Days of the Forbidden

Chapter 13

I sat up, hatred beginning to awaken me as it coursed through my veins. I would have slapped him silly as well, for I was tired of hearing him neglect the beautiful woman who was his wife. That was before the window was abruptly broken in by a large boulder. Something else was thrown into the room, and the carpet ignited with a blazing fire. My eyes widened as I looked back at Clyde. I became petrified, and my anger dispensed.

"Come on!" Clyde pushed as he began pulling me from the bed.

Before my feet could even touch the ground, I felt Clyde pick me up. I could hear the terrified screams of many different people in all directions, as well as the angry screams of men.

"What is going on?" I begged Clyde to answer.

"I'm not sure," he answered tiredly since he was carrying me as he ran. "I believe the Evergreen Castle is under attack; however, and I don't want to be here when it goes down."

"What about Alaia?"

"She was gone when I awoke," Clyde answered hastily.

"And you didn't go look for her?"

Clyde didn't answer me, for we finally exited the colossal castle. A maelstrom of fires flooded the area. The conflagration roared loudly, and rose towards the shrouded heavens, only to eventually die away, and leave nothing but embers and agony from its victims.

Clyde continued to run, this time for the exit to the town; but a hoard of people kept crisscrossing his path. He skillfully dodged them and continued running. At this point, I could tell he was growing tired of hauling me about, so I begged him put me on my feet. He dropped my legs, and allowed me to gain my balance before gripping my hand with immense strength, and dragging me along with him.

People kept bumping into me, and nearly knocked me off my feet. Thankfully Clyde could easily pull me back upwards, and keep us from being swept away. Suddenly the calls of men came crashing to our ears.

"Cannonball! Look out!"

I looked up into the sky just as a bright, flaming ball of rock came catapulting our way. I began to say something to Clyde, but he was already taking evasive action; but not before the cannonball struck the ground with a thunderous roar, shrapnel exploding all around us. We were sent flying to the left and slid horizontally across the rough courtyard.

I must have blacked out for a moment, because the next thing I knew, Clyde was hovering over me and asking if I was alright. He didn't give me much time to answer before he began pulling me along anyway. I noticed that the bomb in which we were attacked by had taken many victims, sending them to their loved ones above. I was horrified by the extent of the catastrophe and had to look away.

We got a little closer to being away from the danger zone, or at least I hoped. With the crowds being put down one after the other, a temporary halt to the noise commenced. Clyde stopped a moment to catch his breath. We had taken shelter under a melon stand, which seemed safer than the alternative.

"How are we to get out of here in one piece?" I asked Clyde.

"I'm not quite certain yet, but I'll think of a way."

I watched his face as it turned and twisted with each thought. He never did seem to come to a conclusion, so I too began to think of a way on my own. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a lovely shade of violet through the dull shades of war. I turned my head to get the clear view of Alaia. An idea was formed from this view, and I turned back to Clyde to share what I had planned.

"Look," I said, pointing towards Alaia. "We can escape with her! She has to know this place better than we do."

I watched as Clyde's eyes follow my finger, and his face twist into a hesitant expression. He brought his attention back to me and saw the determination within my features. I knew that she could help us, and Clyde had to of known as well. He huffed, grabbed my arm once more, and examined our surroundings before began yanking me along with him towards the princess.