Chapter 14: awakened flames

Thick and stifling, the darkness enveloped me like a chilly, heavy blanket. I drifted in it, somewhere between consciousness and forgetfulness. There was no time, no sound, no feeling in this void—just an unbounded, terrible quiet.

But suddenly something moved deep within me, a flutter of warmth. It at initially barely perceptible, then gradually became hotter and stronger until it resembled a searing flame cutting across the darkness like a lighthouse. The fire was guiding me back from the brink. It was beckoning.

I awakened with a rapid inhale.

My eyes opened and I felt momentarily confused. My body hurt, I was resting on the ground, my head fuzzy. The smell of burning and blood permeated the air around me, and I could just faintly hear battling.

Where do I live?

The memories flooded back, the fight, Darius's army swarming the camp, the anarchy, and finally Darius. It took time for this. He had been staring at me, grinning col