Broken

Dream and Death

                                                                                “Serafina?”

                                                                                “Serafina?”

                                                                                “Serafina!”

                                                                    Mother? Where is she?

     “Mom, where are you?” Calling into the black abyss that surrounds me, I’m met with only silence.

     Searching for something, anything – I can’t see anything because there’s nothing here. Like I’m                                                                                 standing in a void.

                                                                            “Sera…fina..”

                        My name echoes all around me. It sounds like my mother, but… she’s dead.

    Trying my best to follow the voice, it doesn’t feel like I’m going anywhere but I keep running, I keep                                                                                chasing her voice.

                                                                           I need to see her.

         After what felt like eternity, my next step brings me into a hallway. Grey stone bricks cover the            walls, some parts collapsing, others just barely standing. It looks like a part of an old ruin of some kind. Searching for the voice, I stand completely still waiting to hear it again, holding my breath to stay                                                                                 completely silent.

                                                            After a few moments it comes again.

                                                                           “Serafina… hurry!”

    Rushing in the direction it came from, I run into a huge balcony. The remnants of stone arches stand     tall at the edge. Looking around, the sky is as dark a blue as possible, the only thing darker is the pitch                           black outline of trees in the distance. I walk around curious and confused.

                                                            Where did that voice come from?

                                                                             “Serafina”

                                                                    A whisper this time.

                                   Still my mother’s voice, but for some reason it makes me uneasy.

    Following the voice over the balcony, I see my mother laying in a wide pit dug into the ground, holding                                                                 the journal she gave me.

                                            She’s almost entirely covered in… snakes?

     Jumping awake, I hear a scream fading. My scream. Startled by the feeling of a hand on my shoulder,                                                             I snap my head to the side.

                    “It’s just me, calm down. You’re fine.” Abel says, his voice both soothing and concerned.      

                    Taking a few moments, I focus on breathing deeply trying to calm my racing heart.

                    “Was it a nightmare?” he asks, sitting next to me, his hand rubbing calming circles on my back.

                    “I think so… but it could have been a vision. They’re slowly getting stronger, but I have no idea what they mean a lot of the time.” I tell him, trying to hide the disappointment at myself in my voice.

                    I should be able to interpret visions better by now. I should be able to tell a vision from a f*****g dream, but apparently I can’t even do that properly.

                    “Do you want to talk about it? If it is a vision, maybe I could help you interpret it. Even if it’s just a dream, talking about it could be cathartic.” He offers, with a half-smile. Taking a deep breath, I try to figure out how to best describe it.

                    “Well, at first I was in some kind a void or something. There was nothing around and everything was pitch black. Walking around, I couldn’t tell how far I’d gone or if I even moved at all,” shifting my weight I feel how close he is to me and it surprisingly comforts me. “then I heard my mother calling my name, I tried to follow the sound of her voice, it was difficult at first but eventually it became more clear. As I tried searching for my mother, and the void disappeared. I entered what looked like old ruins from somewhere, the walls were grey stones and bricks that had fallen apart in some places, some parts of walls were missing, some of the ceilings too. It looked ancient.” Taking a breath, I focus on keeping my breathing calm. Thinking of my mother still hurts.

                    That’s why I always avoid it.

                    “After a while, I got to a balcony. It was oddly beautiful. The stone arches at the edge were in different states of deterioration, it had this almost ethereal look to it. Especially with the view, the sky was the darkest blue I could imagine, the only thing darker were the black trees out in the shadows. I was mesmerized for a moment. Then she… called out to me again,” I trail off, looking out into the forest, trying to distract myself from these overwhelming feelings.

                    Abel slides closer to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and rubs up and down my arm.

                    “You don’t have to continue if it’s too difficult, Serafina.” He reassured, concern evident in his voice.

                    Shaking my head, I choose to keep going.

                    I have to get over this eventually, she’s gone. And he might be able to help me understand what it could mean. If it means anything.

                    “No, it’s okay. I’m okay,” I say to reassure myself more than him, and smile. Granted, it’s an unconvincing smile, but I tried.

                    “my, uh, she called out again and I followed her voice under the balcony. When I looked down, she was laying in a wide pit in the ground. Her eyes were open, staring right at me. She was holding the journal she gave me and, uh, there were… there were snakes all over, practically covering her.” I concluded, hoping he can help at all.

