Chapter Text
The little girl struggles to carry the pale of water up the hill. Careful not to spill a single drop. She makes it to the petite cottage she calls home. Soft crinkles form around her mother’s eyes as she smiles at the girl. “Thank you, darling,” Her mother says as she takes the bucket from her. The little girl beams back at her. “Why don’t you go see if Elisaveta needs any help?” Her mother suggests. The girl nods before running back outside to where her sister is sewing on the porch. Elisaveta’s red hair-like burning embers provide a stark contrast to the muted colors of the winter mountains.
“Hello darling, have you come to assist me?” Her sister asks, smiling down at the bouncing toddler. The younger sister nods in response, picking up a needle and thread. The two sit together for a while, in silence except for Elisaveta’s humming. The soft sounds relax the girl's, little heart. Quietly humming with her sister. The red-headed girl finishes the small tapestry securing the last thread before showing it to her little sister. The little girl gasps at the scene in the tapestry. The multicolored thread displays a ship caught in a storm. The violent waves crashed against the ships dragging the sailors away. Lightning cracking through the dark storm clouds, sirens sitting on the rocks waiting. The detail entrances the girl. The blue of the sea, the haunting eyes of the sirens captivating her imagination.
“It’s beautiful Lisa,” she tells her sister.
“Why thank you, darling,” the older girl tells her.
“I’ll finish Father’s trousers. You go play,” Elisaveta tells her. The elder girl gently takes the pair of pants she was working on. Darling skips away in search of someone to play with. A sharp breeze blows her hair and she turns to see the blonde-haired summoner. “I got you!” She giggles. Both girls smile at each other as their father runs past them.
“Inside girls now,” their father commands. They both comply, dashing inside after him. “What is it, Papa?” The eldest asks.
“They’re coming,” He replies, before muttering something in Ravkan.
“Whose coming,” The little girls' question; their voices blending.
“The Bad people.” The tension in the room is nearly suffocating.
They all scramble at once, grabbing food, clothes, weapons. A crash comes from the window as a rock is thrown through it. The glass shards raining down everywhere, a small shard found its way into Darling’s flesh. She cries out, her mother coming to her side. A pale face appears in the window screaming at them. Tears roll down her cheeks as she is carried out the back door.
Instantly she wishes she were back inside. Outside there are 50 rot monsters all with pale faces and hungry eyes. With Axes and spears instead of hands leering mouths open revealing rotten teeth. Their massive bodies loomering towards them, tree bark making their skin. It was as though the rot from the forest had breathed life into these hellish creatures. “We love trees!” She calls out to them, desperate for this nightmare to stop. Her mother hands her to Elisaveta. “Take your sisters and go you know where,” their mother commands, turning back to the creatures the little girl’s father had begun to fight. Now there are even more monsters, these multi-colored. Moving with the rot monsters in some sort of dance.
“No! I can't leave you, ``Lisa argues. “The best way to help is to run,” Their mother tells her. The wind howls through Darling’s hair, rain coming down in sheets. They are almost to the end of the property as one of the creatures latches onto the blonde summoner. The little girl thrust her arm out sending it flying backward. The creature's head hit a rock, dark liquid pooled out of it. The eldest sister sets her younger sister down.
“Keep going, I will meet you there,” She whispers, hugging them. Lisa turns back towards the creature’s fire blazing in her palm. The storm is only getting worse, the water and wind pounding down on them, making it hard to see.
A blaze of heat kisses the backs of the girls' necks and they turn to see Lisa calling a tornado of fire forth. The rot creatures leer and jump back. Lisa sends fire towards one of them, catching it in the stomach. Her fire spreads from the stomach to the rest of its body. The flames engulfing it. Another one of the creatures throws its ax at her. The ax lodges itself into Lisa’s stomach just below her ribs. “No!” Darling screams. She rushes towards Lisa. The screams of her other sisters were lost among the storm.
Hearing a scream both girls look at their father losing his fight with one of the other monsters. A multicolored monster lashes out with its leg catching her father in the back of the legs. Their father collapses onto his knees. The creature cries something before their father collapses dead into the snow. His dark eyes are open as the light in them drains out. Someone is screaming, the little girl not realizing it's her. She is on the ground, tears streaming down her face. “Papa!” She cries. Lightning cracks overhead. She wants to run to her Father but her body is numb. Everything seems to move in slow motion.
Hooves pound against the ground as more multicolor creatures come. The creatures come wielding fire and axes. Raindrops seem to halt their descent at the newcomer's arrival. Darkness blurs the edges of the little girl's vision. She watches the colorful creatures fight off the remaining rot creatures before they round on Lisa. Blood pours out of her sister's stomach, a soft dribble escaping the corner of her mouth. Someone is calling the little girl's name but she can’t hear drowned out by the pounding of her blood. Lise ignites her fire again, this time against the colorful monsters. A red monster twists its claws and Lisa falls to the ground dead.
Tears mix with the rainwater as the little girl is picked up and is carried away from her family’s bodies. She looks up to find it's her mother carrying her. Her lip is split and the side of her head is bleeding. The Mother meets her daughter's eyes. She sees her mother’s mouth moving but no sound comes out. The little girl’s vision gets darker and she is on the ground. The stars from the night sky have fallen upon her. Dancing amongst the red of her mother’s blood. “Mama,” the girl whispers, her vision flooding with empty eyes. Eyes so unlike her mother’s and father’s kind eyes. The cold eyes of death and then her world turns to white.