‘’Cinder’’

The heavily plated soldiers charge towards us with spears and swords, while I grab Morana’s hand and run away from them. ‘Morana, I need you to run away from here. Go to the inn once they’ve lost you trail. I’ll try to distract them!’ I let go of her hand, push her forward and face of with the soldiers. ‘Come on, boys!’ The soldiers come to a halt in front of me, pointing their weapons to me. The boy slowly walks behind them, wearing a cocky expression on his face. I grab the Arc from my back and brace myself from any attack coming my way. There are five soldiers, one with a sword, one with a big hammer and three with a spear and shield. For a few moments, nothing happens until…

‘Aahh!!’ The soldier with the sword charges at me. I hold my ground, thinking about dodging him at the last moment. That is until I see a shade suddenly fly past my shoulder towards the soldier and kicking him square in the face. A small grunt can be heard from him until he drops to the ground unconscious. I look at the silhouette and see Morana stand in front of me. Her hair is slightly covering her eyes when she faces this way, but it contains a look of pain and regret.

‘M-Morana…what are you doing?! You should be-!’ She turns to the soldiers before I even finish my sentence, and charges at the guards with spears. The soldiers all stab in her direction, but she jumps onto the spears in a swift movement, pushing them down with her bodyweight. A quick dash forward followed by a knee in the face takes out the second guard, before she low-kicks the one next one in the back of his knee, an unguarded spot in the armor. Her movement is fluid and graceful, correctly and precisely executed on a technical level and her attacks so simple but efficient. I can only look in awe, nearly forgetting I need to help her fight. I rush towards the soldier with the big sledgehammer, but he notices me quickly and swings his gigantic weapon in my direction. I halt my run and jump backwards in order to avoid the fatal injury I would’ve taken if I let myself get hit by that thing. I backpedal but trip over my own feet. My legs are slightly shaking while he walks up to me. ‘Dammit, why now!’ I need to stop the shaking of my legs and let the fear go out of my body. I grab myself from the ground and run backwards as he smacks his hammer onto the ground.

Think, Brandr! Think! I need to find something that could work in my advantage. I look back at the soldier, who struggles to get his hammer up. That should be my que, my way out. I quickly look around and see a few barrels over at the side of a house, as well as a big tree behind him. I run towards the barrels, while the soldier chases me. I stand in front of them and throw one at him. He easily blocks it, and swings his hammer in the air, trying to gain momentum to smack my head off. I wait until he drops it and jump to the side as he smacks it into a barrel. As I hoped, it gets stuck into the barrel and I quickly kick him into the side, agitating him, before I dash towards the tree. Too angry to think, he follows me mindlessly. ‘Come on, you bastard! Aren’t you going to smack me down?’ He looks even angrier and swings his hammer in the sky when he gets in front of me, but when he tries to bring his hammer down he realizes that it takes an unearthly amount of effort. He looks up and sees his hammer stuck into the branches. As he looks down, he sees me with a stone in hand in front of him. I smack his face in with the rock, rendering him unconscious in one go. ‘Wow…that required some luck alright…’ Even I realize that I was lucky for the barrel to stay stuck, as well as him being stupid. ‘Morana, do you need any-‘ I stop mid-sentence as I see Morana slice through the throat of one of the soldiers she had kneeled down in front of her. Blood gushes out…so much blood it looks unreal. ‘……help…’ I don’t know what I just witnessed, but she is walking up to the boy, who looks scared out of his mind. ‘Ah…Morana! No!’ I run towards her, but before I can even get close to her, she dashes lighting fast into the boy, and punches him as hard as she can into her stomach. Barely no sound leaves his mouth as he passes out. I thought for a moment she was going to kill him as brutally as the soldier…

‘Brandr… You’re safe,’ she softly says… ‘They didn’t hurt you, did they?’ I stand in front of her, and she quickly inspects my body. Grabbing my arm, pulling the sleeve of my shirt up and checking for wounds.

‘D-Don’t worry, Morana. I’m safe. I should be more worried about you! Did they hurt you in any way?’ I ask her, consciously trying not to look to my right, where the emptied body of the soldier is located.

‘I’m fine! Thank you for helping me though. You really saved me there!’ She smiled so beautifully and peacefully.

