Fragments of Ash Vol. 1 (Urban Fantasy)

Prologue

The moon hovered above, oblivious to the suffering of its loyal subjects. It was blind to the people who were praying as they became engulfed in flames.

Ada lay face-down among the charred corpses in the middle of the dusty street, she was perhaps the only person in the town left alive; her frail, 7 year old body was on its last legs. Bloodied and covered in dirt, her short black hair was sprawled all over her face, the sensible black and white clothes she had been given from the sisterhood were completely torn to shreds. The soldiers had left nothing but devastation in their wake, houses were reduced to ash, bodies had piled up on the streets, it was a modest holy town that had been steamrolled by a world at war. She rolled to the side to see if there was anything left. Nothing. Through her blurred senses she could see and hear the roars from the fires that were still burning houses in the distance. Ada tried not to focus, she tried not to pay attention to the scorched carcasses that lay among her but it was impossible; dead, mournful faces of familiar people, burned, sliced, shot, dead in all manner of ways. All these people were laying, piled up, right next to her. The taste of blood in the dirt and a smell far too recognisable to endure lingered. The smell of burning flesh. Ada wasn't sure if she had the emotional or physical strength to get up anymore.

As blurred as her senses were, she could make out two figures were approaching her from the flames, they wore green uniforms, black boots, terrifying berets that were coloured as if they were stained in blood, in their hands they held the frightening new weapons that had given them the edge in the war: rifles. It looked like some of the soldiers had stayed behind.

"Hey," said one, "this one's breathing!"

"Really?" said the other, "They all look dead to me."

"Nah check it out, that kid over there," he must have been talking about Ada, she couldn't see. Ada held her breath, she tried not to tremble but her heart was beating so loudly that she felt it alone could alert them. The two were walking towards her, their footsteps were staggered as they clumsily walked across the sea of dead bodies. The sounds of their boots stepping on top of ashen body parts were audible even over the crackling of the flames in the distance. But to Ada, all that could be heard was the thundering drum of her fragile heart as it started to pump more and more blood around her body. She was barely able to make any conscious movements, but she could sense herself tremble. Her entire body consumed by fear. And anger.

"You know there's a few places I know in Florem that pay a lot for young girls like her."

Ada tensed up and closed her eyes, tears fell down her cheeks. Uncontrollable terror. And frustration.

"No point if she ain't alive."

Ada couldn't hold her breath any longer, it was too much of an effort to breathe as it was, she'd survived the fire that incinerated her church but the impact of being thrown onto the street near the other bodies had hurt her ribs.

She felt a kick to her side. A sharp pain that felt more like she was being stabbed with a knife than hit with a blunt object, there was no other choice of action but an involuntary cough.

"Hey kid! You're not dead are ya?"

Ada sighed, she slowly lifted herself up with her hands, she could feel the blood on the streets seep through her fingers. She then got up on her knees, slowly, trying not to collapse. As she did so she looked at the two soldiers armed with rifles stood right in front of her, she held out one of her hands.

The soldier looked confused, most likely he thought that she was reaching out for help. Her face looked like it was that of a person begging for salvation, but it slowly turned into a frown. Her bright innocent eyes turned red, like they could scorch the world.

"No," Ada croaked,

"What?" said the soldier closest to her,

"I'm not dead." Ada grit her teeth and clenched her fist. In an instant a pattern of circular disks appeared on her chest and began to glow with an extreme intensity.

"Shit! She's a shaman!" shouted the soldier at the back, he raised his rifle.

The soldier in front didn't have time to react, a barrage of intense lightning bolts crashed into the ground and incinerated him. He didn't have time to scream, an intense brightness commanded the sky and lit up the entire street as his body was violently torn into pieces and turned into ash. The other soldier decided to drop his gun and run in panic, he ran as fast as he could, but another bolt shot down from the sky and reduced his body to dust.

After the carnage, Ada's two assailants were nothing more than specks in the wind. The heat of the flames left the once cold winter air warm long after the spell had dissipated, their ashes danced around beautifully in the air vortex created by the entanglement of hot and cold air.

"I won't die. Not until I find her." Ada sighed as she collapsed back on to the ground.

She rolled on her back and looked up at the sky; a group of glowing butterflies danced around as the clouds parted and revealed the light of the moon. It was the last year of the Seiruun Butterfly Festival, and the first time Ada was able to kill without remorse.

Thirteen years passed.