Reader Warning - This story contains sensitive material such as guns, mention of rape, and some violence. Reader discretion is advised.
There is something beautifully enigmatic about how old memories can make one haunt a place of their past. Maybe it is because such places that once held great importance retain their power over us even after falling to ash and ruins. Little reveries of their ghosts drawing you back. Davina is no stranger to this unexplained longing that lingers in the recesses of her heart. No matter the distance she has traveled in the last twenty years there is always that nagging feeling. These urges to go back wake the phantoms of her past and replay horrible memories of a childhood long lost in the form of nightmares and day terrors.
Underneath the pregnant autumn moon and shimmering stars the bow mage ventures down a twisting pathway. The walkway is hardly noticeable underneath all of the overgrown bushes and waist high weeds, but despite being able to hardly see it her feet know where to go. Tiny stones and pebbles crunch underneath the outer soles of black boots, and the tall grass rustles in soft whispers as she pushes through the sea of overgrowth. To the right of the pathway is a steep drop off leading down to rushing waters, and to the left large rock walls loom over the hidden road. She listens to the melody of crickets that sing in the dimly lit night and the roar of the water below. Just a stone’s throw away her sapphire gaze can vaguely make out the shape of a two story home in the light of the full moon.
It is nothing impressive now but one can tell just by the fading paint and rotting elaborate wooden beams that this was once a proud home. Whomever owned it used to take pride in up keeping the land and property. Large hallow spaces are all that remains of once beautiful bay windows. Falling into disrepair the roof has long sagged into the two story house allowing both mother nature and the elements to have free reign. Flower beds that used to hold a huge array of herbs and spices now overtake the property’s grounds with dense vines and shrubbery. Against the back of the house an old waterwheel sags, moss creeping over the rotted wood in thick layers. A large creek flows behind the homestead and cascades in little waterfalls over the jagged rocks that jut out along the steep hill. There is an unsettling feeling that one might experience as they roam the grounds.
Davina approaches the thicket of vines and brushes her right hand over the twisting branches. Heat radiates from her hand and as the temperature rises it singes away the vines in a controlled burn. Warming the plant enough to degrade it but not quite hot enough to spark a flame. Without pause she strolls through the garden and up to the stone steps that lead onto the wrap around porch. Climbing them effortlessly before venturing into the dilapidated home. Broken furniture and fragments of glass litter the cobblestone floor. Vines of ivy creep and crawl over the water stained walls. As she walks through the first floor she can recall the laughter that once filled these rooms. Images of three young girls chasing each other as their mother worked on brews playing through her mind to accompany the distant laughs.
Wooden boards creek and splinters of glass crunch under her weight with each step she takes. Making her way over to a stone fireplace, in what used to be a dining room, she kneels by the hearth. Reaching over to a dry log she touches it and under her caress flames blossom and consume the wood. Rocking back on her heels she takes some twigs and little pieces of branches and tosses them into the glowing fire. Heat wafts from the hearth, the warmth rippling through the room to chase away the chill.
Davina is already aware of the presence before a firm feminine voice calls out to her, “Why do you visit ruins that are haunted by yesterday’s ghosts?” The aether radiating from the intruder behind her is strange yet familiar. There is a small click of a gun’s hammer being cocked.
“Even in death ghosts deserve someone, I suppose.” Davina’s replies in a smooth tone. “How often do you come here?” Standing slowly she’s cautious not to make any sudden movements that may be taken as a threat or form of hostility.
"Never.” Comes a one word reply. “What purpose does reliving the past serve? It’s not like anything will change. You’re just drudging up pain.”
Shifting her weight upon the heels of her boots Davina quarter turns herself. Radiant sapphire eyes settle on the frame of a tall woman with beautiful bronze colored skin, whose blonde hair is pulled up and tucked into a neat bun. Piercing emerald irises stare coldly at the bow mage from across the dining room. All that stands between them is the skeletal frame of a wooden table and the remains of broken chairs. Dark, expensive, fabric shrouds the woman’s body. Clasped to the collar of the elegant jacket are metal pins that signify this Midlander is a weapon’s engineer, her rank in the Garlean army, and boasts of her marksmanship skills. “How have you been, sister?”
The woman’s face contorts from annoyance for a moment before that neutral expression takes control. “We haven’t been sisters for twenty years, the day that we became wards of the Garlean Empire.” Her words frigidly quip.
“Was it easy for you to abandon your family like that?” Davina inquires, genuinely curious if it was that simple for Danica to disregard their family. To write them off as if they never even happened. Falling into silence she studies her eldest sister’s posture. How tense the weapon’s engineer is as she aims the black barrel of a revolver at the bow mage.
“Not when I about how selfish your mother and father were.” Danica bluntly states. There isn’t any emotion in her green eyes nor in her tone.
“What do you mean selfish?”
“Vandrad Mercer and Karoline Wolfthorne were criminals, Davina, and by choice. They aided radicals in their conflicts with the Empire. Their poisons and bombs helped kill hundreds, if not thousands, of Garleans over the years. They could have kept to themselves, but instead they fueled the fires of rebellion. Vandrad and Karoline picked a war over their own children-”
“They were trying to free our home city so we could have a better future. How can you not see that is an act of selflessness?” Davina interrupts. “Is your love for the Empire that strong now that you’ve forgotten everything they’ve done? From murdering innocents, tearing our family apart, what they did to you....” Words trail off as a small shudder ripples through the doctor’s body. Davina remembers their first night away from home. That day they had been ripped from their parents, their home, and forced to temporarily live with a small branch of the Garlean military. Later that night when the sun set a group of men that reeked of alcohol came to the tent the three Wolfthorne sisters were sharing. Danica was seventeen name days at the time and a prime target for their devious desires. Those men dragged her outside of the tent and that whole time she kicked, she screamed, and she fought with them. All her attempts to get away were futile. She was dragged behind the shared tent and they forced themselves on her. Davina will never forget the horrid gut wrenching screams her sister cried out and the pleaded sobs for them to stop.
“Had it not been for their selfishness none of that would have happened!” Danica snaps viciously. “They could have raised us peacefully under the Empire’s rule. We could have co-existed with the Garleans, but they couldn’t leave things alone.” Slender fingers tighten around the revolver at the mention of the soldiers raping her. “Over the years I have come to accept that every nationality, every race, has their own fair share of good and bad people. Those men were monstrous and vile but they don’t make up the whole. Garleans are people exactly like you. They have families and loved ones they go home to at night. They smile and laugh. They enjoy similar things. They just want a better world for everyone. One government to rule all. Is that such a bad idea?”
Laying her index finger over the gun’s trigger she sighs. “I just wish you would have accepted Lord Blacke’s offer. Maybe if you had things would be different right now. We would still be family and could enjoy our lives together.”
Sapphire eyes follow the index finger to the trigger and she silently prepares herself for what is about to come. “Perhaps.” Davina murmurs softly. “In a different world, yes, but I could never see myself siding with a murderer who only wanted to use me as a weapon against innocents in this wor-.”
Gunfire disrupts the chirping of the crickets and the crackling of dancing flames.
[TO BE CONTINUED]