BLOOD.FANGS.N'.FIRE

Florah heard countless screams sound from a distance. The screaming people seemed to be in pain.

The sound scared her more and more the closer she got towards it.

She realised that she recognised some of the voices screaming for help.

"Thud," a burnt tree fell ten metres behind her.

Her home that was gorgeous and peaceful was now being eaten by a sea of fire and creatures she didn't understand, were torturing and killing her friends and family.

Why was this happening? she couldn't find her family.

She was worried about her brother that she hadn't laid eyes on since yesterday.

She remembered a series of strange things happening that led to the current situation.

She kept on running to the lake where more tortured screaming sounded, but she kept on going there because her 'nana' had told her to do so.

Little did the little Florah know that it wasn't her 'nana' but rather someone else.

She started seeing the lake, but it was surrounded by a ring of black fire that looked to be devouring everything that went towards it.

This made the young, terrified Sunzel stop in her tracks.

What had happened to the beautiful lake, she remembered seeing huge colourful koi fish swim peacefully in the clear water surrounded by flowers but now the lake looked to be a complete nightmare.

Tears gathered in her eyes resting on her eyelids, she blinked, and tears rolled down her pale cheeks.

Her mouth was dry, and Bile arose in her throat, making her want to wail in mourning for her home.

Why was this happening? Where are 'ma' and 'papa'?

They said they wouldn't take long but now look at what was happening.

Her home and friends were all being burned, and there was nothing she could do.

"But there is something you could do, my dear." She heard her nana's voice, making her jump in fright.

But when she looked at her nana, she let out all her emotions and ran to her for a hug, crying her heart out.

"Nan..cough, nana, am scared what is happening? I do not understand. When are Mama and Papa coming back?" The little girl asked a series of questions, hiccuping and crying.

"Sssshhh now, my dear, everything would be over if you go into the lake." The woman who looked and sounded like her nana squatted down to her eye level and started wiping her tears.

"My beautiful girl, think about it. When has fire ever hurt you? " she asked, looking into her eyes.

Florah looked as if she was thinking and then shook her head, implying that the fire never hurt her.

She remembered that even though she had several scraps here and there and her dress was dirty from all the ash but she never felt the intense heat of the fire on her skin.

"See," her nana smiled at her.

"But I am scared," she said, looking at the intense fire that was burning everything around it and not to mention the screaming voices inside of it.

"I understand that, my dear, but don't you want all this to end?

If you go into that fire, your royal presence there will command it to stop, and all of this will stop as well.

I would do it myself but am afraid my old self can't anymore."

She tried to convince the girl to listen and follow her words.

"All of this is happening because something upset the lake, and it resulted in all of this." she motioned towards the fire burning and the sound of swords and war cries coming from a distance.

"But only a royal presence like yours can stop that fire. And don't worry, my dear, it won't hurt you. I promise, "

More tears ran down Florah's cheeks as she looked at what had happened to her home.

After a short silence and the intense gaze of her nana, the royal blood nodded with strong resolution.

A twinkle of happiness appeared in the old woman's eyes, and she said lovingly to her grandchild,

"It will all be over soon, my child. No more pain and suffering, " she whispered more to herself than to the girl, but little Florah was too blinded by her own pain to notice that something was amiss about her grandmother.

The closer Florah walked to the dancing pit of fire, the more the smile on the woman's face became broader, almost reaching her ears.

"Yes, you will all be no more," she whispered.

Right when Florah was terrifyingly near the fire, she looked back with her teary golden eyes, and the scene she saw alarmed her to the core.

The woman she believed was her nana was now fighting with another woman who also looked like her nana.

The scene confused her little mind because she remembered only having one nana.

In her absentmindedness, the fire that looked to be gaining more life due to her closure towards it, started inching towards her like a slithering snake.

Young golden eyes watched the two women fight until one struck the other in the chest, and the struck one shrieked in pain and slowly started melting.

Before the imposter died, she laughed in a mocking tone, "You are too late, Fauzia. LOOK!!"

The woman pointed towards the young girl who stood in front of the raging fire.

Florah looked at where the woman was pointing and saw the fire dangerously close to her.

Before she could even blink, the fire devoured her whole body.

"Noooooo," she heard her nana shout from a distance, but there was nothing she could do.

The screams she was hearing earlier were now more prominent as she felt her body being carried away by the fire.

Her eyes were closed in anticipation of the pain, but she felt nothing.

Opening her eyes slowly, she saw her body enveloped in a red and golden bubble of fire.

"LORAH!!!"She heard someone call out to her from the other side.

"Please hold my hand," the familiar voice called out to her, and a small hand covered in blue and yellow fire reached out in the fire.

The hand beckoned her to hold it, and she unknowingly stretched her hand towards it, wishing for the best.