The After-End -#3

He has never run like this in his life. He could recall when he was little and a boar had pursued him to the end of the forest where he had jumped into the ocean causing the boar to leave him. He glanced back and noticed that he was still being followed, the hot breeze blew through his wet hair. Arrows flew past but he was able to dodge very quickly. Breathing heavily, he kept running, he pushed himself to keep moving although he was getting tired, more reflections roamed into his mind.

I should just surrender, they will take me to my family. He began to slow his pace.

His parent's words echoed in his head and kept replaying.

It's no use going after them, there's nothing you can do

I need to save my family,  he protested 

You don't have what it takes to save them, I know you would never have the gut

I will try everything. His conviction spiked his vigor and he increased his pace

They are better off with him than with you...you will kill them with your own hands, the same way, you've killed me

No, I won't, I will not repeat the same mistake. He countered.

He looked ahead and noticed that the narrow path he had navigated to, led to a sharp corner. At the same time, he felt a hard push on his back and turned abruptly. He saw that the archers were getting closer. As he increased his pace, he removed the satchel and noticed that it has been destroyed with the feathered arrows released from the archers. 

They wanted me dead but why? he was puzzled. If not for the satchel he would have been hit and probably dead.

On the spur of the moment, he thought out an escape plan. He tossed the ruined bag to the dirt, drew his hood over his head, and entered into the thick bush to hide. 

As their steps got closer, his heart began to pound faster, he bit his lower lip and shut his eyes. He tried to stay calm as his life depended on being very still. The two men ran by, but one of them noticed the bag on the floor with the feathered arrows. He ran back and called his partner. They stood by the corner and checked the surrounding. They picked up the satchel destroyed by their arrows from the dirt and examined it closely.

"I think he is wounded," one of them said

"Nah, It's just a scratch. There's no blood"

"He can't be that far," the other archer said as he glanced around nonchalantly.

Peeping up at them from the dense leaves, he studied them and tried to pay attention to their conversation. They both looked hefty, have this rugged look. He assumed that they were vicious more brutal than the brute riders. Pleading with them was out of the subject. The uniform they had on, showed that they worked for the Grandmaster. It was a black uniform adorned with red buttons that had the grandmaster symbol of a crooked owl crested on it. The shirt had no sleeves, their muscles flexed as they moved their hands and made gestures with the bag. One of the archers had an ugly scar on his forearm which made him look more ruthless than the other one.

He knew he had to stay put in his hideout, he could not even overpower one let alone the two of them.

With no hesitation or doubt, they both took off to find him. While they took off,  he reasoned that it was not wise for him to come out of hiding in the daylight,  he decided to wait till dark.

It was a moonless night with no stars, everywhere was in total darkness. The trees could not be seen as they were all in dark shadows. He came out of hiding, he stretched and took in a deep puff of hot air. The air was dry and he was getting parched. He doubted if any river was close. Treading on instinct, he walked slowly, his black habit camouflaged him from the dangers of the night. He ambled on slowly into the dark with so much care and precision, his eyes later readjusted to the darkness. He was able to notice his surroundings, the dark trees, and the creeping creatures hanging on them. Then suddenly a prickly feeling crept up into his mind, this happens when he was being watched. He glanced back but saw only darkness. The prickling moved to his neck and the back of his head, the hair there stood uprightly on goosebumps. His mind became unsettled, he stood for a moment to hear any sound but he didn't hear any sound. Then all of a sudden, an owl cooed. He jumped in fear and started to walk very quickly.

After covering many miles, he searched for a place to rest but could not see any shelter. He lifted his face to the sky in resignation and signed heavily. Then he noticed red light reflected in the sky from afar. As he rambled on, he felt uneasy about the light he caught sight of, instead of retreating he moved forward using the light reflected on the sky as a guide.

It seemed like a fire is blazing. 

He followed the blazing light that kept reflecting on the sky, every step he took brought him nearer and closer to a great town. It was different from his village. The wall and buildings had been made from bricks and they had carvings on them but they were all colored in black, the city had a gate, although it was opened wide. The gate looked heavy and very tall, more than the height of a man and it was made with metals.  He touched the walls and his palm was stained with a black stinky coat. He didn't know what it was and he rubbed it off on his clothes.

Scrambling around, the walls holding the gate stood, but others surrounding the city had crumbled down, everywhere was deserted. There was no single soul in sight, or corpse was lying around. Many chariots and carriages lay by the side covered in the dark stinky substance. It looked like the town has been abandoned for a long time,

But, why is the fire still burning everywhere, could there have been a firestorm, such a disaster hasn't happened for decades.

What's with the sticky stuff anyway?

He swapped the stain from one of the carriages with his index finger and smelt it. The dark sticky substance smelt of sulfur and brimstone. He wondered if this animosity was demonstrated by the brute riders or the Grand Master himself. 

But the whole town, where are the people?

They might have been taken as prisoners he concluded.

This injustice ought to stop.

He kept moving through the town, it was like an invisible force was pulling him through the town. He went to the source of the light he followed as a guide.  He struggled to turn back, to leave but the force constraining him was great.

