May 26th, 2016.
It was a raven that woke her.
A beautiful one that landed atop a boulder not to far from the spot Kiaravell had remained unmoving from for the past sixty days. She stared at it. It seemingly stared back before letting out a caw that echoed throughout the mountain. And then it left, just as the first rays of sun graced the earth. Kiaravell watched it go, something tugging at her heart.
Kiaravell rose up unshakily, willing her feet to bring her to the edge. From there, she could already see it. The place she'd left without so much as a word to anyone. Memories flooded her then; of snarky demons and wayward swordsmen. Of top hats and burnt eggs. Of a beautiful fountain sat amongst shady trees, where friends of all shapes and sizes came to gather almost every day.
Kiaravell looked down at her arms. They were covered in bite marks- her own. How she'd managed to stay alive without feeding for so long. Shame filled her. She cursed her weakness; for having let this pain drive her to breaking point- to the edge of sanity. For making her believe that she had nothing left. She did.
And so, after wrapping her arms with black bandages to hide any traces of what she'd done to herself, Kiaravell erected a small monument in memory of her people. There, she left a single black feather. This would always be her birthplace, that she knew. But it did not necessarily have to be her home. Kiaravell turned to the direction the raven had flown, just as the first rays of sun graced the earth.
The Black Angel returns.
• • •
Her Disappearance
March 23rd, 2016.
The Black Angel's illusion is shattered.
For the past couple of months, Kiaravell has been returning to what she thought was her former home; the kingdom of Impiria. It looked every bit as pristine as she remembered. She was told that she'd cursed them by abandoning her duty to to the kingdom. That it was the reason why time passed by and not a single one of them had aged. She believed it. No matter how painful it was or how difficult it would be to revert back to her old life, Kiaravell was willing to do it. It was far better than being alone.
But it was all a lie. One day, when the Black Angel returned to her so-called kingdom, she saw only a desolate mountain full of ruins. Reality. Of course, she didn't realise it immediately. No, it took hours for the truth to sink in and when it did, the Black Angel wept for hours more. She tried to deny it, thinking of how painful it had been when she was whipped for her crimes. But there were no marks on her back. Not one. Her kingdom was a thing of the past; gone. It was what she, too, believed before having been tricked by such a cruel illusion. Once the tears had dried, all she could think was; Who?
On March 26th, the Black Angel disappeared.
