Chapter 12
272 Words
12
The night stretched in front of me. Endless blackness I would never be strong enough to defeat. The pounding of hooves battered my ears, but there was a new sound.
Screaming.
A terrible, painful shriek.
I knew someone was dying. I could hear it. The awful resigned fear of a horrible end to a tortured life. I strained my eyes, trying to see into the darkness, searching for the one whose life would soon end. I couldn’t let them die alone. I couldn’t let their legacy be nothing more than ashes and blood.
But the blackness surrounded me, and the racing horse carried me onward, deeper into the dark.
The screams fell silent.
“Ena,” a voice called. “Ena, wake up.”
I opened my eyes to a darkness that was not pitch black. Faint hints of the moon and stars peered into the cave.
“Ena?” Liam had a hand on my shoulder. He’d shaken me awake. “Are you all right?”
I blinked up at him, needing to be sure this wasn’t just a horrible new trick the years old nightmare had learned. I took a deep breath. The blanket that covered me stank of damp and dirt.
“I’m fine,” I said. “I told you I have nightmares.”
“You did.” Liam laid his head down on his arm. “You’re safe here. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
I turned back toward the stone wall and stared at the cracks, trying to memorize as much of the pattern as the dim light would allow me to see. I dug my nails into my palms, trying to keep myself awake.
But the world had asked too much of me that day, and sleep swallowed me.
The nightmare didn’t come again.
- Writer
