Dust flew out from the ground, and rocks shattered under the hurried footsteps of the young woman sprinting through the dirt paved road.
Inara was running, running with all her might, exhausting what little energy she had left. Her breaths became sharp and frantic, panting like the injured streetdogs that would often roam the neighborhood. She could feel her lungs burning, her sides pinching, and her vision blurring. She tasted blood coming up from her throat. Tears welled up in her eyes, constructing her view further, yet she continued to push through.
What would have been a 20 minute walk had turned into a 5 minute sprint. And after what seemed like an eternity of running, the house was finally in view.
Reaching her destination, she failed to stop herself fully and slammed her frail body on the ground with enough force to knock the air out of her. She let out a hoarse gasp and gripped the side of her body that she had fell on.
She turned her body and started to crawl towards the door of the house which seemed to be creaked open. Her right hand was bloody, likely from a wound that had formed on her body from the fall earlier, but that was of no importance to her at the moment. All she cared about was getting into that house and seeing her stupid little brother gleaming in excitement to see her once again.
Thinking of her brother gave her another surge of energy and she forced her body to stand. She limped towards the door as she gripped her necklace charm with enough force to leave imprints on her palm.
As she reached the doorway of her house, her thoughts became frenzied and she could feel her heart beating through every inch of her body.
'Please, please, please, please. Please be okay. Please be okay. Please… He's all I have left. My only family. My baby boy. My sweet baby…'
Her hand met the door and pushed it further open with all the force she could muster, slamming and leaving a hole on the interior wall.
She weakly dragged one foot in front of the other as she limped past the entrance. She looked down and saw a missing pair of shoes from the makeshift shoe rack.
'His favorite pair. It's not here.'
She looked back up and saw the plate on the dining table emptied and she screamed out, blood and saliva gurgling in her throat.
"MALAK!! I'm back home! Aren't you going to greet me?!"
There was no response.
"Malak! I'm not angry that you went out. Just please come out and see me!"
There was no response again.
"Malak, please… We can get sweets on the corner by Mrs. Fatima's house. Please…"
The house remained silent.
Truthfully, she could tell he wasn't home from the moment she had laid her eyes in its interior.
Their house was a small one bedroom residence. The bedroom was directly connected to the kitchen, which was directly connected to the dining room. There was no closet one could hide in. And the bathroom door was swung wide open. It only took one short glance to see that the house was empty.
Upon this realization, Inara's legs became weak. She fell onto her knees, feeling the cold wooden floorboard leave bruises on her legs. Her eyes became dazed and glossy. Time seemed to stop as her thoughts turned dreary.
By then, the sun had fallen past the horizon and the skies were dark.
'If.. if Malak hasn't come home by now, th-that means…'
She couldn't bear to finish her thought. Instead, she picked herself back up and aimlessly walked towards the dining table.
She stared at the picture frame standing on the corner of the table and tried to compose her mind.
'No.. no. He must be safe. That boy knows how to weasel himself out of any situation. He.. he must be in Varamuj, hiding out at a friend's house.'
A hoarse chuckle escaped her lips.
'Heh, Malak. That boy always knew how to push my buttons in just the wrong ways. Silly boy, worrying me for no reason. What a hassle…
I'll head over to Varamuj and give him a stern talking to. Maybe even a light beating. He deserves it after all this.'
She picked up the picture frame and shoved it in a small handbag that she picked up from the bedroom floor.
She resolved herself and made her way out of the house. As she walked past the door, she did not look back, leaving the door open as is and headed to the road towards Varamuj.
***
It took Inara 3 hours to arrive at Varamuj. It would have normally taken her less than half the time, but her injured body and tired state extended the trip exponentially.
She had planned to show the picture of her brother to townspeople at Varamuj and ask for any clues in finding him, but upon her arrival, she soon realized it would not be a trivial task.
The streets were surprisingly empty and quiet. The town seemed desolate with not a single resident in sight.
'That's strange…'
She walked further towards the town center, and saw guards patrolling the empty streets in the far distance but no townsfolk present. She looked around and saw that the lights of some houses were turned on but dimmed. And curtains were drawn to cover the windows of the housing complexes around her.
She wanted to approach the residents in their homes to ask questions regarding the incident that occurred and for any clues that would help find her brother. She decided against it, however, knowing that no resident would open their doors with the staggering number of guards lurking around.
She understood the fear of Sion guards breaking into Fajri homes and assaulting the residents. She also understood that Sionan guards were quick to punish Fajris for anything, even something as little as opening a door at the wrong time for the wrong person.
So instead, she made her way to one of the guard posts on the northern edge of the town center, hoping that they would provide some answers. One of the guards noticed her petite figure dragging her feet along the dirt and promptly raised a staff into the air.
The staff had a peculiar build. It was too long to be an effective walking stick and too short to be considered a pole. The staff was made of wood and had a complex pattern of swirls and lines etched into its body leading to the top. The top of the staff held a wooden carving of a hand holding onto a skull from its cranium. The jaw of the wooden skull was agape with a crystal-like gem stone inside.
To a clueless child, the staff might have seemed like a magnificent toy to play pretend with their friends. But Inara, of course, knew exactly what the staff was. Anybody that was old enough to understand the state of the world would have known as well.
Inara took a frantic step backwards and raised her hands above her head.
"O-officer, there's no need to hold your instrument against me. I'm just an unarmed girl searching for her brother."
