The sun may be settling down to tuck itself in for the night, but the sky was alight with magefire. Aliyah’s feet pounded into the earth as she ran back towards her home. Flames licked up the town’s shops and buildings, people ran screaming in the streets, and the horsemen descended upon anything that moved. Their swords sliced through the innocent as if cutting wheat for threshing. Blood ran in the gutters, clogged by debris so the dirt was stained with sanguineous ichor. A woman knelt and held her dead husband while her child stood with wide shocked eyes as they dissociated. Aliyah ignored the screams of terror, loss, and rage as she ran. She had to get back to them, even though she had no idea how she could help.

Her breath caught in her throat as her home came into view. The flames had caught the wooden posts of their porch and were snaking their way upwards. A knight galloped towards her, his blade cutting down one of the shopkeepers her parents were friends with. Hamish had been a family friend for years, his shop was right next to her father’s and they frequently traded services. The blade hooked into his back and lifted him off of his feet, his eyes were wide and his mouth open as blood spilled from his lips. His body fell near her, but she couldn’t stop. If she did, his death would be in vain. She burst into her home, screaming for her parents. The house was empty. Where was everyone? Had they managed to escape?

She ducked beneath a flaming support beam as the rafters caught and began to burn. The house was done. There was no saving this now. She choked on smoke as she headed for the back door. The mannequin held her mother’s current project, a wedding dress for her best friend, Aki. The dress would never be worn. She threw open the back door and searched the yard for any signs of her family or friends.

Screams and shrieks scalded the air as another volley of magefire hit. Then, the distinct whoosh of wings. She covered her mouth with her hand, her heart hammering in her chest, as a dragon flew overhead. She’d never seen a dragon before, and gods, this one was terrifying. The great beast drew in a breath, and flames exploded from its maw, consuming the church. The shrines and altars to Luxamor would be destroyed. Aliyah gritted her teeth and slipped into an alley to hide. She knew she should be running, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave yet. The dragon could incinerate her in a single snort and, if the wondertales were right, they enjoyed hunting down things that ran. Her blood roared in her ears as fear shot through her so primal and terrible she couldn’t move. She wasn’t a fighter. She wasn’t trained. She couldn’t help the people around her. She was the daughter of a tailor and a leather worker and sometimes trained with Aki when she needed a new punching bag. Her father made tools for building and farming equipment. This was hopeless. She was going to die here. Any moment the men on horses would tear through this alley and cut her down as they’d done to Hamish, or the dragon’s fire would reduce her to ash. Someone grabbed her, pulling her out of her thoughts and fears, and back into the shadows.

“Aliyah!” Aki screamed. “Aliyah, we have to run!”

Aliyah blinked.

“Aliyah!” Aki’s voice cracked from the strain as she hauled her friend away.

“Right…” Aliyah’s voice sounded to her as if it belonged to someone else.

The two ran into the fields. The wheat and corn were high enough that if they ducked down a bit, they wouldn’t be seen. The dragon banked, turning around to wreak more havoc.

“Where’re Mom and Dad?” Aliyah shouted.

“I don’t know, just run!” Aki called over her shoulder. Her black hair whipped in the wind behind her as she ran, the wind had torn it out of its usually neat bun and it was wild and untamed. Aki stopped short, putting her arm out to shield Aliyah as magefire lit the fields. “We have to get to the forest!” Aki yelled.

“Where’s Mom and Dad?” Aliyah’s blood ran cold.

She didn’t know if she could leave without that closure. She hadn’t seen her family in the chaos, not their bodies or even a trace of them. Numbing sickness threatened to seize her again, their voices lost in the choir of screams that filled the night.

Aki turned and grabbed Aliyah’s face in her hands. “Aliyah! We have to go! Now!”

“But Mom…Dad…” Aliyah said, blank-faced.

“They’d want you to get out!” Aki shouted. Aki grabbed her wrist and yanked her along the fence line. The flames spread quickly and soon the two girls were surrounded. Smoke clouded their vision. Aliyah swallowed hard and pulled her shirt up over her nose and mouth with her free hand. Aki took the short sword off of her hip and cut the burning crops in front of them.

“Yeah…” Aliyah said as she squeezed between the gap in the fence.

