Touring A Broken Land

The fugitives are on their first day outside of Karongar. They have their sights set on a goal, a partner by their side, and the village at their back. Sadly, things go wrong all too early.

‭My eyes flickered open to the sight of Alistar shaking me awake.  What was going on?  I look around to see that the guards were getting up and dressed, so I guess it was time for us to move on.

‭“Are you having bad dreams?  You were tossing around all night.”  Alistar asked.     

‭“Were you watching me sleep?”  I brush through my hair indignantly.

‭“Not really, you just make it hard for others to sleep.”  He answered, then walked back to his bed and rummaged through the trunk.  “Anyways, are you ready to head out, or do you want to see if we can snag some breakfast first?”

“Breakfast sounds nice.‭”  ‬I say,‭ ‬getting out of my bed and stretching.‭  ‬It wasn’t as comfortable as my old bed,‭ ‬but I guess those times are long gone.‭  ‬I’ll be lucky to find a good rock to sleep on after today.‭  

Alistar made his way for the dining area and I followed behind him,‭ ‬taking care to avoid eye contact with all the guards moving every which way.‭  ‬The kitchen was hot and stuffy as food was being rolled out and into the dining area.‭  ‬I could smell eggs frying and the aroma of spiced bread was making my mouth water.

Alistar sat at a random table,‭ ‬where food was already laid out on platters.‭  ‬I sat next to him and eagerly went after the bread.‭  ‬The spices on it gave it a delicious blend of flavors, easily‭ ‬making it my highlight of the morning.‭  ‬Alistar poured some apple cider for the both of us,‭ ‬which I used to dip my bread in,‭ ‬and made his own plate from our broad selection of food.‭  ‬Guards came and left remarkably fast,‭ ‬most not even bothering with a plate, and after a while,‭ ‬Scraps came in.

‭“Morning, friends,”  He grinned when he spotted us. “I’m glad to see you didn’t sleep in.”  His eyes were drooping a little, showing he was tired.  

“The guards woke me when they were moving around,‭ ‬but V-‭ ‬Mary didn’t look like she was in a hurry to wake up.‭”  ‬He stuttered over my name,‭ ‬which he managed to get wrong again.‭  ‬I politely stomped his toe to prove a point.‭  

Scraps laughed and said,‭ “‬I guess she was just trying to catch up on her beauty sleep.‭”  ‬He sat down next to us and started nibbling on some food.‭  “‬Now you guys will be leaving,‭ ‬I take it‭?”

“Yes,‭ ‬and thanks to you guys,‭ ‬we might actually stand a chance on our own.‭  ‬We know where we’re going,‭ ‬we have full bellies,‭ ‬and we’re fully rested.‭  ‬I don’t know how we could repay charity.‭”  ‬Alistar said.

‭“Don’t worry about it, anyone who stands up to the soldiers are a friend of the guards.”  He suddenly grew more serious, looking Alistar straight in the eyes. “I don’t know who you guys are, but the soldiers are going crazy out there looking for you.  There are wanted posters with your faces posted on every building in the village.”  I shared a look with Alistar, not sure how to respond to that.  “I don’t need to know your personal life, nor do I really care what you guys did, but you aren’t leaving the same way you came in.”

“Then what are we supposed to do‭?”  ‬I asked,‭ ‬speaking up now.

‭“Lucky for you, we’ve got an underground passage that takes you pretty far out and away from the village.  It will give you a good head start, and you’ll need it.  I reckon in about four days the king will have bounty hunters chasing you.  We both know that you don’t want to meet any of those guys in a dark alley, so you better watch yourselves.”

We finished eating,‭ ‬and then Scraps took us to the exit he referred to earlier.‭

“You guys better promise me you’ll be safe,‭ ‬it’d be a waste for you two to die after we fed you.‭”  ‬Scraps said,‭ ‬giving a warm smile to show he was only teasing.

‭“Don’t worry, once we are out of this village, I think we will be safe.”  Alistar assured him.  “I’m sure you know we are grateful for the help.  You don’t know how much of a difference you made for us.”

“Don’t worry about it,‭ ‬John.‭  ‬You guys better get going before the soldiers stop looking inside the village for you.‭”  ‬Scraps waved us off and started hustling us through the exit and into a long dark tunnel.‭  ‬As an afterthought,‭ ‬he gave us a lantern before he shut the door behind us.

‭“Looks like it is just you and me now.”  Alistar said.  He didn’t wait for me to say anything, and instead he started down the tunnel, holding the lantern high.  I stuck close behind him, not because I was scared, but simply out of habit now.  

