CHAPTER 8: A NEW WORLD
Ash and debris continued to rain down in the Mysterious Beyond long into the night and early into the morning,the air was riddled with toxic fumes and debris falling down from the mountain. Despite that however,there was an almost pin drop silence that surrounded the area around the volcano and left it in an almost ghostly state. Not even the sun's godly rays could penetrate the clouds of ash that went on for miles,and the once flatlands of the Mysterious Beyond were now gorges and valleys of their own. The stillness and deafening silence of the land would then suddenly be broken when something slowly rustled from under the ash painted dirt,before then breaking through the surface to reveal that it was Marie.
The young Fire Breather was bruised all over and had grey ash covering her from head to paw,cuts had formed on her back near her wings and her left eye was swollen and blackened. Marie winced and grunted in pain as she shook the ash off her body and tried to stand up,only for her legs to give way and send her tumbling face down to the dirt. She coughed out a little blood and ash that had gotten into her lungs before trying once again to stand up,and luckily she did manage to keep herself balanced despite the immense pain she was feeling in her legs.
"H….hello?" meekly choked out Marie as she looked around in the hopes of finding any survivors before continuing a little louder "Hello." only for nothing to answer. She was starting to get worried,there's no way she could have been the only one to have made it out alive,she couldn't have.
"Hello! Somebody! Mom! Grandma!" fearfully cried out Marie as she frantically looked around for any signs of life by tossing over rocks and looking desperately in the newly formed canyons,but alas she would find no such thing in this desolate wasteland,she would eventually have to come to terms with a cold yet simple fact,she was alone.
"Mom." whimpered a saddened Marie as a single tear formed in her eye and rolled down her face before meekly crawling into a ball on the ground and beginning to quietly weep "Someone please help me…..I don't know where to go. I don't know what to do." followed by the young one shutting her eyes in sadness and crying for a brief moment. However this tragic scene of hers would suddenly be interrupted when a faint light began to cut through the darkness and it was just bright enough for Marie to sense it as she reopened her eyes to see it. The light was like a stream of water flowing through the air and it was getting ever so brighter by the second as the ash began to dissipate.
"What is that?" questioned a now curious Marie to herself while she slowly got up and cautiously approached the light,and the closer she got and the brighter it became she winced a little bit as she covered her eyes briefly. Once it felt like she would now be able to see through the light,she slowly removed her paws and would be greeted by the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life,she was now looking at a bright blue sky that stretched across a wide open land that went on for miles and puffy white clouds gently danced throughout the heavens alongside a cool Summer breeze that lightly brushed past the young Fire Breather.
"Wow,this is….the surface." gasped a dazzled Marie as a smile began to form on her face,she couldn't believe she was actually up on the surface world and how it was such a beautiful and expansive place. If she wanted to she could go anywhere she wanted and there wouldn't be any walls to stand in her way,she was so excited about the opportunities present before that she happily called out with glee "Mom come look at-" only for her to pause when she remembered that her mother wasn't with her anymore,and sadness began to envelop her again.
"I wish you were here to see this,and I still don't know what to do." whimpered Marie with a heavy heart as a single tear rolled down her face again before she suddenly heard her mother's voice echo in her head "I know you're scared and all this is new to you,but I need you to be strong and brave like I know you can be. Find the Great Valley,you'll be safe there. Let your heart guide you and I promise that me and your grandmother will find you."
"Find the Great Valley." whispered a now curious Marie to herself before she said it to herself again except in a more determined tone followed by her continuing in an almost heroic voice "Alright mother,I'll do it! I'll find the Great Valley! I promise!" only for another thought to creep into her mind that she hadn't taken into account.
"But…..I do not know the way." Marie sighed with a newfound sense of disappointment and worry only for her mother's words to echo yet again "Letyour heart guide you." before she took a deep breath and slowly spread out her slightly injured wings. She didn't say a word for a few moments before one last memory from her mother rang in her mind "Fly my daughter." to which the young Fire Breather jumped up high into the air with a mighty gust of wind before spreading out her wings and feeling herself gliding among the clouds in the sky.
A wide and ecstatic grin had now formed on her face and she felt like she could now accomplish anything as she laughed and happily flew around the skies with only one destination in mind,the Great Valley.