Alui

You stare.
At the bloody rocks and the broken bones.
At the red pool that grows under you.

You just stare.

There is nothing else you can do.
So you keep staring.
At nothing and everything.
At the black and infinite void, like the hole inside of you that grows and engulfs everything in despair.

You forgot when you started to shout.
But your throat feels as dull as your mind and soul.

You stay there for days, maybe weeks.
They feel more like eons.
You pass out of either hunger or lack of sleep, or maybe just the pain of your broken bones.
But every time you wake up once more, just to claw your way through the rocks yet again.
You still don’t know how you got to survive.
You are mostly certain that the gods just wanted to see you break.

At some point, someone hauled your unconscious body far from that damned place.
She is a nice enough Bogsneak, but no food she has offered you has filled the void that has consumed your being.

You can’t help but run away the moment you can stand again.
The damned Bogsneak speaks only about the family she will one day have
Is disgusting disgusting disgusting and there is nothing you wish more than to claw out her throat.
So you run away, back to your mate and daughters. You need all your strength to get them out of there.

When you reach the Starfall Isles, you have to accept that you are lost.
That you have never known where you were going.
You can’t find them. You’ll never find them again.

“Can you stop shouting? You are giving me a headache.” says a little voice.
You try to look at the newcomer. A little Imperial girl, her garishly pink scales so unlike your twins.
Her little scowl and grating voice just make you wish she was the one crushed by the rocks.
“Hey! don’t look at me like that! You are the one that won’t stop shriking!”
You swing your tail with all your pain put into it. Maybe that will shut up the stupid girl.
“Hey! What are you doing?!”
She shouts at you, her claws digging into your tail.
You try to shake her off, but instead she bites into your tail.
And something inside of you finally snaps.

“DON’T TOUCH ME”
The little rat somehow shouts even with your claw around her neck.
She should be the dead one.
She should be the dead one.
She should be the-
…
“I told you to not touch me!”
You can’t move.
“This is what happens when you don't listen to me!”
You can’t speak, your claws tremble.
Power travels through your body and it's not yours.
Your claws move on their own, towards - ...ooh.
Panic rises within you. You try as hard as you can but is impossible to stop.
You couldn’t save Aquila. You couldn’t save Reila and Jarel.
Why would you be able to save yourself?
At least, maybe this way you’ll see them again.
…

But then the pain stops.
You fall face first into the ground. The shock of it all leaving you too weak to even stand.
And the monster is looking at you with glee in her eyes...
“Wait! I have a better idea!”
She laughs.
The sound it's wrong. The laugh of a heartless monster.

You aren't much different.