The night smelled of smoke and death. A young girl ran desperately away from the ashes of her village. Her body ached with fatigue, her bare feet struck the scorched earth, the wood and ashes burned her feet with every stride. Behind her, her village was alight with fire, the plumes of smoke reaching high into the sky. As she ran further away, the screams of her friends and family faded. Now, there was only silence.
Still, she ran. It was all she could do, the desperate words of her mother echoed in her ears. 'Run, Sarai! Keep running and don't look back!'
Her home was gone. Tears streamed down her face as she looked up at the stars. The once calm and serene beauty she had found in them was replaced with a biting hatred. She cursed them as she ran. They had watched her home, her friends, and her family get charred to a crisp.
And they did nothing.
She didn't know where she was running, only she could not stop. If she stopped, the grief and fear would consume her, and she would be lost to them.
Eventually, her body failed her.
As the earth gave way to sand and dust, her steps faltered, and her vision desert stretched endlessly before her, a cruel and unforgiving expanse. She tripped, sand scraping her skin as she collapsed. The wind howled around her, whipping through her golden hair. Her limbs trembled as she tried to rise, however exhaustion tied her down like an anchor. She couldn't go any farther.
Suddenly a shadow stirred in the distance ahead.
She barely noticed it at first, her head lolled to the side and into the sand. The figure stepped forward then, making its presence known to her. Her head trembled as she looked up at the shadow. Dressed in black, it moved with an unsettling stillness, its face was obscured behind a mask of ivory.
A voice, silky and smooth, broke through the wind.
"You are lost….Abandoned in this deserted wasteland." Her breath hitched. The voice carried no pity and no warmth. Only certainty.
She forced her cracked lips to move, speaking in a hoarse voice. "Wh-Who are you?"
The figure tilted its head, as if considering it moved, kneeling down in front of her, bringing its masked face closer to hers.
When it spoke, it sent shivers down her spine. "We are the Unseen. We are the ones to whom the shadows flee to." A gloved hand was placed on her head. "My child...What is your name?"
The young girl licked her lips. "Sa-Sarai…Sarai Tahir." She said brokenly. "M-my village…" She grabbed onto the shadows cloak, tears streaming down her face. "You..H-have to help them!" She buried her face into the cloak, her shoulders shaking with sobs.
The shadow was silent a moment, before speaking again. "Sarai Tahir…Do you know what your name means?" The question was so simple, it made Sarai pause.
"N-No..?" She looked up, tears streaking down her face.
"Sarai Tahir..The princess of Purity. Tell me…Do you like this name?"
Sarai bit her lip. "N-no.."
The figure was silent a moment, before speaking again. "A name is more than just a word, my child. It is a chain." A gloved hand stroked her golden strands of hair, almost reverently. "It is a brand, burned into your very soul. Your name ties you to your past- to the ashes you have left behind."
Sarai shivered, the wind howled through the dunes, but the figure remained still.
"If you do not like your name, then cast it aside." The voice coaxed. "Then cast it aside, like a dirty cloth. Strip it from your mind and let it wither like the bones of the ones who didn't escape…"
Sarai's lips parted in surprise. Cast her name aside? The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Her name belonged to a girl who had nowhere else to go. A girl who had failed.
The shadow leaned down, whispering lightly, extending a hand towards her. "Would you like a new name, my child? One that is untouched by sorrow? One that is..unseen?"
Sarai's eyes glistened with uncertainty, the shadows words hung in the cold night air.
For a moment, silence enveloped them as she looked at the hand extended towards her. Her mind raced with a mixture of dread and desperation. Fragments of memories went through her head. The echoes of her friends and family's Screams, the burning pain of loss.
Her lips parted, voice tumbling as she whispered. "What would my new name be? Can I really leave it all behind..?"
The figure leaned further down. "Yes."
Sarai gulped, uncertainty flashing through her mind, before she took the hand that was offered to her. The idea of being reborn felt strangely liberating.
She reached up, and the moment her fingers brushed the figure's hand, something stirred inside her- something ancient and quiet. It was almost…comforting. Her breath caught, and her fear-sharp and brittle- crumbled into dust. It was as if she was wrapped in something unseen. Her eyes fluttered closed, as her mind dimmed in surrender. For the first time since that morning, she felt…whole. "Yes…" She whispered. "Give me a new name.."
The figure chucked, "From today onwards, your Name is Lirith. For you are the one from whom the light will flee from."
With a sweep of its dark clock, it began to walk away. "Come Lirith..Come with me and begin your new life."
Lirith nodded and followed quietly, not looking back at the plumes of smoke behind her. The last words that were spoken fell on her ears like a mantra.
"Hope is but a whisper. The Shadow will forever endure."