Smoke rose around him, so thick it was hard to breathe. The invaders – whoever they were – had set fire to anything that would burn and everywhere he looked, an Ilempiri lay dead or dying. His younger sister huddled against him and Aris tried to soothe her by stroking her hair even as he kept a wary eye out for their captors. Riah's face was firmly pressed into his chest, her small frame trembling so hard it was a wonder she hadn't broken any bones.
Aris was surprised that she even had tears left to shed – after all that had happened in the past few hours, he simply felt hollow. The soldiers had began picking people from where they'd been gathered together on the beaches and a tall, strangely dressed man with glowing eyes had thrust his hand in the stomach of one of the soldiers, withdrawing something that strongly resembled the snakes that lived in the cliffs to the south of the continent. He'd watched in horrified disbelief as the 'snake' pierced the side of the chosen man's neck, burrowing inward… but then the man had vomited up the thing. Aris assumed that something had gone wrong, since their captors had immediately killed the man and dragged another up to try again.
He'd seen countless numbers of his people die without even getting a chance to defend themselves but he knew that some of the Elders hadn't been found by the invader who claimed to be their new god, or his soldiers. Tucking Riah under his arm more securely and placing a protective hand on the top of her head, Aris turned to look at the cliffs where he'd left Deyla – had she been captured, or killed? Whatever had happened, he hoped she was well away from here.
The twin suns beat down on them relentlessly, and he rubbed his tongue against the inside of his cheek in an effort to relieve the dryness in his mouth. They'd been forced to kneel in the hot sand for countless hours, breathing in the smoke that rose from the ashes of their homes, and more than one captive had collapsed from dehydration. "Stand," one of the soldiers barked, thumping him across the shoulders and nearly knocking him onto his face. Aris brushed a hand across the gash above his left eye to assure himself that it hadn't started to bleed again, and helped Riah to her feet as the others obeyed the order.
They were herded through the smoking ruins of the town, and Aris narrowed his eyes in disbelief as their route led to the huge cisterns high on the hill. His momentary confusion that they were finally being given water cleared when he saw that the invaders who had killed so many of his people were dumping something into the water supply. The one with the eyes that glowed looked at them with a slight smile, as if he knew just how desperately thirsty they all were. "Drink," he commanded.