Rise of a Queen

Chapter 3

Rocks crunched beneath my feet as I chased after the boys, their long strides matching nearly five of my own. They said not a word but no syllable was needed between them, they have spent enough time together to communicate without speaking. And right now, no amount of words could explain Brandon's presence.

He was either lying or telling the truth.

If he was lying, that meant Dustin is still dead and my suffering continues. But if he is telling the truth, then Dustin has been alive all this time, held prisoner by this group called the Council, and his suffering continues. Neither option seemed overly appealing at the moment ... but I know which one of us I'd choose to spare if I had the chance to do so.

As dusk faded to night and stole the day with its arrival, the land surrounding the compound was pitched into darkness and in that darkness rose memorials of life lost. Brandon glanced over his shoulder, shooting me a snide grin at seeing my cooperation, then he turned back to face what stretched out directly ahead of us.

The graveyard.

It laid in extensive reach across miles of the surrounding land, littering the hills and valleys with tombs of loved ones once vibrant but now dull and cold. The cemetery itself was lovely even though such beauty was tarnished by the breath of death. Now glowing in moonlight, the graveyard was nothing short of magical with fireflies sauntering between blocks of stone that marked where a soul lay at rest and swarming around where ponds and trees gave the collection of necrosis a sense of life. The terrain here was in controlled chaos as inclines soon gave way to easy slopes that rolled into hills and finally basked under the sky with open fields and enveloping plains.

Trees soared above with branches both full and barren, some granting shade while others cursed further exposure. Placed at random throughout the area were plants and plump shrubs that gave privacy to those who desired it. In addition to these displays of intrinsic vegetation, a quiet stream flowed in mocking curves that stalked the tombs at times but always offered humble isolation without damage to the bodies that rested below.

Like something out of dream, often times I found myself staring over the cemetery from the window of Dustin's room; bewitched by the creatures that pranced between the graves too fast to see clearly while lights without origin appeared and vanished as though inviting me to question their source. So many times I could have sworn I saw visitors amongst the tombstones only to discover that the area was vacant.

Sunlight granted some sort of justification although even in the middle of the day, the graveyard seemed to be teeming with activity of otherworldly guests. Then night fell and suddenly, the cemetery was alive; brimming with eerie laughter and chatter from bodiless figures.

I've learned to be doubtful of what my eyes thought they saw, because it has been a very long time since reality was what it seemed.

The parameters of the graveyard were left inconclusive without outline by any fence, because the expansive acreage stretched farther than what any mortal material could contain. There was no boundary around this domain because territory included everything warmed by the sun and chilled by the moon. Each year brought more deaths, too many to keep track or count of, and so the cemetery continues to grow with each life taken and each plot dug. At some point the amount of bodies in the graveyard will outnumber the lives still claiming sanctuary under Tribe colors and when that day comes, we'll dig our own graves beside one another.

But until that day, we press on with the hope that our death won't be meaningless. That unlike our fellow members, when we lay at final rest, our remembrance will not be in vain.

Despite the lack of boundary, there was a main entrance which all used to enter this sanctified place and that entrance was crowded with detail in a way that stole my breath each and every time I neared. Like seeing the ocean for the first time or mounted at the edge of a cliff with your toes suspended in air, standing in the presence of this entrance made spectators feel small.