Kingdom of Fire and Fate

Chapter 10 - Brother Dearest

The carriage wheels rattled across the cracked road, the surroundings getting more baron the further they traveled. As the few hours passed, the carriage hurried through the cobblestone streets and nature of Asterfall, through the crowded streets and towering buildings of Barus, and finally through the dirt roads and ancient-style buildings of Thesshire. But the further Hannah and Eric traveled towards the house where Lucas Drage was supposed to be residing, the worse the conditions of the kingdom became. The nice dirt roads and stunning ancient buildings turned into cracked roads and abandoned buildings. The palm trees and brush slowly disappeared the further they went along, barren land stretching for miles as Thesshire was melting into Ragor.

Hannah glanced out the window, watching as the run-down buildings went by. There were children out running around in the sand or in the streets, parents not caring enough to watch over them. Her face twisted up in a frown, rubbing her stomach softly, "I can't imagine just letting my children run around like that unsupervised. A dragon can strike at any moment."

Eric glanced up from the small object in his hands, saying gently, "Hannah, you must remember that Thesshire is very different from Asterfall. Thesshire has a ruler that does not care about his people, he keeps them poor so they stay needing to work. He keeps them needing him so they do not have the power to overthrow him. It is sad, but it is not our problem, there is nothing we can do about it. Let's focus on what we can control, finding Lucas."

Hannah still looked upset but yanked the curtain shut over the window. Eric could still see out of the window slightly, a crack of the window in the corner that the curtain did not quite cover. He watched as the carriage passes a huge, run-down building. There were many children of all ages running around, or sitting at the top of a sandy hill to stare out into Ragor before being scolded and dragged back down the hill. He blinked a bit and read the sign on the top of the building. Valiance Orphanage it read in big letters, some of them crooked or falling off but the letters were all there. It was Elizabeth's orphanage she grew up in, which meant they were close.

It only took a few more minutes for the carriage to roll to a stop in front of a small, broken-down house. It was big enough to comfortably fit one person, but the cracked yellow paint and the rotting wood said otherwise. The house did not appear to be safe for anyone to live in.

As Hannah and Eric slowly stepped out of the carriage, the leaves and sticks under their boots crunches loudly. All of the nature here was dead, if there was any nature at all. The leaves and sticks that littered the ground were from trees that were long gone, the barren land reclaiming them.

Eric and Hannah made their way up the rotting steps toward the front door. On the second step, Hannah's foot fell through the plank of wood but Eric quickly helped her back onto her feet and they kept making their way up. Eric lifted the dragon door knocker and knocked once, it only took one for the door to rip open. A man with curly brown hair and piercing hazel eyes flung the door open, holding a knife to Eric's throat, "Who are you and what do you want with me?!" Hannah realized now that his eyes weren't piercing, they were terrified. They were the eyes of a man that had been on the run for years, scared at every turn that he would be captured or worse.

Hannah said softly, "It's okay, we aren't going to hurt you. My name is Hannah Porter, and that there is my husband Eric." Eric gave a little wave which made Hannah roll her eyes but she continued, "We are here because of your sister, Elizabeth. We rescued her from a man named Silas, and she wanted to get help to find you." She studied the man's face to see if there was any recognition in his eyes.

Lucas immediately dropped the knife from Eric's throat, whispering, "Lizzy got out? I came back here a month or so ago and she was gone, so I left to search for her. But she wasn't anywhere that I could find, so I came back here in hopes that she made her way back to the orphanage. I know she has aged out by now, but I was hoping to be here to speak to her when she did. But I got caught up in a little bit of trouble and had to run to Barus."