‘It’s the other way around! You helped me bigtime…’ I force a smile, but it’s so fake… I cannot stop thinking about the fact that Morana…this innocent-looking girl just murdered a man in cold blood. I always try to defeat my human opponents by rendering their ability to fight me, but she……that beautiful smile…just murdered a man. I am genuinely scared right now, but I know I cannot show that to her.

‘Anyway, you said you had some trouble regarding the governor, right?’ she asks without bothering anything else around her.

‘Y-Yeah…I was researching this group called Cinder, and then these guys suddenly interrupted me. I really don’t understand what happened with them, but I was wanted for some reason after that. I just hope it won’t affect the rest of my journey.’ I realize that her focus shifted in the middle of my explanation. Her eyes look sullen, like she lost her will to live for a moment.

‘D-Did…did you say Cinder?’ she asks me weakly.

‘Y-Yeah…’

‘Why?’ she asks weakly again. I nervously step back for a moment.

‘B-Because I had a sister that went missing one day, and I learned that Cinder was a group that was associated with the kidnapping of children. So I thought-.‘

‘I’ll help you,’ she says as she interrupts me. My mouth opens. I did not expect her to say something like that out of the blue.

‘W-Wait, what do you mean? You’ll help me with my search?’ She nods… She doesn’t realize that I am leaving by tomorrow. We still have a long time until the sun sets, but…

‘Let’s start with this boy.’ She grabs the little boy from the ground and puts him on her shoulder. Something about the image doesn’t fit her looks, but I don’t dare say anything.

‘Why? Is her part of Cinder? What would he know?’ She walks off without answering my questions. ‘H-Hey! Wait for me!’ I quickly follow her.

………………………………..

………………….

……….

‘Gah!’ the boy wakes up after splashing him with water in the face. It feels like a torturing, rather than an interrogation. He tries to move, but he’s been tight with rope at his feet and hands. ‘Why am I-… Hey, you two! Let me go!’

‘So, Morana. Going to tell me why we took him with us?’ I look at her. She still looks a bit sullen, but her eyes contain a lot me fire now.

‘Well, if the son of the governor comes to take us to his father, then you must’ve something really bad.’

I look at the little boy. ‘Wait, that’s his son!’ This kid is the son of the governor. That fat blob had a son?!

‘W-What do you guys want from me? Money? Is it money? I don’t have any on me! Let me go!’ the kid squeals around. It’s slightly annoying me, but Morana needs him to talk, so I cannot bind his mouth.

‘We don’t want money, we want information, and you’re going to give us information.’ Morana goes low as she says that and pulls a kris dagger from underneath her shirt and pushes it against his cheek. This situation is scaring me, because it brings the memories of her killing that guard back.

‘W-What…d-d-do you want…?’

‘Cinder…’ Morana only says the name Cinder, and the atmosphere feels like it’s turning to ice. The kid has an even more fearful expression on his face now.

‘I-I can’t…I promised father…’ he turns his face to the side, and Morana moves her dagger to his neck, and pushes hard enough to gush a little bit of blood out.

‘I see…you don’t value your life then. That’s okay, we’ll just ask someone else from the Council then.

‘Hiii! No, please! We’ll all die if I say a word. You cannot go after Cinder!’

‘Tell me…or you will die now…’ Morana starts pushing harder and harder.

‘Okay! Please don’t kill me! Please!’ Morana takes her dagger away from the kid. I stand frozen to the side, unable to do anything. I feel like the whole situation is escalading beyond me. ‘Look…you probably know Cinder is a broken group, but people don’t know that Cinder is everywhere. They are watching us right now. I’m probably going to die after this, but they are even here in Rakenia… Please just let me go! I’ll tell you, but please spare me!’

Morana looks at me. I stare her in her eyes, and we both nod at each other. Morana cuts the ropes from the kid. ‘Don’t worry…we’ll deal with Cinder right here. You’ll be safe. I know they are big, but they don’t hear everything. The darkness doesn’t cover the entire world, so it’s safe…

He slightly nods. ‘We…the Council was told that they would give my father power if they could do their research here in Rakenia. No one would know, and no investigation would be allowed. The Council agreed, but they didn’t know that they would kidnap children for their experiments. We thought about banishing them, but when they thought about overthrowing them, Cinder killed some of the councilmembers. Cinder must always stay hidden. I learned all this because I was with my father at the meeting. People who tried to investigate them would be taken out by Cinder themselves or my father and his henchmen.’ I suddenly remember the creepy guy. So, he wanted to get rid of me because he thought I would investigate Cinder…I coincidentally did in the end, but if I didn’t, he would’ve left me alone…

‘So, you know their location?’ Morana asks softly.

