Role

Chapter 1

Charrooth crouched, panicking, in the shadow of the Inn's wall, trying to make
herself as small as she could. A lone mare, still tied to the hitching post,
whinnied crazily and kicked against her tether, while the other horses had
freed themselves and disappeared into the smoky cacophony that enveloped them
all. Screams battered her ears, the smoke of burning trash (and worse) seared
her eyes, and when the wind shifted she could feel the heat of the growing
fire against the back of her tightly folded wings. Her breath was ragged and
low, and the fire seemed to be growing inside her lungs, as well, just like
the flames of fear rampaging within her. The orcs had come to Easthaven, and
she was trapped in the Hell that followed.

She squeezed Airik's hand tightly in hers and looked into his eyes, hoping to
find support. What she saw, though made her breath catch in her raw, smoky
throat. There was only fear in those beautiful, amethyst eyes - they bordered
on a wild, mindless, animal fear that mirrored the horse that still whined
terribly behind them. A maniacal, ethereal sensation of hopelessness crashed
over her in a hurricane of emotion and she felt (or did she know?) that he was
already lost to her. Her dear, sweet Airik was gone. But no, he was right
here, with her, wasn't he? Lost for merely an instant in her bewilderment,
Charrooth was brought back to herself by the low sound of friction and a
sickening emptiness in her hand, which now held only a few bright feathers.
She looked up from her now empty hand and watched, in excruciating slow
motion, as the love of her young life ran deliriously into the carnage the
orcs had wrought. As the smoke and noise consumed him, Charrooth could only
scream - "Airik, no!!!"

"No, no, Airik, no!" she cried softly into her bedroll as she pulled herself
out of her nightmares and into the cold, haunted pre-dawn air of her Academy
bunk. Confident that nobody else was yet awake, she allowed herself a few more
moments to cry before she quietly got herself up and ready. The others would
not see the stormclouds of pain and loss that darkened the skies of her heart.
Charrooth would sleep no more this morning, she knew, so she might as well
return to her training.