X - Hazel
Hazel gazed at the lights of a burning
city with only a dim awareness of what she was doing. Everything looked blurry and unreal; there was nothing her mind
could latch onto and say you are here, this is what you are doing, this is
why this is happening. She felt
like she had been set adrift from anything that was real and she was now
floating - floating until she drowned.
All she could do was to stare at the blurred, dancing lights and then
occasionally she would raise her hands in disbelief once more and wonder where
all the blood came from.
She
was rescued from her dream-like state by a deep, masculine voice from behind
her.
"Are
you a fool, woman, standing there in the state you're in staring at the
flames?"
She
turned to face him, still dazed, and stared at him with wide, unseeing eyes.
"They're
pretty, for sure, but their bite is vicious.
You should be heading for safety, not loitering in the
streets!" From what she could see
of him, as she tried to focus on his features, he was quite handsome with dark
eyes. Dressed in chainmail and wearing
a light helmet he looked like a reject from some fantasy epic "Is that babe you're carrying going to
be such a burden to you that you'd willingly roast him before he's even
born?"
She
lowered her hands and gaze alike and saw what he was referring to. Her belly was swollen beneath her winter
woollens, so much so in fact that they had been pushed up by it, baring a dome
of soft white skin. Shakily she placed
her hands upon it, smearing it with blood.
"How...?"
"Have
you been drinking as well?" He
stepped closer, grabbed her firmly by the arm and started to pull. "Come on, there's no time for
this. Can't you see the city's
burning!"
She
resisted for a moment, held fast to the spot by the forces of shock and
uncertainty, but the strange armoured man was stronger and as he dragged her
away she found her feet doing their best to keep up in spite of herself. He pulled her along the street, back the way
she had come although it looked so different now. Where the main high street had once run as a vast bridge across a
forgotten valley, only a hazy orange sky remained and silhouetted against it a
low hill, itself still free from fire.
The street wound its way along the bottom of the hill and she saw people
rushing to the stream which ran alongside it, filling pails to douse the
flames. The man made his way towards a
large building made of wood and stone opposite the majority of the 'fire
fighters'. It was separated from most
of the nearby buildings by a convergence of streets and a little extra space
which made her think that no one wanted to be near whatever it contained. He brought her to a stop outside its
imposing doors and spoke to her hurriedly.
"You
should be safe here until we can put out the fires or clear a safe path out of
the city. I need to rush to the gates
to hold off the King's men. They'll see
to you inside." He gave her a
puzzled smile before marching off up the street around the hill. Hazel stared after him for a moment, trying
to make sense of everything he had said, but none of the pieces would fall into
place. King's Men? Gate?
Why's the city look so different?
I can't understand what has happened here!
Suddenly
she felt the rush of emotions come back to her, accompanied by the faint echo
of the droning mantra in the dark, and a stream of fresh tears ran down her
face. At last she turned to the
building that was, supposedly to be her refuge and gazed uncertainly at the
ominous sign that greeted her:
DEVARA HOUSE OF
CORRECTIONS.
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