Hollowed Visions

Hollowed Visions Chapter 3
By Lady Valkyria Evermyst

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Chapter 3

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"Restless,
Breathless,
Depress,
Heartless.

That's how I see you.
The rottenless corpse of a living.
Cruel lies, what you say isn't true.
Slaying me with your killing.

Killing me slowly with your words.
Cutting me inside with your lies.
Burrying me under the flying birds.
Turning me inside out with your eyes.

You, An devil in an angel's dress.
Tear me up with fear.
What you cause, is just a mess.
Tell me what you want, I won't hear."

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She didn't sleep much that night. She couldn't.
Something didn't feel right. It spun her around and didn't really feel like it wanted to let her go.
She watched the window there in the darkness. Her mind overfilled with thoughts.
The expression her mother had worn, worried her. It didn't look like her.
Those eyes, those cold eyes that burned right through her soul like paper on fire.
Something felt wrong, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

Her thoughts got startled as three knocks were heard on her door.
Her vision turned to the screaming door as it ever so slowly opened.
In the flash of light, she closed her eyes, pretending to still be asleep.
Hard footsteps marched over the wooden floor towards the bed where she layed still.

"Get up!" A harsh voice commanded above her. But still, she layed still, she didn't want to move.
She didn't want to open her eyes to find out what exactly was going on.
"Loreley, get your lazy butt out of bed this second!" The voice kept calling to her.
But she, herself, just wanted to believe it was a bad dream, that she was still asleep.

But as the thoughts rushed through her mind, two strong hands grabbed a hold of her and sent her flying across the room.
Her back, hitting hard against the nearby wall, sending her to the ground with a loud thud.
The young elven girl, opened her eyes and gazed upon the dark haired woman standing by her bed.
She growled as she got up on her unsteady feet.

"what was that all about?" She muttered beneath her voice as her eyes searched deep within her mother's.
Dion frowned as she walked up to her young daugter, standing inches away.
"Watch your lips, Loreley. I told you we were heading out early this morning. but you....You lazy little brat,
you lay here in bed and rather be spending the day that way, wouldn't you, now?" Dion hissed in her face.
She could feel her anger boiling inside, all caused by her mother dear.

"Get off my back, mother. I never asked for this training, you always assumed i would like following
in your footsteps. but you were wrong. I am not a brutal killer, like you!" She screamed on top of her
lounges, and it ached inside her chest as if all the air inside her had disappeared.
She noticed how her mother's eyebrows lowered, and before she knew what hit her,
the burning palm of her mother slapped her across the face.
And as she looked back at her mother, she saw the anger and hate burning within her soul.

"ungrateful is what you are, Loreley. I'm doing you a favor by helping you train, but you find yourself
thinking that I want you to follow in MY footsteps? You are so wrong, Loreley! I'd never want anyone to follow
in my footsteps, at least not my only daughter." She stopped there, out of breath and heaving heavy.
"Oh shut up, mother." She muttered as she turned her back on Dion.

Her fragile hands reached out for the armour laying on the small table.
She hated that armour.
She knew where it had been and what the bearer had done while wearing it.

The armour was once her mother's.
Many many years ago, during the great elven war.
The blood of innocents had colored it in the color of dark wine red.
It had protected her from the harm that others might have caused her.
Loreley grew up on this story.
At first, she found it intresting and fun but as she grew older,
the tale seemed to make her hate her mother even more by each passing day.
That armour, it made her skin crawl just by looking at it.
She hated it so, and yet, she had to wear it.

Dion glared at her from the corner of her eye as she picked up the silver armour and looked at it.
she didn't want to put it on and let it be so close to her skin.
It felt like poison and it burned her skin.
But she could not put it away.
Her mother forced her to use it.
no matter what.

"Get a move on," Dion commanded in a harsh tone behind her,
a voice that brought shivers down her spine.
She hated that voice.
It seemed to have gotten colder and colder with each passing day.
Loreley didn't understand why she was in such a hurry.
She, herself, didn't feel much like practicing today.
But what choice did she have?