                    For a moment we sit in companionable silence while he thinks about everything I told him and absentmindedly brushes his fingers lightly up and down my arm. The callouses on his fingertips cause goosebumps to rise, the rough feeling combined with the gentleness of his touch makes me shiver.

                    I normally hate being touched, I wonder why it seems almost natural with him? Or at the very least, comfortable.

                    Before I can think too much more about it, he breaks the silence, grabbing my attention.

                    “It sounds like more of a vision, I think. But I could be wrong,” he takes his hand back, clasping them together in between his legs. For a brief moment I’m filled with disappointment, before I snap myself out of it.

                    “has your mother ever lied to you about anything or been deceitful? Is there any significance to the journal your mother was holding?” he asks.

                    “No, I don’t think so. She’s always been honest with me, and she gave it to me the day she was killed, it’s about my ‘destiny’ and a prophecy I’m apparently a part of.” I tell him, still uncomfortable with the idea but if it means killing the one who’s the reason my parents are dead so be it.

                    “What does the journal say, if you don’t mind me asking?” he looks at me with both concern and curiosity in his eyes.

                    “She wrote that there’s a prophesy that’s like a thousand years old or something, someone would do something to throw the world into chaos that it couldn’t come back from. Zander, a dark sorcerer, is trying to grow an army to take over these territories and become a king, possibly going after the rest of the world after he succeeds. She said that I’m the one the prophesy said would stop him. But prophesy or not, I’m going to kill him anyway, for what he did to my parents.” I explain, my voice filling with venom at the mention of Zander and what he did.

                    Confused, Abel asks, “What did he do to your parents?”

                    “He had them killed. He sent his men to kill me so I couldn’t stop him and my parents fought them so I could get away… but they were too many for them to handle.”

                    “So, Zander is trying to overthrow the territories and their governments to become king?” he asks.

                    “That about sums it up.” I say, facing the ground. The muscles in my thighs scream at me for how hard I dig my elbows into my legs, but the pain feels good. It matches the rage burning inside me thinking about everything.

                    Pain is my new best friend, it seems.

                    “Do you mind if I read the journal sometime?” he hesitates, seemingly unsure if it’s okay to ask.

                    “Yeah, of course. You might actually be able to help me make sense of some of some of it,” I admit, getting up to grab it out of my bag.

                    “I’m gonna go back to sleep, you can hold on to it for now.” I muttered, laying back down on my bedroll and shutting my eyes.

                    “Sleep well, Serafina.” I hear Abel murmur before falling into sweet oblivion.

------

                    Slowly opening my eyes to the morning sun heating my face, my jaw feels like it’s about to break in two as a yawn takes over. Pulling my knees to my chest as I sit up, I wait for the foggy haze from sleep to fade. Leaning back on my hands, I feel something strange. Turning around to see what I touched, Abel is passed out with the journal on his chest half on my bedroll and half in the dirt. My hand landed on his stomach, but he didn’t even twitch.

                    He must’ve been up pretty late reading that thing. Warmth fills my chest as I smile at the thought.

                    Gently getting up, I grab my bag and go to relight the fire. Sitting on a log by the fire I rummage through my bag for coffee and breakfast.

                    “Levantar no aerem, laventar no aerem, laventar no aerem.” I chant in a whisper, levitating the bottle over the fire so the water boils for the coffee while I get food ready.

                    Rustling behind me makes me turn around, and I see Abel standing up near the blankets I gave him last night, taking his shirt off. Quickly spinning back around to give him privacy, I finish the instant coffee and set the breakfast to cool down.

                    “Sorry, I, uh, I didn’t mean to fall asleep next to you last night.” He says sheepishly.

                    “Don’t worry about it, it was really late and you were probably exhausted. Especially with having to wake up because of my screaming,” I tell him, waving off his concerns. “did you find anything interesting in the journal?” I ask as he walks over to join me at the fire.

                    “Yeah, I uh, yeah it was enlightening.”

                    “Great, do you want breakfast?”  I question, holding out a granola bar and toast. Nodding, he reaches out to take the food. After we eat I offer him some of my coffee, too.

                    “No, I’m okay. You already shared your food with me, you don’t have to share your coffee too.” He replied. His confused expression when I started chuckling which made me laugh even harder.

