Fire & Flood

Chapter 26

Morgan

Darkness.
Unrelenting, unyielding darkness. I felt myself floating through it - stuck between thought and existence. I could smell blood - tangy, rusty smell that lingered on my senses. But, whose blood? My own? I tried moving my arms, but they felt heavy, as if made of lead. It was as if my body no longer belonged to me. But, I felt it. My power leaving me - burning away like the morning campfire. It started at my finger tips and then spread to my chest. I could see this power as a golden thread weaving through the darkness, flying away - to whom? To her? Emily...

I willed my arms to move, and reached for this thread. The effort felt insurmountable, but I touched it. It was scorching. I could smell the burning, but I grabbed on to that thread. I could not let it go, I could not let her become this. She won't have this burden, she won't be enslaved! I pulled with all of my might, the thread fought in my grasp trying to leave, sensing my weakness.

Suddenly, I saw light - orange and red - fire. At first I was blinded. I could not make anything out, my eyes stung from the brightness and the heat. Then I saw her. She was also burning. Her face a mix of rage and grief. She was kneeling down beside me, consumed by flame. That golden thread wrapping itself around her, caressing her skin, weaving through her auburn hair. She was so beautiful and so sad - a vengeful spirit.

I tugged at the thread, I won't let her become a druid - a life time of blood and guilt - she was too good, she did not deserve this. I mustered my strength and with one final pull I tried again...

Then...SNAP! The thread BROKE!

The golden thread continued to weave around Emily. She continued to burn. I looked down to see that my thread became blue, spreading itself around me, weaving through my body, soaking up my blood... my blood. It was my blood that I tasted on my tongue. It was my blood that coated my senses. The string broke. What did this mean? Two powers? Two druids?

Darkness and guilt. I often begged for the darkness to take me. Prayed for it all to end, but now I wanted to live. I wanted to live beside her. Two druids from the same power? What now? Would Sylvos allow this?

I felt my own string quench the flames around me. Where her fire touched, coolness remained. I still saw her - that rage and hate on her face. Then she was gone. Pulled away. Wooden hands like limbs of a tree reaching for her, pawing at her face, her body, dragging her into the abyss.

EMILY! But my scream was silent. It was swallowed by the darkness same as her light... I was alone.