SGE His Guarded Heart (Prequel to His Darkened Heart)

Chapter 20 Her Vengeful Heart

"Such death couldn't be undone, nor could the memories be undone either, and so thus they would always carry that weight for the rest of their lives."
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~Elaine's POV~

Chapter 20 Her Vengeful Heart

The extent of Elaine's knowledge ended long before Krushem was born.

Decades had passed since she'd lost all that she'd known, and given this, Elaine should've felt the weight of time. When she touched her face, she should've felt the wrinkles in her skin and she should've seen her black hair having turned white. Her bones should've ached and creaked when she moved. Her breathes would be raspy and wheezy.

And yet, she did not feel the weight of all the time that had passed, nor did she age. She was still the same age as she was all those decades ago, still the powerful eighteen year-old girl.

Elaine could only fault the events that had transpired after her tragic loss to explain the mystery of her still remaining so young and youthful after all this time. It was all due to sleep. Not just an ordinary sleep cycle, but a very lengthy one. Indeed, Elaine had fallen asleep all those decades ago and she remained asleep until one day, she just awoke.

She'd lost track of time whilst asleep. In fact, she'd had no thoughts or feelings at all.

It was this sort of numbness that granted Elaine a sense of uttermost peace—A peace she could've never had if she'd been awake all those decades.

When she did awake, she herself hadn't changed but everything else had; her home had forever changed, and while the field of flowers remained, the huts that her and her tribe had once resided in had collapsed and turned to dust. The place was empty and void of life aside from her and the ever resistant flowers still flourishing after all this time.
   
Elaine had stumbled out of the cave which had served as her resting place for decades. The entrance of the cave had been concealed by undergrowth. The hedges had long become overgrown and an over abundance of weeds had filled the clearing where the entirety of Elaine's tribe had been slaughtered.

Elaine had stumbled through the thick undergrowth and when she saw what greeted her outside the cave, she wished she'd never have awoken.

Everything she'd known was gone. Her family, her home.

She scrambled to the stream that once resided beyond the now-overgrown clearing infested with weeds, only to find the stream had almost dried up entirely, and the water was not as clear as she remembered it being.

She sank to her knees and dunked her hands in the water, only to then glimpse her reflection staring back at her. Her blue gaze blurred before she felt the tears rolling down her face and dripping off her chin.

Her black hair was matted and tangled with leaves and twigs. Her clothes were torn and just as dirt streaked as the rest of her was.

Her untidiness was a certain eyesore, but it wasn't as if she cared about her appearance. Not on the outside, at least.

It was what was on the inside that made her tears cease to stop. Her turmoil broke through, and she sobbed, bending her head to her knees as her body raked with her cries.

She didn't know why she'd awoken. She was sure she'd never wanted to wake up if only to keep herself from facing what she'd lost. But having looked in her reflection, she'd glimpsed the reality she'd founded herself in; Her reflection was that of a lonely girl whose pain was threatening to swallow her whole.

How had it all gone so wrong? Elaine could picture it all in her mind. She recalled her and Lilith having their final talk before the ceremony had begun. Roman and his family had all attended, taking their prospective seats and the Demonians had seated themselves too, Elaine included.