The Unified Soul

My Emerald Secret

The world was still. The air was cold, blowing softly through the green leaves of the forest's trees, making the echoes of the trembling leaves run through the darkened sky above. And yet, nothing was dark.

The world was lit up by the full moon shining brightly upon the silent world. The sky was filled with so many stars that it looked as if diamonds were sparkling in the sky along with the moon. The snow gently fell upon the snow covered ground, blanketing the world in a sheet of white that made it look even more peaceful. It was as if the scene was from that of a dream.

But this was no dream....

The peacefulness of the night was broken by the crunch of the snow, feet rushing through the white forest as they tried to escape a darkness that followed them. Their heavy breaths created puffs that quickly fell behind them as they ran as fast as they could, carrying their most precious possession with them.

"Hurry! We have to run faster!" One of the runners shouted as they continued to run, this time even faster than before.

"Darling, I can't run any faster! We need to find a place to hide for the time being!" The second runner shouted.

"Where would we hide? They're everywhere, we can't find a place to stand much less rest! We have to go farther!"

The second runner didn't want to stop for herself, no, she wanted to stop for the precious thing she held in her arms. A little girl that clutched her shirt, too terrified to even say a single syllable. The little girl was covered with a black cloak that hid her face and long hair, but that could never hide the tears streaming down her terrified expression.

"What's going on?" She asked, the terror in her voice evident, "Why are they chasing us? Why did they do that to our house?"

The woman holding the little girl looked down at the child before hugging her even tighter.

"Don't you worry, my little flower. Everything will be okay." She said, "We're going to go somewhere where you can grow up safely until you're old enough to use it."

The little girl didn't understand what the woman was saying, she was far too young to understand.

"They're this way!" A rough voice shouted from behind them. The little girl was even more terrified now, clutching onto the woman even tighter. She was terrified, but she didn't know why any of them were so scared. Everything had happened so fast.

Just then, the three of them had run into a small clearing in the forest. The little girl peaked out from her cloak and looked up to see the beautiful stars in the sky. For a moment, she felt her fear disappear. She had always loved watching the stars, but something was different about them on this night. They weren't glowing as they should, their light darkened by something that she couldn't see.

And then... it happened.

Two loud shots echoed through the snowy forest and screams of pain rang out from the two runners. The little girl felt the woman's weight on her as they fell to the white ground, the cold snow biting her skin as she went face first into the snow.

She looked around to see the man and woman on the ground, motionless. She crawled out from under the woman and saw that even after she moved from her tight grip, the woman didn't move, neither did the man.

The white snow below them began to turn red, a color the girl thought was so beautiful. But now, she was terrified of the crimson shade staining the white snow.

"Papa.... Mama...!" She called out, shaking the woman, "Get up. You have to get up! Papa, you said we need to run! We have to run!"

"Direct hits! They're down!" A voice shouted from nearby. The little girl turned towards the dark woods and fear once again filled her body as she continued to try and get her mother and father to run. She grabbed her mother's hand and tried to pull her to her feet, but the woman wouldn't move.