The fires raged around her.
Her ears were overwhelmed by the deafening sounds of screams.
Her nose was filled with the smell of burning flesh and ash.
And her eyes saw only cinders.
She stood on uneven feet and stumbled through what was once her home.
She searched.
She searched for the people who had not conceived her into this world.
But those who took her into their arms filled with affection regardless.
She succeeded in finding them.
Or at least what was left.
Liquid fell from her eyes, and her heart felt like it would burst.
A loud cry left her throat.
Filled with emotions, she could barely understand.
But they poured out regardless.
Which alerted them to her presence.
A group of three armed men with cruel smiles adorned atop their faces.
For it was not the beasts that roamed the land which had caused such destruction.
It was the avarice of man.
And it was at that moment that she found clarity amongst her pain and confusion.
They had taken what was hers.
They were responsible for what she felt.
They had to be removed.
And so, just as suddenly as her unknown emotions appeared, they died.
And a fire was ignited.
A fire that burned from her chest
A fire that invaded her body
A fire that consumed her mind.
And before they could react, she was upon them.
She tore one man's dagger from its sheath.
And then the slaughter began.
She struck with ferocity and without care for her own injuries.
She carved through flesh and broke through bone.
And she tore them limb from limb.
And as she stood over their lifeless, mangled corpses, she felt only one thing.
Satisfaction.
They had thought her weak and powerless.
She had been weak and powerless.
And they had stolen what was hers.
But she had risen above them.
She had the power to crush them.
The power to make them the weak and the powerless.
The power to take what was theirs.
She needed more.
She needed so much more.
The fire that had ignited inside her demanded more.
She would never again be weak.
She would never again be powerless.
And never again would anyone take what was hers.
She would claim whatever power through whatever means.
To fuel the fire that now raged within her.
And if anyone interfered.
She would burn them to cinders.
And so she climbed and clawed to conquer the food chain.
And to obtain the power she so desired.
And one day, she was rewarded with an encounter with a monster.
And she was promised a power that rivaled that of a god.
And years later, on a day that was much like that one so long ago.
The fires raged around her.
Her ears were overwhelmed by the deafening sounds of screams.
Her nose was filled with the smell of burning flesh and ash.
And her eyes saw only cinders.
But she was no longer weak.
And she was no longer powerless.
And as the innocent fell to the beasts that surrounded them.
She walked away to claim a power that was hers for the taking.
And she smiled.