𝓜𝔂 𝓦𝓪𝔂 𝓸𝓯 𝓛𝓲𝓯𝓮 - 𝓚𝔂𝓵𝓸 𝓡𝓮𝓷 𝔁 𝓞𝓒

Chapter III

• Song: Sway With Me by Saweetie •

Fire blazed all around them, smoke and ashes filling the air. Adela didn't remember how the fire started. She could've done it and she wouldn't have known. It seemed fitting, though, as her and Ben fought against the other padawans in the temple they'd practically spent their entire childhood in.
Ben was facing off one, while Adela struggled against two. She no longer bothered to look at who she was facing. She couldn't pay attention to the visuals anymore. Not when her ears were ringing with the whispery, cold voice she'd heard before. As her saber sliced through the air and landed dead center, the voice in her mind turned to yells and screams. One yell was more prominent than the others, though.

"Adela!" the voice yelled. She quickly turned around, realizing the voice wasn't in her head at all. She quickly brought her lightsaber up, blocking against what could've been a fatal blow. She looked past the person's head and followed the voice to Ben, who was holding down someone while looking up at her. Both shared a quick moment of relief before she went back to trying to knock her opponent down.

Ben cut down his adversary with ease and immediately ran to Adela who had just defeated hers. She let out a breath she'd been holding, watching their former peer fall to the ground. She quickly looked away, unable to bear the sight anymore, but found that the area around her was much worse. They stood near the entrance to the entire temple, but whole entryway was on fire. A burnt banner crashed beside them, causing Adela to jump. Ben quickly put his arms out to steady her. She brought her head up for a few moments, her eyes watery. True fear finally set in, but the realization of her actions did nothing to silence the new laughter in her mind. A sob escaped her lips, and she squeezed her eyes shut, burying her head in Ben's chest. He faltered for a few moments before wrapping his arms around her. He hadn't realized until now that his hands were shaking, and as he looked around at the flames and the bodies, his own fear settled in. He held Adela tighter, each one of her sobs piercing him in a way that no word or action from his former master could have.
Suddenly, more voices resounded from the back of the temple. He quickly grabbed Adela's hands, bringing her forward.

"We can leave everything behind," he said, quickly but calmly. "But we have to do it quickly, now."

Adela focused on his eyes, the flames reflecting off of them, giving him a sort of angelic look, his hair sticking to his face in a poetic way. His tan robes he'd worn for most of his life was covered in various red stains and smudged ash. To Adela, though, he was still Ben. Someone she trusted.

She gave him a quick nod, reigniting her lightsaber. "We could take a ship from here, or get one from O'Kama," she said, both starting to walk to the entrance.

"If we want to get out of here, we have to do it now. Let's go to the village," Ben decided, ignoring his own lightsaber again.
As they fled down the steps, the voices they heard before turned into screams. It could have only been three or four of their peers, but it resounded throughout the camp like a crowd. Ben and Adela sprinted to the back of the temple, running down the dark, grassy hill that led them to the wild grass plains lying before the village of O'Kama. They'd been there thousands of times, the place being a sanctuary for them when their trainings became too much, or when they just wanted a glimpse of normalcy. Now it was about to be their actual sanctuary.