Darkness Drops Again

Part Six

A cheer rattled the windows of the Fallwood Tavern. Light spilled through the stained glass, a rainbow guiding them. From the door burst a man who stumbled toward the walkway.

Audrey cast a glance at him. "Won't he fall?" She sucked in a breath when the man teetered near the edge.

"He'll be fine," Chard brushed off, grabbing her wrist and tugging her toward the still open doorway.

Bodies crowded the room. The thick smell of musk and spilled beer made Audrey's nostrils flare. Twinkling lights like stars hung from the ceiling and gave the place a muted, claustrophobic feel. Whomever they were looking for, she hoped they find them soon or not at all so they could vacate. The cacophony dimmed for just a moment when they entered, but roared back up again.

They pressed through the throngs, Chard leading them to the back. A group of men – some of whom looked more like boys – circled a table covered in stones. They were playing dominoes and the only face Audrey recognized was Aric, the obnoxious duke's son from when they first arrived in Atrium.

He slapped a stone down, laughing as groans went up around the group. The boy next to him scrambled to inspect his stones. All the ones on the table had scrambled numbers.

"Aric."

The man rose his eyes. They focused on them, despite the half full mug in front of him, and he smiled.

"Oh Chard... I knew you couldn't leave me alone." He turned to the boy next to him – who had finally played – and shoved him, motioning for him to scat. The bench seat cleared.

Chard rolled her eyes at Audrey and pushed their way to the spot. Audrey was forced between the two of them. He smelled strongly like cinnamon and overlooked her again to talk to Chard. It bothered her how annoyed his disregarded made her. Audrey folded her arms across her chest and followed the conversation.

"You know the way to Capital City, right?" Chard straight to the point and Audrey realized why they both wouldn't like her idea.

Aric shrugged, placing another stone. "It's closed up."

"I know," she flicked a lock of hair over her shoulder. "Do you know the way?" She punctuated every word.

"Yeah," he sighed taking his eyes off her to study the table. "You know I do."

Chard didn't reply immediately and Audrey glanced at her to find her companion still, hands clenching her thighs and brow furrow. "I need your help." The words were choked out.

Aric's smile broadened. "What was that?"

Chard made a sound of annoyance.

"What, was the ice queen asking for help?"

Chard grit her teeth and Audrey jumped in: "I'm asking for help."

His eyes focused in on her, looking bored. "And who are you?"

"Audrey. I need to get to Capital City."

Aric sneered, eyes darting between the two of them, and then he shrugged, face smoothing. He leaned against the table and dragged the stones abandoned by the boy he booted in front of Audrey. "Win and I'll help."

Audrey cast a look for help to Chard, who had defrosted some. "It's called dominoes. You just have to get rid of your stones first."

"Yeah, but..." She motioned at them as they changed when someone else placed a stone.

"Depending on what you put, It swaps with something else and adjusts them all to fit," she explained as they switched again.

"How the hell does she not know how to play dominoes?" Aric laughed as he slapped down a piece.

Ignoring him, she flipped her pieces up and looked over them. There had to be some sort of strategy to it, or else nobody would act so disappointed when certain stones were played.

"So where are you from that you've never played dominoes," Aric said, voice light – trying to be distracting.

"I've played dominoes before, but never with moving pieces." She set one down and watched where her piece shifted. Near the middle.

"Why would they not move?" Aric scoffed.

She shrugged, more focused on watching the numbers on the dominoes change. The dots melted off the stones – leaving them all blank slates for a second before they crawled up onto another.

It was Aric's turn again and when he played, the pattern snapped in her head. She gazed down at her pieces and at the ones on the table. A plan formulated. She slapped one down and the play continued around the table. One of the guys had to pick up five dominoes before he could find something. She bit her lip to keep from cursing when another guy blocked her future move, but let out a tiny breath when Aric unknowingly freed it.

When she placed her second to last piece down, a grown rippled through the group.

"Huh. Only one piece left?" Aric glanced down at his.

He had two. Unless her two options got completely blocked, the win was hers. It was halfway around the group, her palms sweaty with anxiety – she needed to win this, when someone burst into the tavern, screaming: "Fire!"

People jerked into action, some slower than others. Chard gripped her hand and yanked her backwards from the table. They worked their way around the room along the way to a back hallway. Audrey smelled the smoke then.

"What's going on?" Her yell was drown by the chaos, but she didn't need an answer. They burst out into an alleyway and the night glowed orange. Her heart pitched a fit as embers and ash rained down on them. Fire meant fire. The trees that they were precariously perched in were on fire.

Chard led the way through crowds where people threw water at the flames, both from buckets passed back and forth and from hands that glowed an eerie blue. The urge to help slowed her, but Chard wouldn't let her stop and kept pulling – straight into the thick of it. Smoke burned her throat and Audrey pulled her shirt over her mouth and nose to try and filter some of it, but it only modestly helped. She'd only ever had 'stop, drop, and roll' lessons at school and never experience with a real fire. Her eyes stung and she blinked rapidly.

Gregory's house was one of several engulfed in flames. Audrey gave a start. Her door! They both burst through the side door of the house. Flames licked the walls and the tree house moaned and hissed.

"Dad!" Chard surged ahead, seeming to be unaffected by the smoke that made Audrey's process all that more slow.

She tripped over something and in trying to catch herself, slammed into a wall. Coughing choked her. "Chard!" She doubted she was loud enough. Hand using the wall as guidance, she moved forward until movement ahead broke through the smoke and there was Chard, her father in tow.

He carried the door. It didn't look any more broken than it had previously.

"We need to get out of here," Chard, her voice throaty, demanded.

Audrey didn't complain and neither did Gregory. They were steps from the door when somebody filled the space.

"Chard!" It was Aric. His eyes glowed and he charged in, grabbing the lot of them and yanking them out.

The smoke followed them and Audrey coughed, earning a slap on the back from Gregory that made her stumble forward.

Aric slammed Chard against the side of the house, forearm pressed against her collarbones. "What did you do?" His voice hissed like the fire curling the green leaves of the trees.

Chard's eyes were hard and she stopped her father and Audrey from interfering with an outstretched hand. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"There are soldiers here. They are burning everything – and looking for someone." He released her, taking a step back. "It's either you," he glanced at Audrey. "Or her."