Going Home: Part 9
Through pain, glory.
Welcome to my little corner of the internet! I’m so glad you’re here. Below you’ll find part nine of my fantasy short story Going Home. It’s about a young girl named Nani who gets tangled up in fate, tradition, and a giant hole in the ground that leads… somewhere else.
At the end of this post (and most of my other ones), you’ll find a song I picked out that I feel matches the mood of this chapter. I encourage you to give it a listen!
Want to start at the beginning instead? Here you go:
Pain was the worst part of being brave, Nani decided.
The demon’s arms were wrapped around her, and its claws had sliced through clothes and skin in several different places. The wounds radiated heat, and she could feel her blood flow freely as they careened downward in the darkness.
The demon was not escaping unscathed, however. Wherever she touched it with the feather, its skin bubbled and hissed, as though it were being burned. It lashed out with its tail, catching her on her side. She gasped in pain, desperately fighting off the next attack with her strange weapon.
Nani felt the attacks getting weaker as she pressed the feather again and again against its chest and face. Eventually it stopped struggling entirely, letting go of her. It began to glow a dim red color, like coal giving away the last vestiges of its heat. The light illuminated their surroundings, or rather the lack thereof. Nani could see only darkness in every direction.
She pushed the creature away from her, and it rolled to the side. They fell that way for a while, until the demon began to disintegrate, crumble, like paper left out in a storm. Nani watched as it flaked away, the light dimming until the blackness consumed her once again.
Devoid of the stimulus from the fight, and again in total darkness, she turned her focus to the sensation of falling. Time seemed to slow down. She could feel each beat of her heart, could feel each drop of blood that left her body. And the burning! Oh, how her wounds burned. She could do nothing now but fall. She worried idly about landing while traveling at such a high speed, but it was a far away worry, almost like it belonged to someone else. The pain should have made it impossible to sleep, but her eyelids grew heavy anyway. The numbness of sleep called to her, like the open arms of a lover. Nani gave in easily; surrendering herself to an unconsciousness that was deeper than any she had ever known.
Awareness crept up on Nani like a thief in the night. At first, there was only a soft light, shining against her closed eyelids. She turned her head and tried to ignore it, content to sleep forever if Father would let her. Her face brushed against something soft and unfamiliar. That was odd; her pillow had never felt like that before. Wait. Pillow? That was wrong. Her father wouldn’t be here either, she thought.
She forced her eyes open, trying to puzzle out where she was, or at least how she had gotten there. She remembered a dream about falling. And a lizard. Only, no, those things weren’t dreams. Her memories slowly returned to her. She was inside N’Uata. Nani inhaled sharply, looking around quickly for any sign of the demon. She thought it had been destroyed, but she didn’t want to take a chance. There was nothing around though. Nothing she could see, at least.
The only light came from something directly beneath her. It was the soft thing she was lying on. She pushed herself to her knees, wincing in anticipation of pain that never arrived. She remembered the agony she felt during her fall, but now there was nothing. She didn’t feel good, exactly, but there was instead a lack of feeling. The thing beneath her stirred, breaking her train of thought. She hopped off, landing on solid ground beside it. The white bundle stood up, revealing itself to be a crane. Nani was oddly certain that it was the same one she had seen before tackling the demon.
“Oh,” Nani said. “You again… hello.” The crane spread its wings, then lowered its head in what looked like a bowing motion. Nani was confused for a minute, but then clumsily returned the gesture.
“Hello, Nani,” the crane said. Its voice was kind but strong, the sort of voice that would be at home commanding armies or comforting the young. She gasped, caught between horror and delight. Maybe she had hit her head when she landed?
“Wait, how are you…” she stammered. “Am I…hmmm…” She closed her eyes tightly for three seconds, then reopened them. The crane stood there, looking at her. Nani shrugged. “Are you Ki’Kiri?” The bird made a low sound in its throat. It sounded like a laugh to Nani.
“No,” it said. “Though I am here to escort you to Heaven, brave girl. You may call me Key.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Key,” Nani said, not sure how else to answer. She looked around. The immediate area was well lit now that the crane was standing, as though the darkness was afraid to get too close. She saw a crumpled shape lying near the edge of the light. “Is that… the demon?” she asked, suddenly afraid to go and see for herself. The feather she had used was gone now.
“Demons do not leave much behind when they die, young one,” Key responded. Nani shivered, thankful that she landed on the bird. She turned away, not wanting to know what pour soul had fallen before her. Looking past Key, she saw that they stood close to where their outcropping of rock ended. She walked to the edge and looked down; darkness greeted her once again.
“Does N’Uata have a bottom?” she asked.
“No, but it does have an end,” Key replied. “Come, we must head down to complete our task. Stay brave, Nani, for the way ahead is dark.” He knelt down, clearly expecting her to climb up. Nani hesitated for a moment, then moved back to him.
“I thought you said you were taking me to Heaven?” she asked as she scrambled to the top of the bird.
“I am,” he said. “But the road ahead is hard. Through pain, glory.”
Suggested music for Part 9: A Race For Our Autonomy by MAE
Keep reading! Part 10 is ready, for you!
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