Fire and Hope: part two

Posted On May 27, 2021

Chloe leapt over an overturned cart and crept between flaming houses. She knew she had to be brave. Radin had said that their mother would be at the shelter, but she wasn’t sure she could believe him. Mother had been out to draw water from the well when the attack had come, and Chloe doubted that she would have had time to get to the shelter.

            “Three—two—one—NOW!” a soldier yelled, and hundreds of arrows flew into the sky. Clouds of ash rained down where the fire-wielders had been hit, but often, they missed.

            “Mother!” she screamed, hoping that someone would hear her words. Tears blurred her vision, and she suddenly lost all her determination. She stood sobbing in the middle of the battle, fire and smoke and men all around her.

            “Chloe!” a man’s voice called amongst the clamor of war. “Come here!”

            Chloe looked around but saw no one.

            “Over here!”

Chloe turned to her left and saw a beautiful sight. A man on a white horse, galloping towards her. The smoke that drifted into the sky around him kept her from seeing his face, but Chloe had the wild hope that she might be saved.

            As the horse neared, the man swept Chloe up in front of him. “I’ve got you, child,” he whispered. “I’ve got you.”

            Chloe wanted to cry with relief. “Who are you?” she managed between coughs, covering her mouth. She looked at her hand and saw blood. Her chest ached. “And how do you know my name?”

            She had never met this man before, so his knowing her name was a mystery. 

            “I am the prince of this kingdom,” the man said, and Chloe heard a smile on his voice. “Why would I not know you, child?”

Chloe didn’t understand his words, but didn’t care much right now. “What is happening?” she asked, gripping the saddle tightly.

“We are about to be saved, Chloe.”

            “How?” Chloe didn’t understand. The fire-wielders were too strong, too powerful. She knew that there was no chance of winning this war.  

            The man spurred the horse on harder. Soon the battle was behind them, and they were galloping through an open field. “My armies are on their way,” he said. “The wielders have no chance against them.”

            Chloe looked up at the man in wonder. Seeing his face, she swallowed. His eyes were clear and blue and utterly confident. His face was streaked with ash but betrayed a blazing hope.

            Chloe nodded. “My brother is fighting the wielders,” she said. “He will save us.”

            The man’s gaze faltered, and he looked at Chloe with such sadness that she felt her heart sinking. Did he know something that she didn’t? Where was Radin?

            “Your brother is a brave boy,” he said.

            Chloe silently agreed. “Where are you taking me?” she asked, looking back at the battle. The prince gently turned her face from the horrors.

            “I am taking you to your mother,” he said. “And your brother.”

            “Where are they?” Chloe’s eyes widened as she scanned the fields for any signs of life. There were none.

            “They are with Radin,” the prince whispered. “This way.” He guided his horse hard to the right, towards a cluster of grassy hills that sat near the forest. Then Chloe could see them, the figures who knelt on the ground.           

            “MOTHER!” she screamed, and a moment later she was off the horse and in her mother’s arms, clinging to her with all her strength.

            “My girl,” her mother murmured, brushing back her matted hair with gentle hands. “My girl. You’re safe.”

            “I was so scared, mother,” Chloe whispered. “I thought you were gone.”

            “I’m here, my girl.”

            Chloe rested in her mother’s embrace for a long moment, then dared look past her mother’s shoulder. As she did, a cry escaped her mouth and her head spun.

            There were her brothers, Daniel and Radin. Daniel sat on his heels, his head bowed, and hands clasped beneath his chin as he muttered under his breath.

            And Radin—

            He lay on the ground in a heap, his face bloodied, and his body broken. His eyes stared at Chloe, the tiniest hint of life gleaming through. His lips trembled, and his hand reached for Chloe’s.

            “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, his face contorted with pain. Chloe began to weep, the horror of it all settling in her soul.

            “No!” she cried, grabbing Radin’s hand. “You can’t be hurt! You have to be okay!”

            Radin blinked slowly, his life ebbing away before her eyes. Daniel put his arms around Chloe, his strong body a fortress surrounding her.

“You promised we’d all be alright,” Chloe whispered. “You promised.”

            Radin closed his eyes, a small tear finding its way down his blackened cheek.

            The prince knelt beside them all, his face sad. “You are a brave boy, Radin Asherson. Thank you for fighting this battle. It will be over soon, for my armies are on their way. They will conquer the fire-wielders.”

            Radin swallowed. “Good.”

            The prince smiled at him and put a silent hand on Radin’s chest for a moment, his eyes closed as he uttered a blessing.

            As soon as the words had crossed the prince’s lips, Radin’s body went still. He was dead.

            Chloe felt frozen inside as she looked at her brother’s body.

            Then, the sound of the army reached their ears. A great stampede of horses, coming from the east. Chloe looked up and saw the sight. The armies went on and on, seemingly without end.

            “How beautiful,” Daniel whispered, and it was.

            The prince mounted his white steed once more, drawing his sword. “I leave you here to comfort and mourn,” he said. “But fear not. The battle is mine. Before the day is done, it shall be finished.”

            Chloe closed her eyes, weeping for Radin and all the lives which had been lost. Her mother and brothers beside her, she was surrounded by the ones she loved most. A cool breeze drifted through the air, and Chloe felt it on her skin as her body shook in her grief. Beside her, Daniel and her mother wept also, clinging to one another.

Do not be afraid. I am with you.

            Looking to the north, the sky was black with smoke as fire rained down. The fire-wielders darkened the ground, and all life was seemingly lost.

            But to the east, the armies were a blaze of hope on the horizon.

            And as Chloe watched, the prince on the white horse led the armies into the depths of the fire and smoke and darkness, letting loose a cry of war.

            “For Endos! For the king!”

            The clouds parted, revealing the beautiful rays of the morning sunlight, pinpricking the darkness below. The fire that fell from the skies no longer seemed so frightening. It seemed to dim in the glorious light of the sun.

            The pain that filled Chloe’s heart subsided as she watched the armies meet. Anticipation was thick in the air.

For a moment, there was no sound at all. The hisses and screams of the Drehnedon were silenced for the slightest of seconds. The clouds grew thinner and thinner, the sun’s light brightening with every passing heartbeat.

The next instant, the screams were back, multiplied to a deafening roar. But these were no screams of war—these were screams of fear. The Drehnedon were afraid. The day could only get better.

The prince’s armies were strong and sure. Clouds of dust exploded in the air as the black beasts and their riders were destroyed. The fire, at last, stopped falling from the sky.

And Chloe breathed deeply, feeling the hope that radiated from the prince like a warm summer’s day.