SCARRED; The Dark Tower

Chapter Two: Rubble and Ashes

Ashes and dust billowed into the air at every step Lekira took. Her heart ached with sorrow at each lifeless body she found, each pile of rubble that had once been a house. She found a young girl, who could not have been more than seven years old, cradled in her mothers arms. She found the body of a little baby, its skin burnt and bruised. And she found a pair of lovers still holding each others lifeless hands.

Tears blurred her sight and she found it hard to stand. The pain and misery around her brought her back to her hometown, which had met with the same fate. She hissed curses at the villains that had done this, then fell to her knees, sobbing.

A hand was laid gently on her shoulder. She looked up and saw the gruff face of her old friend.

"Reirdan!" She cried, smiling weakly through her tears. "You survived! When I saw smoke rising in this direction, I thought for sure you. . ."

"Yes," he said grimly, studying the sight around them with miserable eyes. "I saw the whole thing. I was here when they attacked. I've been searching for hours for survivors, but they're all-."

His voice broke and tears swelled into his eyes.

"What humans would do this to so many innocent people?" Lekira growled, feeling suddenly angry. The sight of Reirdan's tears infuriated her. She had seen him cry only once before, on a very heart-wrencing event.

"They are not humans," said Reirdan, rubbing his eyes. "They can't be. They have the appearance of humans, but they are nothing of the sort. Earlier today, I chased one of them through some alleys. I spoke to him. His eyes. . . Lekira, if you had seen his eyes, you would know what I mean. They were powerful, but lifeless. They looked like a pair of deep, deathly chasms. They could not belong to a human. I did not hesitate to kill him. And, Lekira, when I normally would have felt a bit of regret for taking someone's life, I felt nothing. I am not ashamed that I killed him."

"And you shouldn't be," Lekira nodded, paled by all that Reirdan had said. "They are villains. If they did not feel any regret for killing all these citizens of Largone, then we shall not feel any regret for killing them."

Reirdan took a deep, shaky breath and regained his gruff demeanor.

"Do you want to keep looking for survivors, or should we go on back to Derelda?" He asked.

Lekira looked around and sighed. She wondered if she could even make the whole journey home after what she had just seen. She looked down at the ground a few feet from where she sat. Halfway hidden beneath ashes sat a horse brush. She was surprised that it had survived the fires. She looked up and saw the body of a man just a few feet from the horse brush. And beside him was a young boy, who must have been the man's son. Her eyes were just about to move away when she noticed something.

"Lekira?" Reirdan said, looking at her anxiously. "Are you all right?"

"Oh my word," Lekira whispered. She jumped to her feet and ran to the boy.

"What is it?"

Lekira knelt beside the boy to have a closer look at him to make sure she was not mistaken.

She was not. There on the side of the boy's neck was a scar.

"Reirdan, look!" She cried, her eyes fixed on the scar.   Reirdan made his way to her side and looked down where she was staring.

"By Aldor's Blade!" Gasped Reirdan.

Lekira put her finger on the boy's throat to feel for a pulse. She sighed with relief when the throat gave a slight throb. He was alive!

"I cannot believe it," Lekira said breathlessly. "All this time, he's been her in Largone!"

"Lekira, you know what this means, don't you?" Reirdan said, suddenly beginning to look worried. "This boy is in danger every minute outside of Derelda! We need to get him back immediately!"

Lekira nodded.

"Just give me a minute to check for wounds," she said.

Reirdan nodded and, as Lekira began to give the boy a checkup, looked down to study him. As soon as his eyes fell on the young boy's face, he realized that he knew this boy. It was the boy he had run into before chasing the cloaked man whom he had killed. If he had only seen the boy's scar then! Then perhaps the boy would not be hurt now.

It was a wonder the boy was still alive. Lekira reported that his legs were covered with burns, his right ankle was dislodged, he had a deep gash in his left shoulder, and he had been hit hard in the head. Lekira made a splint for the boy's ankle with the cloth from a nearby corpse and a broken cane that had likely once belonged to an old resident. Reirdan retrieved some water from the well in the center of the demolished town, and Lekira use it to wash the boy's shoulder with another cloth. She then wrapped his shoulder with more cloth to stop the bleeding.

"That's all we can do for now," she said, exhausted from all the work. "Do you think you can carry him to my horse?"

"My horse is closer," said Reirdan. "And I can carry him the long distance to Derelda easier than you can."

Lekira sighed, but did not argue.

"We'll meet eachother at what was once the town entry," continued Reirdan. "We should get to Derelda by nightfall."

As Reirdan lumbered away, Lekira murmured, "that is, if we meet no obstacles."