My Original Characters and Random Shorts

Did You See the Flares

   Alone.

   She stood alone in the center of the battlefield. The darkness unbroken apart from the occasional wreckage of a house burning.

   The fires spit clouds of sparks into the sky. What she wouldn't give to have him at her side.

   She looked out at the horizon, squinting in confusion. She'd lost something... what was it... strange she couldn't remember.

   She started to walk, picking her way carefully over the fallen warriors. She'd known many of them on this side. She refused to look for anyone specific, not wanting to have her tiny flicker of hope extinguished. Even so, she saw Nynok, Iklo, and Karr.

   Silence.

   Not a breath stirred the air but her own. Erie silence broken only by her near soundless steps, the fire, and the quiet drip of water drops hitting the ground.

   She rubbed her eyes hard. They burned from smoke and emotion. She was the last one standing of her entire army. Technically she had won, but this wasn't a victory.

   A sharp pop made her whip around, expecting a weapon. None came. Over the treetops in the distance, a flare arched through the sky, bright blue, Conri. A breath escaped her lips and a small smile started to grow.

   Another off to the right, this one deep red, Charles. Another green, Aylen, purple, Rhiannon. An explosion of multicolored sparks announced Klara's life. A second green, near the purple... Marjia perhaps? Another red one, this one brighter, Aedre. An orange, Logan.

   In a rush, she pulled her own flare from her belt and lit it quickly, placing it on the ground propped against the remains of a fence. A pure white light shot into the sky over her head.

   Prongs looked up at the white flare as it fizzled out. Through her grief at losing some close friends, she felt relief and at last, victory.

   They had survived.

   Without a second thought, she took off running, shifting into a bright white wolf as she did. She needed to see Logan.