                    “Sorry, I couldn’t help it. You look pretty damn funny when you’re confused,” I manage after I calm back down. “Seriously though, I don’t mind sharing. It feels really rude to me to enjoy something in front of someone who doesn’t have it. If you like coffee, please. Have some. Sharing is caring, ya know.” I couldn’t keep in a snicker at the end.

                    Just as I’m handing Abel the coffee, he grabs my hand and pulls me to the ground, turning us over so he’s on top of me. For a moment I’m too shocked to even process what happened, and then he jumps up.

                    “Someone’s here, and they don’t like one of us.” He says, pointing to an arrow sticking out from the tree I was standing in front of.

                    What the f**k?

                    “Where are they?” I ask, shouting in a whisper.

                    “Don’t know,” shrugging, he sarcastically says, “didn’t stop to ask.”

                    Rolling my eyes, I crouch behind Abel next to the tree trying to find whoever shot the arrow at us.

                    “I can’t see anyone, I’m gonna go up and try to get a better view.” I whisper into his ear.

                    Trying to find a good place to start climbing so I can reach a branch, Abel gets up and grabs my waist. As I jump from being startled, he chuckles and shakes his head.

                    “I’m just lifting you to a branch,” he whispers, a smirk resting on his face. “you’re too short to get up there by yourself.” He teases.

                    Well, he’s not wrong. Being 5’4 has some drawbacks, even though it’s not that short.

                    With his help, I’m able to grab a branch strong enough to support my weight. As I climb the tree, Abel looks up at me with a serious face I haven’t seen him wear much before.

                    “Be careful,” he cautioned. “whoever these guys are, they’re probably really dangerous.”

                    Nodding, I continue to climb until I’m almost at the top, so I can see most of the surrounding area. After a few minutes I look down, seeing someone in all black with some kind of cloth covering the bottom half of their face sneaking up on Abel.

                    “Facti fixa ex impotentia.” I whisper, fully focused on paralyzing the man approaching him.

                    Abel looks up to me, hearing my spell, and I point to the man behind him. Quickly walking over, he breaks the man’s neck making him fall to the ground.

                    "We have to be careful, I can only do spells like that once a day, depending on the energy it takes. Big spells take a lot of focus and energy. I won't be able to do that one again, Abel." I tell him as quietly as I can.

                    As soon as his body hits the ground, Abel looks to me and nods. When he turns his focus back to looking for anyone else, I feel something behind me. Immediately turning around saved me from being stabbed in the back, literally. Instead, the blade sliced across my left tricep, cutting me pretty deep. But I don’t have time to worry about it right now. My foot slips as I step backward trying to get to the branch behind me, as I fall my heart drops to my stomach.

                    f**k, f**k, f**k. This is gonna hurt like a b***h.

                    Branches leave scratches all over my arms and face, right before I get to the bottom of the branches, I’m able to grab one of the stronger ones to keep me from hitting the ground.

                    Thank the gods.

                    Letting out a deep sigh, my heart just about slows to normal before I remember why I fell. Looking down, I’m about twenty feet in the air.

                    Yeah, this is gonna hurt.

                    Chancing it, I drop to the ground. When my right foot hits the ground, I drop to my left knee and roll forward to reduce the amount of impact to one specific part of my body.

                    Well, it hurt. But I’m not dead. And I can move, which is good too.

                    Looking over, I see another man fighting Abel.

                    Where did he get a sword?

                    The man is going after him with two daggers and Abel is parrying with a sword.

                    It actually suits him well, he does kinda seem like a sword guy. I muse while running further from the tree, giving me more space to fight the asshole who cut me.

                    As I run, a sharp burning pain radiates through my shoulder, almost causing me to trip. When I regain my balance, I look behind me and see an arrow sticking out of my right shoulder. A f*****g arrow?!

                     All I can do is keep running and find some shelter. Once I’m through the tree line, I go a few trees deep and hide behind a larger one.

                    As I turn my head to see the arrow, the pain radiates outward into the middle and lower parts of my back, my side right under my arm, and all the way to the front of where my shoulder meets my chest. Biting my lip is the only way to keep myself from screaming, the taste of blood fills my mouth. Ripping the arrow out of my shoulder would do more harm than good, my only option is to break the shaft where it meets my skin. I’ll deal with the wound later, right now I have to be ready to fight, that fucker won’t stop just because I’m injured. That’s the whole point.