‘East of the city, at the lonely tree. Magic covers the place. That’s all I can say. I will surely be killed after this, so let me see my father now…’ he says nearly sobbing. Morana nods at him, and I look at her. We don’t need anything else. All we have to do is investigate ourselves. His job is done…

………………………………………………

We decide to escort him back to the palace. We watch him from a distance as he makes it to the governor’s building and leave once we know he’s safe. ‘So, I guess there is only one thing left to do…’ Morana says calmly. She takes a few steps to the other side of the governor’s building, but I grab her hand before she walks away.

‘Why… I told you about my sister. You can understand why I’m chasing Cinder…but why are you so obsessed with them? You’re even more obsessed than I am! It’s weird!’ She comes close to me suddenly, leaning her body softly against mine, as she places her hands onto my chest.

‘Let’s talk about that while we walk, okay? I don’t feel that comfortable standing here near that building in a big crowd…’ I just nod, trying to contain my heart from bursting out of my chest. I’m weak to feminine attacks…

……………………………………..

…………………….

………..

And then she tells me the story. It’s a story that I already know. The story of Cinder, but this time told with a lot more pain. The story about how Cinder kidnaps children and experiments on them. The quest of the almighty superhuman that could beat Abyss without the need of a Hero. The children suffered terribly, and many even died in order to create the ‘’perfect being’’. ‘I hate the thought how many children are suffering every day, just for a cause that might not be attainable. It breaks my heart to think that so many of them are suffering…torn away from their family. You and I know how that feels…having lost family. I have lived on the streets for years, and I have seen a lot of children abandoned by their parents, but that doesn’t mean that you should just take them and kill them for your own good…’

She just feels for children. You wouldn’t think that if you saw her a while ago, threatening to take a kid’s life… I’m sure…she must have had something to do with Cinder…everyone can see that once you see the hate she has for them. ‘Say…Morana?’ She looks at me, still saddened by her own story. ‘Let’s put an end to this, okay?’

‘Let’s…’ she says, half smiling. I grab her hand for a moment. She clenches mine tightly…

…………………………….

‘So, this is the place, right?’

‘Yes. The lonely tree in the east of the city.’ It’s a single dead tree in the middle of a plain. There is nothing surrounding it. The city walls are far, but visible. It won’t take long to return, but that’s not on our mind at the moment. We want to finish our business here.

‘The kid said something about being covered in magic, right?’ I ask Morana while she approaches the tree. She looks at it from different angles, until she suddenly disappears. ‘Ah, Morana! What just happened!’ I look around the tree for her, the same angles that she looked at. I approach the left side of the tree as my vision warps. I blink my eyes a few times, only to find myself in a small cottage. It’s an old, dusty cottage, filled with broken furniture and smashed walls. It looks sad and disgusting. I look at Morana, who stands in front of me.

‘It seems the magic was just a trick on the eyes. I think we’ve made it…the hideout is here.’ She points at the carpet on the floor, and as she removes it, reveals a big hole in the ground that the carpet covered. There is a stairway in the hole going down into the ground. The hole is barely lit up, so it looks creepy to me.

‘So…this is it…’

‘Mhm.’ She offers me her hand to help me stand up. I grab it firmly as she pulls me to my feet. ‘Let’s go.’ I nod at her, and we walk down the stairway.

We approach the end of the stairs, and find ourselves in a dark, gray alleyway. The air feels tense. The walls and floors are tiled with gray marble, and only a few torches on the walls light up the dark halls. This place doesn’t look inviting to the least. ‘Let’s stick close to each other, Morana.’ I grab her hand. She looks at me with a smile. You sure are innocent… I don’t say it out loud, but I do feel calmer with her at my side. Even though I witnessed her killing a man in cold blood, I do feel a sense of innocence come from her. She’s smart, but I feel like she is ignorant of common knowledge to a certain extent.

