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goddessofeternity · 3 years

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Chronicles of the Supernovas: Chosen

Chapter 4: Looming Danger

Ka'seem

“Oh my Lord~”

“You’re so big...and good with your hands~”

“Don’t ignore me~”

The room continued to fill with giggles as I settled further into the mountain of pillows and blankets on the large bed. Women from all across the cosmos came to this temple to please me and receive my “blessing”. They were quite generous with their love. It was suffocating at times, but that was mostly because breasts were thrown in my face. If I could die...that would be the way to go. I had a practically energetic woman riding my cock at the moment. I ran my hands up her thick dark thighs before sighing in content as she cried out on top of me. Another woman licked down my neck before she moved down to nibble on my nipple. I kept my fingers moving as a brunette was close to unraveling from my finger play. A sudden tongue going down my throat was very appreciated as I thrust up in my bouncing lady.

“Oh my Lord! You’re fantastic!” I smirked against my fevered kiss as I rolled my hips into her as she came back down, sparking her climax. I held the woman I was kissing closer as I had my own orgasm. The woman I had been fingering also had her release as I felt her tighten up on my fingers. I stopped my fevered kiss and sank into the pillows with a satisfied smile. A few of the women groaned and whined as they wanted a turn.

“Now now ladies...let me catch a second wind. We’ve been at this for the last 9 hours. I’ll make sure to please you all soon.”

I laughed and leaned my head back and was about to close my eyes when I saw something that made my balls shrivel up. I swallowed nervously as the room grew dark and objects in the room started to float. The woman looked around in fear and moved off the bed. They didn’t get far as they were also lifted up. I moved to sit up but the sheets suddenly wrapped around my arms and legs and throat, pinning me to the bed. I swallowed hard as my sexy, but a scary member of my pantheon floated down from the balcony.

“H-Hey Laetoria...how are you beautiful?” I chuckled nervously as she hovered over me, staring fiercely at me from behind her glasses. Her cat ears and tail twitched in an agitated manner as she stayed silent. The women around me suddenly dropped to the floor and ran off.

“Why are you speaking...as if you don’t know why I’m here?” Her eyes were slitted angrily as she growled deep in her throat. Honestly, she was super cute when she was mad, but I really didn’t want a repeat of the last time I made her mad. I shivered just thinking about that encounter again.

“Listen Tori...I think I just needed a break. My loyal followers needed a visit from their Go-“ I didn’t finish my terrible lie as the blankets tightened around my throat. Her green eyes glowed intensely and she pulled me up close to her face.

“Stop. Neglecting. Your. Job!”

“Y-Yes ma’am!” Satisfied with my answer, she tossed me onto the bed. I coughed and held my throat as she threw my clothes at me. Her animal instincts really brought the anger out of her, and I loved every second of it. I quickly got dressed as she waited for me by the door, my followers were whining behind the door before she scared them off.

“Come on Ka’seem...it doesn’t take long to get dressed.” She slowly turned her head to look at me, but I was already dressed at watching her with a smirk on my face. “What is it now?”

“Just thinking about how pretty you are…” I slowly walked over to her and stood in front of her. I tilted her head up as I gazed into her eyes. “You really want to get back to work? There are millions of different things we could do. Like for example, we can-”

The knee to my groin silenced me the entire trip back to my temple. She must be in heat or something. This level of abuse is just uncalled for.

“Maybe you should do your duties then…”

“Huh? Oh, you can read minds now?”

“No that’s just what your face is telling me.” I slowly sat behind my desk as she gave me a bag of ice. Before I could even utter a thank you, she slammed a stack of paperwork in front of me. “Now get to work and only call me if you’re done or need more ice.”

“Ok ok…” I grumbled as I grabbed my pen and began the boring part of my duties. Laetoria left without another word and I looked over at my open window forlornly. Sneaking out would be a death sentence and my reputation as an escape artist was damaged forever because of Laetoria.

“If you would just get your work done I wouldn’t have to drag you back every single time. Before you say anything, sleeping with women is not essential to your job as the God of pleasure.”

“I like to be hands-on with my godly approach.”

“Good. So you’ll have no problem signing all these documents.” I really walked into that one. With a triumphant smirk, Laetoria walked out with a delicate swish of her tail. I had to admit every time that she was right. I just liked to be rebellious and a bit difficult about it. My mother was still surprised at how difficult I could be despite my status. What fun would it be if I wasn’t myself? Speaking of my mother, I had planned to visit the family sometime soon. She would hound everyone she could find so she could spend time with me.

