Igniting Sparks

Chapter 53.

"She has obviously not come back to life. Clearly, she was not worthy of the ancient soul. A waste if you ask me."

It was black all around her. Darkness consumed her thoughts and left her immobilized while she heard the voice that was talking. Black flames held her down, ran over her body, but no light was emitted from their dancing figures. How was she seeing them if she couldn't even see herself? She could feel her body, but her mind didn't seem to be connected to it as none of it did what she wanted it to. She wanted to scream as a flash of panic touched her mind but her mouth didn't respond. What was going on?!

Stop moving. Keep still and wait. Soon you may open your eyes. You're not alone in this.

The voice... It was so comforting and familiar but she had trouble placing it. She had trouble placing anything really.

"Marric has gone mad and you know it. Killing her was the stupidest thing he could do. Now we have to wait for the ancient soul to bind itself again to a newborn and watch it grow. It will take forever! Besides, he had promised me I could have her for myself if she refused to cooperate."

That was the third voice she counted. The strange thing was only one of them seemed to come from somewhere else. From inside herself?

"Oh please, she would've killed you the moment she was alone with you. I'm sure Marric has a plan. You've seen how the drug finally works. He might not even need her damned soul after all. He has that filthy fake leopard now. If he can control that one, why not control the rest?"

It was the first female voice again. How come she only now registered it as female? At the mention of the drug, she started working against her flaming restraints again. Was she drugged? She wanted to break free, open her eyes to prove she wasn't drugged. The flames coiled stronger against her, pushing her down harder as she suddenly did feel something of her own body. It was small but felt like a victory. One eyelid was trembling, she could feel the tiny muscle pulsating against her eyeball. Could she maybe break free out of this black prison?

Keep still! You have to trust me so I can guide us through this!

Again that voice in her head. She wanted to trust it, it felt like the right thing to do, but on the other hand, she wanted to break free. With an internal sigh, she stopped trying to move. Stopped trying to connect her brain with her body and decided it would be best if she listened to the voice. Breaking free was something she could always attempt if this didn't work out.

"Excuse me? She wouldn't have dared to kill me. You saw it for yourself; she did nothing when she was being strangled! She was weak yet Marric still believes her to be his savior. The guy has gone mad. You should have seen him rage when she didn't come back to life. He believes all ancient souls possess nine lives. I expected nothing else than this. She has a human for a father for crying out loud! I don't believe she even had an ancient soul. The freak probably just shifted as a mistake."

It became silent once more. She tried to connect the dots in her head, tried to figure out what was happening. The name 'Marric' the voices mentioned did feel familiar but she couldn't place it. And just as she was thinking of where she knew it from, the name slipped her mind again leaving only a black hole in its place. As if she knew nothing. But she did know something. Just not what actually seemed important.

"Let's throw her body down here. It's far enough. The scavengers will do the rest."

Wait, what? Was that why she couldn't move? Why black flames seemed to eat her alive? Was she actually dead? Then why could she hear the two people talking to each other? She felt more confused than ever but tried to remain calm as the voice in her head had told her to. It was probably her voice trying to calm her. She felt like a maniac with that voice in her head.