~*~

Once they got back to the dwelling place, Cobra tried to help them unload the sled, but being as she knew nothing of where things went, she soon stopped. Yehella and her companions did not speak at all, and the virgin silence seemed to be something not to be broken by a question of where things went.

Once they were inside, Yehella and her companions exchanged a few low-toned words, so Cobra then asked her question again.

“Could I please see if you have something with which I can contact my friends? I know I’m nothing but a burden and I am sure that they miss me.”

Yehella cast her eyes downward then looked up. “Wait a bit, please.”

Cobra cursed herself inwardly for thinking of starting this foolish trip. She should have tried to work things out rather than to flee from them.

But what if this was her fate? Staying on a desolate frozen planet, living here in caves until she died? That was not the fate she hoped for. Indeed she was mortal with mortal hopes, but somehow it would seem that her hopes would change something, somehow.

Yehella made a motion for her to follow, so she did. She was led into a rather empty room that had a bed with many blankets, a light much like the lights in the main room only with a shade over it, and a bolt on the door.

“This is where you will be sleeping. The light will keep your room heated for you. We will wake you when necessary.” With that she left, and Cobra heard her lock the door from the outside.

Kneeling beside the bed, she closed her eyes and prayed in her original language. She had much to understand about fate and its whims, and she was sure that her own mind would not lend her the answers she sought. Besides, this was a tradition.

A tradition. Was not her attempt to leave her troubles against “tradition”? Was it nothing less than cowardly to flee? Wouldn’t in her past “traditions” she ever consider such an act?

A loud bang interrupted the melodic words that flowed out of her mouth. She opened her eyes, but decided to leave well enough alone. Closing her eyes, she started praying again.

A scream broke her prayers. Leaping up from a kneeling position to a standing position with one move she clutched at her head. The scream was only in her head, she knew it.

But the screaming continued, and in her mind she saw some unidentified rabbit kneeling beside the still form of another…was it Yehella? Or was she the one mourning her companion?

She set upon the door in a frenzy of mixed rage and sorrow. It was locked, but she did a thrusting kick and thanked her Deity that they had used nails rather than screws on the hinges as she ran down the passageway.

Something inside her told her to not delay. She felt her eyes become an ever-changing mix of fiery hues, but her shame of her appearance was hidden from her. It was if the sudden surge had forced her to stop her trivial worries.

In the main room she saw a tall, brown-furred creature with long arms and legs holding one of Yehella’s companions by his throat. Yehella was on her knees, crying for him to leave but the creature only laughed.

Her eyes burned a more vibrant color as the rage built up inside her. Her feet hardly seemed to touch the ground as she moved towards the creature.

He did not see her, being as his back was turned. Pulling out a sharp metal object, he stabbed it into the back of the rabbit’s neck. Yehella screamed, and everything seemed to be red.

The rage within her made her ache. Something told her to contain it, but she could not do it…

She reached out her hand. No longer was she running, but something still propelled her further.

Tongues of fire leaped out of her outstretched hand and at the creature who roared in pain. Turning, it set its yellow eyes upon her and reached out one hand to give her a blow that would shatter her skull.

But the blow never hit.

She had closed her eyes after the first attack and tried to calm herself down. But something in her seemed to take over as she stretched out her arms and a fiery aura surrounded her.

It all seemed so quiet, so still…then reality hit again.

The beast let out one cry that was quickly cut short as the flames consumed him, leaving no ashes.

Opening her still-flaming eyes, she saw Yehella and the others staring at her in horror. She looked down and saw that she was levitating three feet off the ground.

Yehella and the others gasped as the saw her cover her shining eyes and sink to the floor with shaking limbs. The fire in her eyes slowly died, and the aura was long gone.

She cursed her inability to control her rage. She cursed her inability to control her birthright, her power.

But she mostly cursed herself for letting her secret be known.

~*~

The end is near...!