A Cold Book

Crimson red is all I see, Jonathon tries to pull me away from the body, at least I think it’s Jonathon, but all I can see is red.

Screams, I hear screaming, an echo of my own sobs as the sword ripped through his flesh.

I inch closer to the lifeless man in the snow.

A hand around my arm, I stop and look down at the hand holding me.

“I’ve got this one”, Jonathon grips my arm firmly, his calm voice is betrayed by the panic I see the flicker in his eyes.

I can’t seem to find any words, I don’t really want too. No words would bring him back, what was the point in words now?

I shrug his arm off me, inching closer to the body in the snow.

Everything in me hoped I was wrong, that I would get closer to the fallen soldier and realise it was not him. I should have known better, I should have known there is no room for hope in the life of a solider.

I stand next to him and my heart drops to my stomach, it’s him and he is dead. I drop to my knees and feel the tears begin to swell.

My father’s voice rings through my ears,

“You are human, you are a soldier for the Fae, you do not have the luxury to love”, I stormed out of the house that day. I should have listened to him.

God, I was such a fool, this was all my fault, I killed him, I did this. I’m not sure how much time had passed, I hadn’t realised I started crying until Jonathon started talking to me. How long had he been sat next to me?

“We have to move, it isn’t safe here”, Jonathon tries to pry me away, but I can’t bear to leave him.

“Come on Aria, we have to move”, I shrug his hands off of me and fall into the snow. My breath hitches and I begin to sob. I can’t believe he is gone, and his blood continues to seep through the snow. My sobs build into a scream and I feel a hot sensation rush through my body. Where is this heat coming from? What is happening to me? The ice around me begins to melt.

Jonathon grabs my shoulders and forces me to look into his eyes, his hands are so cold, is that steam radiating from where his hands were on my body?

“Aria, I need you to breathe, listen to me, you need to trust me”

“Wh-What is happening?”, I manage to say in-between sobs.

“I need you to trust me, we have to get out of here”, also Jonathon speaks I feel a chill set over my body.

My mind is racing with questions, was that magic? Did I have magic? I thought magic was dead and I’m only human, I must be going mad.

Thoughts run wild when a little black book in the melted snow catches my eye. Mindlessly I pick it up.

I recognise the handwriting immediately, this book belonged to my love who now lay lifeless in the snow.

“What is that?”, I hear Jonathon ask.

“I don’t know”, I respond under my breath.

I flick through the pages and a small envelope falls out. I open the envelope and look at Jonathon in shock.

“What”, is all Jonathon offers up to me.

I hand the envelope to him.

“Holy shit, there must be at least 20 grand in here”.

I look at Jonathon, “what was he doing with all that cash?”

Jonathon pulls out a note addressed to me and hands it to me.

I take a deep breath and open the note:

‘MY DEAREST ARIA,

If you are reading this, then what I fear the most has come to pass. You are important Aria and they know that. Take this cash and run. I wish I could tell you more, but it’s just not safe yet. Trust no one and run.

All my love,

Your dearest love.’

I sit in shock, what is happening? Why was I important? I’m just a solider, just a human in a world run by gods and Fae. I was no one, there must have been a mistake.

I stand to my feet and look to the north, the land of the Fae, humans don’t dare step foot in their kingdom, but if the legends were true, the Fae were able to glance into the future. They were the only ones who could help me.

“Where are you going?” I hear a voice ring behind me.

“To get answers”, I continue to walk.

“Shit-“ Jonathon puts the cash in his pocket and follows after me.

“I can do this alone-“

“He was my friend too”, I see a flicker of grief in Jonathon’s eyes. I can’t let myself think about how he must be hurting too, I can’t deal with any more grief than I am already carrying. However, I can’t deny that it would be helpful to have an extra sword while walking into the belly of the beast.

“Let’s go see the Fae”.