                    “Portavi pavores fac.” I whisper, numbing the pain so it won’t hold me back while fighting. Standing as silent as I possibly can, listening for footsteps to alert me of his presence, I hear absolutely nothing.

                    Is he gone? Did he not follow after me? What if he joined the other guy and gang up on Abel!

                    As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I started running back as fast as possible. Getting close to the tree line, I try looking in between the trees as I run, trying to find Abel in the distance. The trees aren’t far enough apart to see much of anything, especially while running passed them. Almost to the tree line, I try to push myself faster, but I trip and smash my face into the dirt. Just as I’m picking myself up, I hear rustling behind me. Anticipating the attack, I continue as normal as I can, pretending I hadn’t heard him.

                    “Pluvia ignus!” Spinning around, I focusing on manifesting fire raining down on him. In seconds, the woods are lit with bluish white light coming from the white and blue fire raining down. Smoke is filling the woods because of the fire, making it difficult to see. When my vision adjusts, I see the man standing there shaking mildly. Looking closer at him, I can’t believe it.

                    He’s laughing! What the hades is going on? After a few seconds, he stops shaking with laughter and walks toward me.

                    “Did you really think that would work? Silly girl.” He sneered at me, a cruel smirk on his face.

                    “Who are you, what do you want?” I demand, staring into his eyes.

                    Those are the eyes of a killer. Not out of necessity, out of entertainment. It’s easy to see he’s enjoying this.

                    “Isn’t it obvious?” he asks, with a menacing smile. “we want to kill you.”

                    “But why?” Rage building inside me.

                    “Because, we want to get paid. There’s a hefty reward for you, alive or dead.” He replies, laughing.

                    “Well while we’re talking, why didn’t the fire bother you?”

                    “You aren’t our first bounty, little girl,” he chuckled, his voice dripping with menace, filling ever atom in my body with disgust. The smile on his face is that of a sadistic murderer, it’s obvious he enjoys this. “We’ve learned to come prepared. You aren’t the only one who can do magic, you little bitch.” He spat.

                    I try to keep him talking so I have time to think of what to do, hoping he’ll say something that might help me while I keep backing up slowly to get into the clearing.

                    “So you can do magic, then?” I ask, with my most innocent voice.

                    Is this even gonna work? Pfft, if it does he’s not as good at his job as he says.

                    “I don’t need to do magic when I have someone to do it for me.” He gloated.

                    “Ohh, so you can’t do magic. Got it.” I mock. He clearly didn’t find it funny, by the redness in his face and the hatred in his eyes.

                    “I don’t need to be able to do magic, you might have magic but you’ll still die!” he raved. “You won’t be laughing when your head is severed from your body.”

                    Maybe I took it a little too far?

                    Nah, I took it just far enough, at least I know he doesn’t have magic, he just had someone do some magic on him. All I gotta do is find out a weakness. Good think my dad insisted I learn to fight hand to hand.

                    Just a few more steps backward and I’ll be out of the woods, fighting in the clearing will make it a lot easier for me in case I need space between us.

                    While backing into the clearing, I’m keeping my eye on him and trying to think of any spell I could use to my advantage right now.

                    Taunting, I gesture with my hand for him to come toward me. As he runs for me, I pivot behind the last tree at the clearing and wait.

                    “Ferrum glaciei.” I silently chant, when he comes around the tree I strike at him with my blade of ice. Just barely countering my attack with his dagger, I managed to nick his chest.

                    Oh come on! A little scratch? That motherfucker cut me deep and shot a fuckin arrow through my shoulder and all I managed to do to him was a gods damn scratch?

                    As we go back and forth striking and defending, I glance quickly around with every step until I see Abel, he’s still fighting the other guy and it looks like we both took some damage. The longer this takes, the less energy I have to keep going.

                    I’m getting sloppier, my attacks aren’t even close and my defense is only keeping me from getting a life threatening blow. Unless you count death by a thousand cuts, then I’m already sure to die. What am I gonna do?

                    Suddenly, I hear Abel yell in pain and automatically, my head whips around to see if he’s okay. Bent down on one knee, blood’s streaming down his side. My chest gets tight at the thought of him dying like this, anger fuels me and I go to turn around, only having been distracted for a second or two.

                    As soon as I’m facing the assassin, I see him going in for a kill. I’m too late to block his blow, so I do the only thing I can…