FORGOTTEN MEMORIES
Ophelia slides out of the flesh of her own body, squirming down its length and coming out the tail end, almost able to remove herself completely from the twisted flesh.
Almost, but not quite. She looks down at her slick, wet body and over the long expanse of reptilian tail by which end, Clare, the silly girl with short blonde hair, adorned with a light armor, watches her. She smiles to herself.
"Alright," says Ophelia. "Let's play a game, you and I. If you can cut through my body up to my remaining human vestiges, my life is yours. And if not... well... you know the answer to that."
Ophelia activates the other end of her body, its remaining blades pulling back and striking at Clare. Clare explodes in a flurry of movement, the water beneath her splashing, and the flesh above her dispersing in a mass of blood and gore. She moves forward, cutting through Ophelia's body. Ophelia cocks an eyebrow and wonders, Why is she playing along? She could just come at my weak point and finish it here. So why? Brother...
She ignores the pain as flesh and tendon, bone and muscle are removed by the blur of Clare's arm, the sword ripping through her body. It is merely an infection being removed, nothing more really. An aberration.
She looks up towards the sky looking back, away from the cool waters of now and the deep purples of the sky. She looks back to a time when the heat of the fire and smoke seemed to be burning her lungs, making it difficult for her to breathe. The burning wood falls around her and a large board from the ceiling falls on her, trapping her small frame beneath. "Help!" she screams from beneath the burning wood. "Help!" But who can hear her, with everyone screaming and shrieking?
That shadow along the doorway, marred, red and large. Is it her? The creature? The one who attacked the village?
The wood comes away from her body with a creak, the shadowy form just above her and she screams.
"It's okay! It's okay!" a voice whispers next to her ear, her small body pressed against a much larger frame.
"Brother?" she asks, recognizing his voice. Her brother looks down at her with his deep brown eyes and smiles briefly, soot covering his cheeks, his hair in a mess sticking here and there in points. She smiles back and her smile falters. The wood around the house is creaking, crunching. It groans loudly, unable to support its own weight.
"Damn it," she hears her brother curse next to her ear, and he is running towards the door, slamming his shoulder against it as the supports give out and come crashing down behind them. She lets out a scream, but is held tight against her brother.
"It's okay," she hears him whisper. "It's okay." He strokes her hair, trying to calm her, keep her fears down. A scream cuts the hot air followed quickly by more.
"Damn it," she hears her brother curse."Brother?" she ask, tugging at his shirt. "Will we be okay?"
"Yeah," he says quietly. "We'll be okay." His body is shaking and Ophelia can't be sure she actually believes what he is saying. She wants to, but...
"Laertes! Laertes!" a voice calls out.
"Over here!" her brother says.
A man comes out from the shadows of the burning structures, his clothes singed and blackened, face marred with soot. He leans over, resting hands on knees. "Thank god," he whispers. "You made it out alright."
"What about the others?" her brother ask.
The cry of a man rips through the crackling from the fires of the village surrounding them. The man turns away, looking towards the sound. "You can hear as well as I do. They're trying to hold her off at the West side, but it won't take long. Damn it all!" The man is shaking, fist clenched, tears running down his cheeks. "She's killing everyone! That bitch!"
"Brother?" she asks, tugging at his shirt sleeve again. "Who's killing everyone? Why? Why is she doing this?"
"I don't know Ophelia. I don't know."
"Laertes," says the man quietly. The screams continue to echo with other muted sounds, the fires crackling around them muting the more violent noises.
"I know," says her brother, "Just let me find a place to hide Ophelia. I can't let that monster take her too."
"Be quick. That thing will be here any moment." Her brother nods and the man disappears from sight as her brother turns.
Her brother and pulls her close, running away from the fires. But she sees from the crook of her arm. Shadows of horses dancing, whinnying, and people disappearing from their backs. Some shadow moving swiftly above them.
