Tales From Deserae

Chapter 2: The Fire

(Again, the image is not mine, the artwork goes to the respected owners)

Awoken by the sound of the birds, Deserae arose. The smell of food drifted in the air. It made her stomach rumble, but what money did she have? Rising from her place on the ground, she looked out on the village. "There is no point in staying here, there are no more demons to hunt".

Looking into the distance, Deserae begain to see smoke. "A fire?" She whispered to herself. The flame seemed to grow larger by the minute, concerning Deserae. Finally, curiosity caught the cat as she found herself running for the scene.

She flew through the village, bouncing off of the side of buildings to keep herself moving forward. The fire was at a manor owned by the Harrison clan. Men, women and even children where gathered in front of the house, yelling and screaming, as if each and every individual standing there had a relative dying within the flames.

But then she heard it, a young man in the center of the crowd screaming "but about Joshua! He is still in there! You can't just leave him!" No one seemed to hear the mans cry. The young gentleman removed the cap from his head, tears rolling down his cheeks. Deserae turned to him with a look of concern.

"Where is he?" She asked, walking up to the man "where is this Joshua you speak of?"

The man starred at her for a few seconds before speaking. "He should be in his room on the second floor. It would be the third door to the right of the staircase".

Deserae turned her back to the man and spoke softly, but boldly. "Thank you sir, that is all I need to know". "You don't plan on going in there do you miss?" The man gasped.

Deserae turned back to the man. "Do you wish for your Joshua to be saved? Because at this point I am the only one who will hear your cry". Turning back, she began to sprint up to the house. Many people called after her, but their voices where not in reach.

She blasted through the weaken door, looking all around at her surroundings. She was in the main hall, and the staircase was right ahead of her. The flames burned aggressively, the sound of flames seemed to fill her head. Dashing for the stairs, a board fell from the ceiling, almost falling on her. She stopped and stared at it for a couple of seconds, the dashed up the stairs.

The stairs felt as if they could give away on her at any given moment. Being on the second floor, Deserae could hear the sounds of screaming. She lunged towards the sound, getting closer by the second. She reached the door the third one down from the stairs to where the yelling commended.

She tried to open the door, but now eval. Finally, she decided to force the door open. She stood back, raised her foot and yelled "get away from the door!" She kicked down the door, and there on the floor, sat Joshua. He was a young boy about six years old, looking about Lily's age. He had light blue-green covered by a black cap. He wore fancy clothes and a scared look on his face. The face reminded her of Lily before she died, causing her to want to save the child even more. She ran over and let the child on her back, letting him clutch onto her in fear. She ran out the room, carrying the child on her back. She jumped, skipping the stairs and ran down into the main hall. The main doors where blocked, flames grew jurassicly. She looked up, a window was above the main entrance. She crouched down and did a huge lunge for the window. The kid started to squeal in fear as they came closer to the window.

Deserae braced herself as her weight pushed agents the window, shattering the glass. The crowd began to screech, the kid started to cry more. Deserae's feet forcefully hit the ground. All the people ran up to her, the first being the man. He pick Joshua off of her back. "Joshua thank gosh your alright!" He turned to her, smiling. "Thank you, miss" he cried "thank you for saving him".

"Your welcome, sir". She said with a frown on her face. The man looked at her with a great smile, making Deserae realize that the young man was not too much older than she. She stared at him for a couple of seconds, then walked away.

A couple of hours, at sunset, she returned to her grassy area to rest. She ate close to nothing all day, making her even more tired. She sat down and stared at the sunset, trying to avoid thinking of her hunger.

"You seem rather scrawny, as if you ate nothing all day".

Deserae turned to see the young man standing there. He had a basket of cheese, bread, and even some filtered water in a basket in his arms. He had messy black hair and violet eyes. His eyes seemed mystical, as they seemed to sparkle in the light of the sun.

"Shall I trust this man?" Deserae asked herself. "Who are you?" She asked.

"Well, why don't I introduce myself". He cleared his throat. "My name is Collin Fredricksworth."

"Okay, Collin. Why are you here with me?" She asked "why do you have care for a low life such as I?"

Collin smiled, and looked off to the distance, avoiding the question completely.