Authors note: kind of the prompt? Also planning to be part of the book I’m writing. Also, ignore all grammar mistakes.

The blue sky, filled with pale, puffy white clouds.

The rolling hills, covered in lush green grass, thriving.

Unlike me.

It all seems so peaceful, beautiful, unlike me.

After everything, I’m close to breaking. To falling down into a deep abyss of darkness, and never thinking about trying to find my way back.

My whole life was a lie.

I’m not who I thought, not a normal girl who is just trying to be happy and stay alive. I’m centuries old in a younger form, my bloodline passed down from generations, my memories sealed.

I wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn’t ran away that night. The night that I had thought the person who I called mother was lost, too, after seven years of my father gone.

But Stardrava was right, she was never a mother to me.

Just a vengeful person with a tragic backstory, trying to use me for redemption.

My mind flashes back to the moment when I finally broke free. It was the right thing to do - everyone should be given at least one chance of freedom. But her blood curling screams, the blood gushing out, the howling, then the silent crack, still roars in my ears.

Guilt is something powerful that I’ve never fought with much, because I always gave in to the other’s person desires.

The past is the past, I remind myself, trying to tear my mind away from those thoughts.

Or is it?

Lifetime after lifetime, I’d be reborn, with no thought of my earlier problems, nothing.

But no one can run forever.

[Still thinking about it?]

I spin around, expecting to see Stardrava’s beautiful star patterns glinting off of her even in the dim light, but she’s not there. I’m still not used to the fact that we can talk anytime, anywhere, even after all these months together.

Yes, I admit, twisting the delicate fabric of my shirt.

[Don’t let it consume you. Fight it back. You’re strong enough to, despite your doubts. Release her ashes, let yourself grieve, and see it over with. Move on.]

I don’t want to.

But she’s right.

I take out the stopper on the bottle and use my pocket knife to slash my palm, letting my blood fall onto it. I can feel my dragon’s surprise. [Do you really want her to be reincarnated with you?]

Maybe. But like me, she was a puppet to a higher force. This whole mess was caused by an ancient mistake. In her next life, she will have her chance.

The ash slowly drifts out, but is then swept up by the wind, swirling and bunching together. Plumes of smoke form, and finally, they disperse, leaving no trace behind.

Fresh tears prick my eyes, and they drip to the ground. But this brings me back to the time when she told me I wasn’t her daughter, she was never my mother.

Anger bubbles from this revelation, rising to my throat. It fills my mind, making me inwardly twist and convulse. It boils, everything I’ve buried, emotions, words, thoughts, they join in, rebelling. The heat washes over me, grabbing my throat, suffocating me.

And I let it out with a scream.

A scream so loud, it echoes through the entire valley, causing birds to flee. A scream so filled with anger, hate, darkness, that every creature, human, big and small shudders, wondering who was causing this new force. Who had possibly so much power, besides their new hero.

And a thought passes through them all…

Is another war coming?

But I don’t care.

Why was I grieving?

She didn’t deserve my sadness for her.

She had plenty of chances to make everything up, to fix her mistakes, but she was too blind to see the.

[No, no, no. Do not fall down this path. Do not let it take you.]

But I’m too lost to hear it.

Somewhere, whether it was up in the sky, or down in the Earth, my mother smiles. Then laughs, a sound not pleasing, nor sexy, like the ones she used to do at those cursed parties. It’s the voice of a monster, fueled by my anger.

Realization hits me.

I had never won.

This was just the beginning.