Heir of Cinders [FADING EMBERS #1] - ON HOLD

7.1 - The Cold Bites

The cold bit into Faisuri's skin, like the razor blades of a knife against her flesh.

She was there again, in that accursed, formless place. Faisuri found herself floating aimlessly within a detached realm, forced to submit to the push and pull of the ever-shifting fog. The landscape around her was a hazy monochrome, lacking any notable features that could be seen by the eye. Her feet were laid bare like the rest of her, somehow touching nothingness yet still keeping her aloft. Perhaps she could count herself fortunate that there were no eyes to see her exposed, but dignity was the least of her concerns. She could not even see her body, though she knew that nothing stood between the environment and her skin through the feeling of the frigid cold. It sliced at her, leaving unseen lacerations upon the entirety of her body from the top of her head to her toes.

It was torture, pure torture. There was no other way to describe the feeling. In this god-forsaken place, she was soundless. She had no voice to cry out her pain. Not a single peep of sound was able to escape her throat, no matter how hard she pushed her lungs. Faisuri was forced to endure the torment in silence, with only her thoughts to provide her the slightest amount of solace. At least, she could curse the horrible experience in her mind... and that gave her a vindictive relief. The amount of profanities that coursed through her brain with the speed of a raging river would be enough to make a faerie douse her in water from their holy springs.

Despite there not being any eyes to look at her, Faisuri knew for certain that she was not alone. She could hear them clearly; the restless beings that thrived in the cold. The young woman could even swear that these unseen creatures were the cause of her suffering. At the very least, their incessant moaning and wailing drove her to the brink of insanity.

It was a sick medley of lamentations; these beings of the cold had no joy nor warmth to speak of. Their words were bleak and discouraging, so morose that Faisuri herself found it hard to believe so much negativity could be contained in any creature.

Had she could feel her arms underneath the throbbing sensation that was only a few inches away from numbing her nerves, she would have throttled them to silence them. It was yet another cruel mockery that said beings did not have any form for her to strangle, nor could she even move her arms with the pain that constantly coursed through her nerves.

The wretched inhabitants of the formless realm tugged at her forcefully while they whispered forlorn words into her ears. Even through the blinding pain of a thousand swords making unseen incisions upon every bit of her exposed limbs, Faisuri knew that she could not let them pull her too deep into their strange world. It was a place of no return. If she drowned in the haze, she would be trapped in the miasma for an eternity.

Whatever it took, at any cost, she could not allow that to happen.

Instead of squeezing whatever life ran through the devilish beings out of them, the young woman had to use every ounce of her strength to pull against their force. Her body convulsed from the effort and the pain, writhing in agony in trying to break free from their terrible clutch. Faisuri was aware that her jaw was wide open, her throat dry from the strain of her soundless screams. Her scalp was on the verge of tearing, for the despicable wretches were yanking at her long raven locks. She was aware of the tears that had formed at the corners of her eyes and the tightness around her chest from the shortness of her breath.

Yet, they never fell. This world would not allow her any form of warmth, not even from the tears that welled up in her eyes.

"She's struggling," the beings murmured. Somehow, Faisuri could always understand what they were saying, even if she could not pinpoint what manner of language they were speaking. It was definitely not Orkhese. "She always struggles."

"Give up, pitiful anomaly. Your struggle is meaningless. Let yourself fall."

Faisuri shook her head fervently. Her breathing was becoming labored, a cough breaking out of her throat. Still, she held on. She strained her muscles against their pull, in a tug-of-war that meant her return to home or her eternal suffering. The pain had dulled most of her mind, aside from the one thought that shouted at her to persist.

To persist.

"Her strength is waning," the faceless beings noted. "That thing keeping her tethered to the other world is fading. She will fall- it's only a matter of time."

I won't, she shouted, though only air came out of her lips. I will NOT.

Her dry lips were peeled back in a snarl, her expression almost feral. A vicious light ignited within her dark eyes as she bent her body forwards. Her foot lifted from the ground for a split second, before anchoring itself an inch in front of its previous position. It was progress, she knew, no matter how little it was. In facing this trial, the smallest bit of hope was a driving push to help her overcome the shackles. Still, she could not help but feel a small anxiety at the beings' words. Faisuri had learned to tune their words out into vague gibberish, but something about their last sentence caught her attention.

They mentioned how the "thing" that tethered her to the "other world" was fading.

There was no time for her to dwell on that thought. At that very moment, a small warmth flickered from within her; a welcome change from the relentless frost. The warmth spread and grew in intensity, causing the gray haze around her to recoil. Then, warmth turned to heat... and comfort turned to more pain. A burning sensation coursed through her veins. The girl felt as if she was combusting from the inside out. All of a sudden, blood-red flames flared in front of her. They blazed a ringed trail around her, isolating her from the freezing and shapeless fog.

The heat from the embers melted the shackles that held Faisuri, liberating her from the icy clutches of the forlorn beings. Her body lurched forwards from the momentum. Some feeling returned to her aching legs, and she began to run.

Her body was alight with fire coursing through her blood. Whenever she drew near the miasma, she could hear a hiss of fright from the forlorn creatures. Faisuri kept on running, paying no mind where she was headed. She knew that if she continued sprinting, she would find her way out of this shapeless hell. Pure instinct was the only thing that compelled her mind at that moment. In the blazing, burning heat, she could only think to flee.

Scarlet painted her vision as she collapsed, the embers engulfing her entire body. The landscape around her started to spin, spiraling out of control. It drove her nauseous, though what with the heavy restrictions this world placed on her biological functions, Faisuri doubted that she would be able to expel her dinner in this otherworldly realm. She collapsed into herself, curling up into a ball and placing her hands onto her head. Her fingers entangled themselves into the strands of her hair.

"You will join us soon enough, little anomaly," the forlorn beings whispered. "It is inevitable."

Faisuri felt herself being jerked forcefully out of the hellish world. Her vision spun; crimson mixing with gray into an inexplicable shade of color before fading to pitch black.

When she next opened her eyes, the sixteen-year-old girl found herself back on the soft mattress of her luxurious bed.

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Chapter Writer: VeryBigMess

AN: This is a short chapter, but I am glad that we have finally started to get into the main conflict. Goodness, this book is slow. Anyways, as always, please vote and leave comments! Again, our biggest love for those of you who have stuck with us for so long to read this far <3