It was late when Sera finally returned home to check on her mother. Her unevenly cut hair was a bit disheveled and her tunic somewhat wrinkled. She stepped through the door quietly and tiptoed into the bedroom she shared with her mother, only to find her sound asleep in her bed. She strode over to her mother's bed and pulled the blanket more securely around the sleeping woman's shoulders before moving to return to the main room of the small house, choosing to sit by the still burning embers of the fire.
She felt... too many things at once. Her walk with Carria earlier that day had helped helped her air out some of the misery and anger she'd felt creeping back in as of late... along with a few other things.
Carria, who had helped her so much. Carria, who didn't mind it when she ran her mouth. Carria, with that fetching red hair. Carria, with her--
Just thinking about it brought heat and color to her cheeks once again and she caught her reflection in the window and was surprised to see her features formed into an absolutely moonstruck expression. At which point she scowled and lightly slapped her own cheeks a few times, as if that would help at all.
"Cut that out. You're not some sodding green-girl."
It was time to take herself to sleep before any other loony or lewd thoughts developed in her mind. She stood and stepped back into the bedroom and soon retired to her bed, pulling the covers snugly about her lean form. She slipped into sleep soon after.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
An all but barren land with sparse trees, and wild grass. There are oddly arranged piles of rock sticking out from the damp ground. A growl can be heard in the distance as well as the moaning of the wind. She is running, searching, breathing hard, with her daggers clenched within her fisted hands. The sun is high in the sky but she feels chilled to the very bones.
She turns.
A figure appears on the crest of a hill. Now two. Now three. Their gait is odd and the chill seems to increase the closer they get.
Time stands still.
They are nothing but rotting flesh and bone! They are dead. No, but they are alive?
They are coming!
She runs! She runs but they are faster once they've spotted her. She can feel their bony hands on her shoulder and it feels as if winter has come early! She panics but gathers her courage enough to turn and raise her daggers. Over and over again she plunges them forwards and slashes them about in a wild frenzy, ignoring the way they sink into cold flesh and catch on brittle rib bones. This shouldn't be happening. They need to go back where they came from. They need to return to the earth! She yells out in fear--
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sera awoke with a a quiet gasp the next morning, her body covered in a light sheen of sweat, and saw that her mother's bed was empty. She heard the front door open and close and the sound of footsteps across the floor.
"Ah, I see you're up. You were so deep in sleep I didn't want to wake you," said her mother from the other room. Sera ran her hands down her face and moved to pull on her clothes before stepping out of the bedroom. Arissa had returned to sitting by the newly lit fire with her cup of tea and a slice of hearty bread with jam.
"Good mornin', ma."
"Good morning. You look a bit peaked. Are you alright? I know you probably didn't get back 'till late last night."
Sera only smiles wryly and shakes her head, helping herself to her own slice of bread with jam before moving closer to the fire.
"Ah, no. Everything's fine. Everything's just fine."
