Dragons Are Demanding (Book 1)Complete

22.) A World on Fire

I woke up to the sound of screaming. Ash was shaking me and Fern was crying. Ash threw Fern on her back and pulled me up. It felt as if everything was moving slowly, a bad dream that i couldn't move freely in.

Flaming arrows fell down in a burst and many of the houses were already on fire. The roofs were like kindling.

A couple people were lying on the ground with arrows in them but I could not see their faces.
"Come on!" Ash screamed. Then everything started moving quickly.

I could feel the galloping of horses through my feet and hear them crying out with loud voices. The riders wore black capes with gold eagles on the breast eating a green snake. The image was seared into my head.

They brandished their swords as they strode closer. Hawthorn and father ran towards them unarmed.

Just as a sword came close to him, father swung his open palm at the shoulder of the horse. The horse and rider were thrown sideways, flying through the air.

Hawthorn jumped and kicked another off his horse. The remaining riders scattered.
"Every one go to the cave!" Spruce called out. "Go now!"
He pushed the people near him away from danger.

Another volley of arrows came down. It was hard to tear my eyes away from what I was seeing. Ash was practically dragging me.

Until she wasnt.

Ash fell to the ground with Fern still on her back and I looked up to see an unknown woman Infront of us. Dressed in black, with only her eyes visible.

She tugged at the chain in her hand, and at the end of that chain was a blade. The blade came out of Ashes neck.

Fern, on the ground, backed away in fear. The woman began to swing her chain blade in a circle.

"Fern run!" I yelled grabbing her hand and pulling her up. The blade lunged out but missed us. I picked her up and started a sprint for the cave. The smoke and the heat burned my eyes and made them water. I became aware that I wasnt wearing shoes.

The world fell out from beneath my feet and I dropped Fern. Falling on my face. A chain was wrapped around my ankle and I felt myself being dragged back.

"Go! Go go!" I screamed at her. Fern stumbled getting up and ran, disappearing in the smoke.
The woman lunged at me, knife in hand. Half her face was covered and her brown hair was tyed in a low pony tail.

She jumped on top of me and stabbed me in the arm but I was stronger and threw her back so hard she landed in a burning house. She let out a shrill scream.

I had to move but I had gotten turned around the smoke. It was so heavy that I couldnt tell where I needed to go.

Shapes of humans battled, screams and the crackle of flames were disorienting. I just picked a direction and ran.

I tripped and fell again, I looked to see what i had tripped over and found Nilla and her newborn layed on the ground unmoving.

Whether I gagged from the smoke or what I saw I couldnt tell.

I began to see the other body's on the ground around me. Maple and her wife. Birtch. A couple of the intruders. I didnt realize I was screaming.

I felt the pain before I saw what had caused it. An arrow protruded from my leg. I turned to my left and saw a man with a bow and a new arrow already pointed at me.

Within a second his head rolled to the ground. Another unknown man appeared from his side on a horse. His cape was white. I started running away from the new person. More and more white capes flooded in to the valley on horses. Cutting down the original intruders.

Running faster, away from the fire was the only goal in my mind. While I was running I fell into the river. The water was so deep my head went under. I sputtered out the water in my mouth, splashing to stay above the surface. I swam across and climbed out.

Then stood up and stumbled toward the tree line.

My legs gave out. My body was heavy from the water. My lungs hurt from exertion, I could hardly breath. The arrow was still lodged in the side of my left leg but I couldnt make my fingers move to pull it out. I couldn't stop shaking but I didnt feel cold.

I layed on my stomach on the hard ground. I could no longer hear screaming or feel the fires heat on my skin. but the ache in my chest only grew worse. Only after I stopped running did I realize how much pain I was really in. My feet were burned, my arm stung and was still bleeding, and how much it hurt to move my leg. I could feel my heart beat in my leg.

There was nothing I could do. I curled up in a ball on my right side and cried untill I passed out.
......

Cerastes ran all night without stopping. He was enslaved to the pull. He couldn't stop even if he wanted to and he didnt. He never wanted anything more.

Rather than feeling tired he felt lighter with every step. He barely noticed his surroundings changing. The crystal pounded away like a small heart. Urging him forward. It felt like only a few minutes had gone by.

Then it stopped. When he snapped out of his trance he looked down to see an injured woman lying on the ground. He checked his surroundings for the first time. The air smelled of smoke and death.

He was in a valley in the mountains. The walls of the valley were tall and covered with trees. What once were houses were nothing but burnt remains. Cerastes was suprized to see his men camped out away from the wreckage.

For a moment it confused him to see them here but then he remembered his orders from the day before, or was it the day before that. Time always got away from him.

What was the chance that the place the hunters were heading was where he needed to be.

He looked back down to the woman and then to his clawed hand. The crystal had broken into two shards. He had already come this far, taking one piece in between his claws he swallowed it.

He reached down to picked up the woman. With a light touch, she jolted awake and immediately winced. He looked at her more closely. Her coloring wasnt bad but it was difficult to tell what she looked like. She was caked in dirt and blood, her dress was singed and dirty.

Her hair was wet and had leaves and grass tangled in it. Maybe she wasnt ideal but he shrugged. Her looks didnt really matter, she would never be a dragoness. If she could give him a child that was enough.

But it would be all for nothing if she died before he could take her back with him.

Hed make her swallow the stone, then take care of the injuries. Grooming would have to wait.

"Hold still." Cerastes commanded.