Short Stories

Wonteku

The sky had turned pitch black. The air was thick with the smell of smoke.

A fire had been raging, burning for hours, fueled by the vengeance of the Ewdec family. Towers that once pierced the sky, full of glory, were now no more than heaps of debris on the streets of Wonteku.

People screamed. They ran. I don't know where. Nobody knows anymore.

The sun no longer shone in Wonteku, not after what he did.

It wasn't until the fourth tower, the Tower of Orre, heavily encompassed in billowing flames until it bent horrifically to its side and gave, that I reached to my quiver and felt its long, elongated spine.

Names seem to whisper in my mind, drifting like feathers in a hot breeze, all moving in the same direction, the same destination, with the same purpose.

Titaro.

Jakelin.

Ferib.

Zualla.

I could still see them.

There they were. Standing in the midst of all the fire. Completely still. Their eyes on mine, gesturing... beckoning.

No more than mere ghosts, spirits, and forgotten souls. No, not forgotten. Not by me.

The arrow nestled on the crease of my bow. It fit perfectly.

The heat of the raging firestorm swept in my direction, and I breathed in the smoke.

Mother.

Father.

Sister.

Brother.

Dead.

The pain in my arm was no more than a mere thought at the back of my head, as the names of the beloved dead echoed loudly in my head.

I pulled the bowstring back, the arrow with it, its feathers and point laced with a powerful poison, were ready to strike.

Eyes open, my focus narrowed to the one in the blistering mayhem who wore a robe of blood, with hands that have killed many.

He was smiling, the sick bastard.

Amidst all the chaos, his smile shone bright and his eyes gleamed with the sense of victory. In that eye was the small reflection of a whizzing arrow before it splattered and hit the ground, along with the body.

I limped toward my home. A home that was similar to others in this city, debris.

Hoarsely, I murmured, "Mother".

My bow fell on the dirt and so did I, except this time, my hand rests on my chest, where my last arrow met my heart.