Rise of the Trinity

PROLOGUE

Aiden’s eyes flew open, his stick legs kicked out at the worn cover as he threw himself from the sleeping pallet. His lungs screamed for air in the smoke filled room. Aiden breathed deeply, tasting the flaming tinder from neighbouring homes, before retching on acrid undertones of seared, human flesh. A sound like thunder cracked through the night as a battering ram ripped the front door from its hinge. The invaders were here.

Tears streamed from Aiden’s eyes, the world shimmered behind their watery smear. Mother appeared within the haze, puffing on the tainted smoke like a dying fish. Her words came in short, panic filled gasps that Aiden strained to hear.

“Take Jaul, use the tunnel and hide in the forest.”

Mother’s eyes bore into Aiden, the frantic, tear filled pools tried to communicate all that she hadn’t time to say. Then she was gone, disappearing into the thick smoke as she stumbled off in the direction of the invaders. Aiden grabbed Jaul’s hand and dragged his small brother through the window. Jaul tried to resist, his little hand tugged like a mullet snared on a fishing line as he struggled to escape back to Mother.

Mother’s scream ripped through the night. Her pain tore at Aiden, but he forced his legs to keep moving. Moments later the scream was slashed off at its crescendo, the silence filling Aiden with even greater terror. Men’s rough, guffawing laughter rippled from their home urging Aiden on, he pulled Jaul forward and his brother no longer resisted.

The rear laneway was littered with bodies. Men, women and children were piled in bloody heaps. Every living thing was slaughtered; dogs, cows and pigs lay entangled with their keepers. Neighbours and friends cut-down as they tried to flee. Many round houses were burned to the ground; others still blazed. The glowing, orange fireballs lit the night; their flames were the only movement in the street. Aiden clenched his fingers around Jaul and hauled his brother forward. Their feet splattered through sticky, dark blood puddles, Aiden refused to look down at the gore dripping down his ankles.

As they approached the city gates, they could hear little over the roar of a huge bonfire. A man’s voice rose above the flames, his shouted commands came from nearby. Aiden threw himself behind a pile of old crates and Jaul collapsed behind him. They were trapped. Behind them, gangs of invaders were going from house to house, ferreting out survivors hiding in the wreckage. Within minutes, the hunters would reach their flimsy shelter. Panic rose from a bottomless pit in Aiden’s stomach, great shivers wracked his body. He wanted to curl into a ball, cover his eyes and ears and make this nightmare go away, but he had promised mother to protect Jaul. He had to find a way forward.

Aiden slowly craned his head around the crate and stared at the huge pyre burning fiercely in the middle of the roadway. Its heat emanated out in hot waves, searing the flesh on Aiden's skin. A black shape appeared before the flames and a man’s backlit figure cast an enormous shadow across the path. The man turned to face the flames. Aiden seized the chance for escape. It was only about ten paces to the shelter of the trees on the other side of the street. If they ran quickly, they could pass without drawing the man’s attention.

As soon as Aiden stepped out onto the brightly lit street, he sensed the predator’s gaze. The man turned and stared straight into Aiden’s eyes. In the bright firelight, Aiden was like a hunted deer caught out in open grassland. The man shouted commands and more soldiers appeared as towering silhouettes against the flames. Adrenalin surged though Aiden as he rapidly calculated his means of survival. He was faster than these lumbering giants in their heavy armour. He was one of the fastest boys in the village; he just had to leave Jaul and fly like the wind to safety. Aiden’s frantic need to live rose with a burning intensity, greater than any flame that night, yet his hand seemed to have a mind of it’s own. He couldn’t force it to release Jaul. He remained shackled to his brother. Jaul felt like a stone holding him back as Aiden struggled toward the freedom of the gates.