A Tale Of Shadows (Wattys 2023) - REPLACED BY DIVINE ASCENSION

Chapter 19 - The Great Fire

The following three weeks were by far the worst period of Melinda's captivity, despite how horrible it all was in general. They were spent in constant worry about anything that could happen soon, frantic exchanges of letters with Maria, and plans that weren't the best but could potentially suffice. Everyone was worried for everyone, but it was mostly Frank and Agatha who were worried about Melinda, given that she'd started to show signs of mental decay a while ago.

She generally dismissed their concern, but still couldn't help but feel that they were in the right. So many awful things had happened to her, which she dismissed as normal because that was what she signed up for when she became a soldier, but she felt that she could no longer take it. She felt that another major fright for her heart would break it.  

They hardly knew or saw because it was too difficult for her to talk to anyone. She had scarcely talked to anyone about such things ever since she'd talked to Amanda two years ago. She suffered in silence, mostly at night while everyone else was sleeping, like the bloody martyr that she always was. She wanted to shout, to scream, to do anything that might be productive in breaking the cycle of concealing her emotions, but she couldn't do anything but weep while burying her face in her hands, and even that often seemed weak. At least she had that pitiful relief.

But when the three weeks had passed at last, it didn't matter so much anymore. She woke up on the day exactly three weeks after the village had been burned, dreading that the great fire might have finally come to pass, and, sure enough, she could feel the smoke coming in from outside her window. It soon woke up Frank and Agatha as well, therefore she didn't have to worry about that. After a few minutes of indulging in their drowsiness, they ran to Melinda's parents' room, where they stood in the centre like rock statues, looking wide awake. 

"It is dreadful!" Imelda sobbed pathetically, desperately grabbing onto the collar of her husband's shirt. "All this pain is too much for my feeble heart to endure. I need all the comfort that I can afford. We might all die today, and I... If anything happens to any of us, please remember that I love you all dearly, even Frank and Agatha, though you are not my blood. It has been the greatest pleasure of my life to know all of you."

John kissed her gently on the cheek before swiftly pulling her away. "I love you too, my dear, but there's no time for these grand gestures. Lives need to be saved, and we have to flee this wretched place in search of a new life amidst all this misery. Let's go now at last, for there's no more time to waste!"

Just as they were about to leave, Amanda cornered them, which caused all of them to stop dead in their tracks. Neither of them could fully trust her, not even the closely acquainted Agatha, and so none of them could even begin to grasp her true intentions. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, she began to speak, thus relieving them of any tension they might've had:

"We must leave! Don't worry about being caught. There's no one else in here aside from us, therefore I'll lead the way. I'm sorry if I haven't been able to help enough, but this all changes now in my search for a new life. I'll help whoever I can in my restoration of justice, small as it may be, and it begins now. Let's go before the flames reach this place as well!"

Running in a panicked frenzy, they left the building just as it started to catch fire, their bodies covered in sweat and their visions clouded by smoke, watching stunned as the countless bricks and furniture became nothing more than dust and rubble. It was also the fate of every other building in sight, but at least the area wasn't too large, and it was secluded from the other nearby areas, and not many areas suffered a fate this horrible, but it was still horrible, too horrible for the peaceful lives of all those who weren't Melinda to comprehend, and even she couldn't quite comprehend it. After all, she'd seen many things, but she never could've truly expected such a disaster to be wrought on her homeland.