Series: The Mountain: Book 1: The Awakening

Tragedy Strikes Again!

"Come on you two!" Liam shouted above the commotion, shaking both Tess and Lily, "We need to get out of here now!"

Grabbing both their hands, he hurried them down the decrepit water tower and dragged them toward the alley that his sister and him had previously emerged from.

"N-No!" Tess screamed, pulling away from him, "M-my parents; they were down there. I need to find them!"

Unlike the siblings, Tess was not an orphan. Even though she frequently ran around the streets with them, she had parents. They weren't the best people in the world but they were still her parents and he understood the desire to see your only family left in this world to be safe. However this meant that he'd have to make a decision. Liam would either lead Lily to safety or follow Tess to find her parents.

"Sorry Tess....I-I have to get Lily somewhere safe!"

"Big bro-"

"It's ok Lily," Tess said smiling through now fresh flowing tears, "I'll be fine. I'll see you two again."

And with that she took off running towards the city gates.

Liam squeezed his sister's hand, tears also filling in his eyes, "She'll be ok Lily. We'll see her again."

With a sad nod from Lily they both rushed in the opposite direction and headed in the dark alley once more. Behind them they could hear the screams of the townspeople as they were being cut down or dragged away.

"Big bro what do we do now?" Lily asked, face smeared with now dried tears and dirt.

"I'll think of something, don't you worry about it Lily, we'll be fine," he said doing his best to reassure his sister.

In reality, Liam was worried. They'd only survived the raid on his village due to his parents sacrifice. If it came to it he would do the same, as long as it meant his sister would live a little longer. Suddenly there came a grating sound behind him and he turned quickly to see a man clad in armour crawling towards them. It was one of the city guards. Now these by far weren't Liam's favourite people. In all honesty, they never treated him or his sister unfairly, yet it was the kindness of the village elders that allowed the enemy soldiers to rest at their village, that brought about the destruction that took away their parents.

Behind him, one of the brutes that arrived with the army walked up to him casually with wide grin on his face. The Trelsian soldier turned onto his back and begged for mercy, one hand covering the stab wound in his stomach, the other raised defensively. Ignoring the pleas, the tall warrior brought his sword down in a brutal downstroke through the soldier's neck.

Lily who had been hiding all this time let out a shriek as blood splattered near her hiding place. Looking up the Elystrucian warrior crouched and brought out his spear. Without aiming he threw it directly in the direction of Lily. Before it could strike Liam pulled Lily out of the way.

"Ah, what do we have here?" he asked as though slightly amused, "not every day a child dodges my spear boy! Now come over here and take your death like a man!"

Liam's only thought was, 'Is this guy crazy, of course I'm not going to listen to him!'

He tried to think of a way out and suddenly remembered the cleaver. Reaching behind him he soon realized his blunder. In his haste to escape he'd forgotten the cleaver atop the water tower. He felt like cursing and stomping but then he realized even if he had the weapon it wouldn't do much against a trained warrior. Liam steeled himself realizing what he had to do.

Squeezing Lily's hand, he whispered, "I'll buy you some time, I'll hold him off long enough for you to run out through the other end of the Alley. Hide-"