Outnumbered & Frozen

Finally, she made her way inside the main part of Forrest Keep, less clothes and skin, but she had conquered the flaming waves and the gauntlet of soldiers. For the briefest of moments, she leaned against a tree, catching her breath, preparing for more. She scanned the dark skies, but the dragons seemed to stay higher up than before.

The armored vigilantes, relaxed and unbridled by fear of the people, wandered here and there pillaging the dead. It was disgusting and made her skin crawl, but it also gave her the freedom to move within the smoke and shadows unnoticed.

It was slow going, as every few feet, she had to step over limp frames, wooden blockades, and uprooted cobblestones. Shattered frames of windows, carts, and wagons, upturned and implanted unnaturally throughout the area, made her journey to her family estate all that much harder.

She slipped behind what used to be the top Forrest Keep's worship house, to avoid being caught by a patrolling soldier, and tripped over the body of the baker.

Mr. Sweet Tooth!

He was covered in burns and scratches. His hand still clutching a long sword, she never knew he owned. Leaning over him, she felt for a life beat coming from his chest. As cold and still, as the fresh fallen snow, he would suffer no more.

She placed her palm on his face and offered a small blessing as she worked the sword free of his hand. She lifted the blade a bit, inspecting it as best she could in such a small hiding space. It didn't feel too heavy, so she gave it a practice swing, testing its weight as she brought the blade through the air. The blade was clean. It was apparent, Sweet Tooth, never got a chance to use it.

Evrah clutched it in her fist, holding it against her outer thigh, trying to keep it close but concealed, as she snuck from one pile of rubble to another, making her way closer inside the fray.

She had made it to what she judged should be the center of town. Hunkered down behind a huge tree, her gaze took in everything as she tried to figure out her exact location. With Forrest Keep leveled, all landmarks wiped away, it was hard to tell just exactly where she was. She could have been inches or miles from her family and didn't know.

She would have cursed the day if it hadn't already been plunged into Hell. Instead, she crept further in, hoping to at least find her parents and sister...and hopefully, not dead. Although, as she gazed at the horrific scene before her, she wasn't sure if maybe, death, wasn't a better choice.

The soldiers cracked whips and swung weapons at her fellow villagers, as they herded the survivors into large, caged wagons. The men, no matter what age, were bound and gagged, as they were loaded into separate wagons while the women and children were loaded into others.

The army that wasn't loading prisoners, and taking captives, took turns beating the elderly and making fun of how slow and encumbered they were. It made Evrah’s head spin, and her hand gripped her sword tighter. She wanted nothing more than to lunge at them and remove their heads from their shoulders. However, she knew this would be foolish and stayed planted where she was.

After all, she was severely outnumbered.

She looked around, hoping for something to spark this blurred map of town and form some kind of picture to navigate. The canvas in front of her was just as easy to make out as those painted pictures ruined by Spring rain. Nothing but colors and ash, fused together, smudging it from existence.

She knew she needed to find a better place to hide and quickly, as the smoke cleared, and the sun began its slow descent into the continent. Evrah sought what she hoped would be safety under a wagon that had been blasted and rolled over.

Small fires still burned, though their life was finally waning, as the wind had ceased, and the dragons fled. She had been camped out inside the upturned wagon, waiting for a clear moment when she could flee and search openly for her family.

She watched the day come to a close through a break in the wood of the wagon. The army, looting less and becoming more organized while what she guessed would be Generals, barked orders in a language she had never heard before, yet was laced with a familiarity she didn't understand.

This was more uniform, yet still chaotic, as now, it was the soldiers running around, like hungry animals foraging for food. Some yelled out, while others pointed and shouted back. This went on for a few minutes before everything stopped.

As if life itself had been frozen.