She, of fire and strength

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same.

The ground crumbled beneath her boot as she walked down the winding path. Rubble coating the ground, dust taking the spot where air should’ve been.

Her throat dried in a matter of seconds, her eyes surveying the ruins of her old town. Destroyed decades ago, the destruction was still evident.

Her hand wrapped tightly around the hilt of her sword. Solid titanium, embedded with diamond dust. Her white hair blowing through the wind. Ocean eyes locked on the burning roads surrounding her. What once was a flourishing and prosperous land, was now nothing but flames and rubble. The ground here was fertile, the most fertile in all of the land. Crops sprouted up at ridiculous speeds, covering the ground. Hundreds of thousands of people flocked here to farm, all was at peace, until one day twenty four years ago. She was only five years old when the fire hawks came.

They soared above the clouds, beautiful in their forms. Jet black, flames twisting down their wings. Like a phoenix, but not as large. The people loved and admired them, stopping work for hours to gaze at the sky, watching the marvelous creatures in all their glory.

It was all fun and games until one day one of the hawks, the leader, decided to fly down and land in the middle of a corn field.

The blaze was amazing and terrifying. Burning down everything within three miles of the touchdown point in a matter of seconds. Hundreds of people that were working that field died, a lot of people left, but not enough. After that, the fires didn’t stop. Over the course of two months, every last field was reduced to nothing but ash and dirt.

Out of all of the people that had once lived here, less than a quarter of them made it out of the town.

Her family had fled with the last group of survivors. Somehow, she still remembered everything like it had just happened, every single detail. The heat from the constant flames, the screams of the souls trapped in the fire.

Instead of beautiful farmland, this section of the kingdom was always burning. The ground was so amazing at producing plants that the hawks would continue to keep landing on them. Growth, destruction. Repeat. This place, once called Seicho, was now referred to as, “The Hell Circle.”

She laughed to herself now, it showed how something so beautiful and full of life, could be absolutely demolished with one decision. She felt another spike of heat on her face and turned to see one of the hawks, perching on a newly grown pine tree. It erupted into flames and was gone in an instant.

She passed by it, confident that it wouldn’t hurt her. Pulling out her sword, she continued her way through the crumbling remains of her old home. She had grown up to be the kingdom of Allearia’s fiercest warrior. She wasn’t afraid of these bringers of death. She wasn’t afraid of anything. She wasn’t going to stay here long. Her business in this forsaken place consisted of remembering a life that was, and letting it go. For good.

No more nightmares, no more anxiety from fire. She wasn’t going to let her past haunt her anymore.

She made her way through what used to be her town, the foundations to the buildings still stood, cracking from age and weather. The places where people used to thrive.

She slowed suddenly, her steps becoming uncertain, anxious. She was nearing her old house. The place that all the nightmares and trauma brewed. She stopped in front of one of the old foundations. Just as weathered and crumbly as the rest of them, but she knew this one was different. She remembered this spot, this was where her life changed.

Even at such a young age, things like your entire town burning down really made an impact in your mind. She was no exception. She had become who she was today so that she would never have to be that terrified little girl, so she could protect people when they couldn’t protect themselves.

Kneeling down, her cloak flowing behind her. She reached into a small sack that was strapped to the side of her belt. Pulling out a small necklace with a ring laced through it. It wasn’t much, a simple band of silver with a small blue gem resting on top of it. She felt sadness overwhelm her and tried in vain to stop the tears from falling. She tried to stay strong, but knew she couldn’t.

Laying the necklace down on the old stone gently, she closed her eyes. The memories that she had tried to hold back for so long, flooding through her mind.

“GET INSIDE! THEY’RE COMING BACK!”

She was scooped up by her older sister, nestled safely in between her arms. She could feel that she was running, the fire birds were landing again, she could tell from all the yelling and noise.

She reached up and tugged at her ear,

“Sis, are we in danger?”

She slowed for a second, cupping my face with her hand. Her hand was soft,

“No little one, I’ll keep you safe.”

I heard someone screaming and tried to poke my head up to see what was happening but she held me closer. Getting to our house, she quickly set me down inside.

“Go to the cellar ok? Drench yourself and everything around you in water, don’t leave a single thing dry.”

I nodded, starting to feel fear creeping into my senses. She cupped my cheek again, sliding off her necklace that Dad had given her and putting it around my neck instead.

“I love you.”

I wrapped my little fingers around the ring,

“I love you too.”

With that, she turned and ran back out of the house, shutting the door and locking it. I screamed for her, running to the door and trying to pull it open. It wouldn’t budge. I cried, and cried, but remembered what she had told me to do; I ran into our cellar and used the underground well that was there to make everything soaking wet. I curled up in the corner of the room, afraid, cold, and alone. I waited for the nightmare to be over.

She held her hand against her cheek, the darkness creeping back into her mind.

That was the last time she would ever see her sister. When she was pulled from her safe spot in the cellar, she emerged to find that her sister had burned alive, trying to save her parents.

The tears were falling faster now, she could no longer control them. Standing up, she stared at the ring, the last thing that she had of her,

“I love you.”

Her voice, barely a whisper, cracked in half, alongside her lonely heart. She turned and walked away, once she left this place, she wouldn’t come back. It had taken her years to finally let go of her sister, but she had now, she could sleep peacefully, knowing that she had put her hero of a sister to rest. She hadn’t died in vain and she would never forget her. She would save people, just like her sister saved her, no one else would be hurt, and that was all that mattered.