22 Days Ago.

I was grabbed. The sound of sobbing was echoing into my ears. Everything was blurry, shaking as if it were in an earthquake. Everything was going to shit, and I felt like I was to blame.

“Jane! Please, stay with me… Please…” Someone familiar was crying, pulling me close to them. They felt warm, warmer than anything I’ve ever felt before. I enjoyed it, I wanted it. And it seemed like so did they.

“We have to get out of here, right now…” A ragged voice called out, and something grabbed me and the one who hugged me. They seemed to be very sporadic, as if their voice and touch were fading away, always so close yet so far away.

“Yes, we need to get away, far from you. I need to keep Jane safe-”

“She will be safe where we are going. Remember, Azhdaya? We will head into-”

“And what then? How much more will you ask? Samantha… She’s dead-”

“She’s dead because of the Caretaker. She’s the one who chose to attack her! She chose to bring her down, not me. Charlie, you are to be the right hand of the Harbinger! She cannot do this without you, she needs you, she needs us!”

I was carried, lifted off the ground as the two people walked away holding on to me.

“We will ensure her dreams continue, that her flame shall spread. Is that not what you want? Is that not why you killed the interloper?”

‘Charlie… Killed someone here for me?’

My heart fluttered a little as a smile grew on my face.

“I… I had to defend her! He was trying to kill her. I had to stop him or else… I can’t lose Jane, I can’t…” More crying was heard, yet for some reason, it soothed my heart.

“You will not lose her. Her power has grown far too much for that. But now the world has been alarmed by our doings. Others will come to hunt us down, to kill and end her permanently, and we have the privilege to defend her. What that interloper did was only just the beginning. The gods shall be upon us, and even more monsters shall rise. However… We shall not be alone. My brothers and sisters even now grow, and many others shall support the Harbinger; they shall be the tinder to the Eternal Flame that shall cleanse this world!”

‘Samantha… The Choir hasn’t fallen yet. I’ll make sure that even here, it lives on… For you.”

This world shall be cleaned. The filth that inhabited it shall be removed. A stain that shall be wiped away, no matter how many times I have to burn it. I will fix it… No matter what.

I closed my eyes, hearing all the screams and cries of those who had echoed through the Nawia, through the Smorodina. Those who have fallen, failed, and those who needed justice that never came.  I’ll make sure that they will be avenged. I will be the one to grant them the freedom they desire.

Everything went black once more, as my mind drifted off to sleep.

----------------------------------------

When I woke up, I was in a bed of flowers and fruits. The moon was shining through the sky, which was cloudless. All around me were tall trees, each with long branches filled with luscious leaves that swayed side by side with fruits such as apples and plums.

I turned side to side, finding large vines filled with even more flowers and fruit, all growing side by side. It was the image of the perfect garden. Deers pranced around with wolves, slowly wandering the area alongside bears, yet none of them seemed to be attacking each other, almost pacified in a sense.

In fact, I saw a wolf carefully walk over to someone just up ahead. I sat up, seeing that it was… Charlie? She was petting one of the deer, her eyes puffy with tear tracks still by her eyes.

I sat up, dusting the pollen off myself as I walked over to Charlie, raising my arms out at her. “Hey… What’s wrong?”

She recoiled in surprise, hugging the wolf, who turned towards me, growling softly before it sat down.

“Oh- Jane?!”

Charlie rushed, tackled, and hugged me, shaking almost as she leaned her head against my chest. “You’re alive…”

“Haha, well yeah! You think that bitch could keep me down? Nah, I’d win.”

The soldier laughed for a bit, sniffling as she wiped away her tears. “I thought, once you were consumed by that thing…”

My mind was inflamed. I remembered when that monster consumed me and Marian… It was controlled by someone else. It was controlled by Peter. For some reason, their powers went together like peanut butter and jam.

He completed me, and with him… I was even able to harm that dragon. He said that we could fight gods with that thing. With that kind of firepower, I would definitely be able to completely tear down Epithet and even rebuild everything else in its wake.

I clenched my fist; an ember burned strongly within my palm. I was unstoppable, well… Almost, but if we did it up here, no one would have an answer to us. We would essentially go unopposed!

I just need to find Peter again. I need his power, wherever he was… That should be where I should hear to next after I’m done with this quest.

“Well, guess I’m alive and well. Stronger than ever, too. You saw what I could do, right?”

Charlie nodded gingerly, scared almost. “You were like a war machine. You moved so fast against Marian and those flames… They reminded me of the missiles back at home.”