‘Let’s go…’ she interrupts my train of thought and drags me with her into the dark halls. We don’t hear anything. Like nobody lives here. It’s silent…and then

A damp sound. Like the sound of chopping wood. It’s foreign and quiet. It slightly echoes for a brief moment and disappears into the darkness. We have no idea where that sound came from, but it indicates the most important thing…….

……someone is here……

‘Say…what do you expect to see here,’ I ask her in a soft whisper.

‘…….’ No response. I look at her expression. It’s tense…and filled with anger. This isn’t the Morana that just smiled at me. Her expression is the complete opposite right now.

‘Morana, are you okay? You look troubled.’

She looks at me, with hate and fear in her eyes. ‘I…’ she says softly.

‘……I smell blood…’ and with that, she lets go of my hand, and suddenly dashes forward. She takes a turn somewhere along the way and disappears out of my sight.

‘Ah, Morana!’ I whisper as loud as I can. I run after her, but she is gone. I am alone… ‘She said that she smelled blood…’ Shivers go down my spine. My arms and legs are shaking. ‘W-What am I scared about… It’s going to be okay, Brandr. It’s going to be okay…’ I clench my hand into a fist and hit my like, trying to calm down. ‘Let’s just keep going. I have to find Morana and continue the investigation.’ I place my leg forward and move my other leg before that. Slowly…I walk…towards…something…

The gray walls feel like they are growing closer to me. It is getting harder to breathe. ‘Dammit, Brandr. Why are you so scared?’ I lean against the wall for a moment. I remember the events at the Hero’s Monument. The grotesque images fill my mind, as if trying to describe the fear in my head. ‘It’s okay, Brandr. Just take a deep breath.’ I inhale all the air I can get through my nose and exhale it through my mouth. My mind calms down after a few times of doing so. The walls appear normal, and my breathing is stabilizing again. ‘Okay, we’re fine now. It’s going to be okay after all…’ I walk forward again, and take a few turns, trying to find Morana.

*chop*

And there it is again. A lot louder. The chopping sound came from the other side of this hallway. Should I approach it, or should I wait for Morana. Of course, the latter. It’s unsafe to face the enemy alone when you have no idea what he can do…

……then why…are my legs moving me forward. My curiosity is getting the better of me. I need to find out what that chopping sound was. So, I walk. I walk forward to the end of the hallway, and after taking a right turn, see a massive door in front of me. It has a symbol on it, which I can barely see due to the terrible lighting these hallways have. ‘It’s the Cinder logo…’ The fist with the words ‘’Cinder’’. ‘It’s going to be okay, Brandr.’ I take my sword out and tap the door. It slowly opens by itself. ‘It’s going to be okay…’

