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“What are you doing here?” he asks, looking down at me confused. He can’t hear me, the music is too loud and my voice is too weak.
“Help,” I yell out as loud as my lungs will allow, and everything around me seems to stop. The music goes silent and all attention falls on me, while Troj’s eyes assess me fiercely for injury.
I reach out on impulse to take his hand, and he stares down at where we connect. The look on his face suggests he’s fearful of me, but he doesn’t pull away, instead, he grips me back with an intensity that’s almost painful and gives me a nod of reassurance that's so slight I almost miss it.
“Brax,” he calls out, without taking his eyes off me, and a man who looks like he was raised by the devil himself steps to his side. “Round up the boys and bring them down to the reservation,” Troj commands him, before dragging me out of the building, back out into the night.
“Fire,” the word blurts from my mouth once we’re out in the fresh air. “He took my uncle and set fire to his cabin,” I try explaining, and Troj immediately halts in his tracks, his hand pulling his hair from his face like he doesn’t know what to do.
“They took your uncle?” he checks he’s heard me right, and I nod back at him holding back my tears. Now’s not the time for them.
“Shit,” he curses, looking up at the sky like it might hold some answers. Then, after a few seconds, he pulls a phone out from his pocket and holds it to his ear.
“Fire department,” he yells into it as he continues to drag me toward the line of bikes that are parked along the side of the building.
“There’s a fire at the Indian reservation near Manitou Springs,” he continues, swinging his leg over the seat of one of the bikes. His eyes gesture for me to get on the back but I shake my head. “This is the quickest way to get back to them,” he assures me, tucking the phone back inside his cut and taking the handlebars in his hands.
I’ve seen the two-wheeled vehicles move, they don’t look at all stable and I know how fast and loud they are.
“Trust me,” he holds out his hand to me, and I stare at his open palm.
“Shaniya. I won’t let nothin’ happen to ya, darlin’.” He sounds like he’s pleading, and his warm brown eyes hold a sincerity that has me clutching his hand and taking a leap of faith.
He pulls me on behind him and I tuck my arms around his waist. His scent is a concoction of unfamiliarity and danger, yet I somehow find it a comfort.
“Hold on,” he tells me, kicking his foot and setting the engine alive. It rattles through my body, causing me to grip his leather tight when he takes off up the track toward my falling village.
He leaves the bike where the trees start, and we run the rest of the way on foot. I wonder how the skyline can look so pretty, the orange and yellow hues decorating the sky as the fire spreads and destroys.
My people are trying tirelessly to put out the flames, running back and forth to the nearest stream with buckets, but it seems to be having no effect.
My uncle's home is past saving now, the cabin beside it partially ruined and the shelter where we house the animals is destroyed too.
“Stay here, do not move.” Troj drops my hand out of his again, and despite everything that’s going on around us, my stomach clenches. I quickly remind myself of the seriousness of the situation and fall back to earth with a bone-shuddering slam.
Troj runs ahead of me, sliding the leather off his shoulders and discarding it onto the ground. The village is in chaos. Loose animals panic and race in all directions, children are crying for their parents and women try to comfort them, sobbing while their husbands fight to stop the fire from spreading to their homes.
More bodies come from behind me, racing past me at a speed that makes me realize I’m still stationary. They are Troj’s people, outlaws, and they quickly join in, helping put out the fire. Some of them stamp out the smaller flames with their boots, while others head to the lake nearby for more water.
“Kele,” I hear Tayen calling out in front of me. “Shaniya, have you seen Kele?” She races toward me and grabs the tops of my arms, shaking the shock out of me. Her face is wild with panic, and I manage to recall her words in my head.
“I told him to wait with his sister over there while I helped free the animals.” Her hand's bunch chunks of her hair as she searches the smokey space around us. “Kele!”
“We’ll find him,” I promise, already running toward the smoke to search for him. I don’t get far before I’m blocked by the huge white stallion that rears up in front of me, his front hooves lift higher than my head. He’s spooked, and when I reach up for his neck, I offer him a soft but confident pat to try and ease him. His hooves stomp into the ground, only just missing my bare feet, and I stroke the space between his nose in an attempt to calm him again.
I quickly tie him to a fence away from the spreading flames and return to my search for Kele. My eyes sting from the smoke as I travel toward the fire, calling out his name. I can barely make out anything in front of me because my eyes sting, and the heat from the flames scorch my skin even though I’m not close to them yet. The shrill of sirens is nearing, signaling that more help is close. But it isn’t here yet, and Kele could be in danger.
When I hear a terrifying scream, I turn my head toward the food store where it comes from. Kele, it has to be him, the shelter is already bellowing with smoke and I quickly rush toward it to get him out of there.
But before I can make it, all the air is taken from my lungs when a strong arm wraps around my waist and draws me back.
I spin round ready to protest and I see that it’s Troj who has hold of me. Sweat pouring from his forehead and black streaks darkening his face. The glow of flames from behind light up like a halo around him
“Stay,” he commands, his eyes piercing and jaw flexing the same way it had when he saw Tawk shield me last week. Then he leaves me, and races toward the food store.
Everything happening around me slows, and I feel my pulse throbbing like it might burst through my skin while I wait. Troj disappears out of sight into the burning building, and the seconds are agonizing.
Tears cool the heat in my cheeks, and cries of terror scratch out of my throat as I wait helplessly.
