"No, Papa! Come back!" Addy screamed.

Her father was held by the neck by an ogre and was being dragged into the magic forest. His eyes started to close and he went limp.

"No!" Adelaide ran into the barn and found two daggers  buried under the hay. She ran outside and chased down the ogre and her father. A cloudy fog started to settle around her and she could barely see. Addy turned around in circles, squinting, trying to make out any shapes beyond the heavy fog.

"Aaaddyyy," a voice called to her. "Aaaddyyy."

Gooseflesh popped up on her skin and she felt a shiver run down her spine. She held the daggers tight and pointed them in front of her, ready to defend herself.

A strange light began to glow in front of her, and it's blue aura started to come to her through the fog. First she saw a woman's figure and then saw her mother's image.

"Mama?" Addy slowly started to lower her weapons. "Mama, is that you?"

The figure laughed, a hollow, menacing sound. "Yes, darling, it is your Mama." The figure came closer, floating two feet above the ground. "How could you let me die, Addy?"

Adelaide blinked rapidly, trying to bat away the tears forming in her eyes. "Wha-what?

Her mother's face contorted, twisting into a sneer. "You let me die, Adelaide. I am dead because of you!"

"No! No, Mama." She fell to her knees, weeping. "I'm so sorry, Mama. I tried to save you, Mama."

"Enough of your excuses!" The figure roared. "You have failed me, daughter."

Addy looked up, her eyes swollen. She stared into the hollow eyes of her mother's form and shook her head. "I tried, Mama."

Her mother held her hand out and a knife appeared, it's blade glinting in the moonlight. "You must repay for letting me die," She snarled. "You owe me your life." She pulled her arm back and went to plunge the knife through Adelaide's heart.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Adelaide!"

Adelaide screamed and sat up, sweat beading her forehead. She wept into her hands and rocked back and forth.

"Adelaide, what's wrong?" Philip knelt at her side and pulled her to his chest, holding her close.

"My mama.." she sobbed harder. "She blames me for her death. I saw her. She tried to kill me."

"It was just a dream, darling." Philip cooed. "It was only a dream." He stroked her hair and hugged her closer.

"No, she blames me. I tried to tell her! I told her I wanted to save her, but she wouldn't listen." Addy cried into his chest, soaking the thin white fabric.

"Adelaide, you couldn't save her. If you had tried, you would have been killed too. There was no way you could have prevented her death."

"I could have gone after her! I could have tried!" She sniffled and wiped her nose. "It's my fault my parents are dead."

Philip pulled Adelaide away from him and looked into her eyes. "Listen to me, Addy, there was no way you could have saved your parents."

She looked away and sniffled again. "I have nothing left. You don't know what that is like."

"You are right, I don't. But I know what it is like to feel like your world is crumbling around you. I understand that much."

She nodded and stood up. "I'll be right back. I have to..um.."

Philip's cheeks started to turn red. "Oh! Yes, of course. I'll start to pack up things while you..yes."

*

*

Half an hour later, they were heading in what Addy hoped to be north. The ogres tended to migrate to rocks and boulders, possibly caves. Their last known  whereabouts before the attack was north of her village by a few days right, at the soonest, possibly a week. If the ogres weren't there anymore, her hope and chances of finding them would be small.

"I do believe we are going in the right direction." Philip stated. He squinted at the distance. "I think there is a road up ahead. Stay here and I will ride ahead and see."

Addy pulled her horse to a stop and watched as Philip rode ahead. Her nightmare still haunted her. She couldn't forget the image of her mother, her skin was slightly blue and purple, here eyes completely white. Her mother's cheekbones were standing out and made her face look sunken in. Her mother, while living, had never looked so ghastly.

"It is a road! There has to be a village not too far ahead!" Philip waved at her and waited for her to catch up to him. "I think we should go that way." He pointed to the right. "There will probably be a village down that way, and we can see where we are, get out bearings, and continue on our journey."

Feeling defeated and sad, Addy nodded and followed Philip's lead. Hopefully, if they reached a village, she might purchase a sword. Her family had a small sum of money, that which she took with her before she left. Though her family's house burned down, they hid their valuables and money in a hollow floorboard in the barn, where no one but them knew of. She hoped she would have enough to purchase a fine blade.

They rode to the top of a hill and looked at the valley that lay in front of them. Curls of white and black smoke rose from between the trees. Even from the hill, they could hear the screams of terrified people.

She kicked Cadeym's sides and tore down the hill into the village.

To be continued...

A/N: I'm so sorry this chapter is so short and that I am a day late at getting it updated! I'll probably write the next part tomorrow :D