…Too bad…it wasn’t going to be okay…

I walk into the dark room and terribly smelling room. It’s even worse lit than the hallways, but I see a light in the distance. It’s a man next to a table. I take a few steps forward on the sticky ground, until I suddenly kick something. ‘Who’s there?!’ I suddenly hear from the man at the table, and as if responding to his voice, the room lightens up. Everything is splashed in red and down below me is a̷̡̦͔̬͎̫̜̒͌͑̆̿͐̊̾̑̀͗͋͂̓͆ ̸̨̡̘͓̤̳̣̲̜͋̇̍̿͒̽̈̃̒͑́̒͜c̴͔̤͔̳͍̲͕͕̹̩͊o̷͉͕̩̼̻͛̈́̔̄̏̐̋͝r̵̨͉̳̰̠̙̯̮̤̭͕̝̹̞̩̓̓͗̄͂͘̕p̸̧̡̥͓̟͔̙͓̝̖͓̱̓̔̆̌̊͌͝s̸̡̛̺̣̟̪͕̓̉̽̈́̀́̈̉ͅȩ̶̲͍̩͙̱̭͕̟̼̩͙̹̒̈̀͑͒̒̉̅̉̏̚͝ ̵̡̢̢̛͓̘͓͙͍̺̖͇̙͓̔̉̇̄̔͆̋͘o̴̜̥̲̼͗̏̒̋̓̃͐̀̅̔͑͝f̶̡̢̲̤̺̠̬̻̼̗̘͇̄̆͆̀̐̉̐̿͠ͅ ̷̧̨̫̳̗͍̠͎̋à̷͈̙̖͎̳̆̎̀̄̕ ̴̢̩͈̬̤̹̮͙́͑̽͐̀͛͋̂̓̎̋͊̏͝d̵̛̝̳͂̓̀̅̀̊̉̋̚͜͠ĕ̶̢̧̗͕̳̺̮̟̟͚̱͚̍͛͜͠a̶̙͇̋̓̿͑́̈́̍̎͘d̷̛̬͙̔̾͗̄̆̈́̎̀̋́̓̈́̚,̴̢̺̼̘̩͒̌̂͐̇́̈́̈́͆͝͝ ̸̧̱̰̮̹͖͔̺̭̻͙͔̻̤͔̈̄̋͑̒̕m̸͓̱̜͉̻̺̥̪̭͗̚ų̴̨̣̬̙̻̤͙̖̹̩̘̘͌͒̃̈́͗̿̕͠ͅt̵̲̥̘̻̺̱̎̃̅̎͒̑̈́̄̂̓͒͐̚͝į̶̢̢̢͖̦͚̫͙͎̱̇́͌͑̈́̍̈́̽̈͌̀̓͘͝l̷̜̩̭̻̄̈́̓̂͂̓͑́ͅả̵͖̀̔̇̓̕͠t̷̢̯͕͈͇͕̂̐̆̓͐̕͠ẹ̵̛̬̭̥̠̣͍̪̫̬͓͕̒̓̋̈̄̒͒̉̋̕͠͠͠d̸̛̳͎͕͙͖̲̲̳̏̾̋͌̾̊̈͌̚͘ͅ ̶̟̤̤̺̹̟̳̯̺̞͍̗̯̀̓̌̄̌c̶̼͔̼̼̹͓͑ḩ̸̛͍͓̙̖̥̪̉̐̀̽̾̚̚͠ì̴̼̒̿̃͐̕l̶̗͙̪͇͚̱̺̰͔̤̞͙̐̐d̶̳̯̘̐̾̽̎̽͒͌̏͐̈̀̑͝.̶̭̋̆͛̍̓̍̎̑̀͐̐͐̋ͅ

WARNING: Due to previous complains about displaying content like this without warning. Hidden content contains violence and gore against children. Don’t read the hidden content if you’re sensitive against stuff like that.

Spoiler: Warning content

What…is…this…

A corpse…and not just a corpse… ' A child…?' He can’t be older that six I remember the article in read in the news the other day; [Children search still at square one. It’s been a month since Rakenia has been plagued with the kidnapping of children. All of those children have disappeared when they were alone or in the middle of the night. The local sheriff and volunteers have yet to find any evidence or a lead on the missing children.]. It’s still a young little boy, but his limbs don’t look like limps anymore. Grotesque lumps of flesh attached to a body. My eyes have adjusted well by now. I look in front of me and start to vomit. I see corpses of mutated children everywhere. Every single one of them has something weird to their body. A girl with no eyes, only darkness filling the eyeholes. Another boy with no limps and pus coming out of the wounds. Bodies of little children with wounds from needles, as if they’ve been injected with something. Everything is horrifying to watch. Everyone is dead, and theirs blood everywhere…

‘Who are you, you boy? How did you find this place?’ I look at the man. He’s doing something. I take another step forward. Only now I can see what’s in front of him. Another child. He steps away from the child with a grin on his face, and I see a gruesome scene in front of me.

Spoiler: More Warning content

Some of the organs have been taken out. The little boy looks at me with tears in his eyes.

Ḿ̸̳̬͓̻̎̽͗̆͒̂̌̅̓͋̕ͅú̶̲̋̇͋͒́r̵͖̣̳̲̝̻͓̯͕͇̙̞͕͐̽̌̊̍͑̊͝͝͝d̵͕͌̐͗͂̂̌̃͘͝e̶̪̮̻̻͍͒́r̵̲̝̞̬̞͚̈́̽̂̀̊̇̈́̽̈́͘͜͝ ̴̨̡̲͉̪͐̎̏̾̇͗̒̀̌̔̏͒͝͝h̵̻̘̼͗͂̄̎̉́͆̃ḭ̶̛̫̌̓͐̂̊m̷̢͙̮̯̹̼̹͉̫̳̮̰̠̹͇̐̆̊̈́̾͆̔̌͝!̴̢̻̐͌̌̽̈ What? I cannot think straight…Tears roll down my face. I cannot contain my emotions any longer...