When he got to the center of the town square, he noticed a person with chopped brown hair being burnt at the stake. He moved closer and examined the body at the stake. It was his wife, she was chained to a thick metallic rod and her body was still on fire, there was no scream and she was already dead. His stomach churned up and nausea rose in his gut. He knelt before her and shrieked, he pushed back his hood from his head and yanked at his hair. He cried out in inhumane sobs and lamented cursing himself. He laid down with his face on the dirt and prayed in a loud voice, talking between sobs.

"Why? Why me god? What have I done to deserve this? What offense could I have committed to warrant this, what great sin has she committed? My wife is dead, she was burnt at the stake."

And I couldn't save her...if I had left my hiding place, sooner, before dark, I could have saved her.

"Why? Why god? Must we all die?" He lifted his face to the sky and screamed in a loud voice.

Maybe I should just put an end to this misery, it will make my passing less painful.

He searched for a weapon to kill himself but found none.

Who will miss me? My sister and child? They might even be dead. He conceded.

There was no weapon lying around, he became frustrated and his body began to twitch.

I will die with her, that's it!  His face lighted up.

What's there to live for? He concluded.

He stood up to his feet and moved to the stake, his face was devoid of color as he made up his mind.

"What do you think you are doing?" his wife, although burnt up beyond recognition began to speak. He was startled and on reflex, he took a step back.

"What right do you have? Do you think killing yourself is the best way? What a Coward! I married a stupid and selfish coward!" He became very frightened and so he drew back staring at the blazing image.

"It's always you, this world does not revolve around you. Are you so weak that you lost your right to think?"

Her remains strained to come off the chain that held her to the stake and pounces on her husband. Her eye socket erupted in fireballs, her anger was soaring. The remaining hair in her head spiked up and turned to fire. The chain that held her, was red hot and was starting to melt. It separated the remaining crisped flesh that has not been shredded from her body off from her bones. Her wrist was folded in a fleshless fist and her skull. Her jaws opened wide and a tongue like fire blazed out from her mouth then her voice spoke in a legion of voices. He could hear his father and mother's voices from it.

"How could you have let this happen to us? you were supposed to protect us"

Those words punched him in the gut and he squirmed to his knees weeping in pain. His wife's figure had degraded to a blazing skeleton.

"I'm sorry" he repeatedly confessed.

The voices in his head came back in full intensity he gripped his head and forcefully shook it sideways, he thought the shake would put an end to the episode that occurred in his head, but it felt as if he was about to go mad. He couldn't hold it in anymore and so, he blacked out.

The red sun was going down when he got back his consciousness, he peeped through his heavy eyelids trying to adjust his eyes to the declining daylight. He stared for a long time at the red sky filled with small patches of grey-violet clouds. He caught sight of some dark eagles in the sky above making cracky noises putting an end to the quietness his body craves. Looking to the right, he noticed that the bones of his dead wife had been cremated into dust. After a moment, a powerful wind zapped them all to the sky. He quickly averted his eyes to the left to shield his face from the wind but he caught a glimpse of a tall dark-haired woman in a strange flowing off-white cloth running towards him, she waved her hands in the air as soon as she saw him. He looked confused and thought he was dreaming, but as she came closer to him, he sat up immediately as his sights spotted a familiar resemblance.

"Sister!" He exclaimed.

He sprang upon his legs and hopped on his feet he jogged towards her. His heart was filled with happiness, an incredible smile was splattered on his disheveled face, which made him look strangely weird. Gone was the remorse he had felt, his heart became so light he wanted to jump for joy at that very moment.

My sister, oh my sister his eyes was clouded with tears of relief.

On getting to her, she bounced on him and he embraced her. She was as light as a feather, he hugged her squarely to his chest.

"I'm so glad you are safe" he relaxed this hold on her and stared at her face.

"Are you okay?" He inquired of her, he checked out her disheveled appearance for any fault but found none.

She answered him by nodding her head.

"I escaped, while …they slept I crept like you...taught me when ...Papa was looking for us in the...bush" she stuttered, she snapped her finger as she spoke. Right from the time his sister was little, it had been difficult for her to speak words fluently. She had always followed him around instead of playing with her agemates. She had confided in him that they always made fun of her. When she later did speak, she ended up stammering her words

"I don't know ...where your wife and ...daughter is" she disclosed 

"She's dead" he glanced to his right and pointed at the stake

"Burnt" his pain surfaced again.

"It's too late" she mumbled

"Why?" He asked, raising his bow at her

"It's too late, I wish you had f...found me sooner..." She slumped to the ground. He caught her and turned her in his arms. She was unconscious, he held her wrist and checked her pulse but it was very faint, she had become cold on his hands. He was upset the smile on his face had disappeared into a frown, he noticed blood dripping from her clothing. The white dress she wore, although tinted with dirt was getting soaked in her blood. His hand was stained with her blood, he turned her over again and checked out her body, she had been shot with a feathered arrow. 

He glanced up immediately, he looked towards the direction she came from and saw the two archers that had pursued him earlier aim their arrows at him from their crossbows. He wondered how they found him. Blinking back the tears gathered in his eyes, he carried her on his back and escaped.