The sweltering heat is too much to bear.
I wake in the dead of night, staring at the barren roof in the bedroom as sweat dampens the worn linens beneath me. For some reason it's far too hot; the desert after dark is never this unbearable. I can make no sense of it, but still I squeeze my eyes shut.
Father will be mad at me if sleep keeps me from doing my chores.
It's beyond me how my brother is able to sleep through the heat. He never ceases to surprise me.
Sleep comes at last.
However, a scream wakes me, and I rise from the bed in a panic. Was that mother? Why is she screaming? I glance over to the bed near mine on the floor, but Bakura is nowhere to be seen. His covers are tossed into a heap near the end of the bed. Where is he?
An orange light flickering beneath the door draws my attention. I crawl from the bed and rush to the door, tossing it open. Instantly, plumes of smoke cloud my vision. The flames heat my face; I understand too late that the house is on fire.
"Mother? Father?"
No answer. Where are they? I look to their chamber door, but fire consumes it.
I cough as the smoke enters my lungs. Flames spread from each corner of the house to the next, and no exit is free of the orange embers. I retreat back into the room and search for an escape; there is none.
"Bakura? W-Where ––
The wood above the door cracks and falls with a loud crash. I scream out for help to the best of my ability, but I fear no one will hear me. Tears pour down my face as I crawl onto the bed, watching the wood burn to black.
I'm going to die here. Lying down on the sweat soaked linins, I stare in fear at the spreading flames. It's hard to breathe.
Save him … save him …
Who? The voice sounds feminine, and like she's inside my head. It can't be though.
Save him …
Mother? No … someone else. Who did she want me to save? I can't even save myself.
Regrettably, darkness takes me. Wings are the last thing I see before I pass out.
Awaken …
Every sensation taken from me abruptly comes rushing in like a sand storm through the desert; the horrendous smell of burned hair and human skin; the piercing scream of my twin brother as he begs for me to awaken.
"Nenet … please … don't leave me here alone."
I come to with a rasping cough, gasping for air as the smoke irritates my lungs and throat. Bakura hovers over me, tears in his worried eyes; tears that mix with the fresh blood on his face. I reach up to touch his flushed cheek, but he takes my hand and squeezes it.
"What happened to the village? W-Where is mother and father?"
His nose puckers. A deep hatred I have never seen before smolders in his pale, bloodshot eyes. "Those bastards; the Pharaoh and his men; they killed them all. Everyone is dead."
I don't understand. The Pharaoh killed them? But why? What reason would he have for doing this?
"You must be mistaken, brother. The Pharaoh would never––
"Don't make excuses for him," Bakura snaps. "I know what I saw and heard. Do you not believe your own blood? Have a look."
He pulls me up and allows me to lean against him as I look out onto the remains of our little village. Houses are engulfed in flames; there is no way to save them. And what of our mother and father? Was Bakura telling the truth? Had they been struck down by Pharaoh Aknamkanon?
I have no doubt that my brother is telling the truth. He has no reason to lie to me.
Warm tears pour down my face.
"What are we to do?"
I look to Bakura for an answer, but he stares in a heated daze at the village as it's burned away. There is so much pain and hatred in his eyes.
Save him, I recall the woman saying.
But how? And from what?
I opt not to mention her to Bakura – there is enough to worry about, besides my confused mind – and wrap my arms around him. I am the oldest, though not by much. It is up to me to come up with a plan; to save us.
To save him.
"I won't leave you."
Never I swear.