Rebirth of the last flame

chapter Ten: in my dreams

The night sky was pitch black, vast and starless like the gapping Maw of a monster waiting to swallow up whomever dares to come close to it.

On the forest ground, Makumi laid, covered in dirt and grime, dried leaves seeking to the sides of her face and a few lodged in her hair.

as her eyes fluttered open the first thing she saw were the tree canopies up above with the endless sky peeking through the cracks. In the distance she could just about make out the indistinguishable voices which caught her attention followed by the chocking smell of smoke, suffocating the air around her.

Makumi coughed as she got up to her feet, the bright flames in the distance attracted her like a moth to a flame.

inching closer to the uproar, her mind tried to make sense of the scene before her, why it felt so familiar, yet she couldn't place it.

The entire scene felt so unreal, yet familiar as she continued to walk towards the fire and chaos.

She kept on walking and walking until she exited the thick walls of trees and approached a clearing.

Makumi was filled with dread and anguish as a sharp pain erupted from the depths of her memory gripped her soul and her knees turned weak at the sight of a burning cottage that came into view. it was mortifying, not to even mention the soiled floor that was stained with blood from an unidentified source. what was this?! where were her parents?! Makumi frantically looked around, desperately trying to find her mother and father admits the flames.

"Makumi..." In the distance a woman called to her and she whirled around...

"MAKUMI!!!" The woman yelled desperately as she ran towards her.

The woman was badly injured and bleeding from the side of her head profusely. Her eyes were as brown as Makumi's, but they were filled with pain, fear and anger with a mixture of other feelings that Makumi could not read. but one thing was sure, this was her mother.

"M...mama?" Makumi called softly as the woman grabbed her hold of her arm, pulling her away from the blazing flames as she was dangerously close to it.

" we need to go!! now !!" The woman was very much agitated and frantically pulling on makumi as they ran to the back of the house in an attempt to escape into the forest behind it.

Everything started coming back to Makumi, how could she forget? The day her life changed for the worst, the day her family was destroyed for good.

A seven years old Makumi who now stared at her mother's back, let her pull her, it was her mother, tears swelled in her eyes to see her again. The woman looked like an older version of Makumi, with only a few distinguishable features about her. but Other features like her nose, eyes, lips and even her short brown hair were just like Makumi's.

The two ran further away from the scene, heading further down the mountain until they were entrapped by three giant wolves who burst through the trees, surrounding Them and Makumi's mother took guard pulling out two oddly curved long blades from her back.

"where do you think you're going?" One of the wolves laughed as he blocked their path.

"stay close baby ..." Makumi's mother said, trying to protect her beloved child from danger.

"you think....you can beat us??...HA!! Pitiable!!" The wolf mocked them as the others guarded his side.

"you should have stayed away from Zarin when you had the chance" barked the wolf, his words laced with poison and murderous intent. The look in their eyes reflected violence and hate for the woman and the child. Makumi couldn't comprehend their words. who were these wolves? why were they hurting her family?

Letting out a chilling growl, he leaped forward at Diana, claws and fangs showcased, ready to tear her apart, but he was disrupted mid air as another wolf burst through the flames to protect them.

Fire! there was Fire everywhere, it was so bright and hot that Makumi had to turn away from it, hiding behind her mother who held her close.

"it's okay my love, everything is fine now" she planted a loving kiss on makumi's head, stroking her hair tenderly while she hid Makumi's view away from flames.

"Stay away from my family..." The wolf growled with a burning ferocity.

"Papa??"

Makumi in an instant recognised the voice, it was her father. salty tears slid down her face as she sobbed. His voice echoed in her heart, yet she couldn't see him because her mother was blocking her view.

"Makumi!! Diane!! Run!!" he roared as he fought the wolves off all on his own.

Taking heed of his words, Diane wasted no time, lifting Makumi in her arms she once again and ran in the opposite direction. Makumi still sobbed bitterly as she had her face buried in her mother's shoulder, soaking her back with salty tears. she was afraid, clinging onto her mother. yet she was curious, lifting her head up a bit, her eyes widened. was that really her father? something wasn't right, why was he on fire? She wondered, but as she thought about it harder a wave of migraine hit her hard.

Once she was certain she'd run far, Diane stopped and turned to Makumi.

"I need you to go on without me kumi...just keep to this path over that hill there's an over pass once you get there you will find a thick wall, don't stop, keep running. You remember it, don't you? you remember the way, yes? Only after you have crossed that wall will you be safe...go to your grandmother , she'll keep you safe, knce you cross the pass you will be safe... please kumi!!! Don't look back...I want you to know that both your father and I will forever love you, never forget who you are ,you are one of a kind...a special breed" She said as she kissed her on the forehead, it tore her to let her baby go. But this was the only way.

Giving her one last hug, Diane got up and left, dashing back to where her husband was...

"mama??" Makumi stood frozen as she watched her go, her heart was racing and eyes filled to the brim with tears. Turning around she ran as fast as her legs could carry her, but she just couldn't leave them, no.

Completely disregarding her mother's words, Makumi stopped running and turned around.

Running towards where her parents were but she was late. The fire consumed to whole place, dyeing the trees and floor in an orange red glow. she was horrified at the blood and the dead bodies which laid sprawled across the ground, makumi's mother being part of them. Diane who had been alive only a few moments ago now laid on the ground with a gaping hole in her stomach and a part of her body charred to an almost crisp state. her beautiful face was horribly disfigured now and Makumi emptied the contents of her stomach. it was just too much for a child her age to look at, yet she couldn't look away.

"Mama?" Makumi mouthed the words as she fell To her knees, a sour taste in her mouth as more bile acid rose up to her throat.

How could this have happened? Makumi felt utterly helpless. Through her tear eyes, she saw her father in a wretched state, he looked defeated, he didn't look like he could handle Diane's death as he held her in his arms, stroking the side of her face that was burnt.

He blamed himself for her death.

Makumi could barely make out the silhouette of a third man emerging from the smoke and flames, dressed in a crisp suite, his hair was black and parted down the middle. In his hand, he held one of Diane's curved blade, the blade that Zarin had forged specifically for her as a wedding gift as per custom. that same blade would now be used to take his life.

"how the mighty fall...tch...you're a disgrace Zarin..I truly did hope you would have come to your senses...but I was wrong...to think you'd choose a pig...over your pack.." there was distaste and disgust written all over the man's face. The way he had uttered the words sounded like a taboo and it was. it wasn't just a taboo but a disgrace, a slap to the clan name.

As Makumi watched them all, she prayed her father would do something, but he was drained, defeated, the look in his eyes when he looked her way broke her heart.

Zarin had a small smile hanging on his face, he knew his time was up. even if she fought back, his soul was already tied to Diane's and her death meant his death. It pained him that his daughter had to watch them go like that, but there wasn't anything he could.

"Be strong..." he muttered his final words of encouragement to her before his throat was slit open.

Right before her eyes, she watched his body turn limp as he fell down besides her mother. That day for Makumi, she felt as though her whole world had been ripped out from beneath her feet, both parents dead and she could do nothing

"papa...mama.."she whispered as she watched his eyes turn dim and the smile on his lips fade away..