pain of her heart beating against her chest. She then looked to see who had saved her. It was Aiden.

            "Come on!" Aiden pulled her wrist.

            "No!" she screamed "I have to find my mother!" Femi broke Aiden's grasp and ran into the fire.

            "Femi no!" His plea faded as it was drowned out by the crackling of the flames. Her skin quickly began to burn. Femi raised her arm and a white orb of light formed in her hand. A faint glimmer then surrounded her body like a crystal ball, pushing the flames away from her. Femi had created a small protective field around her, but she was already tired and desperate so it would only last a small time.

            "Mother!" She cried and heard no reply. Debris began to fall around her.

            "Mother!" She tried a second time with the same result.

            "Moth-"

            "Femi.." A tired voice cried out. Femi spotted her mother. She was crippled by debris and stabbed by wooden splinters. Some stone protected her mother from the flames while also crushing her body.

            "Ma-noo.." Femi whimpered as her eyes filled with tears. She tried to lift the rocks off her, but was too weak.

            "I – I can heal this" Femi muttered "I – can" Femi's shield disappeared as soon as she tried to heal her mother's wounds. It required too much power to cast a shield and heal wounds at the same time. She had to choose. The flames were too hot and forced her to repower her shield.