The Dream Walker

Chapter 2: Fire and Flying

Before I could comprehend anything more than the approaching men, flames were reaching for the sky. A house had been set ablaze on the opposite side of the village, and the world was overlaid with an orange hue. My heart stopped in my chest, as though a hand had seized it and ceased its beating.

Raids in Misery often played out smoothly enough: so long as we, the citizens, stayed holed in our houses, danger could typically be avoided. Some houses were raided, along with the tavern and the fields, but Mama and I had our secret room behind the dresser.

However, these new men had barely stepped foot in Misery and fire taunted the house's wooden supports, knowing it would take the building down. Screaming sounded not long after, bloodcurdling screams that were sure to alert all in the village.

Both my feet and my mind implored me to run, but my eyes kept me rooted in place, trained on the dancing flames against the black sky. They swayed with every gust of wind, manipulated so easily, and yet they could not be tamed. Minutes passed, the yelling never relenting, but the fire remained in my sight.

It was only when an ugly brute of a man rounded a corner, standing on the opposite end of the marketplace, that I allowed myself to flee. I dove into the divot between two houses, falling knees-first onto the grass. My white apron rubbed unforgivingly against the ground, green likely to stain it for a long while. I couldn't stay down, though, for I heard the thundering sounds of feet following me. I sped around several more corners before I was certain they wouldn't find me. Between the shadows of clustered huts and the shadows of a dark night, I felt safe enough.

I didn't feel safe enough, though, to travel home just yet. Foolishly, in my attempt to evade the raider, I ran to the nearest shadows. My house resided north of the marketplace, where I had run south. I cursed myself, knowing well the marketplace was crawling now with these savages.

I gulped as the shadows around me slowly faded, making way for a growing light. As sweat trickled down my back, one slow line tracing my spine, I acknowledged the blistering heat of the newly-set fires. I swore again. I couldn't stay here. I had to get home to Mama. Not even our hideaway would protect us. Maybe we could run? I still needed to get home, though. I wouldn't run without Mama.

Just as I was about to move from my crouch, the silhouette of a young man was framed by the flames before us. However, he wasn't facing me, but the carnage unfolding. His hands were on his hips. Perhaps the swaying fire behind him manipulated my vision, but he looked unhealthily skinny. Tall, but about as wide as parchment. The color of it, too. He was as pale as every other denizen of Misery. Whoever he was, I was inclined to believe he didn't belong with the girthy men attacking.

"Well," his voice sounded, making me wince. What was he thinking? He'd alert them of our presence. "This isn't ideal, is it?"

What? My eyes narrowed and my eyebrows furrowed. This kid couldn't be serious, right? My mind reeled with questions regarding this fool, a dangerous distraction when I could have instead been considering escape routes.

He turned to face me, but the light shining behind him shadowed his face. I saw the glinting of bright eyes, though, and they were trained on me. "What's happening here?"

Several words played on my tongue, but none would fall out. Instead I stared back at him with a gaping mouth. I couldn't let this dope occupy any more of my time, though. I needed to flee. I needed to find Mama. Standing, my legs cracking, I spoke as quickly as I could, not bothering to worry if the sentences spilling from me were coherent or not. "Misery is burning, do something or leave!" And I ran.

I felt the ground shaking, though; he was following. "Hold on!" he shouted.

I froze in my tracks, falling against a wall. He did the same. "Shut up!" I hissed. "Do you want us to be found out?"