The last moments of my life were a blur. The car had come out of nowhere and I didn't even think. I shoved my body into that of my little daughter just as the car hit me. I was airborne momentarily and I remember thinking, "This is what being a bird must be like."
Then I fell into nothing.
So this was death I supposed.
I felt the currents pulling me away, away, away. I wanted to reach out to someone, and say something, but I was too tired. Before my eyes could fully close I heard someone say, "That's the one I need."
When I next opened my eyes I was looking down into a white void. A loud groan escaped my raw throat. I reached my hands out to feel my surroundings. That's when I discovered I was actually on a platform over the void.
"Are you awake Little One?"
The voice was soft, melodious, and void of any real warmth.
I turned slowly and found what looked like a young girl sitting on an invisible ledge. Her skin and hair were pale like a ghost. The only living thing about her were her eyes. They flashed a rainbow of colours in slow sequence.
"Where am I? Am I dead?" I asked quietly.
"You are not exactly dead and we are nowhere specifically," She answered.
"Not exactly dead?" I asked, "I'm in a coma then, and you're just in my mind."
I felt some of the tension leaving my body. I wasn't dead. When I looked back up at her something in her gaze drew me short.
"They were carrying you to wherever your people go," She said in the same monotone.
"So I am dead?" I sank to the floor feeling the tears on my face.
"You died today, but you are not dead," She stood up and put her hands on my shoulders pressing lightly, "I stopped them because you're the one I need now."
"Need me for what?" I narrowed my eyes.
"I need you to save my people," She said quietly, she let go of my shoulders and I watched the first bit of emotion flood her face. "I am the guardian, the watcher for this world. The people I care for are in terrible danger."
"Why do you need me?" I asked, I swiped the tears from my cheeks.
"I can't directly interfere, it's not my purpose," She looked at the ceiling, and I noticed it wasn't like the rest of this place, on it were images.
People fighting, fires, children fleeing.
They were strange though. The children had green legs and dragonfly wings. The fires burnt bright blue around little structures. The woman had long blond messy hair and stripes on their arms.
"Who are you?" I asked slowly as I panned the images.
"We are Licnine," She said quietly, "And now you will be Licnine too."
I backed up, "I want to go back to my world."
She closed her eyes slowly and shook her head, "We are dying, we need your help."
I watched on the ceiling as a Licnine woman ran toward the fires yelling what I had to assume were names.
I clenched my fists, "What is hurting your people."
She pointed at the ceiling and I saw them, they were battle-clad with sharpened nails and red clothes. They set the fires one after another. I watched the young woman clutch her children with her hands raised to the invaders.
"She didn't do another, what will happen to her?" I found myself asking.
The girl shook her head and closed her eyes, "She'll live, maybe a servant, but others weren't as lucky. These creatures call themselves Licnine but they are not."
"You want me to fight them?" I asked.
"It's not that simple," She sighed, "I cannot directly interfere."
"But I can?" I asked. My eyes went back to the ceiling where I watched them take the woman and children separately.
I looked back at her to see the smallest of nods.
I sucked in a breath.
"In your life, you died to protect life, I need you to help me." The girl now sounded distressed.
"I will help you," I said finally.
The girl nodded to herself, "You will be born into the world below, I can't help you after that beyond what I do for my people. You will only have your brave heart. I can impart you with two gifts."
Her hand was surprising warmish. She pressed down hard into my flesh until I was crying out in pain.
"I apologize for your pain," She said softly, "Implanting this device is never been easy." She gestured to my palm.
I stared in amazement.
"You will not see it like this again but it will be there to help you," She said.
The device glowed with all different colors, and little buttons with strange looping symbols dotted my palm. Before I could start tapping them she stopped me.
"This is only for extreme emergencies, these buttons will transform you, they are not to be played with," She held my wrist tight, "Use it well."
I nodded.
"The second gift is the gift I give all my children, each year on their birthdays you shall receive something you need," She turned her back on me and gestured at the ceiling.
It suddenly zoomed in on a young woman, unlike the others she had a peaceful expression. She sat cross-legged by a small stream of water. She had long blonde hair and stripes on her arms and face. She leant forward swiping at a leaf in the wind.
"She prays to me each night that I should send her a girl-child. Tonight I grant her wish," The girl said.
She waved a hand at me and I was falling again, and the world went dark.