One year earlier...
It was a beautiful day on the Isle of Eilean Shona. The large, clear lake reflected the bright cerulean sky dotted with birds, and the rolling green hills rippled in the slight breeze.
Sky walked slowly through the wreckage of her town, pondering the same question as she had for the past 3 years. How did this happen? What did I do wrong?
When she arrived back at the wrecked town, Sky found Raymond, the town elder waiting for her.
"Thoughts botherin' you again?" he asked with his majestic Scottish brogue.
"No." Sky replied firmly. A knowing look crossed his face, one very familiar to Sky. Oh boy.
"It's not your fault, you know that, don't ya?"
"Yes, it is." She countered stubbornly. This dialogue was not the first of its kind, and Sky, giving up on going anywhere with it, always had the same answer to his inquiry.
"Well, you'll come around someday." he sighed, turning away and slipping between two dilapidated houses and into the mass of villagers.
No matter what you say Raymond, it was my fault. You'll never change that.
Sky slowly made her way home, eyes downcast. The sun had dipped below the hills, giving the sky an eerie grey-green tint. It reflected off the half-burnt timbers of her roof, only adding to the damage.
The paneling was charred, turning to ash in many places to reveal the cracked skeleton of the structure.
She pushed the scorched door open halfheartedly, which let out a mournful creak. "Welcome home, me." she sighed, "so glad to be back."
The interior of her house was just as sad as the exterior. The once vibrant paintings were now faded and ripped, as were the bed sheets of her small cot. Sky plopped down on her bed, defeated and exhausted.
One day down, almost a lifetime's worth to go. She looked around her home, remnants of her life scattered across the floor. The life she never chose, never wanted, yet led anyway. And look how that's turned out for everyone.
I should never have been chosen to lead. No matter that I inherited the role, if someone else had been in charge...if the town had been better protected...those hundreds of innocents who died might have lived to see this sunset.
Sleep, like many other nights, way far away from Sky, so she took to drawing. Projecting scenes from the attack, printed painfully vividly in her mind as if it was happening before her.
As she moved the pencil across the paper, a stray tear rolled down her cheek, landing on the scene. Ink splotches blossomed from her tears, expanding like the droplets of blood that had covered every surface the night of the attack. She could still hear the screams in her mind, the horrible fires that swept people away, the feeling of helplessness as her town was razed to the ground.
Sky forced herself to keep moving the pencil, even when every cell in her body was screaming to drop it. I deserve this. She repeated in her head. I deserve to suffer for the mistakes I have made.
And more droplets of blood expanded on the drawing, reminding her forever of the past.
- < ~ > -
Late in the night, when she was sure the streets were empty, Sky made her way out warily, alert for any danger. She would not have a repeat of the night of the attack. She needed to remain vigilant.
Sky quietly patrolled the town, methodically working her way through the streets. But when she was about halfway, something caught her eye.
A black shape shot from one building to another, seemingly teleporting across the landscape, eventually coming to the wreckage of the Church, where it disappeared behind a half-standing wall.
Swiftly jumping behind a nearby ruin, Sky peered out, trying to catch a glimpse of the figure. Minutes passed, but she saw nothing.
Getting impatient, she snuck out of her hiding spot quietly, when something shot right past her!
She whirled around, but again, saw nothing. Continuing her tracking, she crept from one house to another, working her way up to the only known way in, and way out of her town.
She waited quietly, searching for any sign of anything.
But, as before, she came up empty. She sighed. "Well this was useless." And she slumped, beginning to head back to her house.
Then something occurred to her.
Something she really, really hoped was not the case.
Making her way over to the ruins of the church, she snuck, as stealthily as ever, to the place where the mosaic-tiled floor had once been, she rummaged through the chipped and burnt tiles were, looking for the shepherd's eye piece, her key to the underground tunnel that led to her favorite space in the whole town.
Her private underground sanctuary of books, relics, and her most prized and important possession, her father's sword which he had carried into the battle that forged this town. She avoided thinking about this, but her mind unconsciously slipped back to those moments, and a wall of memories hit her hard.
A 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘣��𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.....
𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴....
𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯...
𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘮𝘣 𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳....
𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭.....
𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦...
𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯...
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘺𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪'𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴.....
And now....
Powered by a sudden stroke of determination, Sky sprinted to her house, bursting into her room.
She flicked the dilapidated tapestry aside, searching desperately for the key, when she felt a cold glass object indent her boots. She bent down and picked up... her key! Her heart leapt, but her joy turned to confusion in an instant.
Why didn't the black shape I saw have the key? If it was trying to get into my sanctuary, it would need it to unlock the hidden box in my room that actually holds the key to the sanctuary!
She hoped it was stuck in, and she could finally figure this out. I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't know if it knows about my sanctuary at all.... but whatever is happening is endangering that sword.
Sky unlocked the door, and crept silently down the ladder and into the hall.
The torches were not lit, and there were no footprints, only..... she smelled smoke.
The torches had been put out recently.
Very recently.
It was here, and even worse, it knew she was here.
She sprinted to the sanctuary, fumbled clumsily for the hidden box, unlocked it, retrieved the key, and shoved in unceremoniously into the hole. The door swung open revealing the room...
Oh no.
The booby traps were set off, and the sword was gone.
She sprinted to the case where it had been kept and rummaged around, looking with dying hope for her father's weapon. Suddenly, a glint caught her eye. She walked swiftly over to where she had seen it, and, much to her surprise, found the blade sitting, unharmed, on the floor!
She reached out her hand to grab the sword, when a gloved hand caught her wrist and pulled her against the wall. Out of nowhere, a dozen black-cloaked figures crept out from their hiding places.
"In the name of King Malachi, surrender yourself and your town!" the figure holding her rasped.
Sky couldn't believe it. She had walked straight into a trap.
And now she and dozens of innocent others would have to pay for her mistakes.