Brian Pratt: Fires of prophesy

“Find someplace to hide, I’ll find you,” he hears James say.

Miko glances back and sees James turning to confront the oncoming soldiers. His desire to stay to help his friend is strong, but he knows that he’ll be more of a hindrance. His first duty is to help the kids get away. Turning back, he finds the fleeing children far ahead, turning down a side street. He hurries to follow, trying to catch them before they move too far ahead.

Rounding the corner where they fled, he sees the last few children turning another corner, even further ahead than before. Running as fast as he can, he comes to where they disappeared around the corner. Almost losing his balance from taking the corner too fast, he comes to a sudden stop. The kids are no where in sight.

Crumph!

The sound of a loud explosion comes from where he left James.

“James!”

Glancing back at the cloud of smoke and dust rising into the sky, he fears the worst. Torn between his duty to the children whom he’s lost and to his friend, he stands there a moment in indecision. Finally making up his mind to return to help his friend, he turns around and races back the way he had come.

As he rounds the second corner, a billowing cloud of dust engulfs him and he’s unable to see anything. After a moment, the dust clears and a large pile of rubble is revealed blocking the street where several buildings have toppled over. Amidst the rubble are the bodies of Empire soldiers, lying there crushed to death under large sections of the toppled buildings.

“James!” he cries out, but receives no answer. Looking around frantically, he can’t find James anywhere. Scared and alone, he races back again along the path he and the children originally took in an attempt to find some place to hole up until James finds him.

Whenever he comes to an intersection, he stops before entering and carefully looks around the corner. Making sure no enemy soldiers are there before he enters the street, he then races toward the next intersection. Panic begins to take hold of him as enemy soldiers begin to appear as they move along the adjacent streets. He’s got to get off the streets!

Hoping to find a place to hide, he tries opening one of the doors lining the street and is relieved when it actually opens. Pulling it open quickly he makes to enter when a vase smashes into the door next to his head. “Get out!” he hears a woman shrieking wildly and quickly ducks as he sees another pot come flying at him out of the corner of his eye. The pot strikes the door and ricochets into the street. “Out!” the woman screams again as she readies another projectile.

Slamming the door closed, he races down the street, panicking. From up ahead, a door opens and a man pokes his head out as he looks down the street. When the man notices him running, he opens the door wider and yells, “This way!” motioning for Miko to quickly come inside.

Seeing the man holding the door open and gesturing for him to hurry, Miko sprints forward, his panic subsiding. When he reaches the door, the man opens it further for him to be able to run inside. His anxiety decreases rapidly when he passes through the door and is safely inside.

Once he’s inside, the man closes the door and Miko begins to say, “Thank you…” but stops suddenly when he realizes the man is advancing on him with a knife. A quick survey of the room reveals several men with bared knives and swords. Dread fills him when he sees a dozen or so people, both men and women along with a few children, sitting along one wall. To his astonishment, they are completely naked with their hands tied behind them.

“Strip!” the man from the door says. Miko, panic ready to consume him, remembers the slavers they fought on their way to the City of Light. Shaking his head in disbelief, he backs away from the man. Someone from behind grabs him and two of the men proceed to strip him naked, using their knives to cut the clothes off of him. He struggles to resist, but only gets socked in the eye for his efforts.

Shortly he finds himself sitting naked on the floor next to the others, his hands secured behind his back. Over to the side is a pile of clothing sitting in the corner, what’s left of his clothes is tossed on top. The little boy sitting next to him starts to cry and the woman on the other side of the boy tries to comfort him but to no avail. The boy’s cries grow louder and louder until one of the men comes over and strikes him on the head, knocking the boy unconscious.

“You bastard!” the woman yells at him.

The man turns to her and backhands her across the mouth. “Shut your mouth!” he yells at her. “Open it again and I’ll slit your throat!” He draws his knife and menaces her with it, then sheaths it as he walks away, laughing.

The woman scoots closer to the boy and does her best to comfort the unconscious child. Miko can see tears streaming down her face.

“Here come some more,” the man by the door tells the others. Opening the door partially, he sticks his head out and yells, “Over here!” while he waves to whoever is out there to come inside.

A man with a woman and two kids run inside. He begins to express their gratitude when the woman sees Miko with the other naked people sitting on the floor and screams. Realizing their danger, the couple grabs their kids protectively.

“Strip!” the man by the door commands.

The father pauses momentarily then launches himself at the man by the door. He throws a fist but is easily blocked. The slaver strikes back with the handle of his knife, clubbing him in the side of the head. The father stumbles backward from the blow, dazed. Two of the other slavers grab him and proceed to cut his clothes from him.

The woman screams as others grab her and the children, tearing them apart. Soon, all four are sitting naked against the wall with the others, arms securely tied behind their backs. They try to talk amongst themselves but are quickly silenced by the slavers.

Several times over the next hour or so, that scene is replayed as more people rush into the room seeking safety only to end up captured.

There finally comes a time when the man at the door turns to the other slavers and says, “I don’t think there are anymore out there.” To the naked people he says, “Alright, get up.”

Miko finds it hard to rise with his arms tied behind his back. Using the wall for leverage, he makes it to his feet and stands there waiting while the rest of them get up.

One of the naked people remains seated against the wall. A slaver goes over to the man and kicks him, saying, “Get on your feet. Now!”

The man on the floor begins to topple over and falls to the ground, remaining motionless. The slaver checks him and then turns to the one by the door. “He’s dead,” he tells him. Then he glances over at one of the slavers and says accusingly, “You hit him too hard and cracked his skull.”

The slaver being accused just shrugs and says, “Oh well, happens sometimes.”

Giving him a dark look, the man by the door says, “Next one you kill, you’re paying for. I don’t intend to lose money because of a heavy handed thug.”

“Thug?” the man asks, his face going red in anger.

“Yes, thug,” he replies. “Now, let’s get ‘em lined up and back to camp.” He stares down the man until he backs down and joins the others in tying the naked people together in a line.

Miko is tied in line between two children. Once they are all secured to the rope, the man takes the lead and they head out the door.

The sun is already beginning to rise above the horizon as they leave the building. Miko squints in the glare, eyes unaccustomed to the light after having been in a semi dark room for hours.