Firebird (Revised)

Chapter 8- When Things Go Wrong

Chapter 8- When Things Go Wrong

 I was finished practicing for the day. After performing the past few nights before and hardly sleeping because of my dreams, I was exhausted. Ryo had pushed me to my limit even though she could hardly demonstrate without making her leg worse. She was too stubborn to wait until she was healed though.

   I sat with her in the stands, watching everyone else. It was still fairly early but there weren’t near as many performers practicing. It was only odd to me because I hadn’t seen a lot of people wandering camp either. I expressed my concern to Ryo, receiving a shrug in response.

   “They get lazy at times.”

   I leaned back against the bench behind me, taking a long drink from my canteen. Not many had to work as hard as I did because they already knew the routines and were way more experienced.

   My head throbbed as it had been all day. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples in an attempt to sooth it even slightly. Within the minute I looked away, a huge crash followed by screams and the clanging of metal echoed loudly sending everything into chaos.

   The death wheel had detached from its swinging base and flown into the high wire. It all lay in a heaping pile surrounded by unharmed performers. Ryo limped as quickly as she could behind me to see if anyone was hurt.

   I merged with the crowd watching in horror as some of the men carefully but swiftly rummaged through the wreckage. They firstly glanced through the crowd then called for whoever they didn’t see.

   I panicked inside but tried not to release it as some did.

   “There were people on them.” Ryo stated quietly.

   I bit my lip, crossing my arms over my upset stomach. Performers were on the death wheel and high wire when the accident occurred. How could someone survive such a fall?

   Three were found, battered and scraped but nothing more than a broken arm or dislocated shoulder. There were still two left: Pheller and Gideon, brothers who performed on the death wheel together. I knew Gideon slightly. He was a hyper, cocky sort, never in a bad way though. I never once saw him without a smile. As for Pheller, I had never met him.

   “I found one!” Barnabus yelled. Hasan, Astley, and Gallagher rushed over to help clear things away. Fargus continued searching for the other brother.

   The tent was anxiously silent as Barnabus scooped Pheller into his hulking arms. He was  bloodied and bruised to the point where there was no recognizable part of him. His arm was twisted at an impossible angle. He was conscious but barely so.

   I felt a cold breeze beside me and saw Chalavar shoving his way through the crowd. His face was red with rage and his manner more foul than usual. We cleared to let him past.

   Barnabus brought Pheller to a cleared part of the floor and lay him gently to the dirt before Chalavar. The others had gone back to help Fargus.