Ḿ̸̳̬͓̻̎̽͗̆͒̂̌̅̓͋̕ͅú̶̲̋̇͋͒́r̵͖̣̳̲̝̻͓̯͕͇̙̞͕͐̽̌̊̍͑̊͝͝͝d̵͕͌̐͗͂̂̌̃͘͝e̶̪̮̻̻͍͒́r̵̲̝̞̬̞͚̈́̽̂̀̊̇̈́̽̈́͘͜͝ ̴̨̡̲͉̪͐̎̏̾̇͗̒̀̌̔̏͒͝͝h̵̻̘̼͗͂̄̎̉́͆̃ḭ̶̛̫̌̓͐̂̊m̷̢͙̮̯̹̼̹͉̫̳̮̰̠̹͇̐̆̊̈́̾͆̔̌͝!̴̢̻̐͌̌̽̈ It feels like my head is splitting open.

‘So, I guess I have been compromised. I’ll have my minions deal with that later. As for now…’ He looks at me, while holding a bloody axe in his hand. ‘I will have to deal with you, nosy brats.’

I want to puke…so badly…My stomach is twisting. My head hurts… It feels like I’m snapping…

Ṁ̶̧̛̬͓̺͍̬̹̻̠̠̖̻̄̋́ǘ̵̜̟͍̻̺̽̽̆͗̂r̵̛̙͂̓͆̑̇͐͘̚͘͝͝d̸̨̧̛̩̮̠̟͓̤̟̳͒̿̉̆̄̿̂̍̃̆̈́̚͜͝e̶̪̠̓̈́͑̐̏̔͒̀͌̀͘ŗ̸̰̲̭̖̦̞͔͚̹͚̿̃ ̸̨̧̧̛̛͍͍̮͍͎̼̮̻̑̌̀̔̒͜͜h̷̨̯̱͇̒͐͊i̶̲̩̲͒́̓̔͗̆̀̏m̷̨̮̘̞̣͚̤̺̐͆̍̃̊̂̈͆́̍̂͊̀́̈́

I cannot get it out of my head. It’s……it’s…

‘I won’t kill you, don’t worry. You might be a useful test subject after all. Maybe I can alter your genetic formula, and turn you into another mind slave of mine…’

……………………………………………………………..

My mind turns blank. The throbbing pain won’t leave. I don’t care if it doesn’t anymore. All I want to do…is…

Murder him.

It happens in a flesh. Before I can even do anything, I realize my sword is impaling him and pressing him against the wall. He’s coughing up blood. I keep pushing in, trying to increase the bleeding. It doesn’t feel like I even control my own body. It’s as if I’m spectating myself while it functions by itself. I don’t say anything. The man is screaming in agony. I keep on stabbing him, trying to make him suffer as much as possible. ‘I won’t kill you, don’t worry. Your screams of pain are like music to my ears, after all,’ my body says as a smirk appears on my face. I want this to stop. I don’t want to kill him like this. I don’t want to kill. I don’t want to hurt. I…I…STOP!!!!

My body stops, and I feel control in my own actions. I drop my sword, and the body slides down to the ground. I look at it intensely, barely noticing the hand that’s on my shoulder. The hand…belongs to Morana. Did she bring me back to my senses? I don’t even remember… ‘Brandr…there’s no need for all this…’ She grabs her kris dagger and stabs it in the forehead of the man. He convulses a few times and lies down lifeless on the floor. ‘It’s okay, Brandr…it’s over…’

Ah…I’m… ‘I’m…sorry…’

I don’t remember anything after that. I pass out in the middle of the room, surrounded by so much pain. My mind wanders completely, and when I come back to it, I recognize the ceiling of my waking place. It’s the inn. I’m back at the inn. I don’t believe that was all a dream… ‘Why…am I here…?’

‘A young girl brought you here. She said she saw you passed out due to the heat. You really should be more careful about things like that.’ I turn my head, and see Evander come in with a bowl of water. ‘Thank god I didn’t need to wash you myself. Look, just use this and rest for a moment. We’re going to leave soon, but I don’t want to have you pass out again because I overworked your body, okay?’ He places the bowl next to me on a chair.

