Home (Follower)

She finally made her way out of the forest. She had slept only once every three nights, but was not exhausted. She was not hungry, and had neither eaten nor starved.

But at last, she had reached her home village. Surely, someone would be there. Yet when she crested a small hill, all she could see in the place of her village was ash and cinder.

"No," she gasped.

She ran down the hill, and the details became clearer. What had once been buildings were nothing more than crumbling firewood.

She ran through the main street, covering her mouth and nose to ward away the dusty ash she disturbed. She arrived at the church.

The once-grand building was no different than the others.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

All she had known, gone.

She spotted a tombstone to her left. Numbly, she approached it, passing around a pile of rubble.

She rubbed soot away from the stone, revealing freshly-cut names. Aubrielle. Kalamay. Spenceven. Even her own name was on there.

"Am I dead?" She wondered aloud. That would explain her not getting exhausted or hungry, but would not explain her sore feet, the thorn wounds, or her footprints.

What had happened to her? She remembered only golden light. But before that... Goblins!

Argolex had fought off the goblins until he collapsed, and they had stormed the church. Women and children had been slaughtered, except for eleven, her included.

Argolex. Was his name on the grave? She scanned it meticulously. After coming to the end of the third row of names, she could not find his name, nor a reference to him. He was alive.

She rushed to her feet. He probably went north, along the only trail to Farsfield.

"I will find you, Alex. And then we can be happy."