Buried Truths

Chapter 10

"Yap goes the dog," She whispers and he laughs, then her scream tears through the room, cutting off my breathing in one sharp slice.

No. No. It can't be, no. Please no! My shaking starts again and I frantically claw at Cae's hands, looking at him with my eyes, pleading him to let me go. He looks at me, anguish and conflict clearly displayed all over his face, he shakes his head at me and my breath spills out of me in shuddering spurts. I apologise to him with tears in my eyes and then slam my hands onto his chest making him cough out in pain, grabbing four of his thinnest blades from his waist as he was distracted I then pulled myself out of the box with a scream, already throwing the daggers with point-blank accuracy into the eyes of the two dogs, sending them sprawling with wails of pain onto the floor. I rolled into a crouch as I surveyed the horrifying scene in front of me, Tanker had his sword impaled in Terra's gut, her eyes wide with pain and her mouth agape still in shock. He looked at me with a gleam in his eyes before removing his sword causing Terra to topple onto the floor and fleeing from the room, I didn't care for him and only rushed to Terra's side, stumbling slightly on my unsteady feet. I crumpled next to her heaving body and sobbed as I placed my hands on her wound, still pumping out her life source,

"No, no, no, no. You'll be fine. You'll live. If...I...just...you...MEDICINE! I NEED MEDICINE! Someone help! Someone please..." I wailed and leant on the wound, maybe if I just kept the pressure on,

"Tell me what to do Terra, please. Please." I cried, tears flowing down my face, dripping onto her apron mixing with the blood, and rolling off along with it onto the floor,

"Little Star," her whisper reached me and I gasped out a shuddering breath of relief,

"You'll be fine, Just...just tell me what to do," my voice breaking as my words rushed out of me,

"Listen to me, Little Star," she coughed abruptly and blood spurted out from her lips trickling down her chin,

"I'm listening mi Reina*, I'm listening,"

"My time has come to leave and return to the mother,"

"No, no, no, no. You'll be fine. I can heal you. You'll be fine. Please, please don't leave me alone. Please," I whimpered, trembling from the strength of my tears,

"Listen, you know about the archive hidden deep in this building, please get the tomes out," she had another coughing fit and this time, the blood was thick and sticky on my hands as I held her head aloft,

"Then the catacombs. In my room. Remember our little dance when you look to the moon, Little Star, and remember you can only use 'it' when you embrace your darkness"

"Stop, stop, STOP!" I screamed, my heart fracturing slightly,

"I love you. I love you so so much. You were always the daughter I wanted. Full of happiness in the darkness. You will be a good person, please never stop living." Another coughing fit made more blood flow out of her mouth,

"Stop, please. Please just STOP! PLEASE!" I screeched, the cracks in my heart widening and splitting,

"I will forever watch over you mi cielito*, you will never be alone." She smiled at me and then took her finger and dipped the tip in her blood before raising it to my forehead and sketching something on it,

"Make them pay." She murmured and closed her eyes with a sigh as though she was tired and was simply laying down for a little rest. I screamed and clutched at her face in desperation, hoping she would just open her eyes one more time, that this was all going to be just a really bad nightmare. That I would wake up and she would come breezing through the door again with her basket full of plants and liquids. That she would slap my forehead again for not believing in her magic stories. That she would just look at me and smile and let me tell her how beautiful she looked. 

How amazing she was. 

How kind and considerate and how she made me feel alive and how she was always there when I was upset or angry or exhausted. 

I moaned and shrieked and cried for all that I had just lost. Why didn't these plants grieve with me, why didn't the stones shake and quiver in sadness, why was everything still the same when such a pure soul had been so cruelly snatched away from me. My tears wracked out of me, spilling over her still body in torrents of anguish and misery. My heart completely shattered into shards that were wrapped tightly with coils of darkness from deep within me somewhere. 

And suddenly everything turned quiet. 

So, so quiet. My mind was blank as I lifted my head from where I had placed it on her chest.

The tears stopped dropping.

I stopped feeling.

Everything just stopped.

I stood up, not bothering with the dust and blood that clung onto me. I turned and walked slowly towards the man in front of me. I don't know who he was. I didn't care. I looked into his purple eyes and tilted my head to the side, every movement now purely predatory.

"Sword." He took his sword off his back and placed it in my outstretched hand.

"Knives." He did the same with his leather belt full of daggers.

I looked at the two things, strapping them on my body. Then I looked at the man and stretched my hand out to his cloak on his shoulders and snatched it from him, putting it on too. I turned again and walked towards a crate full of something, I didn't know or care about too. I trailed a hand down its side and found the groove it hides, thumbing a knife free, I stabbed its edge into the crease and pulled the box that had been hidden. Picking up its contents and stuffing them in my pockets, I dropped the box and walked towards the door.

When I reached the door, a deep voice shouted,

"Zornitsa!" I looked at the man and laughed humourlessly

"She no longer exists," I walked through the door and didn't look back as I left the house, energy coursing through me from the darkness crawling over the world, and started my Hunt.

*(mi cielito = means "My little heaven", Mi reina = is an endearment meaning 'My queen' )*