Light Shadows

Chapter 15~Racing Time

I sit up abruptly, my mouth open in a silent scream. A sharp pain tears up through my spine and i realize that i am sitting on the roof on a building. The past events float through my mind but they all feel distant as if they happened so long ago. All i could feel now was the weight of the dream. Was it even a dream? It could have been another angel of seeing coming to warm me about something. About what would happen if i lost this war? Or of what might happen if i won it? However, there was no time to dive into what my dream or vision meant because i had to get back to the Castle of Skye.

I could feel the light beginning to seep back into the Forelands. It was going to get light out soon and i could not risk staying out here any longer. I could not risk anyone seeing me and that i was not where i was supposed to be, that i was not in the Castle of Skye. Hopefully, no one had noticed my leaving but in this place, you never know. I propel myself off of the edge of the building and race through the still empty and dark streets. I use my shadows to keep any trace of me to the outside world unnoticeable. If a Forelander happened to look out their window at the street at this exact moment, i would blend into the darkness so completely that they would never even notice that i was there. Although, if i stayed out for too much longer and the sky managed to get light, then my shadows would not be able to hide my form moving throughout the streets of the Forelands.

When i reach the walls of the Castle of Skye, the sky is still dark with just the slightest hint of light peeking over the buildings. I barely made it. I do not step as i smoothly jump over the wall, using my magic to brace for the impact of the landing. As soon as my boots hit the ground on the other side, i take off again at a sprint. I can not let anyone see me. If someone saw me, they would question me as to where i had gone and no person in the Forelands would believe my going to a roof and falling asleep for hours.

I reach the slight stone pathway and make my magic actually throw me back up and through my window. I land in my rooms with a thud. If there was any person in the room below mine, they were probably wondering what was happening on this story. I stand upright and close the window behind me. There. Now there was no trace of me ever leaving. Hopefully i did not leave any footprints behind... However, even if i had it would not matter. What could any person do with footsteps. A lot of things, i mentally scold myself.

I change out of my clothes and back into my nightgown, figuring that i should probably try to get some sleep. I had to get up in just about another two or three hours so i might as well try to get some sleep now. Although, i am wide awake when i come to a very obvious conclusion as to why i am still staring up at the ceiling in my rooms above my large king-sized bed.

Sleep was out of the question. My dream vision was still fresh in my mind and i had the feeling that if i closed my eyes, i would see the sight of dead Backlanders in my mind again just like i had in my dream vision. The sight would be forever seared into the backs of my eyelids. It would never leave me alone. This thought makes a feeling of nausea arise. I swallow and sigh. I have been sighing a lot lately. What was wrong with me?

My thoughts drift back to my journey to the City of Skye. Up on that rooftop, i was not the future Queen of the Forelands. I was not the Daughter of the Devil. I was not the merciless killer that rumored claimed of me. I was not even Scarlet. I was nobody. And how badly i wished to be nobody sometimes. How amazing it would be to have nobody know who you are as you walk down a road. How not a single person would stop to stare at you from the sides. How no one would even know my name. But that was not reality and i could not live a life made up of dreams.