Divided Nation

Escape

"Quick! We have to get out of here!" A servant shouted, waking us up as he walked into the room, "There's a boat waiting for you at the docks. Hurry!"

     "What's going on?" I shouted, but the servant had already left, moving on to the next room.

     Alexia gathered all of our belongings, which wasn't much. Just a tiny supply of food and some spare clothes, tucked inside a bag that Kyxio had left us. I ran over to the balcony, trying to see what was going on. The city was a mess before me. The upper town was trying to keep calm, but the lower towns had already descended into anarchy. 

     Fires burned rampant throughout the city and people were shouting and rioting. I saw a whole troops of soldiers march into the crown, trying to quell them, only to be ripped apart by the angry mob.

     I grabbed the bag and hurried out of the door. I could hear shouting and explosions outside of our inn. There was a line of soldiers guarding the road, while people like us were hurrying to the docks, protected by the militia. I finally reached the twin doors marking the entrance of the inn. It was already open, with people streaming out.

     "Follow me!" A soldier yelled, grabbing a torch off the wall and running down the street.

     Alexia and I sprinted after him, trying to keep up. The roads were lined on both sides with soldiers, trying to keep the angry mob out. As we ran through the streets, I saw people on the ground, spitting blood. So the plague has came to the West after all.

     "Onto the chariot," The soldier commanded, shoving us towards one of the many chariots lined up ready to take nobles away. 

      "What about you?" Alexia asked, as the soldier was running back, but he couldn't hear her over the loud clamour of the city.

      "Hiyea!" The chariot rider shouted and spurred the horses, which thundered off on the streets.

     The docks weren't part of the upper town, so we had to cross over the protection of the first wall, into the lower streets. I saw that the gates were manned with soldiers, trying to keep the civilians form crossing through.

      "What the hell is happening?" I shouted over the clamour at the chariot driver.

      "A riot!" He shouted back, "The Eastern plague has came to Lexington. The people of the lower town are rioting and rebelling. Our local militia is overwhelmed. We sent a raven to Titian's Landfall, but it's hopeless."

     "Hurry!" Alexia interrupted, "the lines are breaking!"

     I looked back and saw that she was right. The lines of the Yellow Kingdom militia were being pushed back by the rioters. Many of the peasants were holding up banners. A Golden Sword on a white background. The Golden Swords. They must have planned this.

     As I watched, a couple of rioters broke through the lines, jumping on the chariot right behind us, pulling the screaming people from it and threw them onto the ground. Then the lines broke entirely. The soldiers near the breach tried to cover their positions, but the line was thin enough that it was hopeless.

     The mob finally broke through the lines, streaming after the soldiers, who were no isolated in tiny islands, their long pikes useless. I drew my sword and cut down a person that had jumped onto the back of our chariot. 

      "We're close," The chariot driver shouted, urging the horses to go faster, "I can see the docks!"

      I saw it too. It was surrounded by soldiers, about 300 holding the docks while ships departed. Their lines were crumbling too, I saw, with thousands of rioters bashing themselves against their Yellow shields.