Ashes of the Stars Read Online Free

brown hair was pulled back into a tight braid.
    “Is your mom or dad home?” I asked the little girl.
    “Yep,” She said a little too loudly. I winced and shied away from the little girl as she spun around and skipped down the stairs. She left the door open so I followed her down, pulling it closed behind me. She had disappeared into the house before I’d even gotten halfway down the stairs and I could hear her talking to her parents.
    I expected this to be a nightmare in and of itself so I wasn’t surprised, when I reached the bottom of stairs and stepped into the main room, to see a mousy-brown haired, chubby woman with tears in her eyes and her hands covering her mouth. There was a short man behind her with his hands tightly gripping her shoulders.
    “ Samara!” The mother wailed. I could see her knees give out beneath her and even though her husband caught her, I rushed forward to help. I knelt in front of the couple who cried out for their dead daughter and I felt their pain crushing my heart.
    “I’m so sorry for your loss,” I told them. They were old enough to be my parents if I’d had any. Who was I to be trying to comfort them?
    “Mommy?” The little girl asked, her voice shaking with fear.
    The three of us turned our heads to look at the little girl who stood trembling in the doorway to another room. I didn’t know what to say to the little girl so I looked away from her as her father got up from the floor with his tear-soaked cheeks, and I turned my attention back to the woman. She had her palms cupped over her face and she sobbed into them.
    “Is-s-she… W-Was s-s-she…” The woman didn’t seem to know what to ask.
    “She fought very bravely,” I told Samara’s mother truthfully. And she had been brave but she’d also been a little too cocky in her abilities. She hadn’t held the right kind of fear in her heart if she’d held any at all.
    “She served our cause as best as she could,” I gave the woman my standard speech. I felt the cold set of my features, the lifelessness to my eyes, but I knew I couldn’t betray the sorrow and fear in my heart. My pain meant nothing to this woman.
    “H-how di-di-did she…” The woman trailed off again. She couldn’t seem to mention any word having to do with death. No one who lost a loved one seemed to be able to say that word.
    I reached out and put my hand stiffly on her shoulder. I found the contact to be uncomfortable, as I usually did, but I left my hand there. The woman wasn’t looking at me so I let the smallest of frowns mar my lips. “It’s better to think of the good memories of your daughter. Try not to think of her death, it will only hurt more.”
     
    “Have you heard?” A woman sat down beside me. We weren’t really friends but we were cordial enough. I took a big gulp of water from my cup, delaying the inevitable conversation. Finally, I looked at her. She looked like me, covered head to toe in white. Her Captain’s mark was a serpent wrapping around her sleeve, a medical symbol as old as time itself. I liked hers better. Underneath of her cap, she had flat, brown hair, and she shaved it off completely on one side.
    “I’ve heard a lot of things, Nyolda,” I sighed at her and turned back to my food tray, which was barely picked from.
    “Ceid went to check out a new camp,” Nyolda told me as if it were some big secret, leaning closer to me and speaking softer.
    “In the jungle, I know,” I said. I took another sip of my water and looked back at her. “Is there something else?”
    “Word is, this is the third time a team has tried to scout this camp,” Nyolda said, narrowing her eyes at me and crossing her arms at her chest. I could tell she was annoyed that I wasn’t playing her secretive game this morning. It had been two weeks since I’d gotten home and my ghosts had been playing their own secretive game with me.
    “Oh?” I raised an eyebrow at her. Now the subject had piqued my interest.
    “Yeah,”