Burden of the Badge

Chapter 4***

After several minutes, Kendra's eyes slowly fluttered open. Tiaret smiled brightly, gripping her daughter's hand tightly against her cheek. "Kendra," she whispered, rubbing her fingers through her daughter's pink hair. Tears dripped from her eyelashes onto Kendra's pale cheeks.

"Mother, please," Kendra said with a weak smile. "You're going to get me all wet."

Tiaret laughed at her daughter's joke. She hadn't felt this much joy in seeing her daughter since the day she first held her after a long night of bringing her into this world. Now, she couldn't be more relieved to have her back in her arms. 

The ground suddenly shook beneath Tiaret and Kendra. Tiaret furrowed her brow before jumping on top of her daughter protecting her as stones plummeted down on them like rain. Rising to her feet, she gazed down at her daughter who lay on the stone ground dazed. She had finally found her, but now she had to get Kendra out alive. Glancing up, her heart quickened as the glasses and beakers shattered on the tables and the floor split beneath her feet. Lava burst from beneath the floor, bubbling and snapping toward her; the heat alone was enough to burn her.

Tiaret bit her lower lip fighting off the pain. She maneuvered her hands under Kendra's back and legs and lifted her into the air. They had to find a way out. A thought occurred to her and she made an abrupt stop mid-flight. Mavo! Heat seared her feet as the world around her glowed with a fiery vengeance. Lava erupted out of the rift in the ground and exploded outward in geysers. Two of them shot off on either side of her, so Tiaret narrowed her wings and turned sideways in between them, just missing them both. Ahead of her, another lava spout shot up toward the ceiling. She rolled over in the air to the left to avoid it, keeping Kendra close against her body. Below her, the lava rolled down a lower tunnel like a tidal wave. She raced back to Mavo in hopes that she could fly faster than the fast-moving lava.

At last, she arrived at the tunnel she had arrived in. She glanced around searching for Mavo. He was supposed to be digging a way out. Had he been successful? She scanned the darkness, her heart pounded against her ribcage as she desperately tried to find where he'd been digging. "Mavo?"

"Tiaret!" His voice echoed on the dark walls of the cave. She smiled hearing his voice. "Tiaret!" he called again, only this time, she noticed the urgency and fear of his tone.

"Looking for him?" She jerked her head to the right to find a male shoving Mavo in front of the dimming light of the exit. Tiaret hovered backward to keep him from hitting her. The male approached her, so she lay her daughter down behind her body to protect her little girl. Tiaret raised her arms in front of her and recognized him as the centaur from earlier. "Listen to me," Tiaret said, holding out a hand calmly. "You don't want to hurt him. He's done nothing to you." The ground shook once again and they all staggered from the blow. "You need to help us escape before we all die a painful death," Tiaret said hurriedly.

The centaur narrowed his eyes on her. "Why would I want to help the likes of you?"

Tiaret gritted her teeth. There was no time to deal with a common thief like him. She charged forward, and the centaur reached out to grab her. Tiaret ducked beneath his arm and sprinted around behind him. Before he could turn his horse-torso, she leaped up into the air and slid around behind his neck. She wrapped her arms around his throat and clung to his back. He bucked and tried to throw her off, but she used her wings to help keep herself steady. As he bucked, he didn't realize that he was approaching the end of the tunnel. She held on tightly until a rear hoof slipped over the edge and he plummeted. She sprang into the air before he took her down with him and watched as his body hit the lava. She grimaced wishing there could've been a better way.

Quickly returning to her daughter and Mavo, Tiaret dropped down beside the half man half snake and cut his bindings. "Are you going to help us escape or will you die too?" She looked him sadly in the eyes.

"We know of a way out." She looked left as another male voice called, still hidden by the darkness. Picking up her daughter, Tiaret rose to her feet. The man darted in front of her and then disappeared deeper into a tunnel that veered off to the right. Mavo rose to his full height and they followed the man through a tunnel that inclined upward, back to the surface. 

Sweat began beading on her forehead. Tiaret paused and let Mavo go before her. After catching her breath for a second, she rushed after them as fast as her legs could carry her. A cooling breeze welcomed her as she made her way out of the tunnel into a new corridor with an opening in the ceiling. She gasped, staring up at the black sky overhead. Taking a deep breath, she hovered just in front of the cave exit. She furrowed her brow realizing that the man and Mavo weren't anywhere to be found.

"Mavo?" she shouted into the darkness of the tunnel. Tiaret coughed as her lungs and eyes began burning. She flapped her wings hard but they wouldn't lift her. She had to escape, had to live; she couldn't die, not now. Pulling her daughter against her chest, she reached a hand up towards the opening, searching for help. Her wings faltered and threatened to drop her to be consumed by the liquid flames that now burned the ground beneath her.

A hand shot down from above her and reached for hers grasping her around the wrist. Tiaret jerked her head up as the hand-pulled her out of the way of the flames. She was pulled onto a group of rocks above the lava pooling out of the cave. Relief flooded through her and she sucked in a deep breath of air that was anything but crisp and clean. The ground trembled beneath them as thunder resounded around them.

Kendra coughed as she jerked in her arms. "Mother, what happened? What's going on?"

Flaming boulders rained from the sky around them and plummeted onto the volcano's side, each one forming a giant vent. Tiaret gazed into Kendra's scared face. Their future was uncertain, but they had to fight for what little hope remained. She rose to her full height and set her daughter on the ground on her feet. "Help me get these gentlemen to safety and we will proceed from there."

"I'm sorry. I can't go on without Penelope." Tiaret jerked her head around as she watched their rescuer disappear under the lava. She raced over toward him and reached down for his hand, but the man sank below the surface before she could pull him out. Biting her lower lip, she flew over to Mavo, who was sitting on a boulder glancing around at the sky above. Tiaret flew towards him and landed by his side. His eyes dropped in sadness. She could tell he didn't have high hopes for his future. 

"If we jump, we should be able to make it." A weary smile pulled at her lips as the ground convulsed beneath them. "We have to go now. We have nothing left to lose." Mavo squared back his shoulders and nodded. She locked her fingers with Kendras, and the three of them turned towards the forest before running off the rocky surface. Tiaret flapped her wings lifting into the air and she felt Kendra right beside her. Tiaret turned and watched as Mavo landed on a rocky surface and she flew down to be by his side. Mavo sucked in a deep breath before gazing up towards the billowing smoke. Without a word, they raced out into the forest escaping the fiery death.