Sky Dust

Chapter 5

He opened his eyes and felt a light frost touching his cheeks. His first instinct was to look at the window. It was already snowing a little; they were apparently close to the border. Spencer felt excited again.

It was closer to the evening than to the morning now. He wasn't surprised to find out that he was hungry, but he kept the feeling in.

The cold was hard to get used to. At first it was a comfortable relief from the heat, but in a while it started to get annoying. Spencer was now sure his cheeks, bitten repeatedly by the frost, were red. He tilted forwards to unzip his backpack and felt a little dizzy. He picked it up and tried to get more comfortable, but ended up still bowing down to find his scarf.

Wrapping it around himself, he noticed that the setting was becoming less crowded. Now he could see an icy desert stretching around, with only a few houses thrown onto a landscape. He wondered where they were going to stay. He knew that the Dapheni lived in small, normal homes, so he assumed his accommodation was going to be similar.

His eye was caught by a bunch of men wearing purple and green running after them. They were probably government officials; purple and green was the official colors of Elaset. That meant, at least, that they still hadn't left their native country.

But what did they want?

Suddenly he heard a bang, even louder than the first one. The last thing he saw was someone's gun and a shapeless smudge of green and purple on the white snow.

A row of loud explosions followed. Spencer blocked his ears, but it still could be heard. One of them had hit the carriage, he was sure of that much. The vehicle sped up, and he tilted forward. The explosions continued, and one of them pierced the leather right next to him. The bullet almost shot through Spencer's hip. He found himself holding on to the base of his seat.

"What's happening?" He asked loudly, panic in his voice.

"We're being attacked!" His father answered. That much was clear.

The explosions stopped, and Spencer dared to let go of his ears. The carriage was going at a horrifying speed, but they had escaped the attackers.

He put his backpack down to free his knees from the pressure. They were a little numb, and Spencer was still sleepy, but it seemed uncomfortable to sleep in such a strange situation.

"We have fifteen minutes left until we reach the closest Dapheni village," the driver announced. Spencer looked around at his parents. They were discussing something quietly.

For the next fifteen minutes his gaze was focused entirely on the window. He couldn't help but let out a squeal when the first homes appeared nearby. He caught a glimpse of a Dapheni man walking by, his white hair sparking a bit.

Nevertheless, he was terrified. He assumed it had something to do with the note, but now, all he could think about was getting to safety.