Sarina opened her eyes and saw Caspar's grey eyes filled with tears. She felt wetness on her cheeks and realized that she too was crying. But it wasn't from her own emotions. She wasn't sure if Caspar knew, but she hadn't just shown him how he was feeling, but was able to feel his emotions as well.
Sarina was overwhelmed with the loneliness that was consuming him. From it she could even get a sense that it came from somewhere in his childhood.
"Caspar" Sarina called carefully, trying to get a grip of her feelings again.
"That ...that was very" Caspar tried to say, but she could see that he was struggling finding the words to describe what they had just experienced.
"Intense?" She asked.
Caspar looked at her and nodded. She wanted to say more to him, maybe offer him some comfort when Hashem, the manservant burst into the room unannounced.
"Sir Caspar! Please hurry and come with me, Azzaran is under attack!"
"What! How could that be? And what about the witches on guard" Caspar questioned sharply.
"They are all dead. Please sir Caspar we must hurry! I will grab what we might need for a journey. Many of the people have already fled" Hashem told and then he turned and ran down the hall.
Caspar jumped into action, but Sarina remained seated, having a terrible case of deja vu. He rushed around her, grabbing his satchel and weapons, strapping them on himself. He ran to Sarina and shook her slightly.
"Come! We must go now" he urged her. Sarina still felt frozen, wondering how this could happen to her twice in one lifetime.
Caspar grabbed her arm and pulled her along with him as he rushed out of the room and down the hallway, dragging her behind him the whole time. The got to the front of the estate and Hashem was there waiting for them, looking like he was trying to keep his panic under control.
Hashem reached for the door, but before he opened it Sarina came back to her senses.
"Wait! Where is Darya?"
"She had already left for her home for the night madam, there is nothing we can do for her now. Please we must hurry" he urged. Sarina was saddened to know that the kind woman would have to face this and hoped she would be okay.
She nodded and Hashem opened the door and Sarina nearly screamed her lungs out. A man stood in the doorway clothed in a brown tunic and pants and his face was covered by a brown mask. When the door was opened completely he pulled down his ask to reveal that is was only Nasir.
"This way" he spoke quickly. "The invaders entered from the north side of the city and will reach these parts last."
"Let's go East to the kingdom of Mierstan. I know the king there. If I reveal myself he might be willing to help us" Caspar said.
They all nodded and began running quietly towards the East side of the estate. Sarina was huffing and the smell of the air was filled smoke, which was unfortunately familiar for her. How could they infiltrate this place as well, that was filled with magic. The night was eerily silent and even the stars were covered with clouds. Sarina felt that something horrible was about to happen.
They all continued running, all their breaths quietly huffing as they tried to keep pace. Hashem was much older and seemed more affected by the run than the others. Sarina felt bad for him, seeing why her parents had not even attempted the journey.
The group finally broke through the palms and they paused to look at the rolling hills of the desert before them.
"It'll be about 5 day journey. Days 4 and 5 will be the hardest, we are likely to run out of food and water by then and the heat will be intense" Caspar warned them.
Sarina was scared, but what choice did she or any of them have. If they remained, they would have to face whatever or whoever was attacking Azzaran.
They began walking when Sarina felt something whoosh past her face. She looked down and saw a black, slick looking arrow buried in the sand before her.
"GET DOWN" Nasir screamed!
All of them dropped to the floor and the arrows began to rain all around them. Sarina closed her eyes and waited for the pain of her skin being ripped open by the metal to hit her. After a few seconds she still felt nothing and peeked through her lashes to see why she was still alive. Standing above her, Caspar and Nasir was Hashem, his arms above his head and above all of them was a slightly glimmering purple force field.
"You all run!" I will hold them back as long as I can" Hashem said as he continued to keep his hands above his head and maintaining their protection.
"No! Hashem try to run with us please" Caspar begged.
"No my boy! You go and try to save yourselves. It would be foolish of me to run. My selfishness to stay with you would be all of our undoing. Go and complete your mission, Prince Caspar."
"You knew" Caspar whispered, still resisting leaving the old man.
"Of course. You have grown into a fine young man, now go and rule like the king I know you truly are. Hurry, while I can still hold them off" Hashem said.
Nasir grabbed Caspar's arm and pulled him to his feet. Sarina stood with them, watching the two exchange their words. Caspar kept his eyes on Hashem as Nasir pulled him along and Sarina looked back as well before following them farther into the dunes. Finally Caspar turned and all of them sprinted as fast they could deeper into the desert.
Sarina turned one last time only to see Hashem fall in the distance, clutching his stomach.