Her dreams were an ebbing nightmare, of broken visages and cracked glass, peppered with broken hopes and fallen indifference. Skies burned cinnamon and mahogany with the onset of dusk, bleeding to gray as the light faded to nothing. The taint of smoke painted the rising moon an ugly maroon, like a watchful, scornful eye in the abyss.
The world was bleak, painted sandstone slates and chipped cobblestone formed the walls that man touched, formed the havens that the weary slumped and rested within. Towering spires rose from the barren earth, reaching for the skies like stone fingers reaching for what they could never hope to touch.
The grounds were spilled to life with firelight, tall, mounted braziers filled with oils and wool to burn and cast warm light across the cold buildings and people, contrasting starkly with the urgency that grasped each and every soul that wandered into the light.
Their eyes were weary, distrusting, and their bodies were tense. Clad in the simple woolen slacks and heavily woven tunics and hoods, the people of the barren town quickly retreated to their dwellings to wait out the night with arms filled with hanging bags of potatoes and herbs.
The shrill clang of bells overhead called as the last glimmers of sunlight faded beneath the carpet of dark, plunging the town in stern solitude.
Curfew was in session, and no soul alive was willing to trespass into the dark.
But some didn't have a choice in the matter.
Saki stumbled through the darkness of alleyway shadows, tugged along at the behest of the urging form navigating the way through lifeless streets. Her tiny feet clad in doeskin wraps clapped dully against the stone ground, sinking through pits of sand that had grown with the dawn sandstorms that marred the alleys. Her form was cloaked in tans and browns with the smell of ash and fire permeating her tiny form.
'Mama...' The young Saki called out, softly in spite of the ever-present aching of her feet and the stiffness that had developed in her arm that was still being tugged by her mother. 'I'm really tired. And hungry, and thirsty too... are we there yet?'
'Not yet, sweetheart.' Her mother responded as she tugged little Saki along a bit harder. 'Come, it's not much farther to go.'
'But Mama...' Saki protested, pitifully. 'We've been walking all day... It's been days!'
'I know, but just a little longer, I promise.'
Dejected, all little Saki could do was sound a little whine as she was tugged jarringly towards the right down another set of alleys.
Voices on the air tumbled through the frigid bite of cold that began to settle in on the lands with the sun's absence, an ever-present hum that played havoc with the goosebumps running over the exposed skin of Saki's arms. Many voices singing in chorale echoed throughout the alleys and streets, and yet, it feel harmonious. It didn't instill calm.
Instead, it was eerie, painfully sinister to Saki's young ears, even without hearing the words or the intent behind the hymns.
And they were getting closer.
As they rounded the corner of what appeared like an old bakehouse, Saki found herself frantically shoved backwards, pushed back into the safety of the empty alley as her mother swiftly cursed beneath her breath. Approaching voices and footsteps rose from the haunting hymns reverberating through the alley, the clanking of metal and rustling of heavy robes eluding to what the approaching forms were; Armed threats.
With swift motions too fast for Saki to follow, both her wrists had been snatched up in one slender hand and she was dragged over her mother's shoulder before she could so much as blink. In three swift bounds, the large, rather athletic form of Saki's mother threw herself up in a dash up the side of the slanted bakehouse wall and hauled herself over the overlooking banister of an outside staircase joining two higher floors together.
They landed atop the second floor landing just in time to scurry away from the edge, out of the direct line of light that appeared at the corner of the building one mere second later.
Two men appeared at the corner bathed in torch light, clad in fur coats and mold gray tunics trimmed in black, adorning chain mail and crosses decorated with the design of milkweed and onyx stones. Soldiers affiliated with the church, those that run the country following the downfall of the royal family the year Saki had been born, or so she had overheard her mother remark in passing one day.
The stern features of the two soldiers were made more prominent with the suspicious scowls they wore as they scanned the alleyway for any sign of life.
Saki held her breath as tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes as the two soldiers came closer, lifting their torches to shed more light across the alley.
'Are you sure you did not imagine it, Reize?' One of the soldiers murmured softly as he turned to inspect the other way.
'I doubt it.' The other muttered sourly.
'You have been pretty skittish since that heretic ran at you with a pitch fork over the morn.' The other soldier responded with a scowl. 'Not that I blame you, really, but are you sure you are not getting a little paranoid?'
The soldier in question lifted his torch higher as he seemed to squint up at the exterior staircase for a moment.
'...Perhaps I am.' He resigned with a weary sigh. 'To be frank, all I want is to go home.'
'Then let's get this last patrol done, and we can let the overseer know we're done.'
The guards gave one last sweep of the alley and its connecting entrances before they disappeared back into the main streets, joining the hymns and the firelight that illuminated the expanses beyond.
It was only once the guards had more than enough time to get several buildings away that Saki's mother let out a relieved breath.
'That was close...' She whispered.
Saki's wrists were released once her mother had gotten them both back to the cold, sandy alley ground without a sound, and their journey through the shadows of buildings simply resumed.
The young girl's gaze wandered fearfully as her mother tugged her along, glancing upon Church-affiliated soldiers standing atop buildings with torches in hand, of wandering chorale groups clad in black clergy robes and gray emblazons of flowers. And in the distance, a horse-drawn cart transporting a large number of bound, slumped forms dressed in decrepit rags and hefty chains. Dark olive skin blemished with scrapes and lashings, and once glossy ebony hair hung tattered and limp over gaunt faces.
They were people like her, like her mother and father, and should they wind up caught, Saki would find herself thrown into that cage along with them.
