Wolf Of Fire

3 HATE AND FLAMES [II]

Kambi stood deathly still as she watched the carnage unveil before her. The hunt had begun.

She had heard of Druala before. Her teachers called it the Pack of the First Wolves, where the wolf gods first came to Earth to unite with man. The land was richly blessed—its beauty unspeakable in words.

However, today, it was no more than a graveyard—a wasteland her father had chosen to commit atrocities and murder in, for his own satisfaction.

She wept for the poor souls that had been condemned to damnation—for families destroyed by one man's desire to feel power.

Cheta held her hands firmly. "Kambi... we should find somewhere to hide." His voice was as angelic as he was beautiful. He was an Obadari—eunuchs sworn to the royal family as protectors, normally dedicated from birth to service.

She turned slowly to him, tears running down her eyes. "Why does he bring death and destruction wherever he goes?"

The winds were soaked with the smell of blood and death. Her body trembled with something more sinister than fear.

"Whenever you feel afraid, always remember that I am praying for you at all times."

Mama's voice echoed in her ears.

She shivered.

"Please Kambi... snap out of it. We need to leave now, we cannot afford to get caught up in the midst of this chaos."

Cheta took her hand in his. The stench of blood and death was heavy in the air. Kambi questioned everything she had ever been taught. The goddess does not save; she sits back and lets her people suffer in the hands of evil men like her father. What then was the use in serving her?

Smoke and ash choked the air as the war drums pounded louder and louder. They were caught in the midst of the ruins, barely able to see their way as they ran. She tripped and fell into the mud.

It was a brief moment, but it felt like forever.

"Your Highness, this way!" Cheta shouted over the chaos, helping her up as they darted off the main path into the forest. Their breaths were shallow, lungs stinging, eyes wide with fear, clouded with smoke. Behind them, the screams of the dying tangled with the clash of steel and the cries of warriors. Kambi had never heard anything so terrible—like the world itself was being torn to shreds.

Branches scratched their skin as they stumbled through the thickets. Twigs snapped beneath their feet.

Fear was thick in the air.

Kambi's knees buckled again, but Cheta caught her just in time.

"Do not stop!" Cheta hissed. "We have to keep on..."

"I know..." she gasped. Her voice trembled. "I know."

The run seemed endless, but just like a spark of hope—there it was.

A hut.

Bodies of fallen men, women, and children lay all over. Smoke rose from all around, but it seemed that the warriors were already done with this part of the land.

There were no warriors in sight.

There was no one alive in sight.

Behind them, the sound of war raged on.

Kambi hesitated, but Cheta was already moving towards it.

"Cheta... Cheta wait! We cannot risk it. For all we know, there could be warriors lurking inside, ready to kill us!"