“Crazy woman…” I did like to check up on my home from time to time. It only made sense that I would, considering that I had become their patron God. The royal family has been doing quite good since the proclamation of my status. I received way too many gifts from Scantilla over the years. I was glad that my family had stopped being vain about the whole thing. I chuckled as I stamped my symbol on some documents, having a God in the family became such a big deal. I was actually embarrassed about it for a while. There was a lot of bias and favoritism in the beginning, but I like to think I chilled out a bit. I nibbled on my pen as I frowned over what I was seeing.

An overpopulated planet hadn’t been on the agenda for quite a bit of time and dealing with one was never fun to deal with. In most cases, a god of war or some other disaster would show up to thin out the masses. I just hated signing off on it like it was some simple task. Some order was needed in the universe, yes, but this part of the job sucked ass. I know Lady Serafina never felt too happy about this sort of thing too, but overpopulation would not benefit anyone. I liked this little planet too, with a heavy emphasis on the little. I rubbed my eyes as I started to nod off already. I sipped the steaming cup of coffee I’m sure Tori left and straightened myself out.

“Alright! Let’s do this!”

~~~

“You should have just let me die!”

I jumped up out of my seat and gripped my desk as sweat came down my forehead. I raised a shaky hand and wiped my brow and took a few deep breaths. Hearing a sound, I took notice of Laetoria holding a tray of food with a concerned expression. “Hey...thanks…” I walked around my desk to grab the tray but she pulled back and I sighed. “Tori…”

“You’re still having nightmares. I told you that this would start affecting you…”

“Tori please...we are not having this discussion again.”

“Ka’seem I think that we should. You-”

“Laetoria…” I glared at her and she stopped talking immediately. “We are not discussing this. Do you understand me?”

“Yes.” I sighed and grabbed the tray from her. I hated asserting myself over my pantheon, but I hated the direction that conversation would have gone more.

“I’m fine Tori. Sorry that I fell asleep like that, but I did get most of it done.” I sat back at my desk as she opened a window and a cool breeze blew in. She tapped her nail against the window as she looked at the sky. “Tori?”

“I just worry about you…we all do.”

“I know you guys do, but you really don’t have to. Just let it go, Laetoria.” She sat up on the windowsill as she nibbled on a cookie and I chuckled.

“What?”

“Thought you were cutting back on the sweets beautiful?”

“Shut up and hurry up. You have a visitor.”

“Huh? Well, shouldn’t you have told me that first?”

“I was but you were having your nightmare and I thought you should have some food in your system.”

“Huh...so who is it?”

“Lady Serafina.”

“Yeah, you should have led with that.” I got up from my seat and walked toward the door. I gripped the doorknob and paused to look back at her. “Don’t speak to anyone about what you saw.”

“Yes...my Lord….” She looked at me sadly but I turned away to head out to greet Lady Serafina. I didn’t like it when people worried about me. There were much more important things to worry about than my nightmares.

“My life is ruined because of you!”

“I have nothing to live for anymore!”

“It should have been you!”

“I wish you weren’t m-”

“Ka’seem!” I gasped as I looked into the eyes of Lady Serafina as she held her palm against my cheek. Her other hand was against my chest, and I could feel my heart about to burst out. Her eyes were wide with worry and I placed my hand over hers as I shook the final screams from my mind.

“Hey…”

“So...what can I do for you starlight?”

“I think I should be asking you that. What happened Ka’seem?” I chuckled and pulled away from her as I led her out of my temple.

“You worry too much my lady. I’m more curious about you. Is this a business or pleasure meeting?” I waggled my eyebrows at her, but her increasing by the second frown made me stop. “I promise that I am perfectly fine.”

“You’re deflecting...and you have bags under your eyes…” She wiped under my eyes with her thumbs and a feeling of relief washed over me. “Ka’seem...what is it?”

“Just anxious and overworked. Please starlight...just let it go…” I looked away from her and I knew that she wanted to push but she let out a defeated sigh and I looked back just to get my nose pinched. “Ow ow ow ow!”

“Stop keeping things that are hurting you to yourself. You have people who love and care about you. You don’t have to shoulder things by yourself handsome.”

“Yeah I know...so what’s going on?”

“We might have a problem in Sector 4857...I believe that the Darkness might be-”

“KA’SEEM!!!!” I barely had time to react as the wind was knocked out of me and my face met the floor with a hard crack. Thankfully, it was the floor that cracked and not my perfect face. I groaned against the marble floor as I felt my back get assaulted. I turned enough to see Nerissa happily bouncing on my back. “Are you happy to see me?”

“I saw you the other day you crazy bitch…”

“Aww, I love you too bitch. Are you excited about our mission?”

“You mean the one I didn’t hear about because you tackled the hell out of me? Sure Nerissa I’m totally excited about it.”

“Oh heh...my bad…” She helped me up and Lady Serafina smiled and shook her head at our antics. “So to sum it up...might have to deal with some trafficking that the Darkness might be a part of. So we could be at it for a while! Now, are you excited!”

“The Darkness? Trafficking? That’s new…”

“Which is why I’m gathering all of you to personally look into this. The others are gathered at my temple. We came to pick you up so we could discuss it more at length.” I frowned and nodded as Nerissa skipped over to a portal Lady Serafina opened to whisk us away. I pulled my hair into a ponytail as I walked through. This was gonna be a bitch of a mission. I just know it.

