Running Away From One Thing, and Into Another.

Chapter 27: I am Fire

Warn him. Save him!

But I can't. It's too late.

And, suddenly, everything is going so fast.

A sickening thud follows as the arrow sticks into Brean's neck. With widened eyes trained on me, Brean lets out a gurgled scream as blood flows from the wound. A sob tries to escape my throat, but my clenched fist finds my mouth first. Tears slither down my cheeks. Brean's breathy gasps are suddenly silenced. With an arrow in the heart, Brean collapses to the ground with a loud thud. He doesn't utter another sound. Not even a breath.

Another sob shakes my body, and but the cry remains stifled by the fist stuffed into my mouth. He is dead. Gone.

Two Talyarians come rushing towards the body, nearly making me choke in fear. Surely they're orders are to kill me on sight. They killed Brean on sight. Oh, Brean...

One kneels down beside him, checking for a pulse. “Dead.” He states before looking back up to the other one. “This isn't the jalz.”

The talyarian standing rolls his eyes. “No doubt, Jedim! This one was probably just a decoy.”

“So, what do we do?” Asks the one called Jedim as he picks himself off the ground.

Scrubbing his greying beard thoughtfully, the older jalz shrugs. “We can't smell her out. Too much blood for that. If I am right, and this is just a decoy, she could be on the other side of the city.”

Jedim's eyes scan over the area, passing over me blindly. “Try to listen for her maybe?”

The older one shakes his head. “No, there is too much chaos and it would be a waste of time. Return to the Jalzen Door for now unless we receive other orders.”

How many guards are gathered there? It's hard not to gulp at the thought. Sabree probably thought of that, so she might already have a plan. That is, of course, if she isn't already dead like Brean and Rosanda. What about Dahné?

They're words dull down to a buzz as my gaze drops down to Brean. This horrible picture looks so familiar. Like a time far ago in a different land. In a different situation.

Or was it that different?

Suddenly, I find my mind at the time. I was gulping down sobs just like I am now, trying so hard to remain quiet so that I am not caught. But who is in Brean's place? Who put his life before mine?

His name comes as a soft whisper from the depths of my minds.

Dantem.

Everything's here. The wood against my back, the smell of rot filling my nostrils, and the ache in my bum. The feeling of sweat trickling down my back returns, and the tears on my cheeks remind me that I was crying back then too.