They made a break for the tree line at a full sprint. Aki still held the sword in her hand just in case. The dragon lit up the grass in front of them as if it knew they were fleeing. When Aliyah looked up, she saw the dragon circling their town, lighting up the perimeter with lava-like flames so that there would be no escape for the residents. Aki skidded to a halt and headed for a barn that had somehow been left unscathed amidst the chaos.
Once inside, the two girls huddled together. Tears streamed down Aliyah’s face as she watched the horror unfold through a small crack in the barn’s siding. She couldn’t fathom why anyone would want to attack Kyr. The small town barely had any crime to speak of.

“Who are they?” Aliyah’s voice was small and timid.

Aki dismissed her question, holding up a hand to shush her friend as she took in her surroundings.

“We might be safe here,” Aki said quietly as she scanned the barn for anything useful, always the warrior but Aliyah had never seen this side of her.

“We’re not safe here. We’re not safe anywhere. We’ll never be safe again,” Aliyah whispered, barely able to keep herself from screaming.

“Don’t look,” Aki said, pulling Aliyah to her chest and holding her.

“Hamish is dead,” Aliyah said numbly. The images of his wide eyes, the open mouth that was trying to tell her to run, the sickening thud when his body hit the ground.

“You have numbing sickness,” Aki said as she petted Aliyah’s hair. “Just breathe for me.”

“They’re all dead…” Aliyah choked. “Greta and Hamish and…and…”

“It’s going to be okay,” Aki said, though she didn’t believe it as she watched through the crack.

It seemed like hours before the screams died down. The only thing more deafening than the screams was the heavy silence that followed in its wake. The dragon landed with a thunderous crash a few yards away from the barn where they were hiding. Steam billowed from its nostrils as it bowed its head. Aki held her breath as the rider dismounted. Aliyah trembled, her breath coming in short gasps as the man stretched casually and scratched just beneath the dragon’s chin.

“Don’t move,” Aki whispered, her grip tightening on Aliyah.

The rider’s eyes glowed menacingly as he turned and looked at the barn.

“Don’t see us. Don’t see us. Don’t see us.” Aliyah trembled, her lips more mouthed the words than spoke them.
“If I have to fight him,” Aki said quietly. “You stay here.”

“Fight him?” Aliyah gasped. “No, no, no, please don’t leave me.” Panic jolted through her as if she’d been submerged in ice water.
“If I have to fight him, you will stay here and hide. Promise me, Ally.”

“Don’t leave me, Aki…”

“Ally, the numbing sickness will make you slow. You can’t fight, especially not like this. Promise me you’ll hide.”

The man grabbed a canvas bag from his dragon’s saddle and hefted it to the ground. He set it down and headed straight for the barn where the girls were hiding. They both held their breath as he approached, expecting to be discovered. Instead of going inside, the man picked up a few logs from the woodpile and returned to his pack. He steepled the logs and held out his hand. Flames appeared in his palm, he pointed and the logs caught fire. His dragon settled and curled around him protectively, blocking the girls’ view.

“Is he setting up camp?” Aliyah whispered.

“I think that’s a general,” Aki whispered back.

“How do you know?”

Aki didn’t answer, she just shook her head and retreated to the back of the barn with Aliyah in tow.

“How do you know?” Aliyah repeated.

“There’s a lot you don’t know,” Aki said sadly. “If something happens to me, get my journals. They’ll explain everything.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen to you,” Aliyah said urgently.

“If, Ally,” Aki said firmly. “The journals will explain everything.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen to you,” Aliyah repeated.

The night dragged on with screams still filling the air as the attackers ransacked the town. It wasn’t a large town, why was it being targeted? The flames still raged on the buildings as the girls huddled together. Sleep wasn’t coming tonight. The fear and anxiety gripped them like a vice as they realized they may not make it through the night. Aki looked into Aliyah’s eyes and Aliyah gasped.

“Your eyes…” she whispered. Aki’s eyes had changed from their typical sapphire blue to a swirling red, giving them the appearance of being purple but not all at once. Aliyah had never seen anything like it.

“There are things you don’t know, Ally. Things I don’t have time to tell you right now,” Aki said.

“What things? We have time, what else are we doing?” Aliyah asked, her breath catching in her throat.

“They’re coming, Ally. They’re here for me.”