~~~

“So we might have to split up and take points on different parts of the planet. A team of two and three should work out best.”

“Being in a group at all will just make us stand out. If we split up then we can cover the most ground. It’s the better plan.”

“I suggested that we go in groups in case we have a problem. The Darkness is most likely involved with this and the last thing we need is to be attacked or worse by ourselves.”

“Do you doubt our skills? Or is this just a you thing?”

“Fuck you dog. I’m perfectly capable of defending myself and anyone else for that matter. It’s about safety!”

“I’m trying to be effective here you icy bitch!”

“You’re being unreasonable!”

“You just can’t make a plan that makes sense.” I sighed and so did everyone else as we listened to Nim and Celica rip into each other about our plan of action. I usually left to do my own thing and figure things out, but this needed a clear plan and these two had been snapping at each other for the last twenty minutes. Lady Serafina was trying to be calm and let them work through it, but she was starting to lose her patience. Clearing her throat, the others looked at her as she placed her hands down on the table. Holding her hand over the map, she raised a miniature diorama of the villages we would go to.

“All of you need to figure this out before you leave in the next hour. Stop your arguing and get prepared. We have no idea what this could be. So be cautious my Supernovas, be vigilant and be smart.”

We all nodded and surveyed the map. It looked like we could enter from the nearby forest and spread out from there to hit the village. “Hey Callum...why don’t you, me, and Celica hit this end of the village? I have to agree that we should group up and we can still keep a low profile.”

“I agree with you Ka’seem. It would be for the best. Nerissa and Nim...I trust you don’t have much of an issue with this?”

“That’s cool with me! Nim and I haven't done an assignment together for a while. Besides...we can’t send the arguing couple out.”

“He fucking wishes…”

“I’d rather drink acid and become consumed by the Darkness.” I chuckled at their sickened looks as we all broke off to gather supplies. I hoped this would not be as bad as we all were probably thinking. Although, if the Darkness was involved in this...it could go from bad to worse, very very quickly.

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#Ka'seem #Laetoria #Serafina #Nerissa #Celica #Callum #Nim #my writing #writing'#original work #NSFW-ish

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dagasii · 2 years

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Vox Eius in Parietinis

She painted her face in the upstairs bedroom, up the winding staircase with the banister that gleamed silver under the warm orange glow of their lamps. A thin brush traced the outline of her lips, leaving a bright red in its path. She was fire-haired and earthy-eyed, warmly toned, and with a smile that she found often endeared others to her before she’d even opened her mouth to speak. And now, as she readied herself for the evening, she puckered her lips in the mirror and gave herself that trademark smile. She was radiant. Thick fur draped around her shoulders, and her black dress hugged the outline of her wide hips as she sat. They lived well, her husband and she. Wealthy folk without the ties and strains of royalty or public service. All Laetoria had to do was look pretty, dress pretty, sing pretty, and act pretty.

The radio droned on, some songs she knew, some she didn’t, some with her own voice in the background, singing the low alto pitches with a smokey voice that she could pick out in an instant. When Solus zos Galvus had met his end, she’d found herself with less work. As it turned out, the arts were most popular when the emperor was visiting the theatres and opera houses regularly. When that grandson of his took over…

The door behind her swung open slowly, and Laetoria’s eyes flicked to meet the intruder’s in the round mirror’s reflection.

