BLAZE

AWAKE

Abria

The air seemed to be vacuumed from my lungs as they started to burn under six feet of freezing water. My bones could feel those freezing temptations passing through it, and it wasn't a wonder that I survived the inevitable, something that can break a world into pieces. Though my whole body was numb and there was nothing I could feel, however, my mind was conscious and alert of his surroundings.

The thoughts of the dreadful things I have done recently, those harsh memories made me awake. I cannot comprehend how resentful I was that I was the one who killed my father because he didn't reveal a single truth to me. There might be reasons and agreements. We might argue on those reasons but it was a lie to say there was no option or the right time.

The right time won't come, you have to take time and make it right, no matter what the consequences will be. At least, they should have released me from this burden I carried so far. My wounds might have healed but the scar will remain to tell the stories of my destruction.

The ripples around my floating body, and the little anxious me, soon calmed down as my eyelids turned heavy and I went into a deep sleep. I couldn't remember how long I had been sleeping under the water but the memories of my own wrath haunted me every single second. The pain and agony I carried will never let me die in peace.

Even though I knew it was all just in my mind, I could spot a lot of things in my memories that I have never seen in reality. The images were blurred but enough to spot a few things. A huge hall, a palace covered in snow. A huge island that was floating proudly on the water. Everything appeared so unrealistic but real at the same time. Perhaps, it was just an imagination of my mind, though I could feel that this is the place where I belong.

The tiles and walls of the snow castle were made of actual snow, and I could even see my own reflection through it. So fragile to hold but magnificent to hold the urge to touch it. It would be a lie if i say I wasn’t fascinated but the blurred lines signified that the reality is far more worse than what I am imagining.

The clutters around me made me twitch but the dark was my obstacle. I could hear constant noises around me and I was wondering where are these noises coming from? From the back of my mind, I was careless to be in a position I don’t want to be but the curiosity inside me was dying to find out more. The cold made my skin numb but I could feel a touch on my body, that touch sent a shiver down my spine. I could not imagine what was happening around me. The ferocity and ugly feeling of getting touched have imprinted a haunting memory inside my brain. I cannot let anyone touch me. Suddenly, I felt the rush of the blood in my veins and the hotness made me jump on my nerves. As soon as I forcefully opened my eyes, the light hit me and made me blind for a while.

It took a while for my sight to adjust accordingly, but I was overwhelmed to the point that I was lying on a bed in a foreign place. For a moment, I thought I was in the place I imagined in my dreams.

Moreover, the weird looking people around me made me gasp. They looked like humans but their aura was screaming that they weren't ordinary creatures. This whole place was screaming some foreign sense but I wondered why I wasn't feeling endangered. These people might look like humans but they appeared harmless. Well, that's what I thought.

"She is awake… should we call the chief?" One of them uttered in a low voice but I could hear it sharply with my enhanced sense.

Chief? What chief? What are they up to? I cannot let my thoughts deceive me, not for this time.

I got up straight from the bed and rushed to the door, soi could escape. However, my legs froze and I fell on the cold hard floor. The thud was loud enough to gather attention from these creatures and they approached me. 

"Don't touch me!" I roared at them and for a while, they flinched but then they held me and dragged me back to the bed.

"I said don't touch me… don't you ever do it? What do you want? I swear I will turn this place into ashes…" I was screaming as my body did not follow my order.

Somehow, I felt so weak, I was dizzy and nauseous.

"Princess.. please don't force yourself… you need rest as your body has weakened due to abnormal stresses." A nurse said to me but I was persistent.

"Shut up!! Leave me alone… where the hell am I? Let me go…" I wanted to cry but I couldn't. I cannot let them feel that I am vulnerable.

"Please!! Understand us, Princess!! If you try to get up now, your bones might fracture due to stress." The nurse informed me and I gasped.

I don't get it. How did I become like this? How did I reach her? What place is this? Oh!! My head was throbbing and I wanted to die for sure. This is too much to handle.

Suddenly, the huge door at the end of the hall opened and my eyes were fixed on the two people who were getting inside.

One of them was the same as these creatures but the woman next to him, she was… extremely beautiful. I could not move my eyes from her. Her silver hairs were down to her knees, falling like a frozen waterfall. Her big grey eyes were so enchanting that they could trap a soul inside them. Her skin was as bright as the shining sun… I can't stare for long but can't resist to glance. She was different. I could sense her aura which screamed power. 

Her eyes were locked with mine and I had this urge to look down but the crazy woman inside my head was daring enough to challenge her.

Her eyes hold empathy and love but why? She is not someone I know? Who is she?

"Who are you?" I glared at her while having goosebumps all over my body.

My breath was hitched when she threw a sharp gaze at me but then she concealed it and smiled slightly.

"How are you? My dear!" She asked politely.

I frowned but deep down, I was scared to question her identity. She appeared superior to everyone around her.

"I don't know… where am I?" I asked in a low voice.

"You are home…" she smirked lightly.

The frown on my face deepened. I was confused by the way she is answering me. 

“I don’t get it… what exactly are you trying to say? This is not my hone… i came from a far away land… and you don’t know how many obstacles I have faced along the way…” i shouted and tried to get up again.

“I know what you have been through, and that’s why you will stay in this bed for a while. Until you recover, i insist you to rest as much as it is required.” the woman ordered me like she is a sort of queen of this place.

“And why should i listen to you? Who are you? In the first, I am not supposed to be here and second, let me go…” I gritted my teeth.

She smiled and looked at me gently, “you can leave when you recover, in the meantime, you are my guest. And… I am Eira, Queen Eira of the holy Kingdom…” 

My jaw drop to the floor when she revealed her identity to me and i was flabbergasted to see a real queen.

“A queen? I don’t believe it…” i thought to myself.

If she is a queen the this must be a castle… am i really in a kingdom? What place is this? What is happening to me?