The Silent Heir

Chapter 11

Lucy ran as if her life depended on it. She ran and ran, abusing the full might of the power as much as she possibly can. Her legs ached, her lungs screamed for release, but she did not allow either as she weaved past several more trees before her.

Her heart beats with the rhythm of fear as her mind trashes around chaotically inside of her head. Myriads of possibility wrapped around her mind as each one was beginning to get worse and worse with each passing second.

Please let me be there! Please! Lucy screamed desperately inside her head as she moved past through another clearing. Each step she had taken was another step closer to confirming her useless worry or her worst nightmare.

Fragments of her memory begin to emerge one after another as it recalled those days. Days fighting so desperately without rest, without respite, running towards villages with all haste, only to find the ruin and rubble of a long-raided village.

Streets filled with the grotesque and mangled bodies of men, women, and children alike. Regrets and sorrow filled each and every single one of them to the brim as they could do nothing but bury the dead body of the deceased as they failed to save them.

Each time it happened, they swore to never be late again and each time they did was just another broken promise as they arrived at the ruined villages they had sworn to protect. All because of monsters.

There really was no other way to describe them as they were simply that, monsters who know nothing and will know nothing but only to kill and butcher the weak and the powerless. And now it was happening again.

The clear sign of a soon-to-be monster tide was beginning to take form just behind Lucy's newly called home. She could not allow it. Lucy refuses to let it happen again and so she runs as if her entire life depends on it.

"Ha... ha... ha..." Lucy finally paused to take a breather when she passed through the last clearing and saw the orphanage. The children were busy playing across the field as the sisters were preparing for luncheon.

Lucy sighed the biggest sigh of relief she had in this life as she slowly walked towards the hill. "Sister Lucy? Are you all right?" Emma said as she noticed Lucy's pale and exhausted expression.

"No... no everything is alright sister Emma... just... relieved..." Lucy replied.

Emma had a skeptical look on her face, but Lucy did not notice a thing as she immediately went towards the forest at the back of the orphanage. There, Lucy scoured the entire land, searching in anticipation for the signs she dreaded seeing once more.

She searched every patch of grass in her sight, every tree that stood firm, none managed to escape her watchful eye. Yet despite all this, Lucy found nothing that might have confirmed her worst nightmare. There were no traces in the grass, no scratches on the trees.

Nothing. There was nothing at all that would prove her otherwise. She should be calm, relieved even, yet it did the complete opposite. Where is it? Where are those wretches at? Lucy thought in frustration and paranoia.

Every fiber of her being alerted her to an impending doom that remained unseen. Her mind shouts at the dangers she could not see. "What are you doing?" Lucy blinked as she turned to see Iva standing behind a tree.

"Oh... it's just you..." Lucy mumbled in relief as Iva's face contorted into annoyance. The little girl slowly made her way towards Lucy as she continued to search for clues.

"...Just what are you looking for?" Iva asked again. Lucy replied in surprise.

"You're still here?" Lucy asked.

"Am I not allowed to be here?" Iva replied, getting more annoyed by the minute as Lucy continued to dodge her questions.

"...You should go back, it's almost time for supper." Lucy mumbled as Iva snorted back in reply.