Her husband was two and a half times her age, and their marriage was about a quarter as loving as it should have been. But they kept each other fed, and they kept the baby fed, and they were well off. Despite his desperate wispy combover, stumpy torso, and sunken face, Laetoria’s husband was still deemed fit to function within the military. And he still did so, serving his legion with pride and as much vigor as he possibly could. He was an engineer, and a good one at that, but his age was catching up with him tonight, for he was so pale that Laetoria turned to face him fully, convinced that with her bare eyes she might be able to see through his skin.

His mouth hung open in wordless stammering, breathing the words but not quite saying them. He licked his thin lips, and then parted them again, jaw dropped in an almost ghostly fashion. Laetoria rose slowly from her stool, letting her skirts fall around her ankles as she did. The gaze she gave him was expectant and sidelong, impatiently waiting for him to speak. She loathed him. Deeply and truly. As he loathed her. To the ends of the star and back. But there was no loathing in his voice when his blue, watery eyes met hers, and he let out a shudder. He knew what the next words he uttered would mean, and when he spoke them, Laetoria’s stomach dropped.

“The emperor is dead. Nerva makes a claim to the throne.”

The radio droned on. Endless reports, frantically spoken by whoever ran the radio stations (who ran these things anyway? No one she knew.) Reports of buildings fallen and of the number dead. With each update, Laetoria listened as the fighting approached her house, where she hid now in a small broom closet, with her body curled over the infant swaddled in bright white in her arms. She could smell the ceruleum smoke even from in here, for it wafted beneath windows and doors no matter what was done. It was a smell she oft lamented when it clung to her husband’s clothes, and a smell that made her stomach twist now. Tears ran down her face, tinged black from the makeup she had took extra pains to do tonight. Her gut had told her not to do it tonight, just to be ready, but she’d not known. The fighting had been across the city earlier, blocking the exits yes, but far away. She only wanted to have the luxury of something familiar. The past few nights had smelt like that infernal smoke, and no warmonger would have ever turned their city into a warzone before; there was no precedent, she had never had to think about the battlefields, but now it came to her.

Magitek roared and screeched and fired outside the opulent house’s door, and that baby in Laetoria’s arms wasn’t sleeping for much longer. The little girl let out a cry, and Laetoria frantically buried the infant’s face in her chest.

“Shshshshshhh…” She whispered. It was as much a plea as it was a comfort.

The baby’s name was Faustina, and she curled her fat little fists around locks of Laetoria’s hair tightly. It hurt, of course it hurt, but those fists found a way to Faustina’s mouth, and the crying was quelled for just a moment. And so Laetoria could suffer the pain and the bald spot later on. She had eyes like her father’s, a pale and icy blue that had only surfaced a few weeks after her birth. But her hair, that was all her mother’s. Faint wisps of bright red covered her little head. If Laetoria’s loveless marriage had produced no joy, it was alright, for she found joy in Faustina.

A shudder slipped past Laetoria’s lips, followed by an attempt at song. Low and shaky, jumping in pitch with each startle from the cacophony outside the home. But it was an attempt. The radio went silent for a moment, cut short abruptly. And then, low and familiar, the emperor’s voice crept through the speakers. Laetoria blinked, lifting her head to stare at the contraption as it fell silent once more. It gave her no answers. Whatever Varis zos Galvus had said, her ears had been deaf to it. But that was him. That was his voice, she was positive of it. Her heart leapt with hope. If he lived, maybe he could stop the fighting, maybe he could bring the people to their senses. He could-.

The world shook. It shook and it tremored and Laetoria suddenly lurched to curl further forward over Faustina’s tiny form. She could hear glass falling and shattering on the floor outside the closet. The foundation creaked, and stone fell in chunks from the walls and ceilings as they warped and buckled. The world crashed in, and when the dust cleared, Laetoria and her child sat in a pile of housing that had barely survived. It had barely harbored them. Even outside, the fighting seemed to stall, and die. Just for a moment. Just for now. And when it settled, all was eerily quiet. Laetoria’s ears still rung, but nothing else in the world made a sound. It was the same quiet that struck in the midst of a blizzard. Stifling anything that would dare move right now.

