Chapter Two:

Broken Wings

Jude's panting breath beside me was really all I was aware of other that the flames in the distance that were steadily growing clearer. He'd joined me, and now we were both running down the beach in horror, the two of us putting aside our petty problems for a significantly larger one. I could see roofs aflame, and hear the mad crackling of the tongues of wicked fire, but it hadn't really registered in my mind that Nazahn was burning to the ground. My energy was leaving me fast, and I felt my lungs burning with the effort to keep taking in breath, but I willed my legs forward, despite the fact that I was falling behind. Waves crashed behind us, fire roared before us, my legs were crumbling beneath me, and suddenly, an enormous burst of flame spat into the air from what was probably the marketplace. I screamed, tripped over a piece of driftwood, got up, sobbing, brushed myself off, and continued running. Jude had stopped at my scream, but when he saw that I was relatively okay, he continued running, forcibly ignoring my growing sobs. The fire was now an enormous, glowing blob.

"Jude!" I cried hoarsely. "What's happening?" We'd reached the path through the dunes to get back to town. Jude was running in front of me, and I was wiping my face frantically with my forearms.

"I don't know!" he shouted back, without much enthusiasm. It sounded false, in a way, but I assumed that he was as much in shock as I was, and disregarded it. I tried to run faster, feeling my legs start to buckle beneath me, and then, all of a sudden, Jude stopped, and I ran up beside him to greet the worst sight I would ever witness.

Nazahn was in flames. Jude and I were horrorstruck as we stared on at the apocalyptic wasteland. Every building was on fire in some way. My eyes widened as I saw people dashing across the street, belongings in their hands. The kiosks and stands of traders were crumbled, smoldering ashes; the marketplace, a ways down the road, was glowing so brightly that the flames could be seen flickering from our standpoint. I noticed with angry revulsion a little girl, only a toddler, standing alone in the middle of the street, wailing for her mother. Before Jude could stop me, I ran up to her and knelt beside her, hugging her close, hushing her, damning in my mind the flames and all the damage they were causing. I looked up at the glowing, alien world around me, which was blurred by fresh tears. I clutched the girl tightly with no idea what to do. And then a dark shape obscured my vision. It was Jude.

"Airlia… Come on, we have to…we have to get out of here," he said nervously, glancing around. The flickering flames now outlined the sharp lines of his face. He looked almost corpselike. I stood, holding the child. She was bawling loudly.

"Where are we going to go?" I asked frantically over the cries of the child. "Where are…where are our families?" Jude looked at me, his brow gathered, his eyes desperate.

"I don't know, but we have to go, now." I stared into his hazel eyes, which were suddenly hard and stern stone.

"Are you sure you don't know what's happening?" Jude looked at me solemnly for a moment, and then focused his gaze on something behind me. I tried to crane my head around, but Jude pushed past me, an angry scowl set on his face.

"What is the meaning of this?" he cried, his voice cracking with emotion. I turned, confused. My eyes grew wide as I recognized amongst the waves of heat an armored soldier. Jude was talking to him. In fact, Jude seemed to be frightening him a little bit. I gazed on in horror as the two of them held a hushed conversation. Then Jude came back over to me, pressing a firm hand onto my shoulder.

"Jude, what—"

"Come with me," he said, his voice emotionless, pushing me with his hand. I obliged, looking up at his face. It was somber and ashen.

"What's…what's going on, Jude?" I asked softly.

"I… I don't know." I fixed my eyes on the burning marketplace we were slowly approaching.

"Yes, you do," I said quietly. We continued walking. Jude didn't answer. The little girl's wild sobbing had turned into heavy, dribbling sniffles. I held her tighter.

"A siege," said Jude finally. I jerked my head back to face his.

"A siege? But wh—"

"I don't know anything more." His hazel eyes flashed angrily. I stared at him for a moment before turning my stunned gaze back on the glowing shops of the market. Then I noticed something that made my heart start to pound frantically in my chest. More soldiers.

The moment we entered the vicinity of the marketplace, five soldiers rushed over to detain us. One tore the child from my arms. She began to scream again, this time reaching out for me. I yelled, trying to lash out at the kidnapper, but two of the others grabbed my arms and held them static. I spat on the face of one of my captors. He cursed at me, scowling, but Jude shot him a nasty glance before he could do anything else. That was when I noticed that Jude wasn't being held back. Before I had a chance to do any proper wondering about this matter, the two unoccupied soldiers addressed him with a bow, and looked respectfully into his cold, emotionless mask of a face.

"General Nikko," they said in unison. I gasped before I could restrain myself. Jude's dark, noble brows arched menacingly.

"I stopped going by that title years ago," he spat. "Now tell me. What is the meaning of laying siege to a harmless, defenseless town on the coast of an entirely peaceful—not to mention neutral—country?" One of the men stepped forward.

"We were under orders, sir. Orders we didn't dare refuse."

"The orders of whom? Tell me," he commanded, his look one of pure venom. The soldier looked pale.

"I… Our troops were under strictest confidence, sir."

"Tell me now!" roared Jude. The soldier swallowed, then leant in close to Jude, whispering something in his ear. Jude's eyes widened, and he drew back.

"Any orders of his would be null and void, man!"

"He believed this town to be a prime target."

"A target, yes! But a threat? Not to him! It couldn't have possibly been a threat to him!" Jude's eyes flashed onto me for a second, then back to the soldier. "What have you done with the villagers?" The soldier bowed low.

"Most have fled. Some we've captured." Jude's face grew hard and cold as ice.

"You have my orders to release them."

"Sir, if I may, you said you gave up your title." Jude raised his eyebrows.

"Yet you didn't refuse me before, now, did you? Release them." The soldier seemed to have a slight epiphany. He made a discreet gesture to his comrade, and then the two of them apprehended Jude. His face grew stricken. "Unhand me!" he cried.

"You are under arrest for treason against the government, Nikko Jude," said the other soldier in a deep, reverberating voice. I cried out.

"No! Let him go!" My captors tightened their grip on me, looking to the soldier with the deep voice for further orders. He spoke.

"Take her to the slave traders. I'll decide what to do with this one later," he said, nodding to Jude. "His father was a well-known military leader, despite his banishment. I'll have to consult with the commander before any action is taken. But the peasant girl can go." I glared at him, struggling in vain against the viselike grip of the soldiers that detained me. The lieutenant and his partner took Jude away, and then my own captors jerked me into a walk, marching me off towards the harbor on the southeastern end of Nazahn. The ship I'd seen on the beach at dusk hadn't been a trade ship pulling into port. It had been a signal of siege, and ultimately, war.

And now I was to become a slave.

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Chapter Two, my faithful readers! Review and give me your opinions! Spread the word if you like this fiction!

3 Kat