Flames, Misery and Slaughter

Chapter 24

Part 1 - Flames

The smell of smoke fills my lungs. I’m desperately running down the hill, descending into the village. Puffing for air, moving forward in dread. I hear a woman scream from the far side of a cottage. As I pass to the other side, I see a Mir man drag the Avi woman by her hair. Tears are falling from her terrified eyes. When the mercenary’s gaze meets mine, wrath erupts within me.
“Hey! There is another one over here!” the Mir yells to his comrades, with a malicious smirk.

His oily white hair swings as he lets go of the woman. His focus is now on me, adjusting his armored wristbands.

I start walking toward him, slowly gripping my blade’s hilt. My eyes are bloodshot from the grueling sight, the inhumanity before me. The air seeps into my markings, collecting the energy around me. They start to glow with my stare deeply locked on the man. He confidently reaches out his hand to grab me. In an instant, that very hand drops to the ground. Blood pours from his severed limb.

“Ahh!” he screams, then goes silent as my blade pierces his throat.

The Mir’s body drops to the ground. I see his comrades run towards me from the burning cottages.

“Thank you!” the Avi woman says in distress.

I turn to her with my markings burning and anger pulsating through my whole body.

“Run!” I shout to her.

One Mir mercenary unleashes a powerful gust of wind at us. I’m forced to grab the woman by her arm and throw her behind the cottage. The reckoning wind is right in front of me. I can only jump up to avoid it. While I’m airborne another Mir slashes; a wind-blade cuts toward me. It slices my cheek as I fall. Blood trails down my face when I land, grunting while I squeeze my blade hilt. My legs burn with heat as I look up at the many men charging me. Digging my feet into the dirt, I push off the ground. I thrust forward and cleave a Mir’s head clean off. His head rolls to the ground as the other men stare in shock around me.

“You’re going to…” another looks up to tell me, but I have moved right in front of him.

I thrust my blade through his abdomen. He coughs up blood, splattering it on my glowing face.

Swinging the blood of my blade. I don’t have time to turn before another wind gush sends me flying. The bastard didn’t even care about his comrade beside me. I get thrown into a cottage through the burning walls. I cough in pain on impact. Suddenly, I find myself in the burning home, seeing the Avi’s belongings burning to dust.

I stand up with my body aching. The fury won’t let me rest. My body is boiling at this point. Bursting out of the house, the remaining Mir turns toward me. They ready their bodies to attack. I slash, I kick, I pierce. Blood is flying. I get thrown to the ground. The slashes tear through my skin. But I don’t feel the pain, I only go through them one by one.

My body rolls. I hit the ground hard, losing all the air in my lungs. I’m battered and bruised. Everything is covered in blood—mine and the Mir’s. That last wind gush hits me badly. I can’t feel anything, but my body tries to get up on its own. I look up in anger, only to see the Mir slicing down from above me.

I can’t die yet. I have to know what happened to the others…

A spear with a stone tip drives into a Mir’s chest. He falls back. I turn my head. In my blurry vision I see Klen, Felix, Sigrid and Ivar launching at the Mir, furious. My hand finds my blade. Gripping it once more, I turn, and scream in attack.

As the last Mir falls, I stand and try to catch my breath. Wheezing, I can’t fill my lungs properly. The pain comes back, everything spins in my head. I still hold my blade tight. It isn't over yet.

Klen reaches for my shoulder and I grab his wrist in anger.

“Where are they?!” I ask him, squeezing his arm.

He looks at me with a sad, broken-hearted face.

“Maybe… the main hall,” he answers in sorrow.

I leave them, running through the burning village. There is no one. I see only… dead bodies belonging to the kind villagers. The main hall is getting closer, the building is still standing. In desperation and exhaustion, I trip over myself. With my face in the dirt, I try not to think. I don’t want to imagine. Everyone is fine inside that hall. As I get up, I see a body on the ground.

The wrinkly old lady lies motionless.

“Minna!” I scream while crawling up to run to her.

I drop my blade to grab a hold of her. Tears fill my eyes as I watch her expressionless face. I won’t believe it, I will save her. In desperation, I lift her tiny body into my arms.

Part 2 - Misery

Avi is running around the hall. They carry their wounded family. Tears fall from parents' faces. People sit and hold each other in sorrow and despair. Dima and Elda run toward me as I stand in the doorway holding Minna.

“Iris!” they yell while grabbing my arms.

Their eyes are red and puffy from crying.

Dima rambles on in erratic panic. Elda just looks at me with tears running down her face in sorrow. I can hear him telling me that the slavers attacked. That they burned down everything. They fought and eventually most of them left, taking the villagers as prisoners. I hear him, but I can’t believe what I am seeing. My ears start to ring. Sound warps around me, melting into chaos. Everything else blurs but the one thing in my sight. At the end of the hall, Astrid is holding on to someone; a woman with white hair.

