SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES OF FANTASILIA SERIES
𝘈𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦. 𝘈 𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴. 𝘈 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.
Xanthiene Vivenca, af...
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2412 Strilaxis 19, Briss
The sun had risen when they got back to Depandes.
What happened to June and Reeca whom she left at the Palace? Were they safe?
Nyxis. Where was he?
Xanthy forced her legs to run faster. Her sides already hurt from scrambling all the way from the border between Lanbridhr and Alkara. Everything blurred in her vision as she whizzed towards the direction of the Capital.
"Miss Vivenca, over here!" Cyrdel called from Xanthy's left. She saw Cyrdel swerve to an unknown path. Ravalee followed, unburdened despite her skirts. Xanthy exhaled, swallowed the bitter taste in her mouth, and moved to follow Cyrdel. Soil met cobblestones and the next thing Xanthy knew, they were back in the Capital.
It was chaos.
Xanthy scrambled out of the way as a four-wheeled cart tipped and landed on the cobbled road in a huge explosion. Charred pieces of fruit rolled off the wreckage. There was no one at the helm to pull the levers.
Smoke and metallic debris coated the sky, almost matching the cold fog in Carleon. Xanthy slowed, her heart quivering in her chest.
Then, she saw the bodies. She froze.
Brownies dressed in all shades of brown were scattered on the cobbled roads. Some were straddling belongings while some had children in their arms. There was no noise, save for the embers pulsing in the early morning light. Cyrdel exhaled shakily beside Xanthy.
Together, they took in the state of the once lively city, their feet taking them to places they didn't want to be.
Xanthy paused when she happened upon a brownie clawing weakly against the cobblestones. She crouched and saw the chest rising and falling. Dark russet hair hung limply from the head, scattered all over the face. The ends were singed from some kind of fire.
It wore a plain skirt partnered with a tunic and ankle-high, leather boots. Before the body fell, it had carried a satchel of papers which had now perished in the fire, its remains coating in the body's arms and neck. The skin was blackened in several patches with dirt and coal particles heavy on its smooth, light brown surface.
Xanthy couldn't breathe. She reached out and brushed the hair out of the face and revealed a beautiful woman with pale skin, small nose, and thick lips. The freckles across her cheeks almost blended with the flecks of dirt around her head.
Her eyes were open. They stared at Xanthy. She seemed to be saying something. Xanthy leaned closer, her nose catching a whiff of incense mixed with coal. The woman's breath tickled Xanthy's ear, but no sound came out.
The woman's face was ashen, the veins visible in dark webs. Limbs spasmed and then remained stiff.
"Miss Vivenca!" Cyrdel called somewhere to her right. Xanthy looked up and spotted the prince kneeling beside another body. A lost, pleading look tore Xanthy's heart as Cyrdel breathed out, "He's alive."
