Viri Imperium

Chapter 3

                  

For a moment I almost forget where I am. I almost forget that I am minutes away from a wicked death. I wince as the fire nips at my skin; my brow is wearing a thick layer of perspiration as I shield my face from the flames. Everything seems so much more real now. Before, it was a blur. The idea of dying had seemed so surreal, and I was about to simply let it happen, without any protest on my part. What is wrong with me? My entire life has been a battle; from the moment I was born, I was a survivor. So what the hell am I doing giving up?

I can't die here. I am a survivor.

Ignoring the screaming pain in my side, I turn my body over. The wood crackles above me again, only louder and much faster this time. Using my elbows, I hoist myself forward a foot or so. My arms give way and my body slams onto the hardwood floor of the cottage. Something digs deeper into my side and I cry out in shock.

"Elle?" A familiar voice sails through the cottage. "Elle! Where are you?" He yells again. I look around frantically, trying to find his face among the black smoke.

The smoke is too thick to see anything beyond me, "Racht! I'm over here!" I scream to him, hoping he hears me over the sounds of the inferno.

I hear his footsteps come towards me, then stop, and move in the other direction. "Elle, I can't see anything! Can you tell me where exactly you are?"

Looking behind me, I see that I haven't moved as far I thought I did, "I'm by the stairs!" I choke out the words, starting to really feel the effects of the smoke vacating my lungs. Breath catches in my throat and I begin coughing. Each cough feels like a dagger is being stabbed into my side over and over again. I reach down to my side, feeling a small shard of wood sticking out of my skin. It does not feel deep enough to have punctured my stomach, but the wood must have splintered when it entered my skin. I grip the piece of wood in my palm and slide it out of my side in one swift movement. A moan escapes my mouth as I feel the splintering wood leave my skin.

"Elle! Are you okay? I'm almost there, I can see you." He must have heard my cry of pain, "I'll be right there!"

The smoke has left a grey sheen over my eyes, and I cannot make out Racht's face as he rushes towards me. Behind us, a wooden beam pops underneath the heat of the fire. Everything becomes quiet, but yet the fire continues to eat away my surroundings. Racht's arms slide underneath me and the floor disappears as he huddles me against his chest. Another pop sounds and the floor begins to shake. I open my eyes, ignoring the smoke that burns at my irises, and watch as the roof caves into the rest of the cottage. A ferocious gust of flames pour through the cottage, chasing us. The heat has finally become too much for my body to handle and I feel my eyes start to close again.

My breathing is erratic as I stir upon the ground. My eyelids shoot open, and I relax when I realize where I am. It was just a dream.

A horrible dream.

                  
I roll over to look at Racht, but what I see instead creates a pit in my stomach. I scramble to my feet, not quite having my balance intact, before I run into the tree line surrounding me. "Racht!" I scream, far louder than I thought possible. "Racht!" Every worst case scenario crawls into my mind as I run through the trees looking for him. The trackers must have stolen him in the night. What if he's dead? I won't be able to live with myself if he died because of me. Hot tears crash against my cheeks as I run. Images of his body battered and covered in blood are cemented in my mind and I can't help, but scream out his name again. "Racht! I'm sorry!" I sob violently as I run in circles. He's most likely dead because of me. I killed him. I killed the only person that I ever truly cared for.