Chaos surrounds me. It infiltrates the crevices of my thoughts like water to ice in the winter… As if in slow motion, things begin tapering down around me. Though the frost and the snow cover the world in white, I know that it should be painted in red. Something sinister still lingers heavily within the sheer veil of the mists and they no longer appear to comfort me as I gaze around at their pallid faces. Quietly, I take a moment to attempt to collect myself, though I do not find solace in the action. Instead I only notice my racing heart and the way that my legs seem to tremble slightly beneath me; I am unsure if they are even capable of keeping me afloat anymore. However, when another painted mare floats across the tree line with curious eyes that remind me of pale green jewels, I snap into action and look around to Evangeline. The other mare is oblivious to our panic in spite of the way she carries her sloped shoulders… after all, it is hard to miss the palpable feeling of fear that drifts across the meadow like a ghostly apparition. I can nearly watch it, swinging its massive tail like a sword until finally dispersing into the wall of fog.
I feel foggy… like I am distant or lost, standing outside of a glass wall between reality and the surreal events that had taken my breath away only moments ago. As the dirt-painted mare speaks lightly to us, I cannot help but smile manically. She really does not know and though I don’t want to be the one to break her starry little world of bliss, something deep inside fights to free itself- the truth. However, just when I find the words and they dance happily along my tongue, seeking release, they are stopped quite violently.
The soft jostling of wagon wheels upon the frozen ground catch my attention and I look away from Evangeline and the other, hoping that whatever is coming might be able to answer to the strange circumstances. But of course it is just our Queen and she, like the earthy painted mare, appears ignorantly unaware of everything that has just transpired. In fact, she avoids the carnage and the fright clearly written on our faces as she exclaims about the fire that Tallis started out of fear for our lives. I chuckled quietly to myself, feeling all the more insane for having the knowledge it would take to instill fear in the innocent hearts of my family. However, I can no longer force the words from my chest for they are just as awestruck as I am. Evangeline and I were the only ones to witness the strange occurrence and perhaps we would have to deal with the consequences alone as well.
Kahlua gestures toward the wagon she brought, possibly in hopes that I will come to collect it from her but I am frozen in place. I cannot force my legs to cross the distance between us to gather the handles, let alone pull it back into the wood in order to assemble the tinder it would take to start another fire. In a moment of clarity, I glance into the trees wondering if more terror lurked in the midday shadows…
As an afterthought, I turn to look at Eva and Tallis with a little more sympathy than I could actually muster. Her expression tells a story of horror and though I had been absent when she needed me most, I could now think clearly long enough to notice that she had moved away from me in a manic attempt to free herself of the shock that came with the serpents. Her muscles are strung tight and she appears to flinch at any and every small movement, but in some vain attempt to comfort her, I step forward to stand at her side as a fortress of false strength. I am unsure of what has happened and even unsure of what it means, but the least I could so was offer solace to the haptic mare that had been there to endure it all with me… even if I had no real idea how to comfort her. Tallis had taken his spot upon her back once more and I glanced at the reptile hoping he would witness my uncertainty and calm Eva through their bond. She was a friend to me, but that didn’t mean that we were close enough to understand the inner workings of the other’s grief.
Leeka, as Kahlua had called her had mentioned something about the fires and though I knew that I was not ready to start working, I was hopeful that it would provide a helpful distraction from the mystery that was the “serpents”. When I was about to step forward toward the wagon though, Eva stopped me with her words. I froze, rigid and uncertain. I knew that it had happened and I knew that I was scared to death to face the truth of it, but I couldn’t deny her my support. “I’m not sure what just happened but there is something sinister in these woods. I can’t explain it though; I can’t even try to name the things we’ve just witnessed. My Queen, do you not see the disaster that has just taken place?” I motion to the burning corpses of the serpents beneath the branch, though they were blackened and shriveled now. I couldn’t imagine that I was that crazy to imagine the whole incident because Evangeline had seen it too… |
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