Fear was seething in her blood; she could feel it burning her resolve and control till she should collapse. She stood on the battlements over her city, time freezing into a distant stillness. The inky smoke was choking her, and the leaping fire filled her vision.
Orange haze flickered over her city. The thick heat of oppression settled down heavily upon her shoulders. A small pebble pressed against the sole of her boot. A warm little fist strained in her hand. A cold blade shivered in her fingers.
Her family, her son, her responsability. She flung the child behind her and raised her sword in one hand. Thus it was her instinct to defend and protect that betrayed her.
Bending over her son, shielding him with her body, she was in no position to withstand to the sudden attack from her malignant cousin. In a broken heartbeat she was on the ground, feeling the harsh stones under her palms, gasping for breath as the boy struggled in a desperate grip. Her sword was spiraling over the wall onto the thunderous struggle below.
She raised her eyes to the muffled cries of her child. The Betrayer held him in one arm, hand clasped cruelly over the child's mouth. "The tunnel" he whispered hoarsely. She remained frozen in sharp anguish. Her people or her baby. The worry and terror of previous nights had ill prepared her for the evil choices this red night forced upon her.
