Kadian

The Great Resurection

Kadian stared off into the vast darkness, unsure if it was safe to move or speak speak. Finally, she decided she was secure enough to stand up, and dust herself off. She continued staring at her shadowy surroundings as she did so, the cool air wrapping around her body.

It was definitely night, but the sky did not have its usual stars, making it difficult to see. She knelt down, felt the floor, and frowned upon realizing it was made of stone.

"Where am I?" she thought as she walked towards the stalagmites. 

"Oh my..." Kadian breathed airily. She could see all of Azuraya from where she stood, and it was nothing less than magnificent. The forest, off reserve, the village...and the villagers themselves! It was hard to make out their faces, but they were clearly scattered across the land, holding lanterns. It seemed as though as they were yelling.

"Ba!" she heard a woman cried. Ba?

"...an! Kay!" A man shouted.

The urgency in their incoherent voices stirred a panic within Kadian. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, cupped a hand to her ear, and listened as intently as she could.

For a while, she still struggled to hear them properly, but their cries quickly became clearer.

"Laba! Laba!" she heard. Laba, laba...Alaba! They were looking for Alaba. But she still couldn't interpret the second phrase they seemed to be shouting.

"Dan!"

"Ian!"

"AYY!" Was this an ancient Azurayan language?

"HEY!" Kadian screamed. "UP HERE!" 

Her shouts were to no avail-her voice wasn't strong enough to carry. Agitated, she shut her eyes and listened again.

A strong, clear, familiar voice boomed across the land. "KADIAN!!!"

Her eyes flew open and landed on Mohassen. His vascular build differed from the other shadowy figures.

He was walking towards the woods when the chief yelled something at him.

"IT COULDN'T HAVE CAME FROM SHANGO! WE WILL KEEP LOOKING!" Mohassen replied, and disappeared into the brush. "ALABA! KADIAN! "

Kadian's hand flew to her mouth as she stumbled backwards. Shango? It couldn't be. How did she end up there? How was she even alive?

She frantically looked around for an exit, and scrambled towards it when she saw it-but was unable to get past. Pushing, banging, kicking-the invisible barrier would not budge. Tears flew out of her eyes as she screamed and attacked the barrier. Kadian froze when a strong sense of familiarity hit her.

This had all happened to her before. Her stomach sank as memories of Sister and the dreaded lightning flooded back to her. Strangely enough, the actual pain was a blur, but she became immensely fearful when she thought of it-so she didn't.

Would it all happened twice? It seemed like the most probable outcome. Feeling that there was nothing better to do, Kadian sank to her knees, and cried.

When the wait for the inevitable became unbearable, Kadian hesitantly turned around and glanced at the sky. Instead of a menacing bolt of lightning cutting through the air, a yellow ribbon of light was dancing her way.

It delicately bounced up and down, making beautiful twists and turns as it went. Kadian paused in wonder, unsure of what to think. Although there was no reasoning behind it, something deep inside of her assured that the light would not harm her in any way-that it may even be a good thing.