Escape from Whitestone Hold

Tempest- Chapter 7

Sapphira panted heavily through her shirt as she dragged herself to the rendezvous point. Her arms burned as she carried the heavy cannon, and she had a painful stitch in her chest where her ribs had nearly been crushed. Every breath she drew made her lungs feel like they were collapsing, and sent sharp pains shooting into her heart.  Her head was spinning, feeling like she couldn't get enough air no matter how deeply she inhaled. She couldn't keep going like this much longer. 

Sapphira finally slowed her pace, trying to catch her breath.  Her vision was blurry, and she felt close to passing out.  And her mind was reeling, replaying the last few minutes over and over again in her mind.  Another moment or two of being crushed, and she could have been gone...  Not just gone from the fight...  Not just knocked down...  She would have been dead.  In all the time Sapphira had spent as a guard, she'd had some tough scrapes and embarrassing defeats...  But never before had she ended up so powerless, completely at the mercy of such a cruel adversary.  How could this have happened?!  Surely there was something different she could have done?  Surely her fate had not been decided by a last-minute lucky escape?  Surely there was more to life than falling to a roll of the dice?  Surely there was more to separate life and death than a delicate balance of natural forces already in motion?  Surely there was more meaning to death, than the random hand of chance...  Or was death simply the silence that inevitably called all things to stillness? 

What was death like?  Where would she be if she hadn't made it?  Would she still be a motionless corpse beneath the foot of the crazy knight in black armor, feeling nothing, and knowing nothing?  Would it be nothing more than an endless sleep?  Would it hurt, simply feeling the pain of death, until fading away out of all memory?  Or would she wake up peacefully in a grassy meadow, her family around her?  If her family were with her, perhaps it would have all been worth it...

Sapphira shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts and hold onto the fact that her family might still be alive, despite her wavering hope.  She continued to walk slowly, trying to let her racing mind rest, though she could feel her blood throbbing in her temple as her stress remained. Groaning, Sapphira decided to set down the giant cannon for a moment and lean against it for support, trying to relax as she drew each ragged breath. In the moment of stillness, Sapphira took the opportunity to listen for pursuers.  

Nothing.  No sounds other than the wind still tearing through every street in the city, bringing ash and smoke along in its wake and progressively worsening the thick clouds of dust in the air. It had been easy to escape the soldiers by slipping into the dense haze.  It had not been easy, however, to lug a giant, heavy blast cannon along with her while still being sneaky. The gun was large, almost as thick as Sapphira's waist, and it was cumbersome to carry. It seemed mostly made of metal, with some kind of crystal mechanisms inside. There were also several buttons and handles on the outside, along with the glowing orange vents. Sapphira had no idea how to use it, let alone whether she had the strength to aim it the right direction, but at least Storm the black knight no longer had it.

Sapphira froze for a moment, thinking she'd heard something behind her.  She cautiously turned to look down the street, squinting against the particulate-ridden air.  It was hard to see more than 50 feet away at this point, and Sapphira's eyes were watering as the wind whistled past her face, and hurled small bits of brick-dust and ash into her eyelashes. She had to resist the urge to sneeze as she blinked determinedly, eyes darting around to look at her obscured surroundings.  There was nothing of note. Simply an empty street enveloped by a grey fog that was thick enough to cut with a knife.  Even the ground itself had a layer of soot and grime upon it, which was being blown around and looking like a layer of dirty snow on the ground.

Sapphira sighed and turned back, slightly unnerved by the eerie atmosphere and darkened sky. It was still probably mid-afternoon, but the cloudy sky felt more akin to twilight.  It was also hard to tell if she was going the right way to reach her destination, but she stuck to her gut instinct and decided to continue traveling towards her best guess. After a moment of rest, Sapphira's vision began to clear, her heartbeat slowed, and her breathing began to become less labored.  She still felt tired, and she could feel her mind continuing to freak out in the back of her head, but at least she now felt less like a limp noodle that was about to collapse.  Sapphira leaned down again, hefting the large cannon back into her arms while inwardly grumbling about how heavy it was.