‘Wait…we’re leaving today…?’

‘Yeah, you’ve been sleeping since yesterday. You must be hungry, so go get something to eat as well before we leave. I’ll come pick you up later,’ Evander says before he closes the door.

‘I’ve been sleeping for a day…’ I remember the events that happened yesterday. ‘I…did something like that…’ I still cannot believe I was able to do something like that to another person. I never like hurting people, ever, yet I went out of my way and torture someone… ‘I guess I’m just mentally weak…’ I sink my head in my knees. ‘Dad…Sylvestra…Sis…I’m so sorry…’

………………………………….

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……….

After contemplating my actions, I decide to clean myself up, get dressed and eat something. The food tastes bland. The water felt cold even though it was steaming. I am really out of it at the moment…

I walk down the streets for one last time. I’m leaving Rakenia today. I can’t believe so much has happened over the course of the few days I’ve been here. I walk past the magic store, the library…until I walk on the path that leads to the governor’s building. ‘There sure are a lot of people here suddenly. They are all looking at something. ‘What’s going on?’ I quickly try to blend through the crowd to see what is happening in front of me. I get through the big crowd, and when I look up to see what’s going on…

……I see what happened……it’s all because I was here……

The head of the governor…is on a pike. In the middle of the road, there is a head on a long pike. It’s surrounded by more pikes, containing the heads of creepy man, the advisors of the governor and the boy that helped me escape. Their heads are all on a pike, while a flag hangs underneath all the pikes. …It’s the flag…of Cinder… They’re…all…dead… I step back, and quickly run away. I run almost blindly through the crowd, as far away as possible. ‘It’s my fault! It’s my fault! It’s my fault! It’s my fault! It’s my fault! It’s my fault! I did this!’ I came to Rakenia, and this is what happened! I run, and run, and run…and realize I’m in the park… I ran here unconsciously… I look around and see something. I walk towards it and sit next to it.

‘Apparently the son of the governor is missing… I presume he got kidnapped…’ Morana says calmly.

‘It’s my fault… Everyone got killed because of me…’

‘It’s okay. He had it coming…’ I look at her in disbelief. ‘They all had it coming…they are the reason this city is such a mess…did you see the people around the pikes. They weren’t even sad. They couldn’t care less… It’s because-‘

‘It was a message to us…’ I interrupt her sentence. ‘It wasn’t a message to the people. It was a message to us…saying they can kill us whenever they want to. I ruined everything…I put us…you in danger. It’s because of me that-‘

And just like that, I halted…because she kissed me on the forehead… ‘It’s okay. Trust me, it’s going to be fine.’ I am silenced. She turns around, facing the sun in the sky. ‘You know, I have been thinking after yesterday. I’m going to keep chasing Cinder. I have been hiding...regretting here in Rakenia, but yesterday made me realize I can still redeem myself for my mistakes. I might not be able to fix the past, but I can still do something to help the future. So, no more will I hide in Rakenia. I will bring the fight to them, even if it kills me.’ She turns around and smiles at me. ‘Thank you, Brandr. You’re the first one to give me so much happiness since I’ve been here. We did a lot of fun things, even if it wasn’t much. I enjoyed every moment of it. Thank you for giving me a new goal in life.’ She smiles brightly.

I have absolutely, 100 percent no idea what she is talking about. What past? What future? ‘Y-You think maybe one day we’ll be able to see each other again?’ I don’t know why I asked that. I should be asking what she is talking about, but for some reason…

‘I’m sure we will. I’m sure fate will bring us together one day,’ she says beaming. I don’t ask anything anymore.

‘Well then. We should get going, right?’

‘We should.’ I stand up. My body is moving on its own again. I have so many questions, but instead of asking any of them, I just hug her, as she hugs me back. ‘Till we meet again, Brandr.’ I nod at her.

‘Till we meet again, Morana,’ I say back, as she lets go of me, and walks away. I look at her walk away until she is out of my side. I’m extremely overwhelmed at the moment. ‘I knew it…she had something to do with Cinder……’ I take a deep breath and look at the beautiful blue sky. ‘I cannot stop now, can I Dad?’ I look back at the direction Morana walked away.

‘May we meet again…Morana…I hope I might’ve matured by then...’