“Stella?” I whisper.

Elda looks at me, biting down hard. She sniffles, squeezing my arm tightly. Dima swallows in frustration.

“Wait, Iris,” Dima mutters under his breath.

I can’t understand. I just slowly start walking towards the end of the room. Everything else is a blur around me. The chaos in complete silence. My steps bring me forward through the mess. I feel like I’m elevating through the room. Minna melts in my numb arms.
Astrid looks up at me, her tears dripping down her red face. Callum sits with his two boys beside Astrid, holding them tightly. On her other side, Heins sits on the ground with his head tucked between his hands.

“Iris. I’m so sorry…” Astrid mutters in tears.

I can’t understand.

Stella lies motionless in her arms. Her hand rests over her bloody stomach. Her tiny face looks so peaceful. Why doesn't she smile and look at me? Why doesn’t she open her green eyes? Everything is numb. It’s not real. My heart ceases to beat.

“Iris!” Dima says while shaking me.

He is saying something. My brain won’t let me listen.

I don’t move. I just watch Stella.
The anger is gone, along with every other emotion. Heat turns cold. The floor sinking me in.

Astrid looks up to me again:
“They took Lea,” she tells me in sorrow.

At this very moment, the whole world seems to come together as one. Everything and everyone melts into the same being. I feel like I am floating in the mix, about to turn into liquid. I offer myself and receive the world's energy in return. My heart beats like explosions. My skin starts to burn from within. My wrath lights the world on fire in revenge.

The blood paints my eyes red.

I lay Minna on the floor next to Stella. The markings glow across my body, emitting fiery light.

I turn to the door. I can only see the exit.

“Iris, where are you going?!” Dima yells at me in frustration, holding on to my arm.

His hand scorches by my heat, but he won’t let go.

“I won’t let you!” he yells, crying in sadness.

I keep walking as he can’t hold on. Nothing can stop me.

I’m going to kill them all.

Part 3 - Slaughter

I walk past Klen, Felix, Ivar and Sigrid, all standing at the hall’s exit in terror. They don’t stop me. I go past them with the warm blood dripping from my injured body.

The burning village is in front of me. Fire is turning to smoke, dispersing with the cold dark night. All that is left is coals.

I take my blade from the blood stained ground where I found Minna. Looking up towards the end of the village, the wrath tells me of their direction. I can smell them, I can sense their disgusting presence. They haven't gotten too far.

Dirt kicks up from my thudding steps as I sprint forward.

On the dirt road leading up the mountain, where the village first came into view, I run with all my might. Each step hurts. My head spins from blood loss and exhaustion. But I don’t slow down. The anger won’t let me. Fiery heat keeps my body up, bringing me forward, thrashing the pebbles from underneath my soles. I won’t stop until it’s over. Until those bastards have paid with their lives.

I stand where the road curls over the mountain; mist rises from my burning skin as I stare into the darkness. The cold air turns my heavy breaths into vapor before me. In the distance, there is light. A camp riddled with the slavers, their burning campfires making them a clear target. I hear laughter. I smell their alcohol and cooking meat. My senses have never been clearer. Painfully aware of every single one of them. Inside a prison wagon, I sense fear, the fear of the few.

My burning body comes through the darkness. Step by step I get closer to their camp. I see the Mir and the Baiin feasting and sleeping in their filth. They seem joyous, without a single care in the world. Most of them are drunk, with their armor hanging loose. Only when one of the armored Baiin men sees the glowing light approach, he stands up to squint his eyes.

“What’s that?” he asks in slurred speech and red cheeks.

“Who cares?” a Mir beside him answers while chugging down on a bottle.

The light grows bigger in the dark open field. They start to stand to stare at the approach. The Baiin man moves closer with the rest standing confused behind him.

“What the…” the Baiin starts to say.

A blade shoots from the darkness, piercing the Baiin’s neck, sending him falling backwards. Blood fills the air around him.

“Who’s there?!” a drunk Mir yells at me.

I walk up to the corpse and put my feet on the body, sliding my blade out of its neck. The slavers and mercenaries all get up, breaking their bottles on the ground.

“Who the hell are you!?” another Baiin slaver shouts nervously.

I look at them with my blood covered face, my eyes seeing through its red color.

A man steps out of a fancy carriage. His wide belly is covered by fine clothes. My eyes open wide as I see the man's face, then twist in anger. One of his eyes is scarred white, the other hazel; his black hair is slicked back.

“What is all this commotion?” Erich asks the guards.

One of the Baiin closest to me turns to Erich. He tries to speak:

“There is an Avi…”

I don’t let him finish. I launch towards him, thrusting my blade through his back. The sharp tip reflects in the campfire lit camp on the other side.

Erich freezes, one eye wide, staring at the glowing, blood-covered Avi as a man slides off my blade. I glare at him. My heart beats like a drum. I bite down so hard that I could break my jaw.

