Claire Von Angea: Tragedy

(Claire Von Angea)

My eyelids seemed heavier than usual. It was akin to a stone parting the surface of a lake, and its stiffness rippled and spread throughout my body. The sounds around me became distorted, stretching around my frame as firmly as the ensuing darkness. I felt alone…starved for sensation and abandoned. Allowing for only the embrace of the cold hand of darkness to shape me.

It was a strange feeling. In all of my life, I had yet to encounter something so pure as this darkness. My sense of direction was thrown in complete disarray, but the calmness would allude sooner than I would imagine. As if on command, a deafening whiteness took a hold of me with no fear of repercussions.

My flesh burned at the mercy of the void of nothingness, but even that had a certain gravity to it. While I remained devoid of any true form, I felt something unexplainable. While I could not see it or hear it, I could taste it?

Blood?

"Lady Claire!"

The sharp sound of a comforting voice turned into a screech, blasted away the voids of light and dark, and brought me to a place that I had not seen before. My feeling returned and with it a pain of something sharp tearing into my left shoulder.

What was that? My eyes darted around the scenery when a large eruption of flame blasted loudly into the treeline around me. Each flame devours everything in sight like a raging beast with no intent to stop. Smoke blasted around me, severely limiting my vision, but the sound was different.

The sounds of guttural screams of pain and anguish, alongside the constant ringing of metal grating against each other filled the airwaves. My senses were overwhelmed by the intense shock and confusion that now held my body hostage.

"Protect her excellency! Rally men! Rally!"

"Bring me their heads! No mercy!"

Think Claire. Think.

My eyes traced around the area and the two voices roaring the loudest were unfamiliar to me, but still forced me into action. My first instinct was to run as far as I could from the flames as I could, but my body didn't yield to my command. It locked in place and I no doubt seemed like a statue at that point in time.

Move Claire. Move! Damn it!

One should be careful about what they wish for in their lifetime. They might actually get it, but in a way that they did not originally imagine. A crunch in the dirt behind me sent a shiver down my spine and in the moment my racing thoughts began to dissipate.

Even in my wildest imaginations I would not have anticipated what had transpired next. My ears ring and my world literally begins to spin as I then find myself greeting the underbrushes of the forest floor. My body instantly felt zapped of energy.

"I got you now."

The deep voice of a man boomed near me causing me to shiver in response. Struggling to push my body up from the dirt, I laid eyes on him. His eyes were cold and in his possession was a dagger, pointed and ready to rip and tear.

My own blood went as cold as his glare. Every fiber of my being was crying for me to get up and flee, or even defend myself, but my body yielded to the overwhelming sensation that locked my functionality down. Fear. I was being crippled by my own terror. The closer the man drew, the quicker my heart pounded within my chest.

The dagger flashed through the flames reflecting their light of destruction as it quickly arced down towards my body. I could not help but to desire a better outcome, but it appeared that my life was soon to be coming to a swift end. My eyes closed out of instinct, protecting me from seeing the face of the man aiming to claim my life as his accomplishment.

A thick thud was the next thing that was heard, and the rattle of metal deafening close to my person. Bearing with my fate, I collected all of the strength that I could manage to force open my eyelids. Standing before me was a sight that I had not fully anticipated, but I welcomed nonetheless. A hand desperately clenching the jaw of my attacker as the knife forced deeper into their flesh. The distinct smell of iron filled my lungs, and shades of red splattered against my body.

"La-Lady Claire… Ple-Please stand up!"

My body began to shake instinctively as the cruel reality revealed the truth that it had to share. Standing before me in my defense was Sylvia. My dearest attendant had taken that blade for me, and yet she remained strong fighting off our attacker. Her kind and gentle voice tainted with the agony of her wound inflicted to her due to my weakness. My own incompetence caused her this strife. My mediocrity stabbed her.

"Pl-Please.", Slyvia called to me, pleading with me to take action.

Unfortunately for the both of us, I could not force myself into action. My body, my soul had given up and I had awaited death. The groans of Slyvia's struggle had seared itself into my mind as I watched her twist the wrist of her attacker and shove him away.

The blade plunged deeper into her from her actions, but Slyvia did not allow that to stop her. She stood there, bleeding and in intense agony, but yet she still stood there. Defiant to the very end. The man that attacked us was quick to recover from Sylvia's shove as he launched at her with murderous intent.

He no doubt desired to mangle us, but he was met with the staunchness of Slyvia's defense. Her clenched fist once again blasted his face, but that was not enough to prevent his charge. He tackled her, locking their bodies in an epic struggle of strength.

"Find yourself, La-Lady-"

The slightest shift of her focus brought an opening for the male as he swiftly slammed the woman onto the ground. Despite being slightly smaller, the man also seemed to be a demi-human as well, making his strength on par or stronger than that of my caretaker. I could only watch as he grabbed onto her and pinned her underneath his frame. His hand pressing into the knife, further gouging into her wound with his primal aggression.

"Run- Please..RU-"

The loud, disgusting crunch of flesh and the spray of blood infiltrated the air. It did not take me long before I had realized what had transpired. The man stood over the body of my caretaker, ripping the blood stained blade from her body. My knees went weak causing any feeble attempt to stand ultimately pointless.

"Damn freak.", the man growls, stomping on the blood stained body of Sylvia. "All you had to do was stay out of my way."

His gaze soon shifted back to me, just as violent as the first time that I had caught them. He stepped over her body and attempted to make his way towards me. I could not even imagine the horror that he had planned for my demise.His approach was slower than before, no doubt burdened with the bruises of my attendant's stand against him. Even then those bruises were not enough to stop him from claiming his perceived prize.

"The death of the Angea is here.", he proclaims.