And then… The radio began to sing once more. Music. Music for the first time in days. And a song she knew well.

Laetoria looked down first at the bundle in her arms, her harried face softening into stark relief when she found another staring up at her. “Good girl,” she cooed. “Good girl.” Her fingertips trailed up the baby’s forehead gently as she whispered. “It’s alright. We’re alright…”

The lone voice on the radio sang slow and even, and Laetoria’s heart fluttered. For as soon as the voices of the choir behind rose up, she heard her own in the midst. Imperceptible to any who didn’t know her, but striking to herself. Singing the alto part.

The radio sung the same song every day. Home Beyond the Horizon, over and over again. The same patriotism droned on over and over again. Her own voice, lifted in pride and joy for her homeland, over and over again. But pride didn’t keep the fire stoked and it didn’t keep bellies fed. And it didn’t keep that which she loved warm enough to stay, bundled safely in her arms. In the end, Garlemald was ruined, a shadow of itself. That tower that loomed in the distance a specter of death that had ripped everything and more from Laetoria.

She worked with all she had left. A small, bright-white blanket, and a gash in her arm that desperately needed mending. It was all she had. Her daughter would forgive her, she hoped. If she had a god to pray to, perhaps Laetoria would have prayed for that. But gods were no different than men. And you could count on them no more than you could count on a man. No, Laetoria couldn’t count on anyone. There was no one to count on even if she wanted to. Her frozen fingers clumsily coiled that blanket, with fabric as fine and light as gossamer, around her wounded arm, watching the white fabric stain red that seeped into it like poison into water. Bile rose in her throat, and she shuddered softly. With cold or with grief, not even she was sure.

The chill of the stone wall at her back seeped through her coat slowly at first, but it made her shiver soon enough. And as soon as she finished binding her wound, Laetoria rose clumsily to her feet in the snow. On her way up, she was sure to curse every bastard that had chased her ancestors north instead of somewhere warmer. She curled her gloved hands around her weapon and slung her mostly-empty bag over her shoulder. The radio was nestled inside, always on, but with the volume low. The sound made her feel more covered, somehow. Rubble heaps were bad shelter, anyway, and so she wasn’t too torn up about the early departure. Never know when something might jump out around the corner of one. It was never another survivor. It was always something that had been tempered. A braindead creature of a person that had no will of its own left. Those things weren’t Garleans like she. They were no kinsmen of hers. And she had slowly gotten used to laying them low from afar.

And sure enough, she heard a mindless voice from far behind as she turned. It was so quiet she could barely hear it over the wind and the radio, but she heard it. And Laetoria turned her deep brown eyes to scan the horizon behind her. A lone soldier, marching rigidly toward her as if on legs that moved of their own volition. His torso was flopping and unnatural, jerking with each movement.

But he was moving slowly. She had time to strike first, and so she lifted her weapon…

Only to find herself suddenly rushed by the creature. It released a garbled, moaned scream, lunging at her with both arms outstretched. Its hands were no longer hands, instead having turned purple and deformed. The sight stole the breath from Laetoria, and she screeched in terror as she backpedaled. Her ankles seemed to tangle in the powder beneath her, and the woman went careening backward. A gunshot went off, echoing loudly in the frozen wastes, before the weapon slipped from her hands.

She landed on the snow and ice below so hard that it knocked the wind out of her, and she laid there wheezing for a long moment. The soldier, for his part, fell backward as well, struck firmly in the chest by the hasty shot. The weapon landed a fulm or two beside her, and she reached out for it limply before sitting up slow. The solder laid, legs dragging helplessly through the snow. His deformed hands clawed at the stone wall beside him, sending a few loose rocks tumbling off the remains of the pile.

Laetoria’s breath came hard and heavy as she crawled back onto her feet, dragging her weapon up with her. In the scuffle, the radio’s dial had been hit, and the song that had been playing soft upon the soldier’s approach was blaring now. Ammunition was hard to get and very valuable. Could she spare any on this… Thing? It was already half-dead. Was it worth it? How else would she kill it if not?

The answer made her stomach turn.

Laetoria looked at the blubbering, brainwashed figure in the snow, and she lifted the butt of her gun high…

The radio droned on.

