Terror

“Ain’t nothing to worry about, just an ordinary farm, far as they’ll see. No different than any other on this big ol’ mountain,” old Krev says. But his voice is far away, far at the end of a tunnel. The roar of an airship engine overpowers his voice. The sound swallows all the voices in the room and the darkness around the edges swallows the room itself.

A place of no light, only sound, a horrible drone that distorts itself into a haunting pattern, repeating its subtle frequencies endlessly. Nadia is trapped in a miserable song that permeates everything. She feels pressure building around her from the waves of sound impacting her from all sides. She gasps for breath. She reaches out for anything, but she can feel nothing, not even her own body. She is melting into nothing, falling deeper into the void.

It’s bright and she doesn’t know where she is. The deafening roar of the engines above overwhelms all other sound. She is outside, running down the avenue, broken glass everywhere. The bombs finally stop, and the anchors crash down--the ground troops are coming. She runs around the corner and nearly crashes into a soldier. He tries to raise his rifle, she is faster with her pistol. It makes no sound. He is dead. She pries the gun from his hands--still loaded--no time to reload hers.

She is strong, fearless, she tells herself. But she is alone. Where are her comrades? The faces in grey around her are distant, unfamiliar shapes. They call out to her, but they make no sound. Everything is just the mechanical drone of a discordium reactor. Where is Razha? She was across town, where is she? Where is Razha? The city is in flames, all so hot. Where is Razha?

The ground breaks away under her. The sky dissolves to black. There is only the void. She has never left this place. All else was a dream. Only terror is real.

Nadia gasps for breath. She is in the cellar in Helbender Commune. They all are, familiar faces. But they are far out of reach. It is quiet, she only hears one sound, a heartbeat. She is laying against Razha’s chest. Razha has one arm around her holding her tight and the other on her black rifle. She squeezes Razha with all her strength. “I couldn’t find you.”

“Where were you?” Razha says.

“Misthaven...” she says.

“You’re safe. They ain’t even flying near us,” Razha says.

“I’m sorry,” she says, wiping tears from her face with her hand. “I’m sorry, what is wrong with me?”

“It’s okay,” Razha says. “I understand.”

“Can I stay with you tonight?”

“Of course,” Razha says. Nadia doesn’t want to let her out of her sight. Razha is the only thing in the world that feels real. If she can hold on to her, she won’t fall back into the void. She doesn’t want to see the false world around them. She buries her face in Razha’s black coat.

She thinks she hears the door open. Krev’s voice speaks again. “All clear, y’all.” The words are just sounds without substance or meaning. She turns her head and sees the shadows moving across the wall. She sees the distant, empty bodies passing them by until they are alone, she and Razha. It’s quiet down here.

“Can we stay here a little while?” Nadia says.

“As long as you need.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Nadia squeezes her tight again and speaks in a desperate voice through her tears. “Will we ever be free of this? Will I ever feel okay again?”

“I don’t know if I will,” Razha says.

“How can we fight an enemy that just breaks us down and breaks us down and doesn’t give us a moment to breathe?!”

“My comrade Kaia said to me once, ‘This struggle breaks us all eventually, we just gotta hold each other together.’”