Nadine's Journey

Chapter Eight

Nadine

The first thing that I notice is the smell-- smoke, decay, blood-- a variety of scents that combine to form something so horrible, it makes you want to run away quickly and puke. "Holy Parents, save us," someone mutters. Or maybe it's in my head. My world is frozen as I look upon the ruins of a once thriving village.

Corpses are everywhere. Most are charred with maggots and worms feasting on their fallen bodies. Birds circle in the sky, while others fly to the ground, pecking at the food and hair that the dead offer. Everyone's dead. I can't feel anything. I want to scream... but I can't find the will in me to move a single muscle with the exception of my eyes. Other bodies are exempt from the fire that obviously swept through without abandon. Their veins are a spidery blackness that encompass their entire being, a stark contrast to the pale, lifeless skin. All of their mouths are twisted, immortalized in endless agony. What kind of twisted monster could do this?

Few buildings remain standing. Ashes lay everywhere, the houses are gone... the fires demolished them all. My childhood, my life, my friends... everything's gone. This is something that is beyond any of my past nightmares, but I know that this will haunt me for the rest of my life. Who would commit such atrocities? Who would decimate an entire village, killing everyone? Killing innocents! Dried blood is everywhere. I need to get away! My eyes are burning, but I cannot move. I cannot move! My legs and arms fail me, and I start to fall of the horse. Someone catches me. I don't know who. Someone embraces me. I don't care. They pull me in to their chest... trying to stop me from seeing anything. But it's too late, I have seen enough to scar me for life.

"I'm taking her out of here," someone yells. I feel numb. I am hoisted up and carried as if I were a wee baby. He starts to run, but I am barely jostled.

"Why would he do this? Why?"

"Why would who do this," the voice asks. "What do you know, little one?"

"He wants me dead... he won't stop until I am dead." I start to sob.

"Why would he want you dead, little one?"

I open my mouth to answer, but another voice intercedes. "She doesn't know what she is talking about, sire. She is obviously in shock. She is the sole survivor to this attack."

"But then why would she say that a person wants her dead? The same person that presumedly ordered the attack. Who is she really?" Slowly, awareness returns to my body. Pins and needles are poking me everywhere. It hurts.

"Sire, she must be feeling survivors-guilt. You must disregard her words. She has no idea what she is saying. What I saw shocked me, and she saw only part of the destruction that befell this poor village. She escaped before the same happened to her. I cannot imagine what she would say, but I know that she did not survive unscathed."

"But--"

"But nothing. All things will come to light when they are meant to. You must have patience."

The world comes into shocking clarity. "He is right," I finally speak up. "You can put me down now." I am gently lowered to the ground. I come face to face with... Lord William. Agustin stands a couple of feet away. The village is no longer in sight. Thank goodness Agustin interrupted. I cannot imagine what would've happened if my secret were to be leaked. "I have been through many things in a short amount of time. All things will be explained eventually. For now, you must have faith that what I know must be heard by the King and Queen's ears first. You must protect your domain, and we will soon be on our way. This monster will be conquered. Justice will be brought to all those lost. Trust in us."

"From what I have seen," Lord William begins. "Your quest will be quite dangerous, indeed. I am offering you ten of my best knights. They will aid you on your journey."