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I shake my head, trying to restore my senses.
The sound of a great monster roars over another peal of thunder, and I look up at the rainless black clouds that spit electricity down on us. Is this Hell? I think, recalling faintly the stories of our people, and a horrible place where the worst of mankind went after death.
But children?
Could they have done anything so terrible as to warrant existing in a place like this? I take a steadying breath, my thoughts slowly collecting after the fright. This is not Hell, I realize, this is Protheka.
I grit my teeth and rise, refusing to give in to the grief.
No matter what comes our way, I can never give up on them. Even when Gidresu’s hands were on me, my only thoughts were for Laura, and the children. It doesn’t matter that we are separated by blood; we are family.
With renewed strength, I keep searching.
Maybe, if I look deeper, harder, I’ll find them. Maybe they found refuge in the cellar, which has been barred by the wreckage. If only I can get to them in time, they’ll be okay, and we can make a run for it together.
A collapsed cross beam lays across the entrance of the cellar. I’ll have to move it if I have any hope of getting the trap door open. It’s a long shot, but they could suffocate down there, and I would forever blame myself if they died.
I don’t know where the strength comes from but I manage to roll the thick beam several feet, until it gains momentum and tumbles to one side. There’s still layers and layers of broken shingles and wood to bar me, but I’m closer than ever.
Laura would have brought them here, I’m certain of it.
It’s that determination that fuels my exhausted body. I can rest when they’re free and safe, far, far away from this nightmare. I can already imagine us eloping to the woods just outside of the settlement, and beyond, into the wilds of Jurtil. It is a fantasy, at this point, but I cling to it anyhow. I just want to see them again. I crave to hold them in my arms and witness their bright, mirthful smiles again, just like this morning, when they were squabbling over a muffin. “Don’t worry,” I tell them, though I know they can’t hear me. “I’ll get you out of there.”
I banish the tears.
Crying is for the dead. They can’t be dead.
If only Gidresu hadn’t been hungry for power, he might have left me alone. My place is with my family, and I regret every moment that I was away from them. My hands are numb by the time I clear away the debris, and grab the handle of the cellar door.
There’s a moment where I hesitate, too afraid to open it.
What if they aren’t there?
I take a steadying breath and throw it open, finding the cellar vacant of any living being. I sway on my feet, unable to believe it, and that numbness crawls into my soul again. “No,” is all I can say, the tears finally coming.
They blur my vision and wash away the sting of dust.
They’re gone.
I have to come to terms with that fact. I drop my head into a bloody hand and stifle a sob. The pain of their absence is overwhelming, and I sink to my heels, rocking as I hold myself. Gone. They’re gone.
In the silence, the rubble is disturbed behind me.
I whip around in hopes to see them, standing in the doorway. Maybe they found refuge after all, and had come back to salvage what they could. But my heart drops when I find what has made the sound.
It is one of them, the monsters that attacked the settlement.
He’s one of the taller ones, his onyx horns adding to his great height as he watches me with pale white eyes. There’s a massive sword draped over his powerful yet lean shoulders, resting easily between the horns that jut out from the bones of his clavicles. I am stunned by the weight of his focus, unable to move.
Has he come to kill me, too?
8
GIROTH
This one ignores the battle we’ve brought down onto the land, slipping away so that I almost lose her in the chase. I’m not sure why she has caught my attention, but I think it could be the gleam of purpose in her bright blue eyes.
These humans are strange.
