An Axe in the Flames

Prologue: The Gift

There was nothing...all around. Nothing for miles and miles beyond comprehension, but yet, she was...floating? How could she see if there was nothing? That wasn't entirely right. There was something, a soft bluish glow that seemed to come from the edges of everywhere. She looked down and gasped at the site of her bloody knees. She was discolored and cut in more places than she could count. Her dirty feet and toes dangled below, but she felt no breeze. Where was she?

"Pela?" She questioned softly.

She immediately covered her mouth and looked around. The sound of her voice echoing around her. She spun in place and lost orientation. Was she upside down? Her blood-stained fingers reached out for balance.

"Pe..la?" She whispered.

Again, she covered her mouth as the whisper caught on the nothingness and bounced all around her. There was movement from the edges of her vision. Shadows that appeared and disappeared instantly. She held her breath; where was she? Had she died in the prisoner wagon? It was the last thing she remembered before waking up wherever she was now.

"Stand your ground!"

Pela screamed a wordless shriek as a body appeared beside her, a soldier in the Emerald Kingdom green armor. His face had a hard edge to it like he'd seen too many hard days with eyes that stared into the distance with an angry intensity. A sword was run through him from behind, its bloody, pointed tip protruding from his chest. As quickly as he appeared, he blew away like a sudden winter breeze in the open fields of the Salt Desert.

"Those are the souls of those who weren't ready to move on. Who couldn't accept their death." The new voice was soft and familiar.

Pela spun in her nothingness and was caught by a translucent blue hand. It gently caught her in the crook of her arm and steadied her. Pela stared at the hand as a woman's body began to form. Its long hair flowed in a wind that wasn't present, and a translucent blue dress that billowed in the same wind. Immediately, tears came to Pela's eyes, and she reached out.

"Mother!" She cried.

"Yes, I am." The translucent woman gently said as she embraced Pela in a heartfelt hug.

The two held each other in an embrace, hanging in the blackness surrounding them. The woman gently pulled away and smiled. It was a smile that Pela instantly knew, and her heart lurched inside her chest and threatened to escape. Her mother was standing...well, floating, right in front of her! She started to speak but stopped and held a trembling hand to her mouth.

"My dear child, you may speak in this realm, for this realm is of my making."

Pela felt tears run down her cheek as she reached out and caressed her mother's face, "Mo...mother. How?"

Her mother mirrored Pela's gesture and held her gaze for a moment. "My dear child, it has been so long since I created you. I've watched you grow, and you have no idea how hard it's been to watch your struggles."

Pela pulled back as her face scrunched up, "You...watched?"

What did that mean? She had watched her struggles and didn't do anything to help her? She had been abandoned in the wilderness of the Salt Deserts and ran for her life from Moon Garden. She had been running for her life for almost as long as she could remember!

"It's complicated, Pela. If I had shown myself, He would have found us. I couldn't take that chance. You're too precious to me and too precious to this world." Her mother said as she wiped at her own tears.

Pela shook her head, "I...don't...understand."

Each word was so hard to form she couldn't speak in the world she was in before. At least, not without something happening. Here, there seemed to be no consequences, but making her thoughts form into words had become something she had to fight against. Her throat was raspy, and the words felt thick on her lips. Her mother pulled her close again into a hug.