I grinned like a madwoman. “I’m a one-woman army now. It means you.” I poked her in the cheek. “Don’t have to fight anymore. You just need to cheer me on more than anything. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

“Y-Yeah- I guess so, but I don’t think that’s going to be very good here.” Charlie quickly let go of me, stabilizing her breath. “We’re in danger, very very big danger. I don’t even know what kind of danger we’re in, that’s how big of it we are in.”

“What are you talking about, Char? Why don’t you take a deep-“

“Champion of the Harbinger.”

The skies quake and the trees shake. All at once, the vegetation and plant life move aside, creating a massive barren spot in the middle of the garden. From the sky above came forth a massive darkness that moved like lightning, zig-zagging across the air until it crashed down upon the barren spot.

My eyes widened once more as I instinctively raised my arms and stood in front of Charlie.

In front of both of us was a massive crimson three-headed dragon. It looked like a copy of Zmey, but the undersides of their necks were yellow, and their eyes… They blazed gold as it stared us both down.

“You have my brother’s presence around you. How queer…”

That’s when I remembered: the dragon that stood guard over the garden, the brother of Zmey. The Keeper of Gold, and the steed of… What’s her face?

“You’re Azhdaya…” My immediate response was simple. I had to beat him, didn’t I? So, I covered my hands in flame, almost about to shoot him, when a vine shot up from the ground and wrapped around my arm.

“Do not be so hasty. I have arrived to simply congratulate you.”

“Con…Gratulate me? What do you mean? Why would you want to congratulate me?”

“Your actions have stirred up the world. From Nawia to Prawia, from the spirits of the dead to the gods themselves. I am quite impressed by such antics. Normally, this shall be where I scatter you into the dirt and render your body as a new plant in your Name. However, you will be able to bring forth a new age.”

Okay, now he was talking my style. I doused my flames and stared up at him. This was scary, horrifically so. When I was fused with Peter and Marian, his brother kicked our asses. Now I don’t even have that power. What was I even thinking?

Then, I turned around, finding Charlie still hiding behind me, shaking almost as I smiled. Oh, yeah, now I remember what I was thinking. How could I forget? I needed to protect her, no matter what.

She’s the only one that I care about left.

“For a thousand years, this land has wasted away. The gods have been locked out of Jawia, and monsters rule what remains. The Fae have grown tired, seeking wars amongst themselves now. The Mokoshians have started to band together to reclaim the remnants of civilization and the demons of old, those of the other worlds, they lie in wait in an attempt at redemption that may never come.”

His three heads leaned in closer, their eyes staring hard into my very being. “So you want me to… Burn them all away?”

He grinned with a strange expression, both of malice and of pleasure. “I wish you to start a fire to erase the ashes of the old world. We need to start anew, burn away the Eternal Storm, cull those who are a cancer to the land. And thus, yes, Harbinger’s Champion, I wish for you all to burn them away.”

“What do you get out of this then? What’s your game? Or are you just a fellow revolutionary?”

Azhdaya’s heads chuckled a little at that, his low voice reverberating throughout the garden. “I seek to bring back the land I roamed in once before. The land that my queen ruled over. It has degraded to a point of unrecognition. Such impunity needs to change. I am no revolutionary; to the contrary, I am quite the traditionalist, but our goals are aligned. I know you seek your other world, but this one needs your flame first.”

His heads wrapped around me like serpents, even though their necks were thicker than tree trunks. “And I am very willing to fan these flames of yours, to give all it needs to let it loose upon the ice and turn it asunder. What do you say to that? I aid in your quests, and in return, you burn those that plague this land.”

Did I really have to think about it? Why would I say no? Who could say no? I just saw what Zmey did, and he completely wrecked us when we were down there, but if someone like him was on our side? Well, might as well get all the help we need.

Galfania was just the gift that kept on giving, and I’m not going to look at it in the mouth. For Charlie’s protection, and for my dream. If this land has to burn away…

The echoes of the souls of the Smorodina begin to chant in my ear. They needed retribution. They wanted to be avenged. This land has been sullied for far too long, and me? Ahah, I might as well have been sent here to bring about the judgment that was required. That’s right…

I was the only Chosen to survive. The one who managed to fight back against Marian and live. I looked upon the dead and the damned, and they asked me to save them, to release them. This was my purpose, my destiny, and my fate.

I heard Charlie speak behind me, but only just barely. I couldn’t tell what she was saying, but I hope she knows that I’m doing this for her, for all of us.

With a smile upon my face, I stared up at the three-headed dragon and spoke.

“I accept! Let’s go and bring the flame back to Galfania!”