'Here, Saki.' Came her mother's hushed command, piercing through the pocket of fearful thought that had descended upon the girl.
And not a second later, Saki was pushed into the ajar door of a small, inconspicuous building.
The sounds of a heavy, closing door echoed through the air as Saki stumbled slightly on her sore feet, and a faint whimper escaped her as she fought to stop herself from tripping over the dips and rises in the sandstone floor.
Until a large, remarkably warm hand gently grabbed her by the hand and pulled her form to a halt.
'Careful, kid! Wouldn't want you to fall over and break the floor.' A deep and rather mocking voice rung through the air, causing Saki to throw a petulant pout at the stranger who had stopped her from falling over.
'Aidrian! How dare you call my little girl fat?!' Snapped a far more familiar voice. 'You're lucky I need your help, otherwise I'd be throwing you out into Kyanite's grounds!'
'Whoa, so scary!' The stranger mocked.
However an excited squeak escaped Saki as she pried herself out of the stranger's grip and immediately tore straight for the approaching form stepping out from the shadows of a nearby doorway. A man of olive skin and ebony features appeared in the dull light of the lanterns hanging overhead, shoulders broad and form towering over even the stranger's more modest height. Like a protective bear with a kindly face, the man grinned brightly the very second he gazed upon Saki's face.
'Da!' Saki squealed as she threw herself into the waiting arms of her father, who chuckled as he whisked the young girl off her feet and pulled her into a bear hug.
'Well! You're getting big, Saki!' Her father's warm peels of laughter were soon to grace her ears as he hoisted her carefully against his side with an arm tucked beneath her legs. 'Soon you're going to be the one picking me up if you keep growing like this.'
However indignant Saki felt by the teasing remark, the girl simply latched her arms around the man's neck like a vice.
'Oh dear...' Saki's mother sighed as she approached. 'I don't think she's going to let go of you, Marius...'
'It's fine.' Saki's father dismissed with a hearty chuckle. 'She hasn't seen me in months, after all.'
'Yes, I know...'
There was a brief pause overhead as Saki's father ran a large hand through Saki's hair briefly.
'So you didn't make it out...?'
'Unfortunately.'
Saki felt Marius' grip of her tighten ever so slightly.
'...And Vano?'
The echoing silence in response was enough to draw an eventual, heavy breath from Saki's father as he shifted his weight on his feet.
'That poor bastard.' The stranger from before muttered with a sigh.
'We can talk about this later.' Marius announced with a more vigorous ruffling of Saki's hair, earning a displeased whine from the girl in response. 'You both must be exhausted. We've still got some leftovers from dinner and spare beds. It's late, after all.'
And that, was the final word on the matter.
Saki only relinquished her hold of her father when he sat down around a makeshift table further into the stone building. Bread and luke warm milk stew had never tasted so good to the exhausted Saki, who hadn't eaten since she and her mother fled what remained of Vano and his horse-drawn cart. She devoured a whole bowl and three pieces of slightly stale bread before her exhaustion and full stomach tugged her down towards the abyss of slumber.
She passed out with her hands still clutching onto her father, refusing to let him wander off without her if she had any say in the matter.
And when Saki awoke, it was to the sound of multiple voices in a neighboring room, urgent voices that pierced through the otherwise silent building.
She found that she had been relocated to a bed in another room, one of many beds that filled up the room's floor space in its entirety. Bundled up in many blankets that had been acquired from some of the other beds in the room, Saki found herself unwilling to leave the gentle embrace of the bed.
However at the sound of her father's voice echoing through the closed door of a joining room, Saki found herself peeling the blankets away and braving the icy chill of what she could only assume to be morning.
Saki passed by another bed with a mound of blankets and found that her mother was still asleep, albeit restlessly. Her face was strained, tear-stained and a far-cry from peaceful, and while Saki wanted to wake her up, she didn't.
This wasn't the first time that she had seen her mother in the throws of a nightmare, however her father had told her many times to leave her be, regardless. Even if it were plagued by nightmares, sleep was still sleep, something precious that shouldn't be squandered.
And so, Saki carefully ambled towards that closed door and carefully pushed it open.
All voices on the other side fell silent at the intrusion Saki made, and over twenty pairs of eyes fell upon her tiny form recoiling in the doorway. All the people in the room were men who had similar features to her father, to Saki and her mother as well, though they gazed at her without recognition, some even with irritation showing in their gazes.
'What's wrong, Saki?' Came the kind, questioning voice belonging to Marius, bringing the girl to turn her attention immediately upon the man, who was approaching from the front of the group. 'You're up awfully early.'
Saki didn't speak a word as she shuffled a little more behind the door to shy away from the annoyed gazes, even as the bear-like man crouched down before her.
A heavy sigh escaped her father as he cast a pointed glare back at the men in the room, who for the most part seemed to avert their gazes without a word.
'You're not hungry, are you?' Marius' question was answered with a quick shake of the head. 'Bored?'
Again, Saki shook her head, however a knowing smile soon graced her father's face as the seconds ticked by.
'Why don't you go have a look around? You'll be fine so long as you don't try to go outside.' Marius suggested as he rolled back on the balls of his feet lightly. 'I'll come find you as soon as these fine gentlemen head out, and we can find something to do while your mother sleeps. Alright?'
Wordlessly, Saki nods in agreement.
'Good girl.' Her father praised as he set a hand atop her head and ruffled her hair. 'I won't be long.'
And before long, Saki was left standing on the other side of the closed door as the meeting resumed.
--=[Submitted May 22nd, with 2294 words in total :) Hope you all enjoyed]=--