She can hear the sounds with their being so near. The crunching of bone and metal. Soon, even the horses are disappearing. Lifted into the air, high pitched whinnies cutting off with a shriek. Each accompanied by that sound. A crunching of flesh and bone grinding away.
"Brother," she whispers, tears filling her eyes. "Don't leave me! I'm scared!"
"I know," he says, whispering quietly. He bends down next to a large wood pile next to the burning houses and starts to clear the wood away. "Now, get under here and keep quiet. I won't be long."
She pulls at his shirt as he puts her beneath the pile. "You'll be back?" she ask with large eyes, her lips quivering. Her brother smiles and nods. "Yeah, I'll be back."
There is the loud clip clop of horse's hooves thudding against the dirt floor, its whinny loud against the flames. Its rider cries a loud "Hiyah! Hiyah!" There is the swift blur of sound, something passing overhead and a sudden scream from the rider followed by the crunch of metal and bone.
Something falls to the floor, rolling across the dirt. A long shape with nubs at the end. Before she can identify what it is her brother is pulling the piles of wood down on top of her. "Stay quiet," he whispers.
He removes a long stake from the wood pile and turns away from her, his shadow blocking her sight. There is a loud flapping nearby, dust blowing as something large lands.
Ophelia tries to stand in the wood pile but can barely move, only able to see a shadow of her brother's face. He smiles briefly and turns to the creature.
"Oh, it seems I missed one." says the monster with a silky voice. She sees her brother turn away, his body seeming to stiffen.
"You fuckin' monster!" He growls under his breath, charging the creature. Her brother has the stake up over his head as he runs at the creature, but as he nears her there is suddenly a crunching sound and Ophelia stares at the blood that spills on the ground.
"Brother?" she whispers quietly, her breath coming out in gasp, her eyes widening. She grips the wood debris about her tightly, her knuckles turning white with the pressure.
"What is this?" the creature asks. "You're still trying to survive? It's foolish to think because you have a promise or something that you can live."
There is the crunching of flesh, and her brother's form disappears allowing her to see the creature's full form. A large demon, of purplish flesh with yellow eyes like fire and a horn protruding from the center of her forehead. The monster turns briefly as if seeing her, but turns away and lifts off from the floor, flapping her great wings, beating the dust and dirt into Ophelia's eyes. Ophelia stares at the receding form and grits her teeth, feeling the tears running down her eyes. There isn't even anything left of her brother to bury.
"That bitch!" she growls.
"Augh!" she hears Clare groan as tendrils from Ophelia's tail end strike the woman. Ophelia lifts her head waking up from her memory. Oh yes, I was testing this one, wasn't I, she thinks.
She regards the woman and narrows her eyes, her body tensing. The fool has been impaled by her tentacles but that shouldn't stop her, and yet there she lies, almost limp, her sword barely clasped at her side.
It irritates her. This stupid woman is giving up so easily.
"What are you doing?," she shouts. "Are you just going to give up and leave those counting on you to fend for themselves?"
Something wakens in the other woman, a surge of that energy within her and her arm rises, moving in a blur of motion, cutting through Ophelia's flesh in rapid motion. Ophelia looks down and smiles, looking down into her own reflection.
"Brother," she whispers. "Did I do the right thing?"
She is lost in her thought, ignoring the pain of the blade ripping through her flesh. It is a trifle, and it will soon be over anyways. No reason to cry over spilled milk.
Blood spills into the water before her and she instinctively latches on to Clare as her other arm is lopped off. She looks up into Clare's eyes, seeing the fire and determination in them.
"So you win the prize," says Ophelia. "Aren't you going to cut out my heart? That is why you were fighting, isn't it?"
"No," says Clare. "I wasn't."
With these words Clare thrust her sword into Ophelia's heart. Ophelia smiles, the blood pooling at the edges of her mouth.
"Remember, you'll be fighting in my stead now," she says. "You better not fail."
Clare does not answer, but it is enough. Ophelia releases her from her grasp and falls back into the water, feeling her life fade. She shuts her eyes and whispers silently,
"Brother, can we play again now?"