CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

Fear took over my soul. The thick smoke continued to expand. It was not stopping any minute by now. My palms were trembling and wet. My eyes were burning and I couldn’t utter a single word, because if I try, I would burst out into tears.

Bella lost it. “Amara!” she cried and hugged me. She was crying out loud but it only tickled my ears, it was more of a whisper to me than a cry. I was hearing the loud bangs of my heart clearer than her loud cries.

I started to sob when a burning image of our home flashed in my head. I broke out from Bella’s embrace and faced her.

                   

“W-we need to go back..” my voice cracked. I was out of air. My throat was aching and my chest was struggling to catch some air.

I gathered all my strength to step out from where I was standing. I was determined to go back and to see what happened.

“You will only get yourself hurt.” Gael stopped me from walking. He was gripping my arm. His hold was tight, not wanting me to let go.

“Gael is right, Amara. It’s not safe. Let’s wait and pray for now. Your family will be alright, okay?.” Fahmi advised. His words were able to calm my nerves temporarily.

People were still looking at the sky. Some were saying words that were hurting me.

As time passed by slowly, it was getting harder and harder to stay calm. Bella was being comforted by her boyfriend while I, was about to lose her mind. When I saw men of our town planning to go back and see what was going on, I run to them.

“Ka Chito, let me tag along. I promise not to be a b-burden.” I said. I immediately wiped my face with my palm for them to see how determine I was. There were about six and I knew them all.

They let me join them. Bella wanted to come with me but Fahmi didn’t allow and I understood. Instead, Gael voluntarily joined us. I didn’t even think of stopping him.

Smoke where everywhere when we entered the forest which was leading to our town. The smoke reached this far. I was supposed to be thinking positively but I could not stop myself from overthinking. Gael was always there to assist me. The path was blurry due to the smoke and the surrounding was already dark. The sun was gone. The moon was our only source of light. The cracks coming from the dried leaves every time we stepped onto it were the only sounds you could hear aside from our coughs. It was hard to catch fresh air. Ka Chito and his company were ahead of us. It was a quiet journey.

“It’s pouring.” I uttered automatically when a drop of rain touched my skin. The drops felt like snow, it was cold but calming. The rain started to pour heavily.

“Do you see how sad the sky is? When the Goblin is sad, the clouds cry." said by Ka Linda when I was seven. It was an automatic replay of her words in my head at times like this.

I welcomed every drop of it. I wasn’t even bothered getting wet. The smoke was slowly vanishing and it was in favor of us.

As we got nearer and nearer, things were becoming visible to us. The rain stopped the fire but our town was already gone. The wall that surrounds the place was destroyed. The homes could no longer be called homes. It was a disaster. The place looked like a fireplace. Everything turned into ashes. I saw dead bodies around. It was a horrifying scene.

I found myself looking at our home. I couldn’t recognize where was it standing. It was gone. But I still hoped and prayed. I was sure that my family managed to escape the fire.

“It’s alright, Amara. They are safe. No need to worry..” I whispered to myself.

Men with armors and swords were surrounding the area. There were also men with horses while holding a bow and arrow.

“Royal guards.” It was the words of Ka Chito before he was shot by an arrow. It pierced through his chest. He started to cough out blood. Before I could even move an inch, I was immediately dragged by Gael into hiding.

“Shh..” Gael whispered as he tried to fit us both behind the trunk of an oak tree. My heart was kept on pounding. I was very confused and lost and scared of the situation. I saw Ka Thomas running and was caught by an arrow before he could even hide.

“Make sure that everyone is dead!” a man shouted from afar. I had never been this helpless before. I felt Gael’s hand on mine. Like he was saying indirectly that we will going to be alright by the end of the day.

Seconds later, we were running for our lives. Gael was holding my hand as we run. Arrows were flying towards us. The galloping horses were coming nearer to us. My eyes were blurry.

“Kill them!” another scream echoed.

A mixture of rain and tears were covering my sight. A mixture of rain and cold sweats were hugging my body. Then suddenly, an arrow hit Gael’s back. His hand left mine. He collapsed on the ground. I could see pain in his eyes.

“Gael!” I cried. Blood kept on gushing from his wound. I didn’t know what to do. I tried to remove the arrow but he stopped me.

“Run, Amara. S-save yourself.”

“No!” I shook my head.

“Please, just do it, Amara. Go! Please, l-leave. I will be fine.”

“I will not leave you!” I insisted.

“Both of us will end up dead. Just go!”

Instead of leaving him, I helped him to get up. I put his one arm around my shoulder to support him. We started to run again.

“I didn’t know that you were this stubborn.”

But after running for seconds, arrows were thrown to us again. I felt a sting in my arm. I was shot and so was Gael. He was hit by another one and this time it landed at the back of his head. We fell on the ground. My palm found my mouth.

“G-Gael?” my voice cracked as it was filled with horror. He didn’t respond a single word or even a movement. That was when I realized that he was gone.

I crawled to the nearest tree to hide. The blood from my wound was staining my white dress. I yelped when I tried to remove the arrow. It was still buried under my skin so I tried for the second time. I tried to stop the bleeding by putting a pressure on it using my hand but it didn’t stop. I kept on biting my lips just to stop myself from making a sound. I had nowhere to go, the only thing that I could do was to wish for my prince charming to save me.

But fate was cruel. Under the moonlight of my birthday’s night, I saw an arrow aiming at me and was ready to pierce my soul. My mind shut down. All I could see was the dark that was eating me alive. I passed out.