Ludana was nervous as she followed behind the senior priestess that she had shadowed throughout the entirety of her training.

“It is natural to feel nervous,” Herina said to her without turning around, Ludana was somewhat disappointed in herself that she hadn’t hidden it well enough from her mentor. “I was nervous the first time I had gone out with my mentor, this is a dangerous calling for us Ludana. Yet, we must also remember that we are necessary to preserve the balance between life and death and must be ready to go wherever we are called with love and courage in our hearts.”

“I understand teacher,” Ludana replied as she straightened herself up from the hunching that she’d been doing since they had entered the village. She hadn’t been able to help it, it was an eerie thing, that there were no people outside to greet them, although she was sure that they may have been observing the two women from what was hopefully the safety of their homes.

It didn’t help that this was occurring during a moonless night, they would have been surrounded by shadows if it wasn’t for the lit lanterns that were strewn along the streets, high above their heads. She hated the feelings that her surroundings dredged up, it reminded her of a life that felt so long ago…until it had been ripped away from her.

#

“You’re so cute when you do that Sage!” Ludana giggled at the gift that she had received from her recently celebrated eighth birthday. The brown and white bunny was currently chewing on his dinner in their garden. She had been told repeatedly by her parents not to do that as he might go after the rest of their crops, but he seemed to be so happy to be outside that she didn’t want to make him sad by keeping him inside all the time.

Suddenly, Sage stopped chewing and lifted his head up, ears and nose twitching before he seemed to shrink into himself, almost like he was scared of something.

“Sage?” She asked with concern. Sage only looked at her and darted over before butting his head against hers, she rose from where she had been laying on her stomach and picked him up gently. “What’s wrong?” That was when she felt it, a clutching feeling in her stomach, like the time she threw up from having too many sweets, but this felt way scarier.

She then felt the wind pick up and heard voices rising from near the village outskirts, she quickly scooped up her friend and ran inside the house.

“Mother!” she shouted as she slammed the door shut behind her. “Something is happening outside! The people near the outskirts are yelling! And the wind is acting funny!”

Her mother closed her mouth, no doubt opening it to yell at her for slamming the door; instead her face became frightened. She said nothing and ran to the window, looking side to side frantically at the sky.

“No…” She gasped and backed away from the window and began to head to the front door.

“Mother?” She had questioned as she followed behind. Her mother startled slightly as if only just remembering that she existed.

“Ludana,” her mother’s voice was soft. “Do you remember the stories I have told you? About the creatures of the darkness?” She could only nod as she carefully held Sage closer to her.

“The sky is unnaturally dark for the day time and it doesn’t appear that a storm is coming,” her mother said. “Your father is at the butcher’s, I will go and retrieve him, while I am gone,” she walked over in the direction of Ludana’s bedroom, the little girl following, knowing exactly what her mother wanted her to do. Her mother reached under the bed and pulled the false floor back to reveal a hidden hiding place.

“You, and Sage,” her mother had added upon a glance at the now shaking bunny. “Must stay inside here until your father and I come for you. Do you understand?”

Ludana could only nod, her fear overwhelmed her ability to speak as she did as her mother told her, she held Sage in one hand and carefully lowered herself down the small ladder that led into the makeshift shelter. It hadn’t been comfortable to sit in, it was so small that she could only sit with her legs crossed with Sage in her lap and leaning forward slightly. She only stared straight ahead into the darkness in fear as she heard her mother slide the false floor back into place.

Time meant nothing to the small child as she continued to stare off into nothing as she petted Sage, concentrating only on the soft fur. Even now she could never say if she was doing it to comfort him, or herself. She had not even been able to hear anything going on above, not even the footsteps her mother made as she walked away. She became uncomfortable after a while, only made worse when she became hungry and her parents still hadn’t returned for her.

She knew that she shouldn’t disobey a serious order from her parents, but surely they would forgive her if she came out for only a moment for something small to tide her over? She had spent some time debating inwardly about what she should do; eventually the hunger pains in her stomach proved too much for her and she reached up with a free hand and attempted to lift the false flooring that concealed her hiding place, but she wasn’t strong enough with one arm, she placed Sage in her lap in order to attempt to use both arms to lift, however, she still hadn’t been strong enough. Panic trickled through her, what if her parents never returned? Would she starve to death? Or would one of the other villagers come to look for her first?

Nausea built up too, how long did it take for someone to die of hunger? Her stomach already hurt now, how much more was it going to hurt if she didn’t eat soon? Her musings were interrupted by the sounds of footsteps coming from above, could her parents be back? She picked Sage back up into her arms and waited with a smile on her face. However, the smile fell as soon as the light of a lantern shone on her, and she could see that her visitors weren’t her parents.

The young woman was quite pretty and looked nice, but she didn’t know if she could trust her, she couldn’t remember if her parents had ever told her if the evil creatures looked human or if they could make themselves look like people.

“Oh you poor thing, how long have you been here?” She asked. Ludana shrank back a little and said nothing, but Sage managed to poke his head up to sniff at the intruder.

“What an adorable animal! How long have you had him?” When she still didn’t respond, the woman reached with an open palm towards her own shoulder and Ludana could vaguely see something small hop down and the lady moved her hand to show it to her. It was a small sparrow, its tiny black eyes looking at her with curiosity.

“This is Loopy, I’ve had him since I was a little girl, I named him that because he likes to make loops in the air, I can show you if you want; you just have to trust me.” The lady was patient and the sparrow was still, as if mirroring her patience. Ludana waited a second before she finally spoke, deciding that if she had an animal, then surely she wasn’t something bad?

“His name is Sage, because it’s his favorite food,” she managed to get out; she thought she was being quiet but she was heard anyway.

“What a nice name,” the lady smiled. “But he doesn’t look like he’s happy being in there in the dark.”

“He likes being outside,” she had raised her voice a little louder. “It’s when he’s happiest.”

“If you let me help you out of there, he can be happy again.” Loopy seemed to sense his friends’ intentions and flew from her palm. Ludana’s hands shook, but instead of grabbing the woman’s hand, she indicated that Sage go first.

“I don’t want to hurt him by accident coming out,” she said before the woman offered her other palm as well and Sage was carefully placed in her hands. He was then handed over to someone that she couldn’t see and she grabbed the hands as soon as they reappeared. Once she was fully out, Sage was handed over to her by a man wearing a uniform; the lady, however, was wearing some kind of robes that she’d never seen before, but she did recognize the sigil on the chest, everyone did.

“Is there anyone else alive?” She figured it was easier to just cut to the chase, it would hurt less.

“You are the only one we have found at present,” was the sympathetic reply. Deep down, even so young she knew that finding anyone else, including her parents, was quite unlikely.

“No one else had the time,” she thought that she’d whispered it but apparently she’d been heard.

“Pardon?” She almost jumped, but regained her composure.

“Sage was acting funny earlier, then the wind picked up and so I ran inside and mother told me to stay in the hiding place until she and father came back.”

“I see, you’re a brave girl,” the lady had a small smile. “What’s your name?”

“Ludana.”

“I am Herina.”

#

Yes, she owed her mentor a lot; she had no doubt that both she and Sage would have starved to death in the hiding place had Herina not been looking for survivors.

That was why she needed to be strong, to not put Herina’s time and effort to waste.