𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫 || 𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐂 ||

8. Nightmares

Meira
There was someone in my mind.

And I couldn't get them out-

"Sirius RUN!!!"

I scream it at the top of my lungs, tearing a fallen blade from a fallen soldier as I run, I don't, can't look back to see if he followed-

Not towards the conflict.

Away.

But I'm no coward.

But I whistle.

Almost as loud as my screams, I whistle, still running in the bog, in the middle made of mud and shadows, the blade now jumping against my back as I run.

"HELIX!"

A flap of beaten black wings and he's there, flying low beside me as I run, green eyes full of adrenaline and malice. His starless back reflecting the sky as I continue to jump and weave my way out of the bog, my boots not filled with water as yet, but I can feel the surface change from mud to bog to grass-

"NOW!"

A overcropping cliff gives way to a ravine, and I do the most craziest thing ever.

I jump.

And as my feet touch slick scales, I sigh in relief. But the battle isn't over yet. Far from it.

We aim for the sky, my battalion- if you could call 10 of us that - weapons in hand, crouching low as our dragons, the massive beasts almost 3x bigger than us, swoop down, and launch back to the battle laid out in front of us.

"Iris, Wyn, Helena, you take the left flank. Teresa, Ryu, Fenela and Ylen, take the right. Rest of you, follow me," I yell over the wind, and they nod, following the formation we'd practiced so many times over.

They obeyed, and I dive, followed by the rest of my battalion.

I watch as the armies collide, watch as swords are swung and heads are chopped off-

This is Hybern. They are Ruthless.

I watch as a group of Illyrians are lead into the fray, their black, bat-like wings fading into shadow. I've seen their lifeless bodies strewn about the empty battlefields, the ones where only poppies grow in their place.

"Attack!" I scream,and I raise my sword in a battle cry as Helix incinerates Hybern into little more than ash.

——-

"Who. Are. You." Demanding words from a demanding High Lord.

"Meira. My name is Meira, I'm a healer." I whisper into the darkness.

"Oh? Is. That. So." Someone drags a knife across my throat, but it doesn't have the desired effect on me.

Maybe I'll finally be able to die in peace.

"Yes. I'm just a healer! Nothing more." Those words feel like a script, something I play and not my own.

They've tied me to a metal chair, my hands and ankles bolted to the arms and legs which are then bolted to the floor.

"You're lying." This is Shadowsinger now, his voice no longer soft, but full of deadly malice.

"I'm not." I whisper into the silence, my soul, my mind feels like it's breaking.

"What are your true intentions."

"My intentions? To maybe finally die in peace. And to be left alone."

It aches, it hurts and suddenly I'm pulled back-
—-

"Hello, little girl."

A man cloaked in malign shadows steps forward, sharp jaw, nose and an angular face, with bottomless ink black eyes that look like a starless night.

Back in a corner, I can feel myself glaring at him, the manacles on my wrists and ankles too tight. I'm still in my leathers, however I don't think that will last for long.

"Enjoying your room?" He enquires with a sarcastic air to his voice in the dark room. There's a pile of hay in the cramped cell, along with a bucket filled with gods know what.

"It's certainly a deluxe one, I'll give you that. Be grateful you don't have a cell mate." He chuckles, but I just spit at his feet.

"Tut tut tut. Forget your manners? What a savage your mother must have raised you to be. Oh, that's right - she didn't raise you, did she? The scum was too busy on the battlefield to even spare you a glance. And what about you? Adamant you wanted to become a healer, and now? Shoved on the back of dragon, would you believe."

I lunge at him, clawing and kicking and screaming at him. He's got it all fucking-

"Right? Well, most of it, anyway." He smirks. "Bring her in." He says emotionless to the guard at my door.

A few moment pass before I hear the rattle of chains, and they drag and dump an old fae-

No, not old. As I observe her, her lined and wrinkled face, empty eyes with dark purple circles underneath, she's not old - just given up. I wonder how long Koschei has had her.

"Say hello to Idina. She's daemati. So, you're in for a real treat."

He turns to her. "Break her."

And then he leaves.

I meet her gaze. "Are you-"

But before I can do anything else, I scream.

I scream so much, so much pain and she twists and breaks my mind, and I can't force her out. I cluch my head, my screams become a symphony and a warning to the others.

I watch as they die, again and again and again. I can feel it as they roast me alive, heal me freeze me burn me whip me break me-

————-

I hear someone's soft heaving. As if they'd been screaming, too. Feel someone shudder.

I shake and tremble, tears dripping down my cheeks as I was forced to relive a memory - no, nightmare I didn't even know I had.

"That's...that's...untie her Cassian. I'll go find Amren."

But before he can step forward, something makes him pause.

"You. Bastard." I hiss, a voice that is mine and isn't mine and I feel something break.

I feel a wall start to crack, to splinter. Something inside of me awakens, something that wants to come out and play-

Shadows. They rush out of me, twirling and hissing and dancing and forming shapes of weapons and fae and winged figures and beasts and-

The voices. 'Hello our little healer'

'Oh Meira how we've missed you!'

'let's get our revenge'

'Let's kill them'

"Run." Is all I can get out before everything come stumbling down.

————-

Heyyyyy

So don't hate me too much, it gets better, I promise!! This is just the beginning of the story 😉😏 a lot will be revealed ❤️