Tame the Fire

Prologue

Yelena woke up to the sound of muffled whispers in the distance.

Her head was still spinning and the clear buzzing in her ears didn't help at all. The only thing she could feel was the weight of her body and the nauseous sensation from whatever happened.

She took the time to scan the surroundings. Nothing.

It was too dark and only the moon served as her source of light, not enough to see what's out there as the entire area was as dark as a shut closet. But one thing is for sure, she was clearly not in her bedchamber nor was she inside the castle.

She didn't understand why she was out in the open. She was supposed to be inside, resting in the comfort of the palace.

Did she sleepwalk towards here? Probably no. She was familiar of every corner in the capitol and she's never heard of any river situating near the fort. Did someone bring her here? Probably yes. That was the only logical answer. But who? And how?

Nothing made any sense.

Yelena was surprised to hear a stream of water from below. As if she only got her senses revived, she was finally aware of the swollen river waters burbling and gushing against the piling of rocks, fighting to escape whatever waited at the end of the mouth. It was cold, so cold that she had no choice but to wrap herself with her own icy hands.

Still, it did not help. The night was crisp, and her sodden dress tightly hugged the most vulnerable parts of her freezing body. She could rip it away and steal some clothes she could find on her way, but she would not want to walk alone naked, no?

She took the tip of her hair. It smelled like rotten eggs bathed in the sun, and the stench of blood from her body made her want to vomit. She was her own version of a swamp monster, clothes ripped, hair disheveled and body utterly soaked with earth and water.

Yelena tried to whirl her head around, but a faint crack made her stop. She twitched when she felt the throbbing pain all over her body. Everything was a mess. It ached. It was as if she was running a 100 km marathon and her legs were totally worn out. Her bones could be holding on for dear life to prevent her from collapsing.

Why is this happening?

A hot tear flowed to her cheek. It was hopeless. No one's here to save her. She could die from hunger, or the cold. Or just simple die from the fatigue. Her body was already slowly giving up.

She could not believe she was going to die this way. She expected to have a peaceful, normal death. Not like this.

The back of her head pounded like it was being struck by a thousand nails. She placed a hand over it and almost screamed from the pain. Her head was wet, but it was not because of water. Blood. There was a lot. Almost dry.

Her whole body was shaking. Yelena clutched her stomach, sickened. She just wanted to die there and then. What's the use of fighting when she could barely bring her body up? There was no use.

Suddenly, the memory flashed through her mind.

Everything.

She remembered they were running, and they escaped and there was a cliff and she fell.

She remembered how it hurt, the feeling of falling endlessly and how her body was still aching after how many days or hours of being unconscious.

She remembered.

And she finally understood.

Yelena squeezed her eyes shut, clenched her teeth, and placed a hand on the river rocks, forcing herself to stand as she was still trying to regain her balance. The pain was excruciating. Every part of her body was burning like the only reason it hadn't collapsed was because she said so.