There was an abandoned house, not far from the nearest settlement. And it was perfect. Somehow untouched by the tremors that had ravaged the capital, this little cottage had survived remarkably intact. It was plain, far plainer than the opulent home she’d left behind, the little wooden house had its shutters painted a vivid royal blue sometime shortly before the civil war started, based on the immaculate state of the paint. It was also untouched, judging by the undisturbed snow leading to it, and piled about knee-deep in front of the door. Whatever had happened to the original owners was unclear, but they hardly mattered now.

Laetoria trudged through the snow to get to it, and she was relieved to find the door unlocked. Frozen, but unlocked. And so she rammed her shoulder hard against the door, stumbling through when it swung open easier than she’d expected. She kicked some snow in with her but found it melted almost immediately; the house was still, somehow, heated. Warm air embraced the former actress, and she let out an audible sigh. Her skin tingled as it thawed, but it was -warm-. For the first time since she’d been wandering, Laetoria felt warm, truly. And not at the mercy of a fire she only barely knew how to keep alive.

“Hello?” She called. And got no answer. Not even the shuffling of feet above, which would indicate someone was home. It was dead, and it was quiet. But it was dark, and so, Laetoria experimentally flicked the switch near the door. The lights sprung to life just like they had been made to. It was idyllic. Working lights and working heat? In Garlemald? Nowadays? The woman looked around the entry, wondering if she was going to see someone with a weapon ready to guard what was there, or a tempered citizen shambling about. But she saw neither.

“Hello?” she asked again.

And all she heard was the radio.

Laetoria slowly turned the house into a safe haven. Having found that the previous owners had kept enough fuel stocked for at least a year, perhaps more. There was heat here. There was lighting here. You could survive here. And so she found herself setting up a little handheld radio she had scavenged in their basement, alongside an exorbitant amount of prepared food and hoarded weapons with ammunition. Perhaps the owners had been preparing for some event on this scale. But it had failed them and benefitted her.

She sat that first night, calling out over the radio.

“This is Laetoria Bas Proclus. There’s warmth, food, and rest for you here. Find me in the blue-shuttered house at the coordinates the robot speaks.” And then, Laetoria would hit a button, and the radio would speak its coordinates. She did that for hours the first night. Part of her was desperate to find -someone-. Anyone. Surely she couldn’t be the only survivor. There was no possible way that she, an actress, had outlived the whole of Garlemald. And so she called out, over and over again, wishing for someone to come.

And at first, no one did. Until a few evenings in, when a young woman and her toddler son stood at her door. And then the next evening when a teenage girl stood anxiously at the stoop. And the next when an elderly man found his way there. At first, it was only the desperate or naive. Those who would die without the help, so it didn’t matter if she intended to harm them. They were going to die anyway. But soon, that first group of people spread the word to their loved ones, the few friends they retained. And soon Laetoria found herself housing young, old, man, woman, Pureblood and conscript. One by one people flooded in and flowed out. Some brought fuel or food as an offering, others brought only stories and laughter. But everyone had something to give while they stayed. That was the rule. You want to stay, you provide what you can. Even if it’s only a song.

But fuel and food attract those who need fuel and food. And while for many weeks the safehouse ran well, it eventually came to an end.

Laetoria had been thrown violently into the snow after being gripped by the hair and dragged outside. Her vision still swam, and her body had begun to shiver already, for her coat was inside. Four men, soldiers in clean, polished armor, hauled ceruleum and cans of food out of the cellar and into a cart lead by a magitek steed. Another pointed a gun at her and told her that if she moved, it would be her brains on the snow instead of her body. His voice was familiar. It was so familiar. It tickled the very edge of her mind, a memory from long ago.

But there wasn’t the time to place it. Not when children and their helpless families were being dragged out and thrown outside just as haphazardly as she had been. Laetoria turned a helpless gaze to the man above her. “Let me go to them. Only that far,” she pleaded. The man hesitated, averting his gaze from her by turning his helmeted head to look at the house, in all its former glory. He huffed lowly, breath puffing up in front of him.

“That far only.”

Laetoria scrambled to the small group of civilians, still in their nighttime clothes just like she had been, and huddled herself in with them. A young woman to her right sobbed violently, shaking with each heave of her shoulders. And Laetoria did what she could. But how much was it? “It’s okay,” she soothed, wrapping her arms around the girl. “We’re okay.”

The smell of ash and flame filled the air, and the land glowed a sickly orange as the safe haven went up in smoke.

And the radio, for once, was silent.

#tw: infant death #tw: violence

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