The Lost Life of Laraine

Chapter 29

I could feel my stomach churn at the sight before me. 

The usually peppy and unshakable Flontina was standing a yard away from me, using her staff as a support as her legs quaked. 

I forced my legs to move forward towards what was left of the village. 

"Hello?" I called out to the rubble of stone and wood beams, not a soul around. I couldn't sense a soul around. 

Which was the scary part. 

No people. 

No animals. 

Not even an insect. 

"Hello?!" I screamed out, trying to find someone. I didn't even realize I was running around the remains, the smell of burning flesh and blood overwhelming my senses. 

"H e l p." 

I spun around, trying to find the source of that voice. 

I closed my eyes, trying to sense it anything. 

It wasn't until I stumbled over a beam, landing in something that squished under my hands. 

Prying my eyes I saw a pool of blood soaking into the ground. Trying to sit up, I made eye contact with half a face. 

It was a child. 

A blonde or dark brown or reddish haired child who looked like they were crawling out of the rubble until they were crushed further into the ground. 

It could've been the adrenaline or the shear terror in my stomach but I thought this child's mouth moved, mouthing "H e l p." 

I rushed over, shoving off the large beam and boulders off of them, only to reveal a mass of flesh and blood that was under bits of cloth. 

"Oh my god." I gaped, tears welling in my eyes. 

I couldn't figure out why but I reached forward into the blood, feeling the warmth sink into my shaking hands. 

"You can hear us?" 

I could feel my blood run cold. 

"Hello?" I tried to reply, but my voice sounded distant and not even my own. 

"Laraine Fortunith," a child's voice was prominent in my ears, but it was backed with darker and so many other voices that was hurting my head. 

"W-who? Wh-what?!" I screamed, my vision black but I could see all the people who used to live in this village. 

"It was a black dragon," the voice screamed at me, "We all tried to take cover in the church but the dragon brought it down on all of us. Some managed to run out, but were burned to ashes before they could scream."

"Where did it go?!" I screamed out, only for my vision to full with imagery of a black figure to fly in the gray sky over 

I was running towards the church, the houses and buildings around me were burning down and crumbling under the weight of the destruction. 

"This way!" a woman screamed at me, grabbing my arm to drag me into the fully stone building. 

We all thought it would protect us. 

"Oh my god." 

In a split second  I was being shoved to the entrance, several feet pounded onto my small back, crushing my ribs until the church came crumbling down.

I try to stand up, only to get ripped backwards, falling onto my back, air rushing into my lung, choking me. 

"Lara?! Lara?! Are you okay?!" Flontina screamed at me, her eyes wide and panicked, "Y-you weren't responding to my and y-you started screaming. A-and your eyes went white and you started crying blood." 

"W-what?" I touched my face, looking down at my fingers that were already soaked in blood. 

If anything I smeared more blood on my face. 

"What happened?" I couldn't pry my eyes away from my hands. 

It was the blood of this child and whoever's remains were mixed with them. 

"We should report back," Flontina tugged on my sleeve, backing me away until I couldn't see the blood anymore. "Uh Tallow, can you clean her off?" 

Tallow remained on the edge of the village, probably already knowing exactly what I was going to find. 

"Yes," Tallow's voice felt distant. It wasn't until I felt his cool tongue on my skin, cleaning the evidence of death on me. 

"I-I'm fine," I took a deep breath, nudging Tallow's face away from mine, "It's fine." 

"What happened?" Flontina asked, crouching down and rubbing my back comfortingly. 

"I-I-I don't know," I sighed, bringing my knees to my chest, curling up in a safety bubble of my own creation. 

"She spoke to the dead," Tallow explained with no emotion, his face suddenly extremally close to mine, "Did you feel the barrier?" 

"What?" I backed up instinctively, trying to figure out what he meant by that. 

"The barrier between life and death. Newly killed mortal souls are always on the precipice of that barrier and very special people can access it. Some can even open portals to the realm of death through their bodies." 

Something about his words made my blood feel colder than just moments ago. 

I stared at him for what felt like an eternity. 

His brownish color got redder. 

Either my imagination or he was redder from licking the blood off my face. 

He looked like a bringer of death. 

Even his eyes glowed red. 

In a second I was back in the ambassy and sitting on my bed, still curled up and staring at my feet. 

"Lara?" Harken appeared from nowhere. "What happened out there?" 

He sat on my bed, his leg brushed against my toes. 

He's warm. 

"You know I've seen death in monsters," I mumbled, but I knew Harken was listening very intently. "But it was different. I saw the aftermath. I saw how it happened. I felt it." 

I took a deep shaky breath. 

"It hurt," I whimpered, "I was scared. It was cold. It was dark. And I was alone." 

Well I lied. 

I felt like all those souls were grabbing me, pulling me into the depths of the darkness, surrounding me in frozen water that burned and cut at my skin. I didn't feel alone. 

I felt like I was being torn apart by millions of fingers. 

Soon warm arms wrapped around me and pulled me into a warm embrace. 

I didn't even care that I sat on his lap, soaking his shirt in burning tears. I just hugged his neck, burying myself in the warmth. 

He was so warm.