Prologue
It felt like her heart was smashed, ripped out of her chest by the very people who had done this to him. Her whole world was tumbling, crashing, falling, burning around her like the roaring flames of the bonfire she remembered having with her human family so long ago. They used to burn the dead apple tree branches and the dried up leaves. Now it felt like she was burning in the fire with them.
She curled up on the hard earth of the cave floor and stayed there for days, weeks, maybe even years, although it was really only a few seconds, just letting the fire burn until all that was left was a gaping hole left by the flames.
After what seemed like an inordinate amount of time she opened her eyes and, tucking her feet under her, she rose. She wanted to hurt them in the worst way imaginable. She wanted to make them feel the burning she felt. She wanted the legends to become true. She wanted them to burn when they stepped out into the sunlight.
She would make them pay for what they did to him. Pay with their lives.
She could feel her fingers tingling and her whole body shook. It felt like her head was about to explode. A pounding headache followed and she had to sit down. The world became fuzzy. Slowly her eyes closed and she fell forward, past out.
The sun moved its way across the sky until just one small ray lay on the upturned palm of her hand. Smoke curled up from her palm and the stone hard flesh began to sizzle.