Beauty for Ashes

Chapter 1

Falling, falling, falling…

That’s the last thing Nadia remembered before everything turned black as night. As she struggled to fight off the blackness that was unconsciousness, her keen ears became aware of a strange yet familiar sound…. birds. It had been a long time since she heard birds singing. The sound was pleasant enough, but the sheer noise alone made her head pound even more intensely. With great effort, she managed to open one eye. A flash of light seared into her brain and blinded her dull senses. Wincing, yet determined to overcome her grogginess, Nadia slowly peeled open her lids to survey her surroundings. She was lying flat on her back. Had she not been in so much pain from the fall, she might have enjoyed lying on the ground in the sunshine, the cool grass tickling the back of her neck and arms with the dew of the morning. As her senses cleared, she racked her brain trying to think of how she had gotten here. Am I dead? Is this the afterlife? No, it couldn’t be. The afterlife, after all, was supposed to be a place free of pain, and obviously this did not qualify.

Cautiously and gingerly, she attempted to sit up. Immediately a sharp stab of pain went through her right side, enough to elicit a rare cry. Nadia was not one to give in to her body so easily. She was disciplined – a soldier, a warrior, a Nietzschean. Cursing herself for her momentary weakness, she opened up her coat to check her ribs. She surmised that there were at least three that were broken – two on the right side, and one on the left. With all the grace of a drunken young cadet, Nadia attempted to stand and was immediately greeted by a wave of nausea. How many days had she been lying here? It had seemed but an instant between the time she had felt herself falling out of control and the time she had woken up, but time can be deceiving when it comes to passing out. She could very well have been here for days. Her throat was dry and her stomach rumbled in want of food. Yes, she had obviously been here for more than a few minutes.

“Get yourself together now. You’re a soldier, and you’ve been trained for situations such as this.” But Nadia didn’t remember anywhere in the manual that stated what to do when you have lost your short-term memory.  She knew her name, who she was, and what she was – but she couldn’t remember how she got here, why she was here, or her mission. All she could remember was the spinning and falling…nothing more. Where was her ship? What was this place? And most importantly, why was she alone?

More to Come....