Remnants
an excerpt

Ragged hot flames tore violently at the night sky, rising steadily from the inferno that had been a two-story home only moments before. Like orange claws they slashed apart the stars, tore apart the horizon, and chipped away at everything until there was nothing left.

Nothing except for she and the other.

The other stood as little more than a silhouette against the hellfire that threatened to consume the very horizon, her long, singed strands of hair flowing almost elegantly about her lithe frame. Even standing amidst a scene of destruction, her flowing gown tattered, face smudged with ash, and her dark eyes less lively than that of a corpse, she was still so dignified. She moved her cracked and bleeding lips slowly, forming words that could not be heard over the roar of the fire. It did not matter, for there was only one other person left to hear her words, and she already knew what the woman would request of her.

A bow was drawn, an arrow notched, a set of trembling fingers took careful aim. She forced her hand to steady, focusing solely on the beating heart that lay beneath her target’s chest. The other would not suffer. Her fingers released, the woman’s eyes slid shut in acceptance, and the world fell silent.