Requiem Run

Chapter 24

I didn't get the chance to dream this time. One moment I was closing my eyes, next moment Rhys was shaking me awake, causing me to nearly fall out of my cot.

"What the hell's going on?!" I yelled.

"We're being raided again!" Rhys yelled, "It's almost crack of dawn, we gotta get the hell out of here!"

I was still half-asleep until Rhys said 'almost crack of dawn.' Now I was fully awake.

"Get your sword, we gotta get going!" Rhys said. When we had gone to sleep the previous night, I had placed my sheath on the side by the cot. I grabbed it, but before I could clip it to my belt, something happened.

The tent lit up like a campfire. The entire tent was suddenly set ablaze by white flames. Rhys grabbed my hand just before I could get my sword.

"Wait, no - RHYS!" I yelled as she tossed me out of the tent like a rag doll. I struggled back to my feet and made a mad dash for the tent, but I could feel Felice holding my feet to the ground.

"No!" I screamed, "Rhys! My sword! RHYS!"

"She cut through the tent on the other side!" Felice said, "She's okay, you have to run before the flames spread!"

I didn't want to, but I didn't have much choice in the matter. I started running, but all the other tents were on fire as well. People were scrambling, and I couldn't even figure out where the medical tent was, let alone locate Katie or Elisen, or even Daniel or Tarron. All I could do was try and escape and bunker down until we could do something about the situation.

In the meantime, the smoke was getting too thick, forcing me to the ground as I started crawling for somewhere to get some fresh air. People were running around me, some were screaming. I wanted to help, but with no magic or sword, there was nothing I could do.

A crawled my way to a clearing a distance from the smoke and fire and returned to my feet. There was no one else around as far as I could see, but there was also no sign of my friends.

"What do I do?" I asked.

"All we can do is wait." said Felice.

"I don't like that." I said, "It feels like someone's... watching..."

I froze. There was no way I shouldn't have seen it coming. Yet, I didn't.

Before I could react, a ring of bright white fire speared through the ground and circled me, leaving me trapped in a large ring of fire.

"Riley!"

I heard someone call my name, and turned to see Rhys, Katie, and Elisen on the other side of the fire-wall. There was no way for us to reach each other, at least as far as I could see.

"Riley, look out!" Katie or Rhys called. I turned, just in time to see Saulon Zappiel push through the white fire as if it didn't burn at all. Immediately, I knew something was wrong.

Something was different about Zapp. He was no longer emoting at all, and his eyes were dull and lifeless. He looked like a walking corpse.

"Zappiel...?" I said. He didn't respond. Instead, he started slowly walking towards me. I backed away at the same pace, until Felice stopped me from walking straight into the fire.

"Riley!" Rhys or Katie yelled. The fire spread around the two of us, forming a ring, and trapping me with Zapp, without my sword. Felice had control of my body, but there wasn't going to be much either of us could do without a weapon, or access to magic, not to mention there was nowhere to go.

My mind went blank. Even Felice had nothing to say. I started coughing in the smoke.

Suddenly, I was dragged back. Next thing I knew, I was on the ground outside the ring of fire, in Rhys and Tarron's arms.