She sighed to herself as she let her sleeping gown fall to the floor, gathering in a bundle around her ankles.
She could feel her mother's cold eyes resting upon her back.
Her mark, she thought to herself, the mark of the cresent moon.
She ignored her mother as she slipped into the armour.
The cold metal against her light grey skin.
She sighed deeply as her skin crawled under neath the steel.
This armour, it's poison dripping onto her skin.
The Coldness Piercing through her body and making her shiver.
Her eyes closed as she tried to catch her breath.
She didn't feel up for this at all.
She wanted to escape but her life was surrunded by large brick walls that never would let her through.
Startled by the touch of her mother, she awoke from her deep thoughts.

"Come on, We do not have all day, Loreley." Her mother whispered in a low voice,
So low that Loreley barely could pick up her words.
She found herself nodding quietly as she grabbed her soft leather boots.
They felt cold to the touch, just like everything else this morning.
She watched as her naked feet slipped inside them.
The soft leather wraped gently around her warm skin.
She turned to look straight into her mother's eyes which gazed upon her.

"Let's go then," Loreley muttered
Dion didn't answer her, just turning to the door.
Loreley sighed, everything just seemed so wrong.

She reached out for her sword, the cold steel fitting perfectly in her small delicate hand.
She allowed herself to swing it onfront of her, the sword moved through the air,
cutting through it like hot steel in the snow.
She smiled as she let it slide into the sheath on her left side.
It did make her feel a little better, and safer to know she had her old trusty sword by her side.

Loreley raised her head to the sky as she stepped outside their house.
The sky was covered up in dark grey clouds, like a dark omen hanging over her head.
"This is not good...." She mumbled to herself.
She lowered her head to see her mother had allready started to leave the mountain city.
Quickly, she followed, the soft leather hiting the rocky mountain ground beneath her.

She turned the corner by the city gate, Her mother had stop on the path,waiting for her slow daughter.
"Come on, Get a move on, Loreley!" Dion yelled in a high pitch.
Loreley ignored her harshess and kept walking slowly down the mountain side.
She Walked passed Dion in a slow pace as she kept her head high, her braid waving slowly in the wind behind her.
"You know mother, It doesn't really hurt if we walk instead of running. I don't wanna be caught in Midian
anyways." She said, with a small giggle in her voice.
She could hear a growl from her mother behind her as she kept walking.
She really didn't care.
All she wanted to do was to get this over with, go home and get some rest.

As they reached the forest of Midian, she came to a hault.
Everytime she reached the forest, something just creeped underneath her skin and made
her skin crawl.
She couldnt see anyone through the forest, thought, it was yet early and the mist
layed like a great white blanket on the forest ground.

"Do you see anything?" Dion asked as she stepped up beside her youngster.
Loreley shook her head slowly, of course she couldnt see anything cos of the stupid mist.
She didn't like that fact that there might be Elves lurking out there,
just waiting to jump them once they stepped into their forest.
"What are you waiting for?" Dion hissed as she gave her daughter a light push.
She stumbled unsteadily forward, turning quickly to her mother with a frown on her face.
Her eyes turned dark red as she lowered her eyebrows.
"Why did you do that?! You know as well as I do that we're in deep trouble if we get caught in
Midian Forest!" She Screamed, growling loud as she pushed her mother.

Surprised by her daughter's action, Dion fell on her buttocks on the wet grass below.
She rubbed the back of her neck, as if still in surprised that her daughter would even do such a thing.
"if you keep on screaming like that, Loreley, no wonder we'll get caught...." Dion mumbled under her breath.
Loreley ignored her and stepped into the mist.

Though her vision weren't as good as it should have been within the elven forest, that didn't stop her from moving forth.
She could feel the cold wet grass running over her light grey skin with ever step she took further into the forest.
Everything was so quiet, just the birds singing on top of the treetops and the sound of her own footsteps.
Her mother were no were to be seen or heard.
Not that she really did mind. she liked being alone for a little while without no one to bother her with their questions.
She lowered her head to walk her feet move through the wet grass, and a small smile slowly appeared on her lips.
Why she was smiling, she wasn't even sure herself.
But in a way, it felt good to be out there underneath the branches of the trees, listening to the birds sing and the mist,
dancing around her feet.

