The Midnight: Dark Horizon

Chapter 4: Hand of Blood

     Sebastian's transmitter vibrated vigorously in his pocket, as if someone was strangling it. Slowly waking up, his hand made its way into his compartment, taking out the pulsating device. His eyes squinted to view on the small frequency indicator that it was his mom calling. The moment he turned the dial to activate it, there was a cacophonous of screaming from the other end with the sound of a roaring fire with pops in the background.

     "Sebastian?! Me escuchas?!" His mom yelled, struggling to make her voice be heard.

    Sebastian's eyes enlarged, "Mom? What happened?!" His heart began beating like a drum.

     "A raid arrived at the village after your dad came racing on a horse, alerting everyone that they were coming! They set the village on fire!"

     Sebastian sprung up off the floor,"Don't worry mom, we're on our way!" The call cut off with a sharp static sound, "Mom?! Mom!"

     Suddenly, Nia slammed the door open, working to construct a sentence to alert them of the smoke. Camila woke up at once from the loud crash of the door, confused by all the noise.

     "Camila, we need to go, NOW! The village is on fire!" Sebastian firmly instructed her.

      "What?!" Camila picked herself quickly off the floor, ran out the door, witnessing the pollution in the distance. "Shit, it looks to be a few miles away!"

         The trio gathered their belongings hastily and sprinted into the woods, following the direction they saw the soot rising. As they zipped through the trees while avoiding animals, they began to slow down, getting exhausted from running the distance. They came to stop to catch their breath next to a twisted tree.

     "We'll never make it!" Camila punched the tree angrily, taking heavy breaths.

      Sebastian leaned against the tree, short-winded, "We aren't close enough to even smell the smoke."

     Nia hunched over with her hands on her knees, panting, trying to think of something. Her eyebrows shot up, recalling the berries from before, "Wait, I have an idea!" She reached into her bag and took out a few, then split them for the three of them.

     The other two gazed at the small yellow orbs that Nia held as she grinned at them. They took their share of the barriers, eating them as fast as they could, and waited for a moment. In just a few seconds, they felt their energy replenished, once again dashing through the flora of the woods. After time went by, they finally breathed in the polluted air, meaning they were getting nearer.

     As soon as they reached the outskirts, they gazed at the dark clouds rising into the sky looking as black as ink. The shouts of the villagers could be heard from a distance, crying out for help while others screamed in pain. They noted there were strangers wearing long black bandannas matched with leather armor, holding various weapons. The guards intended to be guarding the village were nowhere to be seen among the frightened residents.

     Camila horrified by the scene, watching everything they have ever known burn to ash. The group glared at each other as they stood, paralyzed by what they were witnessing with their very eyes. Finally having the urge to move, they ran towards the intense flames that created a popped from the bamboo. Reaching the entrance, they were greeted by three unknown outsiders, calmly advanced towards them.

     "Would you look at that, more bodies have come." Upon the intruder's face, he wore a wicked grin that could be seen through his bandanna, "Why don't you three surrender and we won't gut you like the rest of the people who defied us?" He held a silver rapier in his hand and pointed at them.