The ride back to the royal grounds is not nearly as majestic as it was on the way to the city. I feel despair, rather than excitement, and I would rather turn my back on this place and run far away than be here for another moment.
I force myself to be calm, rest my eyes and enjoy the warmth. My eyes flit shut.
One moment I am in the carriage, and I can feel the velvet seat beneath me as I slowly drift asleep.
The next, I am standing in an overgrown, grassy field next to train tracks, the forest flanking the field. I do not feel the usual daze of a dream, but rather feel complete clarity. My surroundings feel so... familiar.
I hear her voice for the first time in ten years.
"Acilya, you've grown so much,"
Her almost musical voice sounds from behind me. I turn around, and see her, but not completely. She's here, then gone, forged by my memory. I see her, a blurry outline, what I think she looked like, what I know her face looked like... but her voice is unique. Nothing I could imagine in my head, it feels... real.
"Why are you here?"
"I'm waiting for him."
She continues.
"I am so proud of you; you've been so brave, Acilya. But I want you to know that I understand why you're here, and I don't need you to kill someone to avenge me."
She gives me a sad smile that makes me feel like a child. A wave of sudden anger fills me, and I say the words that I know are true, that I have never acknowledged or accepted.
"Well maybe killing them isn't about you both. It's about me."
She nods, but she still seems forlorn. I deserve to be a little selfish after everything that has happened in my life, right? Because it is true. I know killing someone wouldn't actually do anything for them, but it would help me move on, not feel so guilty each time I start to feel happiness.
"I know you won't listen to me—you always were stubborn. But please, don't lose your life over this. It's not what I would want, and I'm sure your father agrees."
She's right, but I need to do this one thing so I can finally live my life.
"Why did you do it?"
If she is really here, then I need answers to the questions I have asked my entire life, shouted at the sky, screamed into the night.
"It wasn't safe, we had to—"
It sounds like she is trying to apologize. She begins to cry.
"Where is he?"
She looks up at me, the picture of vulnerability and weakness.
"He's in a dark place, Acilya..."
She puts her head in her hands.
"What do you mean, a dark place?"
I came here for answers, not more questions. If my father is dead, how is he in a dark place? Is he in hell? I never believed any of that.
"He's in danger, Acilya, you have to—"
Her voice fades away like seeds on the wind. The ghost of her, the memory of her, disappears, blending into nothing. I stand in shock at what she told me, then a deafening horn blares in my ears. A train approaches, faster and faster, and something deep within me tells me that I need to board this train. It does not slow as it comes closer, and I begin running as fast as I can until I leap, grabbing a bar on the back of the train. As my fingers close around the cool metal, I am shuddered awake by a sudden stop.
YOU ARE READING
A Shattered Dawn
Fantasy"Who would you like to die for tonight?" Acilya Niehdre did everything to survive after she was left on a moving train in the middle of the Celestial realm, Genia. As a half Night Angel, this is not where she belongs, but she forges a life of her ow...
