"What's the smell?" The same boy asked no one in particular.
"Bodies... dead bodies," Alvina answered pointing at a particular place with a straight face and flat voice. They can see lots of bodies sprawled around the area. Some were fully burnt and some were half burnt. Flies and other insects were buzzing around it. Upon closer look, they could see the whole area was covered in dead black, burnt bodies.
Alvina along with the others walked inside. Though the place from the outside looked like a ruined place that couldn't be even able to support the weight of an ant, but from inside it was heavily fortified.
Alvina walked inside and saw men, women, old and children tied in long black poles. Their hands were raw from the metal chains and rough binds.
There was exhaustion in everybody's face. It seemed like that they haven't got any proper rest and food for days. Some of them had even passed out from exhaustion. Their body was half hanging from the poles. If there were no binds to secure them to their place, they would have already fallen in the dirt.
She could hear screams of pain and horror from every corner of the place and the salty, foul stench of blood and wounds was heavy in the air.
As she was taking in the place, she felt a hard push from her side and she fell on the ground. She raised her head to see who pushed her when her eyes landed on a buff guard. His face looked terrible. He had a long scar running from his left eye to his chin. He had a rough expression on his face.
Her eyes roamed downwards and she saw a thick metal chain on his right hand and his left hand was holding an axe.
"Please not me. Please leave me." A pleading voice was heard. She looked past him and her eyes zeroed on the owner of the pleading voice.
The voice belonged to a woman. She was tied in chains and had a metal collar, which was linked to a chain that the buff man was holding.
The woman had long hairs which were now stained with mud and blood. Her complexion was also hidden under a layer of dirt. Her clothes were torn from various places and were falling apart but from close inspection, one could see that she was wearing a finer garment than the those around her. Alvina could see patches of blood on her lower regions. She closed her eyes in pain upon seeing this. This is what she feared the most. She could happily prefer dying over tainting her soul. It is because of this only she had chosen to cut her hair and was wearing a man's clothes.
"Please let me go." She pleaded again. Her nose touching the ground.
The buff man huffed and yanked the chain that was attached to her collar making her face scrape the uneven, coarse ground. Fresh blood trickled from her forehead and broken lips that made her whimper in pain.
But the buff man didn't stop there. He started walking to where he was going without giving her a chance to stand. He was dragging her the whole way making her cry and plead even more.
"Princess…" somebody whispered in concern.
"Shh…do not say it. They will hear you." Came the voice from his side.
Alvina's eyes widened in horror. So, the person they were dragging like a ragged doll was actually the princess of this ruined kingdom.
She could hear the jingling of the chains and her screams even though the princess was out of sight. And suddenly silence fell over the place. No screams, no jingling of the metals, nothing.
"She is dead. She was like a daughter to me." The woman who had whispered 'princess' said to no one in particular. The expression on her face was stiff and there was a whimper in her voice. Her gray hairs were all over the place and her eyes had a dead look in them.
"They killed everyone." She whispered once again.
She sat on the ground with a defeated look on her face and started scratching the dirt. Her fingers became raw and her fingernails broke. Blood started pouring from her wounds.
Alvina couldn't take this anymore. She never like people harming their own selves. She rushed towards the old woman and took her hands in her grasp.
"Don't harm yourself." She shouted. Her voice was not loud but seemed loud in the silent atmosphere. Everybody raised their heads to look at her.
The old woman looked straight in her eyes and whispered, "I will be next. They will kill me tomorrow." Her voice broke at the end and once again she started scratching the surface.
"Stop hurting yourself," Alvina said.
"I will see you tomorrow." The woman whispered. Alvina remained confused for a second then she got it. she was not saying this to her but to the dead princess and her dead relatives.
Alvina sighed.
"Let her be." A gruff voice said. He was the same man who had stopped the old lady from saying anything.
"But she is hurting herself," Alvina said reasoning with the man.
"Yeah, I know. But sometimes it is the only way to relieve one's pain." The man said. He closed his eyes and a painful expression marked his face.
Alvina knew what he was talking about. She knew that sometimes to lessen the pain of their hearts people tend to inflict self-pain. And if the person is a coward, he beats somebody else to feel better.
Even though Alvina was young, she had seen most tragedies that can happen in somebody's life. She had passed through this phase where she would have suicidal thoughts and wanted to give up on her life. She could guess why people do suicide. It happens when the mythological hell seems better than the present hell and everything around them seems dark.
But Alvina was strong-willed. She knew that the days will not always remain the same. She knew she will one day overcome her grief and the winter of her life will be a subject of the past.