Fate Undone: A Novella

Chapter II - Part II

...

Abraam stepped forward. "Nikos?"

"Not yet." He held up a hand, waiting. There was another roar—another shredding gale. "Now."

Abraam pushed Anna forward and they all rushed across the street. Before, Anna had glanced to her side; now she did it again. The street curved down a slight hill, lined with a mix of two and three-story shops and houses on each side. Merchant kiosks outside the doors were battered and a broken wagon had been overturned. Forty meters down, before the street changed directions, there was a small cluster of Pasithian spearmen, jabbing at a hairy brute three times as tall. The beast pulled a spear out of its thigh and kicked a man against a house. The soldier's armor popped with such force that stones fell free around his limp body.

Then it was gone from their sight. Another alleyway came next. Another street followed. More and more of them were needed to cross before the stable could be reached. All of it was a chaotic blur to Anna. Along the way there were skirmishes between Eressians and Pasithians. There were a few strong-willed citizens that involved themselves, but hardly any were lucky enough to fight for long. Had this been any other day, Abraam, Nikos, and Eleni would have stood beside their blade-brothers and shield-sisters, fighting to the last breath, but this was not any normal day. This was the day that Pasithia died. This was the day Abraam chose his family above all else.

The city is gone, Abraam had said in the tunnel, not long after he and the twins found Anna. The Eressians have won, but hardly anyone knows it yet. Stavros and Pelagia...they're dead. We only have each other now, and that's all that matters...

The path to the stable was a fortunate one, as fortunate as a doomed city could be. Nikos led his family safely through the thickest skirmishes where Eressian riders plowed through remaining bands of resistance; where roving bands of hopeful defenders cried out "FOR PASITHIA!" and "KING STAVROS!" There were times when Abraam caught sight of Eressians looking their way at a distance, but the city's fighting was so relentless that there were always other Pasithians to soon catch the invaders' eyes.

They were near the eastern edge of the city now, and the fires had not spread as viciously here, nor had the plague of violence from the western side. It was in this area, down the street and around the corner, where one of the Royal Guards' stables were located. The first time through, Anna had not known how close they were, even though she had been born in this city. Her familiarity with its upturned streets was nonexistent, and her mind was too unsettled. Now as she relived this bizarre escape to the stable for a second time, she told herself that she should have recognized this—the still street, the dark buildings towering ahead with the city's wall behind, the stone bridge that arched above their heads—but it was not the same as before. There was something different.

It's brighter, like the sun is coming back.

As they jogged down to the street's end, Anna felt a small prick on the back of her head. It was a bad feeling: the kind you get when you know you aren't supposed to be somewhere.

To the right, a door to a narrow building swung out, smacking the stone wall. A disheveled woman ran out, crying. She stumbled, fell, and began pushed back on the ground, away from the building, until she found her legs again and ran. A single Eressian came out, muttering curses as he held a hand to his bloody forehead.

This didn't happen.

Then the soldier saw Nikos, Eleni, and Abraam, and the swords they carried. He made a move for his own but Nikos had already lunged.

This never happened at all.

Nikos slashed at the man once, severing the hand that rose in front of his face, then a second time from ear to ear.

"We should be quicker," said Abraam after the man fell limply. "There's no telling how many more there may be."

Anna glanced back at the dead soldier as they continued on. She thought she was going to relive everything over again, just as it had been before. But now, because of that single soldier, she didn't know what to expect. Because of that single soldier the quiet of the street that she remembered was lost—and Anna, Nikos, and Eleni never got the chance to make the promise their father had begged them to make. Whatever happens, promise me you'll keep going. Promise me this. They were words only she could remember, and she wasn't even sure if they were real.

What does this mean?

Down at the end of the street, where it glowed like it shouldn't have, they turned the corner and met the source of the light. A portion of the city's tall wall, where the Ivy Gate was located, had tumbled. Clinging fire marked the spot where it was struck, and that fire had spread, crossing over roof after roof in a long line of wooden homes. Large shards of stone were everywhere, thrown down from the wall and the tops of broken buildings.

"This isn't good," said Eleni. "This isn't good at all."

They ran now, past the homes, each one bearing more flame than the next. The stable and its pavilion were located at the end—and they, too, had succumbed to the spread. The flames kicked out and licked at the sick sky, taking on the guise of lithe tongues one second and angry whips the next. From within the stable, there were no sounds of whinnying horses; there was only the constant roar of hungry fire. If it wasn't for a single breath-full of singed hair and charred flesh, there would have been no sign of them at all.

"What do we do now?" asked Eleni. "We can't expect to get far on foot."

"We have to try the stable in the northern district," said Nikos. "It's our only other hope at this point."

"And wade back through the city?"

"What else? We need at least two to carry us all; four if we want to be quick about it. The other stable is our only choice, unless you can figure out a way to steal a horse from underneath a passerby without losing your head."

"Quiet," snapped Abraam.

Anna looked at her father. His eyes were distant and his attention was elsewhere. Before she could ask the question, the answer was heard: hooves ringing upon the stones, growing louder. Accompanying that rider were voices, shouting in the Eressian's rolling dialect. Those sounds echoed off the city's wall and were thrown down, making it difficult to hear from what direction they were really coming from. But they didn't have to wait long to find out.

The red rider appeared from around the street corner. He was holding a lance. Anna turned and saw a group of four Eressians come out of an alleyway from behind. One of them pointed with a sword.

This is all wrong.

"Anna, stay between us," said Abraam as he raised his weapon.

But we got out of the city. I saw it, I was there. We were all there!

The rider charged. His mount beat smoke out of the stones. Abraam stepped forward, blade drawn, steam rising from his shoulders. Eleni pushed Anna to the side, her armor sizzling as she clasped her sword with a weak hand, boiling with blood.

It's happening again. But what is happening?

A swordsman lunged at Nikos; their blades met, popping like sparks. That was when Anna closed her eyes and still saw the whole world flash.

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