Darkness Drops Again

Part Seven

Audrey's heart galloped in her compressed chest and she took a small step back from their stares. Why would anyone be looking for her? She knew nobody in this place beside the people bearing her down with curious stares.

Her mind snapped to when she just arrived and the unsettling, elegant woman and that dog. Did the Queen somehow see her? Why else would there be soldiers burning the city? She clutched her broken door tighter against her, the jagged edges pressing against her skin and giving her a moment of clarity. They were coming for Chard, of course that's who, but she couldn't let them take her guide.

Gregory startled and motioned. Tensions still taunt, but everyone fell silent. Voices wrapped around from the front of the house.

"Saw her here..."

Audrey swallowed and cast a worried look at Chard. They were looking for a "her." It had to be her, the woman who had apparently made it a habit to hunt in the Queen's territory.

Chard's father bustled pass them and started heading around the house. Everyone followed without question – even Aric.

Behind the burning tree house, smoke partly obscured some sort of structure. Audrey couldn't stop the panic from consuming her. The smoke wrung her throat and she tried not to cough as her thoughts harassed her.

She's trapped in some other world, the wooden door back to her own clenched in hand, surrounded by flames, people she hardly knew, and soldiers. For the first time, the realness of the situation struck her. Would she ever see home again? Her mother?

The structure became clear as they neared – a large shed not yet grasped in the flames. One window winked from the door and behind it the branches of the tree they stood in curled into a sort of wall.

"Well, come on," Gregory hissed, waving a hand to her.

Audrey blinked, realizing she was the only one still in the shroud of smoke. Voices pierced the veil. People were coming around the side of the house. She surged to meet Gregory's out-stretched hand and was pulled into the dim shed.

Falling hard onto her behind, she let the door pieces drop to the floor and coughed into the nook of her arm. Her eyes watered from the smoke and she squint around her. Dark figures moved around the shed and she heard a hissed argument, though the words weren't a language she understood.

Her head swayed.

"Here," Gregory crouched by her, hand on back and cup in hand.

She didn't care where the water came from, just gulped it down. It soothed the itching in her throat and she sighed. "Thank you."

A light swept past the window, silencing the argument from the back. After a second, it moved away. She worried they'd check the shed at any moment.

"I packed a bag for you, but didn't think to grab it," Gregory apologized, creaking to a sit next to her. "But I do have this."

Her vision wasn't quite adjusted to the darkness, but she saw the outline of what looked like a backpack. It was large enough to fit her door. She thanked the older man again and with relief, started sliding the pieces into the bag. She knew eventually she'd drop a piece and then she'd be stuck for good.

"We need to get out of here." Chard held a hand down to Audrey.

Gregory stood before Audrey could say a word and put his hands on Chard's shoulders. He didn't say anything a moment and then sighed. "The truth, for once."

Chard shrugged out from under her father's stare. "It's better if you don't know."

"I knew it!" Aric hissed. "They're here for you!" He shoved Audrey aside once she was on her feet. "And of course you had to come back." He leaned in to slap the words against her face. "They're razing the town!"

Audrey swallowed the lump in her throat and glared at Aric a minute before shoving him back. He stumbled and spun around, fist raised to hit her back, but Chard caught the punch and twisted his arm.

At that moment, the door to the shed burst open.

Two soldiers peered in, goggles glowing through the gloom. One of them had arms that were on fire.

"I think we found them."

"Hey, isn't that the Duke's kid?"

The one without flaming arms produced a whistle and blew into it hard. The noise hurt her ears and Gregory grabbed the two fighting, rushing them into the back of the room. Audrey stumbled to follow, flinging the backpack onto her back.

Chard's father yanked open a door on the far side of the shed that she didn't notice before, revealing a chute much like the one Chard and her had rode in up to Atrium. He bustled the three of them into it, turning just in time to throw up some sort of shimmery shield against a wall of flames the fire-armed soldier threw. Embers flicked off the shield and lit up the shed around them.

"Go!" Gregory yelled.

Chard shook her head, standing in the doorway ahead of Aric and her. "Dad, they'll take you into custody!" Around them, the shed moaned, vines flicked up from the ground.

"Don't, Chard. You'll need the energy to get through the forest." He swung a look back at his daughter. "No matter how much time we spend apart, you come back."

"Dad, this isn't the same!" Gregory took a step back, the shield following him, and leaned a shoulder against Chard. "Go on." And he gave her a mighty shove, sending her sprawling back onto the platform. He yanked a lever near the door and the ground dropped out from under them.

The shield fell away and Gregory dropped to his knees. It was the last thing Audrey saw before they plunged down into darkness, Chard's screams punctuating the fall.