Chapter 10 : Tidbits of crumbling lives

Their village was burning, parts of his old home were falling apart from the fire that was eating its way through the wooden planks. Female members of his tribe were crying and roaring when they couldn't save their children from the flames, the males had to pull them away to save them from the crashing buildings but the pain in their eyes convinced Raw that they were crying for the loss of the children as well.

Longcoats had attacked their village after sunrise and set it on fire when the leader of their tribe, Lilo, had refused to follow them. They were collecting Seers for the Sorceress, but Lilo was much too proud and strong to fear the wrath of the witch. He had underestimated the cruelness of the witch's servants though, and so he was paying a high price for his refusal.
The attackers themselves had left hours ago, Lilo being held as their captive. The fires, however, were resistant and still burning. It was a village hidden in the woods, the best place for a fire to grow and fulfill its deadly task.

Raw was one of the few who tried to save what was left of their village, but when the last members left and carried away the unconscious women who had collapsed from their pain, he had to admit that there was no hope for their home, the place of his birth. The safe haven of all those lovely memories.

All this emotions around Raw made him feel dizzy and he knew that he had to leave this place and never return.
They were without a home now. A split tribe, nomads on the run. But what gnawed on Raw the most was that they now were the focus of the Sorceress, the one tribe that refused to follow her orders.

All that flooded his mind and whole body was fear.
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All his work, everything he had dedicated his last annuals to, all this was burning in front of his eyes at this very moment.

She was coming for him, there was no way out, but he would not let allow the witch to get his plans. A long time ago they had discovered that their beloved Azkadellia was possessed by the ancient witch of the Great War. In a short time she had transformed the little girl into her weapon against the land that had locked her away ages ago and her thirst for blood was unstoppable.

They had been fighting for seven annuals but Azkadellia grew stronger every day. Seven years was a long time and it showed it marks on the land and among the people. Friends had been lost, families were ripped apart, whole villages burned down. He, his sisters and the armies of the O.Z. did their best to stop the Sorceress and her Longcoats but their forces were getting weaker every day.
More than once Ambrose had caught his niece searching the laboratories and offices of the advisors, and after a frightening conversation that had asked for all his acting skills, he knew that the witch was searching for the blueprints for his sunseeder.

A machine he had been working on for years and something he called his biggest success. The flames that grasped the blackened paper had no mercy, they didn't care if this plans could have been the solutions for all the farmers in Munchkinland. They burnt it down and destroyed Ambrose's work without leaving a single paper unharmed. All that was left was grey dust.
He was sad about the loss but when he could be sure that he had succeeded he smiled. It vanished when he heard heavy heels on the marbled floor outside and he knew that they were coming for him.

It wasn't too late to inform his sister that General Lonot had defected and that they weren't only literally standing in the ashes of their defense. He still had enough time for one last coup and what would happen after that was up to Azkadellia.
After he had seen the fire destroying his work, all his wisdom, he knew that all their hope was gone.
And so his mind was blank when he jumped outside the window of his office on the ground floor.

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He knew that Rick Zero had waited for this moment forever and he cursed himself for trusting that man much longer than anyone should have. Longcoats surrounded their cabin and Cain knew that their leader was enjoying his power, even though he couldn't see his stupid face through the massive closed door that separated him and his family from the dangers outside.

"Wyatt, old friend. Why are you hiding from me? Is there a reason for all this? I'm a friend who wants to pay you a visit and talk with you about this lovely little resistance you have started against the witch... nothing more." The bitter-sweet sound of his voice made Cain's heart race in his chest. The anger against that man almost made him lose his head but when he turned around and looked into Adora's shocked and frightened eyes he was able to compose himself.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, Zero. Now leave my property! I won't be so kind the next time I ask you to leave us alone." He yelled through the door, sweat running down his forehead as he waited for an answer. He had blocked the door with the table from the kitchen and he was pressing against it with all his strength but Zero was accompanied by at least 10 Longcoats.
He heard laughter filling the air outside and he felt a light pressure against the front door.

"Adora, Jeb, I can handle this. You have to leave through the window of our bedroom. If you're silent enough they won't hear you escaping into the woods. Run to the next camp , you know it's not that far away. I will take care of these gentleman outside and follow you once I'm finished." He whispered to his family.

Adora didn't look pleased and he knew that she was much too smart to ignore the fact that he couldn't fight against eleven grown men. His son Jeb, barely twelve annuals old, was holding his mother's hand and warm tears were running down his face. He didn't want his father to notice his fear so his head was hanging down and the boy was looking at the floor between his feet.

"You can't beat them all on your own, Wyatt! We will have to face this together, as a family! Let Zero in and see what he wants... maybe we're lucky and he only wants to talk." Her voice got hesitant in the end, a sign that she didn't believe her own words, but she was right. They could stand there and wait for the Longcoats to break into their house, or they could face their enemy and open the door. He only wished that his wife would be less stubborn for once and leave to the Resistance camp with their son.

He let go of the table and embraced his wife for the last time before he was willing to open the door.

He placed a warm kiss on her wet face and caressed her skin with his right hand.

"You're the bravest woman I know, my love," he said to her, his voice breaking.

"And you're the bravest man. I love you, Cain." With that they kissed again until they were interrupted by the crashing of their front door.
Zero walked inside with a devilish grin plastered on his face.

"Good day, traitors," he greeted them.

Cain let go of his wife's hand and when he faced Zero and his unknown future, he knew that his heart was slowly starting to freeze in his chest.
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Little Dorothy Gale, or D.G., was a happy little child with magnificent blue eyes and mesmerizing brown hair.

She loved her life in Kansas with her mother Emily and her father Hank. It was peaceful and she had plenty of time to draw and play with her friends from school.

However, she feared the dreams that came to her at night. About a women in a gown , with light hair and lavender eyes, about spinning dolls, a bear and two sisters.

They didn't come regularly and they were in no order but she knew that they were telling a story. A story about a far away land... a long time ago .

A.N: A short last chapter of Part 1. I hope you enjoyed it . I won't upload the first chapter of Part 2 on Saturday because I'm on a trip to London but I'll upload it next Saturday. I'm very sorry for that! I hope you could see that I tried to end each perspective with the thing that will define Cain, Ambrose and Raw in the future. I tried to capture the happenings between the years of the witch and D.G's arrival with different perspectives I hope you liked that. If not let me know ^^ Thanks for reading