After ten minutes, I concluded the blood was not coming out of my top. It didn’t bother me in the slightest, though.
I was just about to make my way back inside when a scream erupted. It wasn’t a baby’s scream nor did it come from Jack and Lola’s house.
I got to my feet and pricked my ears, only to hear another and then a whole flood of chaos and panic.
“What’s going on?” I asked Magnus as I saw him marching across the square.
“We’re under attack,” he announced in a deep, sincere tone. “Get to safety now.”
My stomach churned as I watched hell break loose in front of me. Children screamed and ran, parents clung to their babies. Terror flashed in everybody’s eyes.
Some of them had lived through Halimede’s last attack; I could only imagine the dread of reliving it.
Running away was never my style, but before I did anything, I had to ensure the newborn baby, her parents, and her aunt were safe.
“Leave now,” I said, bursting back into the house. “The village is being attacked.”
They could already hear the events outside, but my words got every heart in the room racing.
“Leave everything behind and run!” I ordered.
They snapped into action as I watched anxiously out of the window at the square. There was no sign of the invaders yet, but the screams and growls forever grew louder.
Jack lifted Lola into his arms as she clung to their little child, and Annalisa flung open the back door.
“What about you, Luna?” she asked as Jack carried his family out.
“I have to stay here,” I said. “Go.”
She nodded and only hesitated for a second longer before following Jack and Lola. I watched them disappear into the forest before turning back to the square. What I saw quaked me to the bone.
Men marched like machines into the village, pummeling everything in their way. I didn’t have the Praesidium Deae Astra, only a kitchen knife I found in the drawer.
“Shitting hell,” I hissed as I looked at the blunt, rusty tool and thought longingly of my paralyzing knife. Of all the days to forget it.
I gave myself a second or two to push my fear aside before striding out into the square. A little boy was curled up, rocking backward and forward by the water pump.
A short wall hid him from the invaders, who were busy kicking down doors of houses and dragging their occupants out before setting fire to their every possession.
The thought was heart-wrenching, but the smoke provided me enough cover to reach the boy without being seen.
I slid beside him, and he jumped, letting out a screech. He was about five, six at the oldest, and tears ran like blood down his cheeks.
“My mommy,” he sobbed. “My daddy.”
“Sssh,” I said, bringing my hand to his mouth. “You have to be quiet, okay?”
He screwed up his little face, and although the tears still fell, they fell silently.
“We are going to get you to safety, okay? What is your name?” I asked.
“Freddy,” he replied in a broken voice.
“Okay, Freddy. Can you take my hand?” I asked.
He nodded, wiped his eyes, and took my hand.
“Now we are going to run as fast as we can. Can you do that for me?”
He nodded again.
“Okay, let’s go,” I said, before getting to my feet and pulling him with me.
We raced across the square and in between a gap in the houses. So far no one seemed to have seen us, but we still had another street to cross before we got to the forest.
“Freddy!” I heard a woman’s voice cry.
“Mom?!” he replied. “Mommy!”
I turned my head to see a woman sprinting down the street in our direction. Just as she reached us, she came to a sudden halt. One invader had knocked her to the ground and stood menacingly above her.
I grabbed Freddy, pushed his head into my side, and slammed my hand over his mouth before pulling us both behind one of the houses.
I closed my eyes and clung to the child as I heard his mother let out what I feared to be her final scream.
I wasn’t sure if the man had seen us; I wasn’t sure if he could hear Freddy’s muffled wails over the sounds of the village’s destruction. He was young, but old enough to understand.
When I was confident the man had moved on to his next victim, I lifted the distraught boy into my arms, ensuring I kept his eyes down before hurrying across the street.
He’d heard it, but he didn’t need to see it too. I couldn’t even bring myself to look at what I knew was true for fear it would haunt me forever.
We reached the edge of the forest with no further obstacles, and I ran for a few minutes before putting Freddy back on the ground.
“Keep running, Freddy. Don’t look back for anything,” I told him. “I have to go back and save as many as I can, but I will find you, and you will be okay. I promise.”
“My mama always says I should never go in the forest alone.” He sobbed.
“Your mama is right, but you are not alone. I am here now, and I will be back soon. Now run.”
He nodded.
“Yes,” he uttered before turning on his heel and running with more courage than I’d ever seen in a fully grown adult.
When I came back onto the street of the village, the carnage was still unfolding. Men, women, and children lay on the floor, maybe alive, maybe not. I stood dumbstruck, unsure of what to do.
The adrenaline was still pumping through my veins, but the shock of what had just happened was sinking in.
Before I had the chance to follow just one of the many screams, I felt a tightening in my lungs. Then a sting and then a horrific burning sensation.
I slunk behind a house, trying to control the fits of coughing, but nothing brought any relief. My eyes steamed, and with the smoke from the fires too, I was blinded.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I fumbled my fingers into my jeans to answer it.
“Please tell me you are safe,” Leo said, concern rife in his voice.
“I’m not,” I said before having another series of coughs. “They’ve gassed the air. There’s fire…there are dead people. The entire village is destroyed.”
“Get into the forest,” he ordered. “I am ordering you to run.”
“How can I just leave them?”
“Because if you don’t, you’d be leaving your children without a mother. Go, Ella. I am ordering you, and I mean it more than I ever have before.”
My muscles were weak. I could barely move.
“I love you,” I said in a hoarse tone.
“I love you too,” he said. “Stay with me, Ells. I’m doing everything I can. There are soldiers and medics on the way.”
I tried breathing through the sleeve of my jacket, but the gas still leeched into my lungs. Leo was still talking at me through the phone, urging me to move, but with so little oxygen, escaping this was impossible.
Through my blurry vision, I saw a pair of legs marching toward me. Behind them were another two sets.
“Leo,” I wheezed as I scrambled backward until my back hit the brick wall of the house.
“What’s happening?”
“No—” I began before my grip grew so weak the phone slipped from my hand.
The man let out a short laugh and kicked my phone too far to reach. As he crouched down in front of me, my vision focused just enough. He wore a mask and behind it a pair of hateful eyes.
“We have what we came for. Make sure there aren’t any survivors and gather the men,” he said to another man behind him.
He then grabbed my arm and threw me over his shoulder. I was losing consciousness. My thoughts were slipping.
Soon enough, I could not keep my eyes open, and I fell into darkness.
