The rasping breaths of her dying mother reverberated inside Alva's skull, even as her racing heart and fevered skin warmed her hand. Alva did her best to provide comfort, even as her perception became distorted and narrowed; very soon she would be useless. Alva felt the desperation of her mother increase with each breath and noticed that her own desperation and rage rose as well. How dare her mother leave. How dare she be the last of the victims of this blighted plague. The rage kept Alva going, it was all she had to fuel her or give her hope, however twisted it may be. Once her mother died, there would be nothing left for Alva, the rest of the village would see to that.

Even now Alva could hear the men shuffling outside of her mother's door as they listened intently for the rasping breath to cease or for Alva herself to cry out in despair. Alva knew very well what they would do when the time came, she had heard it done before. They would remove her from her hut then burn it to the ground. Most of the village had been burned. She knew that no one intended to remain here, most had already fled; all that was left was the clean-up crew.

Alva also knew one more thing for absolute certain: she would not be joining them. It isn't that she didn't want to, the thought of being here on her own in a ghost town (or worse, banished into the Forest) terrified her beyond power of thought. She knew these men and they saw no need to rescue a "burden" such as herself. After all, what use did they have for a scrawny, underweight, prepubescent blind child? She had no useful skills they could use, no talents to offer up, was not old enough to tempt even the most perverse as a bride nor young enough to grip their hearts as a young child might. Instead, Alva sat listening to her mother's dying rasps and feeling her racing pulse became weaker and skin burn ever hotter, all the while feeling her presence slip vainly away from her mind, leaving nothing behind but an empty void that she feared would never be filled again.

Finally, her mother stilled, the pulse ceased to beat, and Alva's mind was completely her own for the first time in all her life. Despite her promise to herself, Alva cried out in that moment of loss, as desperation overpowered rage and despair gripped her completely. No sooner had her cries left her throat than she heard the door opening and the sound of 5 men enter the room. From them she received so many different emotions –eagerness, greed, worry, joy– that her already rebelling mind broke. Her slight grasp of her environment dissolved into the harshness the men around her. She stopped resisting, stopped fighting, and let the despair consume her. Her world once that once so brightly shone through her connection to her mother was now dark, the light that colored her mind was gone. There was nothing left to live for so why should she bother trying?

Alva only vaguely registered when she was removed from the small hut that had been her home and brought out into the harsh air of late fall that was filled with the rich choking smell of burning wood. She felt no sun, if there was any to be felt, and soon found herself standing barefooted on the old, worn, half frozen path outside what was left of her home. Shortly after, she felt the heat of flames rise up in front of her, she knew that her mother's house would soon be no more. She had felt and "seen" the remains left of burned wood and the image of that as all that might me left of her life caused her feet to move on their own accord toward the flame, as if she could somehow put it out, stop it from its hungry lapping of the old fall-dry wood.

Rough hands grabbed her arms and she became as a child incensed, fighting against the restraints, sobbing, yelling, crying out with her entire being until she had no strength left within her. It was only then that she was released, collapsing onto the ground and shaking from exertion and exhaustion. That was it. The last of her world was over, everything she had ever had lived within the flames whose blazes she could not see but whose heat wrapped her body within its embrace.

Alva vaguely recognized the voices of the men as they spoke over her, some sounding unsure as they reluctantly agreed with the resounding majority. Only then did rough callous-ridden hands lift her again, only this time her body was carefully held against his as he moved her away from the heat and smell of smoke with quick, decisive steps. Alva got glimpses from him in her mind, shadows dancing deeper under the thick foliage of the forest, the undergrowth making the ground appear black and dangerous. She also felt his frustration and his sorrow, although it did not penetrate into her completely, for her mind rebelled against his, determined in its sorrow. Soon the man's quick steps became hindered by brush and foliage with no real path for him to follow, only then did Alva stir, resisting his arms and yearning back toward what she believed was the remains of her home and mother. Why couldn't she have dies with her mother? Why must she die alone here in this unforgiving place?

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, little one. We have no choice. I have no choice. There is nothing left for you here. Nothing. At least the forest is quicker. At least here you might find peace." His words were not matched by his sorrow that leaked into her every pore and with that sorrow was bleak acceptance. He truly believed that he had no choice. Her death was guaranteed in his mind. To him, this was kindness. To her it was guaranteed death, just as they all intended. This close to the Pelagiris Hills there was no survival for an unprotected child. The smell of smoke might protect her for a day but no longer.

The man had found what he was looking for and lowered her to the ground, resisting her fevered attempts at clinging to him, knowing full well that the underbrush would prevent her from finding him if he got away.

"Please!" She pleaded in desperate sorrow, panic and fear clouding her mind, "Please don't leave me here! Please!"

Once more she lost him and her blind groping revealed nothing. She could hear him leaving but was unable to follow as she lay trapped and completely blind in the malicious forest that slowly filled with a choking smoke from burning huts. As Alva collapsed to the ground she cried out once more, although whether it was aloud or only in her head she was not sure, "Please don't leave me alone!"