Echo

Echo was having a nightmare. It wasn’t like that was anything new, but dream-Echo didn’t know that. She ran down an icy road but she couldn’t go anywhere because she was always sliding backwards on the slick surface. In horror, she realized the path was covered with blood instead of snow and the sun was a gold collar. Her niece and nephew were coming closer, their necks where she had slit them the source of all this blood. She was drowning in a lake of red and the only sound left was ENLIGHTENMENT laughing in her ear.
She snapped awake and her heart sunk with regret when she realized what was happening. Her last desperate yell died in her throat.

“Beautiful performance, queen!” ENLIGHTENMENT chuckled.
“You sounded like a dying-” Runmust is wheezing with laughter from a few yards away but manages to stop herself as ENLIGHTENMENT raises a threatening claw at her.
Perhaps two years ago, maybe even one, Echo would have fantasized about slitting her tormentors throats open where they stood but she feels nothing but numb now as she follows ENLIGHTENMENT outside. He regards them all with a smirk, resting his eyes for a moment on her beautiful collar.
“Right.” He says. “We have a job to do.”
After a moment of silence, he taps his claw impatiently on the rocky floor. His gaze swings again over to Echo, annoyed.
“What?” She asks. She regrets speaking before the words were out of her mouth as she’s knocked to the floor. Wheezing, she gasps, “What are we doing today?”
ENLIGHTENMENT nods. “You may stand. So you see, there’s a dragon in a nearby town who is currently running off with my money.” He gestures to Runmust, who hands him a burlap sack. Inside is a beautiful filigree sword, the kind a prince would carry. “I told him, ‘look, a sack of emeralds and you’ve got yourself a deal’. And the fool actually believed it. Can you imagine? As you can see, we have no sack of emeralds. So we’re going to cut him up with his very own sword before he manages to find out.”
What am I doing? The thought is fleeting.
A few hours later, she’s herding the dragons like cats. They’re taking advantage of ENLIGHTENMENT’s absence to mock her relentlessly. What is she going to do, tell him? That would be a horrible coin toss between her losing her head and the rest of her party losing their heads. Neither would be optimal.
“You’re going to go over the hill with this-” She brandishes a large rock at Volan. “Just in case things get out of hand. Do not drop it unless I tell you so. Understand?”
“Sorry, princess, but I don’t think ENLIGHTENMENT gave you permission to speak. Or shove large rocks in my face.”
“Queen.” She hisses under her breath.
“What was that, princess? You know, it’s funny you say that, because- you haven’t been a queen for years now.”
Volan only takes the rock from her as their leader’s voice carries over the hill, telling them to “GET A MOVE ON ALREADY OR YOU’LL ALL LOSE ONE OF YOUR LEGS.” It’s one of his favorite threats.
They take up their positions. Echo knows she’s going to be waiting here all day, so she takes the time to find a comfortable spot. Her job is to do… nothing much, actually. She can’t get her pretty claws dirty, after all. She’s only got to whistle once when she sees someone, and she really can’t afford to mess it up. Not after she was threatened twice in one morning.
She doesn’t dare take her eyes off the road for a whole six hours. Finally a young dragon comes sauntering over the horizon. She holds her breath. ENLIGHTENMENT’s eyes bore into her, despite the fact he can’t see what she does. He must have seen her tense up.
A few more seconds… almost there…
The three familiar notes ring out in the air. To anyone else it’s just a bird, but to Echo it means “cover your eyes”.
The first swing of the sword is painfully messy. Especially for the poor trader. He’s left a wailing, bloody mess. “You’re the one- the sword. You lied.” He gasps between agonizing screams and begging for his life.
His torment stretches out into the silence and Echo can’t help but look over her shoulder.
Oh my god. Oh no, no, no. Make it stop. Please just swing the sword, make it stop, make it-
ENLIGHTENMENT finally finishes the job, but the image is burned into her skull.

The river of blood isn’t just a nightmare anymore.

(By blackberry tart)