She knew she would soon approch the training grounds, and another day of fighting her mother would begin.
But to her surprise, in the mist, she could faintly see the silouette of someone leaning against a tree.
She Pressed her body against the trunk of an nearby tree, hoping not to have been seen.
Her eyes narrowed, in hope of seeing who it was, standing there.
But no such luck.
All she could see was the blurry figure of someone there by the tree.
She stood quiet, trying not to breath, trying not to make a sound.
What if it was an elf, she thought to herself.
Though, when she thought about it, of course she might be able to fight of one singel elf.
But then again there might be more hiding somewhere nearby.

She sighed softly, not really certain what to do at the current time.
Should she sneak away like a coweredly little rat?
Or take up the fight?
As she stood there thinking, her thoughts got interupted by the sound of a deep male voice.
He Called out to her by name, her blood turned to ice by the sound of his voice, which echoed through
the trees around her.
He must have seen me, she thought as she stood close to the cold tree.
She thought bout running, but her feet didn't let her.

"Come out, Come out,where ever you are." The voice taunted her.
She wanted so badly to run away, but her feet didn't respond to the cowerdly act.
She took a hard grip around her sword as she breathed deeply.
She had no choice but to step foth and fight if that was what she had to do.
Out from her hidding space she stepped, her sword in her hand.

"I am Loreley Akon, Daughter of Dion Akon, What is it you want from me, and how do you know my name?!"
She Questioned the stranger in the mist.
By the tree, behind the little pond with the log over, there stood a tall man.
His hair was spiky and with large bangs infront of his face,
The color in a gradiant from red to yellow, like flames upon his head.
His eyes pierced through her body, with the color of bright bloody red.
Upon his shoulders, he wore large metal shouldepads, with metal spikes.
Underneat, a deep red cap held together by a blue orb.
He staired deep into her eyes, and she felt her feet taking a step back.

"I've been waiting for you, Loreley." He softly spoke, taking a step forth, The grass parting under his feet.
She stood still, watching him approche her.
But before she could even blink, she felt a blow to her body, and found herself pushed up against the trunk of a tree.
The stranger stood before her, his hands supporting his leaning body, as he leaned close to her, inhaling her scent.
She tried to get away, but no use. His eyes burring deep into hers.
She closed her eyes to avoide his, "this isn't happening," She told herself in her mind.
But she quickly snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a high pitched laughter from behind the stranger.
Out of the mist stepped a shadow, no, this was a person she knew.
It was Dion, whom wore a large smile upon her lips.

"MOM!" Loreley yelled out, reaching out her hand to her.
but Dion ignored her.
The man infront of her smiled and looked over his shoulder.
"She will be just perfect," he said, grining widely.
Perfect? for what? she asked herself.
She shook her head and tried to force her way past him.
But he didn't let her go.
"calm down," he whispered in her ear,"no one is going to hurt you."
Her eyes opened wide and staired straight into his.
What on earth was going on?
why didn't her mother help her?
"what's going on? Mom?" She pleaded, but no one listened.

Dion stepped closer, standing beside the young man.
He couldn't be more than a few years older than Loreley.
"You see, Loreley. You're going to help me." He explained in a low voice, as her mother leaned on his shoulder.
"I dont wanna help you with anything!!!" She hissed.
"oh, dear dear Loreley," He said as he stroked her cheek. "just calm down. nothing's going to happen to you..." He assured her.
"Just let me go!" She screamed on top of her loungs.
She had such a bad feeling bout this.
"Just calm down and relax, my dear." but his words did not help.
and before he and Dion knew anything, she got away from his grip.

She ran as fast as she could through the forest, she couldn't hear any footsteps following her.
but she didnt want to stop to find out.
She could feel her heart beating ever so hard in her chest, with ever passing step.
She looked over her shoulder, but saw no one.
but to her own surprise, she tripped on a rock that layed in her path, and fell flat on her face,
hitting her head against a rock on the ground.
The world got black around her, as her vision blurred.
what now, would they find her there upon the forest grounds?
with the blood running slowly from her forehead.
she didn't know as she fell deep into unconsiusness.


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End of Chapter 3

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