Lyra ran. She didn't know where she was going. She didn't care. She just had to get away from the tomb. Away from those burning red words that followed her everywhere.
The forest was dark as branches scratched her arms. Roots tried to trip her. But she didn't feel pain like before. Everything was different now.
"This isn't real." She stopped next to a big tree and put her hands on the bark. "This can't be real."
But the tree felt solid. Real. The words still floated in front of her eyes.
DEATH PROPHECY SYSTEM ACTIVE
SCANNING FOR TARGETS...
"Go away!" She swatted at the words like flies as her hand went right through them. "Leave me alone!"
The words didn't go away instead she heard voices. People talking. Normal people.
Lyra followed the sound. Maybe they could help her. Maybe they could tell her what was happening.
She found a road. A merchant was fixing his wagon wheel. His horse stamped and snorted. The man cursed at the broken wheel.
"Excuse me." Lyra stepped out of the trees.
The merchant looked up as his face went white. "Sweet gods, what are you?"
"I need help. I'm lost and"
"Stay back!" He grabbed a knife from his belt. "You're not human!"
Lyra looked down at herself. Her see-through skin. Her glowing eyes. She must look like a ghost.
"Please, I won't hurt you. I just"
The red words exploded across her vision:
DEATH PROPHECY ACTIVATED
TARGET: MERCHANT THOMAS GREY
TIME OF DEATH: 2 HOURS, 17 MINUTES
CAUSE: FIRE
LOCATION: RAVENHOLD CITY MARKET
FATE STATUS: FIXED - CANNOT BE CHANGED
Images flooded her mind. The merchant in a city market. His wagon catching fire. Him screaming as flames ate his clothes. People running. The smell of burning flesh.
"No!" Lyra grabbed her head. The vision was so real. So terrible. "No, no, no!"
The merchant backed away. "What's wrong with you?"
"You're going to die!" The words burst out of her. "Fire! In the market! You have to stay away from the city!"
"You're insane." The merchant climbed onto his wagon. "Stay away from me, demon!"
"Listen to me!" Lyra ran after the wagon. "Please! I saw it! You'll burn!"
But her voice...
It came out wrong. Not like talking. Like screaming. Like the sound of breaking glass and crying babies and dying animals all mixed together.
The merchant's horse reared up. Its eyes rolled white with terror as the merchant fell off the wagon and ran into the forest.
"Wait!" Lyra tried to follow. "I'm trying to help you!"
Every word she spoke came out as that horrible wailing sound. The sound made her own ears hurt as birds fell dead from the trees.
She clamped her hands over her mouth.The wagon horse broke free and galloped away. The merchant was gone. Only his broken wheel remained on the road.
"What's wrong with my voice?" She asked as tears ran down her face. "What did they do to me?"
The red words appeared again:
WARNING: BANSHEE WAIL ACTIVATED
EMOTIONAL DISTRESS DETECTED
SUGGESTION: LEARN CONTROL BEFORE CONTACT WITH HUMANS
"Control?" She laughed, but it came out as that awful wailing. "How do I control this?"
No answer.
Lyra sat down in the road as she put her head in her hands. The vision kept playing in her mind. The merchant burning. His screams.
"Maybe I imagined it." She wiped her eyes. "Maybe it's not real."
But deep down, she knew it was real. She could feel the truth of it in her bones.
Two hours later, she smelled smoke as orange light flickered through the trees. Coming from the direction of the city as Lyra ran toward the light. Her feet barely touched the ground. She was faster now, more stronger.
She reached the city gates just as people poured out. There was running, screaming, everywhere covered in soot.
"The market's burning!" someone yelled.
"How did it start?" another person asked.
"A merchant's wagon caught fire! Poor bastard didn't make it out!"
Lyra's knees gave out as she fell to the ground. People ran past her. She'd seen it. She'd seen Thomas Grey's death before it happened. And she'd tried to warn him.
But he'd died anyway. "I didn't cause it." She whispered to herself. "The fire would have happened anyway."
The red words confirmed it:
PROPHECY FULFILLED
DEATH STATUS: UNAVOIDABLE
EXPERIENCE GAINED: 50 POINTS
BANSHEE LEVEL: 1 (50/1000)
"Experience points?" She stared at the words. "This is like a game?"
But it wasn't a game. A man was dead. Burned alive just like she had been.
"I could have saved him." She said as fresh tears came. "If I knew how to control my voice, I could have made him listen."
INCORRECT. TARGET DEATH WAS FIXED. NO INTERVENTION POSSIBLE.
"Then why show me?" She screamed at the words. "Why make me watch?"
DEATH PROPHECY SYSTEM PURPOSE: KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.
SOME DEATHS CAN BE PREVENTED. SOME CANNOT.
LEARN THE DIFFERENCE.
The burning city lit up the night sky as people cried and shouted. The smell of smoke was everywhere as Lyra closed her eyes. She understood now. She could see death before it happened. But she couldn't save everyone.
"Only some people." She stood up slow. "Only some deaths can be stopped."
CORRECT.
"And the ones I can't save?"
THOSE ARE MEANT TO DIE.
A chill ran down her spine. She was connected to death now. She could see it coming. Feel it in the air.
She wasn't just Lyra anymore. She was something else. Something that belonged to death.
The red words appeared one more time:
NEXT PROPHECY WILL ACTIVATE WHEN YOU ENCOUNTER A RAVENCREST.
YOUR TRUE MISSION BEGINS SOON.
Lyra looked at the burning city. At the people running and crying. At the smoke rising into the dark sky.
She'd been reborn for revenge. The system made that clear. But if she was going to kill the Ravencrest family, she needed to learn control first.
She needed to learn how to be a banshee.
"Where do I start?" she asked in the night air.
A voice came from behind her. Old and tired but kind.
"Child, you start with me."