Decadence

Bitter

I awoke with a start, my eyes flying open as soon as I gained consciousness. I could faintly smell pollen and taste dirt on my dry lips while gazing up into the nighttime sky. My body was sprawled haphazardly across a field of decaying vegetation, the odor of burnt grass rising up off the ground in waves.

The smell filled my lungs, assaulting my senses and as I sat up, I coughed violently to dispel it. My head throbbed with a dull pain and my casual white cotton shirt and cropped pants were dirty and disheveled.

It took me a moment to regain my senses as I tried to recount what had happened. My head throbbed painfully and I placed my right hand against my temple, wincing miserably at the discomfort.

The last thing I could remember is being on my way to meet up with Alec Lloyd, the de facto leader of a small faction of the Lloyd family which had recently split away from the main family after a revolution that had been taking place for the last three years, in order to discuss truce between my family, the Saunders, and his newly formed "family".

In truth, I had known Alec since we were younger and meeting like this now had concerned me as I remembered. Long before the actual revolt, Alec and the supporters of his late father had been under the care of the Saunders.

My father had hoped that eventually they would simply assimilate back into either the Lloyds or into the Saunders. Things had not worked out that way in the end though and now they desired an alliance as equals with the Saunders, who sadly had no intention of honoring it.

When I had brought this to Alec's attention, however, he lashed out at me in anger and demanded that I had a right to convince the rest of the Saunders of the seriousness of the situation at hand.

The fiery look in his eyes as he rained down his fury at me had been enough to send me into a rage against his rash behavior and we ended up arguing. I stormed out, leaving him there and had planned to return to my home.

When I was but a mile or two from the house, a shrill scream erupted and filled the air. Before my eyes, the mansion which I had just departed from was set ablaze. Speechless horror played across my face.

I remember running back towards the mansion and seeing both cloaked figures and the residents of the mansion engaged in fighting just a few yards away from the burning structure. More screams filled the air and in my panicking state, I had called out for Alec.

It was then that a figure had come upon me and with a mere wave of their hand, cast some type of sleeping spell on me. After that my memories became hazy and I had no recollection of ending up where I currently was.

I rose slowly and looked around to view my surroundings. There was a full moon set high up in the sky that I had failed to notice before and from where I stood it was eerily quiet. When expecting my hands closely, they were caked with dirt and remnants of blood, which I found odd considering my previous state of unconsciousness.

My shirt was also ripped on my left sleeve, yet there was no blood or noticeable wound. Besides the sharp ache of my head, nowhere else on my body appeared to be injured. I found it peculiar that no enemy had attempted to harm me while I laid defenseless. Just as these thoughts filled my mind, a foul smell wafted through the breeze, alarming me.

"The scent of blood?" I thought to myself as I turned in the direction of the Lloyd estate, fearing that the situation had escalated to such violence while I was left unaware

My eyes widened in shock at what only walking distance away stood the charred remains of the mansion, still smoldering in some parts, but now much more damaged and destroyed. My knees suddenly felt as if they could give out at any moment.