The stampede of soldiers' footsteps pounded in wild unison, each step a chaotic beat that reverberated through the palace corridors, each step made Silas' heart skip another beat and go ten times faster. Silas pressed himself behind a statue of his ancestor, Flemmel, in the hall, his heart racing as he watched shadows trail loyally after the men hunting for him. Wiping a line of sweat from his forehead, he dared a nervous glance from his hiding spot.
In the distance, Valen's voice rang out, barking orders at the foot guards.
"I don't care if you have to burn the city—find him and bring him here. ALIVE!" Valen's tone was laced with venom, his once stoic facade shattered, leaving his words fueled purely by fear and desperation. Silas swallowed, his throat dry as he fought to keep his breaths steady. Valen's men were relentless, searching every corner and shadow, closing in like hounds tracking their prey. He knew he couldn't stay hidden for long. He stared at the dirty battered old watch that clung desperately to his wrists, it ticked softly for the first time since he was captured.
"Concentrate." a gentle, eerie voice whispered within him. Silas took a deep breath and closed his eyes as a tingling sensation spread through his body. The soldiers' footsteps grew closer, echoing louder with each step.
"There he is!" one of them shouted, advancing on him, while others moved in, surrounding him. Silas opened his eyes slowly, the world felt slower than normal as if time itself decided to stand still. The soldiers moved in a super-slow motion however, the Ardentis remained unaffected. He stared at the guards uneasily as he strolled around them with caution in each step. The words and grunts that tried desperately to escape the confines of their mouths came out slowly. It would seem their flesh was not the only prisoner trapped in temporary time cells. Silas did not understand fully what he did but he knew he did it and with that thought lingering in his head he sprinted towards a window and threw himself out of it. For the first time since the palace fell to the Calabars and the machines he smiled a genuine smile, as he sprinted away from his ancestral seat that was now draped in the banners of House Calabar. His wounds pained him and his chest tightened with each breath but he forced himself to endure. All he wanted was to be as far from that castle as possible. In the empty town he hid in a house that sustained damages from the battle that forced his people out of their homes. He scavenged carefully in search of clothes, medicine, food or anything that would help ease his discomfort, all he found was a old button-up shirt that was too small for him to wear while buttoned and a small revolver with a single bullet. It was not much but it was better than nothing, even though he thought more about using it on himself in the event that he was about to be captured again. He sat in the corner of the room, gun in hand. His hand trembled like a cold leaf.
The houses were in disarray. With the Ardentis seemingly dethroned many saw opportunities to use the chaos to blanket their schemes, others saw potential for a better realm, some only wanted to secure alliances to ensure survival of their house. But everyone wondered "What happened to the grand arsenal of House Ardentis." Even after losing their ground troops House Ardentis had enough bombs to clear every settlement in Xandria off the planet.
What is a foot soldier to raw nuclear power?
"Nothing more than Ashes to a flame," Silas thought to himself silently.
He laid back onto the dusty floor and closed his eyes the horrors of the past year flashed played in great detail on the back of his eyelids but most of all he saw Valen's face in all of them. He gritted his teeth, his heart pulsed with a raging compassion. Valen's actions shattered his life in many different pieces, apart of him still cared. Silas understood Valen was what remained of broken child that only needed to be loved.
A tear rolled down his face. There was only one way that this would end, one of the brothers would be sailing down the Drakshire river into the Ardent Bay in a boat covered in flowers, where the all father would meet them if they died valiantly and take them into a peaceful place of eternal slumber. Silas would only sail in the flower covered boat, he refused the all-father's invitation the first time. He wouldn't be welcomed again.
"My prince?" A small voice called out to him sheepishly, it was that of a child.
He looked around around in panic, the revolver in his hand as he aimed it recklessly seeing nothing.
"Who are you? Where are you?"
The direction of the voice changed.
"I am not here to cause you harm, my lord," the mysterious child said, "I am not a spy for the invaders either."
Silas lowered the gun slightly then instantly raised it again.
"How do I know you aren't lying?"
"You've been lied to a lot?" The kid asked softly, "Me too, we have that in common."
He lowered the gun slowly.
"Come out and show yourself then, I am afraid this bullet will be meant for me if you are indeed a spy." Silas urged.
The child climbed though the broken window. Silas got up to help her in.
"Be careful." He said gently as he pulled her through carefully.
She smiled as he lowered her to the ground.
"It's okay it, it wouldn't hurt me," she spoke innocently with a warm smile "I stole a shield from one of the dead mechs." She pointed at the small black panel clipped to her waistband.
Silas chuckled. "I am afraid that is not how shields work, little one.