The Golden Crusaders : Terra Munroe

Chapter 6 - Burn

I crept out the kitchen to see the whole of the front wall broken down. A few people were caught under the rubble. A dozen black horses stood in hole that replaced the bricks of the wall, with men wearing black hooded robes beside them. The men all had huge hunched backs which made them seem extremely creepy. In front of them stood their leader, he wore a black cowboy’s hat and had a sword attached to his back.

“Get down” my mother said sharply as she pulled me down behind the bar, Mary was already crouched down and observing what was going on. The three of us peered over the counter. The man got off his horse and removed his hat. He revealed a full head of thick black curly hair which hung down to his shoulders. He wore a long, black leather jacket and black trousers which covered his black boots. He wasn’t very tall and he also had a hunch back.

“Do not fear me” he said, most people were hiding behind tables, whimpering in fear. “I am not here to hurt you, if you simply do something for me, I will leave you all to enjoy what’s left of your evening”. I could see Logan and Callum looking at me from the other side of the room; they were crouched down behind a table with Mr and Mrs Smith. Mr Smith arose from behind the table, Mrs Smith tried to pull him back down but he ignored her.

“Who are yuh and… and what do yuh want?” asked Mr Smith.

The man turned to Mr Smith, “a very brave man, speaking up in front of all these people even though we both know you are trembling in your boots” Mr Smith suddenly looked awkward, his eyes darted all over the room, however somehow avoiding contact with the man. “Who am I you ask. My name is Antonio Malvindi; I am a messenger from Natas, sent here to fulfil my duty to the great one. What do I want? I want the blue blood… and I know she’s here somewhere. So hand her over… or tonight will be your final night.” The moment he spoke of a blue blood I felt many eyes slowly fall upon me. I tried to ignore them in hope that the man wouldn’t notice.

“Explain now!” my mother demanded, even though it was obvious she already knew.

“They know… they all know” I said. My mother’s eyes filled up with tears, she rested her face in the palms of her hands and shook her head. “Why Terra? The one thing you were asked not to do and you couldn’t do it” she sobbed. I could still hear the man demanding for me to come forward, his voice growing much more urgent but still no one said a word. It seemed the whole town didn’t want me to be taken. A sudden feeling of warmth began to grow inside of me. However I came to realise that it wasn’t from my happiness.

The sudden sound of screams forced me to jump up from behind the counter. Four of the men dressed in black were simultaneously using fire casting to set the place on fire. Almost as soon as the first embers were released from their grasp the whole room was illuminated. Roaring, the flickering flames engulfed the room, destroying all in its path. The flames ate up the air like a mad dog and belched out black smoke. The scorching wall of intense heat threatened to burn out our lungs, burning us from the inside. Screams. The screams of elderly women being burned alive by the flames. The scream tore through me like a great shard of glass. It was the kind of scream that made your blood run cold. It pierced my brain and ignited a feeling inside me, a feeling I hadn’t experienced before. Adrenaline surged through my veins, fight or flight, stand or run, be a hero or a coward.

I grabbed John from under the bar and jumped onto the counter. I leapt into the air and came down at one of the demons, staff first. John hit him directly in the centre of his head, causing him to fall to his feet. I kicked him in the side of his face, cracking his neck. I ran towards another demon as I charged up a huge water ball in my hand. Then suddenly a water ball flew past my head and hit the demon in the shoulder, flinging him to the floor. I looked back to see Callum smiling at me. He winked and the carried on fighting. Most people were fighting by now; it seemed my new found courageousness caused the others to follow in my footsteps. I scanned for the room for my next opponent, but they all seemed to be occupied by other people. Then it hit me, I needed to fight their leader, Antonio. I looked around the room for him but I couldn’t find him. All of a sudden a loud screech caught my attention, however it wasn’t just any screech, it was the screech of my brother… and it was coming from behind me. I instantly spun on the spot to see Antonio dragging my brother down the street.