The Ember In The Storm

Part III

      Elizabeth could not identify what possessed her to run in between her mother and the tyrannous oppressor of a man who crossed the seas to terrorize her and her people once again. As if their lives in the New World was not enough.

"Let go of her!" Elizabeth gripped his arm in attempt to loosen her own mother. Thandiwe put up a good fight too.

"What a nuisance, get inside!" The blonde man spoke.

"No!" Thandiwe exclaimed with more courage. "You will free my son of your captivity and leave this place!"

"Edward!" A foreign voice called from afar. They all looked to see a much older man stomping his way towards them rather furiously with a handgun pointing at the two women. He was dressed in the same uniform as the rest, except the ends of his coat had a strand of white around his wrists. Badges covered his chests like a piñata. The most casual thing about him was the black top hat over his head.

"Commander," the young man who was now identified as Edward loosened his hands around theirs, causing Thandiwe to flee away and towards on of the enclosures. Ere she could take a fifth step, the Commander turned his handgun towards her and pulled the trigger, a loud deafening explosion echoing in Elizabeth's head.

Thandiwe fell to the ground in a second, as light as a feather but impactful as a ship. Falling to her right, blood trickled from the front of her head.

Elizabeth stared at her in disbelief, watching as her mothers eyes slowly faded of their light.

"Ma?," she tried walking to her mother, yet a blow to the head knocked her down to her feet. Not enough to kill her but just the right force to knock her out for a while.

Losing consciousness, her eyes rolled to her mothers dead body ahead of her, catching sight of her brother in the enclosure hitting the bars and screaming for his mother.

"Mother! Mama!" He hit against the bars, stretching his arms as far as he could from the inside.

His screams muffled and mixed with the chaos around. Everything sounded too loud for Elizabeth. Everything felt just too much.

"Please," she whispered to her mother, feeling her own eyelids heavy. She reached a hand out to her, only getting a hold of her ankle. "Please, wake up."

Then suddenly, all went silent, she could hear nothing yet she could feel as Edward grabbed her right foot, dragging her into an enclosure. She parted further and further from Thandiwe.

"Bloody hell, at least try to act half as bold as everyone else. He's not paying us to do this like amateurs," the commander demanded.

"Yes, sir."

Then everything went black.

*~*~*~*~*

"Are you alright?" The man ahead of her spoke.

Elizabeth recognized that voice immediately, it was Jackson. She was sure of it. Just having her body pressed against his made her positive it was him. He had held her enough in his arms to know what he felt like.

Beneath them both, his white mare raced along the trees like a panther. Elizabeth hugged him tighter.

Raspberry and wood. She missed that.

Smiling in delight, she finally responded, "Yes, are you?" She lifted her head, only to regret it.

With intentions on trying to meet his head, she met no head. Elizabeth's eyes overlooked his neck, the exact location she was sure a head was supposed to be. Right? Her heart dropped. Was this some kind of trick her brain was playing? Was it all a horror of a dream?