My body sends me forward with my blade aiming for his head. The wrath burns my markings bright, leaving a trail of fiery heat behind me.

“Die!” I scream in the air.

The sharp edge is right at his throat, when I feel a palm press against my stomach. I catch a glimpse of the Mir man under me, before the wind sends me flying. I crash into a carriage, shattering it to pieces.

“Ghhkk!” I sound as I cough up blood.

The shattered wood surrounds my body. A splinter pierces my leg. It hurts like hell. Still, I get up. Pulling out the wooden piece from my legs I grunt in pain and anger, glaring down the Mir next to Erich.

His green eyes glare back into mine. He is short but made out of pure muscle. Scars riddle his face, his white hair wildly spreads out. I can sense his strength, he’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met. Stronger than anyone I’ve ever fought.

“Who is this Avi?” the Mir asks Erich, keeping his stare right at me.

“I have no idea! Just kill him already!” Erich commands.

“Hm,” the Mir responds while taking off his chest plate.

Before the chest plate hits the ground, wind is already gathering around his feet. I can sense the immense energy enveloping his body. I bite down, searching for my lost blade with my eyes. I don’t have the time. The Mir launches towards me with incredible speed. As I turn my eyes, his palm blocks my view. He smashes my head to the ground; the rock cracks beneath me. He is so fast and powerful. I have never experienced a Mir using their own body as their weapon. I’m about to lose consciousness. But the pain and fury keep me from passing out. With my injured body, I get a hold of his arms. The burning sensation fills me with strength as I pull his hand off my face. I meet his furious eyes. Pulling him against me, I drive my knee up. With my knee in his gut, blood spills onto me from his mouth. I throw him off me; he rolls on the rocky terrain. I get up, charging with all my might.

“Ahh!” I scream.

He propels himself with wind, stopping the momentum from my throw. He glares at me in anger, getting up with his blood covered mouth. I thrust my fist towards his face. He swipes his hand and the following wind knocks my fist away. He grabs a hold of my straying arm. Wind circles around him, gathering momentum. Propelling his leg, he lashes out a snapping kick into my side.

“Hrrk!” I sound in pain, feeling my ribs crack.

I can’t lose, not until I have killed them all.

My body throbs in agony. I can barely see anymore. My own blood is pouring into my eyes. My head spins from the damage. Only my wrath remains. I see Stella's face with her eyes closed. Her soft gentle hand over her wound. How dare they? I won’t forgive them. I will see them die in agony, even if it means my own death.

Fire erupts from within me, burning me from the inside out. I glare at the menacing Mir in front of my eyes. Driving my fist through the winds pushing force, I slam it into his face. I can feel his jaw crush from my blow. Still he is shaping his hand into a cutting motion, trying to slice off my head. With immense strength, I push him to the ground. Stepping over his attacking arm, I stomp down and snap it in half. He can’t scream in pain with his blood filled mouth. Sitting on top of him, I punch down.



Finally the man stops moving, his arms spread out to the sides. His face, battered and bloody. I sit on top of him, wheezing for air. Blood drops fall onto his chest. My vision spins, the Mir’s face wraps in the blur. The sound of the passing wind is damp and muffled. My mind is empty, my emotions dry. Dragging myself up in the agonizing pain, I slowly turn towards the camp. All of them stare, frozen in fear of the one young Avi before them. My eyes lock onto Erich, sweat runs down his face, his fat body trembles.

With my mouth open and my eyelids halfway closed, I wobble around, searching the ground for my blade. Finally I find it and reach down to pick it up. Once again I look to Erich. I can hardly see him, but my senses lead the way. His existence has a disgusting presence. In this state I would be able to find him from across the world. As I approach, his knees give out from under him.

“No! Please! I will give you anything you want! Who are you, what do you want?!” Erich pleads with tears of fear filling his eyes, stumbling on the ground.

I slowly walk towards him, my blade dangles in my hand.

“Yes! You could work for me! You are strong, I will pay you any amount!” he continues to desperately plead for his life.

I can’t even comprehend what he is saying. As a matter of fact, I can’t even feel anything from his words. I don’t feel anything. The anger has left my body. My emotions dried into a shrivel. Only my body keeps moving.

As I stand over him, he looks up at my emotionless battered face.

“Monster. Demon,” he mutters before I stab down my blade.

The rest scatter. Running away in fear. I can’t chase them, I can barely move at all. But I can’t stop here, I have to save them.

“Hnnff,” I grunt, forcing open the prison carriage’s lock.

I can’t see their faces. I’m about to lose consciousness. I try to smile, I want to let them know that they are safe, but my mouth won’t let me. I feel their hands touch me, pulling at my arms. They have me over their shoulders, bringing me forward. My body lets me rest, as my eyelids close.