#pixelwriter

There's a ghost who roams the halls of my mind, A smile that appears whenever I, to find comfort in it, seek, But an empty breeze when I reach to hold, A starving concept fed by the scarce sweet times.

A lady of elusive charm, the starving spirit's form; The hours together a mountain of sweets in a single candied sphere Yet the next minute, her presence vanishes as if never there, The days apart a cold and lonely storm.

"Believe," begs the despondent spirit, wailing in my head, "Believe in the smiles and the caring, all the times you'll soon be sharing, And in the feelings that arise when she is nearing!" But the spirit wanes, departing for the dead.

"Damn you, Imalo. Will you not see what is plainly visible? What more will it take to convince you?!" The young knight thrust his hand behind him, gesturing in a sweeping motion to the carnage spread out before them. "Whatever girl you remember is gone. This is who your sister is now. A killer. And one in command of an army."

Imalo's eyes scanned the scene with dull shock. He'd seen animals skinned and cleaned, and he'd been hunting plenty of times; death and carnage were nothing new to his senses. But these were people. Mothers, children, elders. People his own age. He could hear the wailing of the dying on adjacent streets. He blanched, peeling his eyes away from a child's limbs splayed out underneath a pile of rubble. He turned to walk away but Darius caught his shoulder, gripping it hard.

"Avalar, you look at me. Look at me, damn you!" Darius shoved the prince's shoulder, turning him sharply so that they were face to face. He could see the color drained from his comrade's face. The bravado, the playful spirit, had been drained from Imalo. Good, Darius thought. Let's see you sidestep responsibility now. There was no joy in this for Darius; he'd desperately hoped for his friend to be right. But he wasn't, and he needed to see it. Imalo's eyes reluctantly rose towards Darius' until they met. "There are likely to be more of those monsters here," Darius declared. "Which means Lerezal may yet be here. Find her. Perhaps she is not so far gone that she'd turn on you too, but don't you dare let down your guard. Find her, and do whatever it takes to bring her back here. I'm going to rally whatever remaining troops are able to fight. We're going to take her- alive- and she's going to answer for her crimes. Between the two of us you're much faster and you know how those things fight. I'm counting on you, my friend. Can you do it?"