The guard scoffed and pointed the staff towards her. Holding the staff with his right hand and picking his teeth with his left, he addressed her with a disdainful voice.
"Listen little girl. I don't have time for any games today. You should know no Fajris are allowed out right now. If you truly mean no harm, then you will leave. Now."
Inara responded with a shaky voice.
"Officer, I'm not from Varamuj. I was not aware that there was a curfew in place today I swear! My brother and I are from Qasha. My br—"
"Tsk. Shut your dirty mouth."
Shutting down her failed attempt at a conversation, the guard glared at her with a cold resolve to kill. He tipped the staff and aimed the head of it towards her neck.
"It doesn't matter if you're from Qasha or Abutara or wherever. You should know by now that there was an incident earlier today. Everybody was instructed to go inside their homes. Now, I don't know if all Fajris are stupid or if it's just you, but I've already instructed you to leave. Since I'm nice, I'll give you 10 seconds to turn around and walk away."
Inara's hands trembled with the urge to grip onto her necklace charm but she resisted, keeping her hands up and in view. Her mind raced to find a solution.
'Damn Sionans! I just want to find my little brother. It's not like I can ask any of the townsfolk here! I need my questions answered even if it means risking my life..
Urgh, whatever!'
Throwing caution to the wind, Inara cried out to the guard.
"Please show some mercy! My brother, his name is Malak. He was last seen heading to Varamuj. He's been missing all day. I just need your help. I can show you a photo here!"
Inara lowered her right hand hurriedly and reached into her bag for the picture. As she pulled it out, a loud shrill filled the air, and a flash of light blinded Inara as her legs gave out from underneath her.
She fell face-first onto the dirt and the picture of her brother and her flew and landed under the guard's feet. She could feel a sharp pain forming on the side of her stomach. She looked down and saw a puddle of blood forming from where the pain was coming from. She looked back up with a dazed expression and saw the disgruntled guard hissing in annoyance.
"How the hell did I miss so badly? Nothing's going my way today. Sigh"
He looked down to aim his staff at her once more and noticed the picture under his right foot. A wide smile creeped up on the man's face as he quickly snatched the picture off of the ground.
"Oh, so this is your brother huh?"
He took a few steps closer to Inara and kneeled down. He brought his face close to hers and breathed heavily and ecstaticly into her ears.
"Your brother. He was a wild one. I remember his face quite well."
He interrupted himself with his own laughter, nearly choking on his own saliva.
"BAHAHAHA! But your brother. He should have known better than to throw that rock at our garrison. Looking back, I guess all Fajris are brainless afterall."
Inara's eyes widened. She glared at the man and thrashed around on the floor, struggling to get up with all her might. Her voice exploded out in intense fury.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MALAK YOU SCUM?!!"
"What did I do? I didn't do anything! It was our commander that quelled the pointless protest with a few bursts of fire. Oh, but I wish I could have shot him with a little beam from my staff. Right on the neck would have been nice! I've been practicing my aim recently, and—"
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH! ANY MORE AND I'LL KILL YOU!"
The guard looked down at her with pity. An almost puzzled expression filled his face.
"But how would you do that? You Fajris can't even use shamanism…"
By this point, a crowd of guards had formed to see Inara get ridiculed moments before her death. Laughs and chatter could be heard as the man continued to mock Inara.
"What a pity. Those who are weak shouldn't try to reason with the strong. You came to me asking me for questions? What gave you the confidence to do that? Who gave you the right?!"
As the man spoke, his voice grew increasingly aggressive. He stood up and stomped on her head. He stomped again. And again. And again.
"Who do you think you are?! You're nothing! You're an insect! You should know your place before making baseless threats you worm! All of you! All you Fajris!"
His foot crashed down on her head once more and a cracking sound could be heard, which made the crowd of guards laugh louder and rowdier.
Another stomp occurred alongside another crack. And another. And another. And another.
Inara was convulsing now. Blood was flooding out of the back of her head and seeping out of her ears.
The man delivered one more stomp and the cracking turned into a pop.
Then the world went silent.
…
It was only interrupted by an explosive cacophony of harrowing screams, yells, and wails.
The crowd of guards leaped back, unsure of where the sound was coming from.
The man staggered back in shock and landed on his butt as he looked down at the unconscious girl. A glowing yellow light was emanating from underneath her.
Then, a flurry of spirits rose up from under Inara's body, flooding the skies with a yellow hue. They rose up further and further into the sky and fused together. Forming a circle, it looked as though the sun had risen in the night sky.
The guards had no time to admire the spectacle above them as the newly forged sun dove down to the ground towards Inara's body.
Some of the guards tried to leap back but it was futile. It took less than a second for the forged sun to finish its descent.
The ball of spirits entered Inara's body and disappeared. Her body trembled for a moment and stopped.
The man, still in shock, looked at his companions in utter confusion and disbelief. He looked back down at her and felt shivers running down his spine. He took deep breaths in an attempt to compose himself and approached her body.
As he got closer, her body shook violently and rose from the ground. Bright yellow light beamed out from every orifice of her body and refused to dim.
Suddenly, small plants of all kinds started to bloom and rise from the ground.
The man's eyes widened.
"What the helll? Wh-what's going o—"
His words abruptly stopped and his world became dark as his head was sent flying from his body by a slithering vine that soared up from the ground.
The other guards panicked and turned to run away but they soon met the same fate.
Blood rained down from the night sky, illuminated by the pale moonlight, as a torrent of heads followed its path.
It was a beautiful sight to behold.