And Her Cries Were Swallowed by the Dark

Splash-splash-splash-splash. Her little bare feet made a splat each time she stepped in a puddle. The streets of the capital were ill-lit and the sharp wind cut her shriveled skin, but she kept running. She did not know where she was going, where she could even go. The nostalgic beauty of the city the girl lived in her whole life, now turning against her; its ancient arches, now looming over the sky, a giant's palm preparing to squeeze her to death... She closed her eyes and picked up the pace.

Turning left, then right, then left again; avoiding dead ends, crossing the canal that went straight through the heart of the capital; running, splashing, never stopping. The alleys, streets and roads of the city were completely devoid of activity. She had nobody to run to, to ask for help. No human, no elf, no dwarf, nothing, nothing at all. The darkness around her was thick and foggy, pierced at times by the distant light of the stars. What the Old Empire had created ages ago was but a myth for the many residents of the city. There was no protection, no illumination during the night; you either hid inside your home, or prayed you'd see the sun rise once more.

Running out of breath, the girl took a last turn and hid behind a bench. She huddled her tattered red cloak around her cold body, the only thing left from her orphanage... A few tears ran down her cheeks as she remembered the crushed entrance door, the wreckage inside... The bodies, oh Gods, the bodies... Their glassy eyes stared into an abyss, dark veins hiding underneath the paper-thin skin. Pure horror rested on their faces, as if Death itself robbed them of the very essence of life.

The girl hold her breath. An unnatural coldness crept around the corner, the monster that killed the only family she knew came after her. It found her. It was ready to finish the job. She closed her eyes and covered her mouth in a desperate attempt to be still, to make no sound at all. But her breath, her ragged breath betrayed her fear. Her willingness to live.

A moment passed... then another... then another. Her heartbeat quickened as she waited for her death. She could almost feel a hand reaching towards her. Looking for her face, for her neck, a cold presence more terrible than anything her mind could conjure up. The world stood still... And the coldness passed. Slowly, inching away from the alley. The girl opened her eyes slowly, letting her muscles relax. She sighed.

In that moment she felt her throat tighten as the monster jumped. Its foggy body, a mass of shadows and freezing vapors passed through her body. She gasped for air, terrified. She couldn't breathe. The creature was wriggling inside her body, stealing the air in her lungs, absorbing the heat of the blood. Black veins started to form as the mana reserve of her body quickly depleated. The monster was feeding of her vital forces, slowly extinguishing the spark of life from her eyes. As it finished eating, it left the dying body, forcing the joints and muscles and organs to contract and bend in the most gruesome ways possible.

When the sun rised next morning, her disheveld corpse was found by the first guard patrol. She was buried among the other victims of the night, in an unmarked large grave on the outskirts of the city. She was buried among her kin, the abandoned. The unfortunates.