Death and Revival

Faded green eyes focused on a tarnished sunset.

No, they weren’t focusing on the sky. They were blankly looking past a person’s silhouette and staring up at the dreary mismatched colors of a ghastly dusk.

There was no more pain to be felt. It had all been anesthetized with the last of Aurae’s own power. But that meant she couldn’t feel Germaine’s tight embrace or the tears dripping onto her face. She lay in her sister’s arms like a rag doll. A torn, bleeding doll that could not be fixed with any amount of effort. Unless a miracle happened. And Aurae knew better than to believe in miracles. Maybe if someone had arrived earlier, there would have been a chance, but the past was past. After hours of lying on the ground without moving, the only person to find her had been her sister. And by then too much time had gone by.

She couldn’t blame her. Aurae was but one more casualty among the loads of dead and dying people strewn all around.

It was early for such a fate. Part of her will to live had disappeared months ago, but the thought of those she so loved almost inspired her to continue futilely clinging to life. Life… life she should be saddened to leave… and yet no tears fell from her watery eyes.

Her children… their faces slipped from her mind…

She’d become a flowerbed after death, right? That was what happened to all Forest Spirits…except that she would be freed of her duties and come to a final rest.

Yes, yes, she should view it that way. Freedom. Freedom from everything that connected her to life. A single snap of her will would be enough to sever her ties to the world, and she would feel no more.

Her lips wouldn’t move to say comforting words. Aurae was powerless to console her sister over her own imminent death. All she could do was form the faintest of smiles and hope it conveyed the last of her vanishing feelings.

She tried to say a simple “goodbye”, or maybe “don’t cry”, but the effort was too much, and she laid there in silence for what seemed like an eternity.

The silence spread to her ears. Germaine’s sobbing faded away.

At last, when the sun was almost gone, Aurae numbed her mind and closed her eyes. Darkness followed.

…

…

“…”

“…?”

“…”

“………….”

Something pierced into her “heart”.

If not for the depths of near-unconsciousness in which she was confined, Aurae would have screamed. She had no body to move, no voice to use, and no eyes to see with. And still, the pain flowing through her being was as real as from her time alive.

It didn’t fade.

Endless time passed by in an eternal place.

She bore her agony in forced silence.

The experience was far from the eternal rest the dead were supposed to have.

“. . .”

~|+|~

The bleak sky above looked different from the one Aurae had last seen. It truly didn’t seem any more welcoming than the image of reddened clouds lingering in her memory. The difference was that this time, the view she saw through dulled eyes was not familiar. The location, unknown.

Cold air rushed around. She could feel it. And then a snowflake fell into her eye.

It was only then that Aurae came to her senses. A hand with freezing fingers went to brush her eye and another settled on her chest. Since when had her heart burned so much? The warmth startled her, but it didn’t hurt. It felt…comforting, like a winter fireplace in a friendly home.

If only it hadn’t been limited to her heart. The rest of her was nearly numb with cold, and as she sat up, Aurae found herself surrounded by pure snow that contrasted against her dark skin. Her body looked almost like she felt it should be.

Aurae had the need to do a quick check. First off, she noticed her skin was unmarred to perfection. Then the rest of herself was just as she remembered. Even the spirit mark that had always spiraled up her leg was there (albeit darkened). Hands brushing through damp hair, she confirmed her antlers were also in place. Everything was flawless.

If there was one thing wrong and unsettling, it was that she couldn’t sense her existence connected to her forest. The sensation of protection that she’d had throughout her life was completely absent.

Now…what should she do? With a clearer mind, Aurae could think a bit more. She knew her situation was completely anomalous, and she knew her mind’s calmness was unnatural as well. Not to mention that, for some reason, she was unable to question the details of what she was experiencing.

She’d died and she was sure of that. She was… sure…

The memory of her death was blurry. How much time had passed? There had to an explanation for why it felt like a distant dream and not a real event. What was worse, her body showed none of the marks that should have been there as an indicator of her demise.

Standing up was an easy task for Aurae despite the stiffness of her limbs. Something about breathing crisp air felt foreign. That… that really was her body, was it not? She was conscious of her own will, right?

A sudden burst of cold told Aurae that, whatever the situation was, she needed to seek help. A warm place, clothing, and maybe food. And a way to find out her whereabouts. Arms hugged against her chest only offered so much cover and warmth. Not enough.

Better to not think of what dangerous thing she could find (or what could find her) in an unknown place.

Aurae walked away and left a faint trail of footprints behind her.

The snow continued falling with increasing strength, covering the tracks of a lady who was never meant to return to the world of the living.