Life In Flames

"Any news from the city?"

"Nothing. We were lucky to avoid the drafts this time, but you never know when those nasty lords will change their mind!"

"Please, our village couldn't handle losing men. Not that any of you lot are battle ready to begin with!"

Joyous laughter breaks out within this small house. The room houses one family at most, but we managed to fit every man in our little village here. All of our cheeks are more than a little flushed from the ale.

I take another big drink before slamming my mug on the table.

"Don't lie, half of you wouldn't mind getting out of here even if it meant taking an arrow to the neck!"

"You're darn right we would! I'll take five arrows if I don't have to scoop dung every day!"

Our laughter is noisy, likely keeping everybody in the village from having a peaceful sleep. Even with our drunkenness we understand, but there is not a soul who would suggest putting an end to the festivities. After all, we all need something to keep us going everyday.

With only a slight buzz in my head, I leave my cup on the table and stand. After all, I don't need the drink to look forward to another day.

"You lot had best be fit for the morning! I've got enough problems without a bunch of slackers on top of it!"

"Yeah yeah, go back home you obsessive old man!"

"Give the girl my regards, Rado!"

I kicked out the chair of my friend after his comment. Drink spills across the floor as he tumbles.

"Over my dead body!"

""Hahaha!""

With hearty laughter at my back, I start heading home into the night.

Most of the lamps have been put out at this point. Oil is far too costly to keep it running when the moon provides just enough light to find your way around town. Even without fire, I can see our little hut off in the distance. You can't hit a tree without passing it.

"Gotta get ready for another day…hm?"

Something catches my eye, something bright. It's not impossible that one of the housewives is walking out with a lantern, but that doesn't account for where I'm seeing the light. The flame is above and growing ever closer as I watch it.

"Wait…"

I can see it, of course I can, but the flames aren't my concern. It's the nature of them.

Burning wood and oil doesn't trigger a reaction to my senses in the way this one does. I should be able to smell the oil, or feel the gritty charcoal against my skin. Something else is there, something I can't quite describe. This isn't fire. I don't know what it could be, but of this I'm certain. It's true nature continues to elude me as it soars downwards.

BOOM

That was the sound I heard. The mysterious flames had landed only a handful of steps in front when my vision went black. If it weren't for the heat attempting to burn my flesh alive, I would have assumed it all to be a dream when I came to.

"What is…"

I'm on the floor and my body is gasping for clean air. My senses are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of smoke towering in all directions. Thatch roofs now glow a brilliant yellow as their structure begins to collapse on itself. Livestock that should be quietly resting for the evening lay motionless with blood streaming from their bodies. The laughter, the chirping insects, the quiet drowsiness of the night, it is all gone. In its place is a pandemonium.

"DEMONS!"

That is a word I can make out from the screams.

These monstrous creatures never come to this nowhere of a village, so why now? My parents lived their whole lives without seeing one, as did their parents before them. The fiends destroy villages, yes, but only those of value. With our shipments already sent out, we don't even have food to offer for their pillagings. They kill humans for sport, but have grown quiet over the past several years.

"How could this…be happening…"

I still lay on the ground with little strength to stand. Even as I hear familiar voices cry out in pain, I cannot find strength in my legs. I can see it all, a woman being cut down by a twisted humanoid shape, a child collapsed beneath rubble, none of it feels real. Yet as my vision turns forward, I find the strength I need.

"Sunflower!"

Our home, the one where I was raised and where my life's treasure was raised. The screams go silent. The demons disappear from my mind. None of that matters, not a single bit compared to the flaming hut in front of me.

Flames threaten to consume me, but that doesn't stop me from dropping to my knees at the collapsed rubble.

"Sunflower! Are you in there!? Speak to me!"

I can't feel my hands anymore, not after digging through the singed planks and stones. My hands turn black as they continue to shovel the piles away.

She can't be inside. She simply cannot.

Even as these words repeat indefinitely through my head, I have to see it with my own eyes. I don't want to believe that my baby girl is no more, but anticipation eats what the flames have yet to.

"ARGH!"

Embers fly in all directions as the last supporting beams collapse into a heap. Even if I kept searching, I would die before getting even halfway through.

"The clearing!"

There is still a chance. She needed to go feed the bugs and worms. Of course she wouldn't have been home when the fires began. This one possibility keeps me from succumbing to my injuries. I just have to find her and run. I love this village, but this is the one person I absolutely cannot allow to die.

"Sunflower! Sunflower!"

I trip at several points, my leg almost completely losing the ability to feel. Nonetheless, I push forward with a strength I never knew I had. Even as the forest around me catches on fire, I continue forwards until I reach the cliff.

"SUNFLOWER!"

My voice cracks with a pipe full of smoke.

I shout into the forest. I shout back towards the village, past the drop, and even into the sky. If she is here, my voice should reach her. But I never receive a response. My body is losing strength, my mind growing blurry. This is the end.

"Sunflower…"

I'm ready to collapse, not that I could even muster the will to keep standing. It is then that something appears between the trees.

It is standing beside a familiar garden, one that my daughter spent every waking hour cultivating. I remember when she first showed me the sprouts, how proud she was and how proud I was. In only a few moments, that effort too will be engulfed in flames. However, my eyes see a humanoid figure that my mind almost mistakes as my child.

"Who…"

The small figure is difficult to make out, but there was no way for me to see it regardless. Surrounding its entire form is something, something ominous. It's the same feeling as when I see the energy of a plant or person, but dark. Everything is covered in shadows that seem to swirl around the body.

My vision is starting to fail for good this time, but I can almost see a hand reaching towards the plants.

"Begone you demon!"

A flash of light, one from the reflection of steel. Blood trails down the gaps of the young boy's armour, even more from the ends of his sword. The young lord's personal knight always had an angry look, but now it is certainly genuine.

"Don't…"

Every signal tells me that the boy has to leave. It's too late for me, but he still has the opportunity to flee and save his own life. I can't explain why, but he absolutely must not go near this creature.

"Run boy! RUN!"

"HAAAH!"

My shouts fall on deaf ears, assuming these expired lungs were even capable of releasing sound. All I can do is watch the boy bravely thrust his blade forwards, meeting an arm now stretched out towards him.

BOOM

A blast of light envelops the boy completely, seemingly vaporising him on the spot.

I am unable to witness much else as the shockwave sends me facing the sky. Only somewhat does my skin feel the air flying past, the cliff growing further and further away. The stars, the moon, my hope, it all goes dark in the end.