‭There didn’t seem to be an end to the tunnel, and it was really disorienting as to if we were making any progress.  Apart from slight shifts to the right or left, everything looked exactly the same, like dirt.  

“How far does this thing go‭?”  ‬I groan after a while.‭  ‬The endless repetition wasn’t helping my craziness.

‭“He did say it takes us far away from the village.”  Alistar commented.

‭“Yeah, but he forgot to mention that it takes us to the North Pole.”  Perhaps I was exaggerating, but that’s what it felt like.

‭“I’m going to miss Karongar, I really could’ve had a life there, you know?"  I said, changing the subject.  

‭“Yeah, because people are always going to buy books with what little money they have."  He grumbled.  “I mean, perhaps you would have done well for a while, but you and I both know that life couldn’t go on forever."

‭“You’re right, but a girl can dream, can’t she?" I push his shoulder playfully. “What about your life as a free lance guard?  How was that going?"

‭“Poorly, but I survived.  Merchants loved it when I stood in front of their stalls with a serious look on my face.  I only had to chase down a couple of people, but it wasn’t difficult.  Starving people tend to run only a short distance."  The words had a sick humor to them, but they were true.

It was several minutes later before we spoke again,‭ ‬until at last there seemed to be a change.‭  ‬The ground started to slope upward,‭ ‬heading for the surface.

‭“Any idea where we’ll be when we get out?”  I ask Alistar.

‭“Not a clue, but we know what direction to go, at least.”  The slope comes to an abrupt stop, and there is a hatch directly above us.  Alistar hands me the lantern and toys with the latch.  “This thing is getting a little rusty.  I guess they don’t typically use this passage.”  He mumbles just before he opens it.  He heaves the hatch open and morning sunlight catches us in the eyes.  I look away and blink my eyes as they start to water.

‭“You see anything?  I think I just went blind.”  I complain, dousing the lantern as I wait for my eyes to adjust.  I didn’t see anywhere to put it so I laid it on the ground. Perhaps one of the guards will come to pick it up.

‭“I’m as blind as you are right now.  Here, I’ll boost you up.”  He crouched down and locked his fingers together.  I put a foot into the hold he made for me, and used his shoulders to balance as he lifted me up.  I peek my head out and look around uncertainly.  Most of my vision is blocked by bushes, or rather I appear to be under one bush, and there is a road right next to us.  There doesn’t seem to be anyone around, so I grab onto the bush and climb out ungracefully.  Alistar pulls himself out without any problems, and he shuts the hatch behind him.  The lock, though rusty, automatically slides back in place, sealing us out.

‭“So, where to now?”  I asked Alistar, because I have no idea where we are.

“This road runs north,‭ ‬so I say we just follow it.‭”  ‬He says,‭ ‬pointing to the moss on a nearby tree to prove his point.‭  ‬He climbs out of the bush and steps onto the road,‭ ‬then looks at me expectantly.‭  ‬He hasn’t been shot down yet,‭ ‬so I assume the scene is safe and climb out myself.‭  

We walk along the road,‭ ‬talking about little things for the most part.‭  ‬Morning quickly turned to evening,‭ ‬and evening turned to afternoon as we walked the whole day.‭  ‬It seems very peaceful out here,‭ ‬not the usual cacophony of the village streets.‭  ‬I could almost mistake this for a pleasant stroll had I not been carrying my belongings on my back.  

We stop to eat, nibbling on some vegetables and bread I had in my bag.  The food isn’t bad, and the weather is perfect.  If only this was just a picnic, instead of two fugitives stopping for  a break.

“Have you ever heard music in the village?"  I ask him, out of the blue.

“Not recently, I don’t think.  When I was a little boy, though, I remember parades would go by, with lots of music.  Does that count?"  He asked.

“Well, no, not really."  I sigh, nobody else hears it.

“Where did this come from?  Don’t tell me you want to be traveling troubadours?"  He gives me a quizzical look.

“No, how would that help us?  Drive the king away with our whimsical melodies?  I don’t think so.  I was just wondering is all."  Alistar just shakes his head at me, clearly giving up on the hope that I’ll make sense one day.

Eventually we come across another village,‭ ‬it’s walls were huge and banners flowed along the sides.

‭“Think we can stop there?”  I ask.

‭“We can stay and rest, but I’d rather sleep in the woods.”  Alistar says.  I don’t argue, and a short rest sounds amazing right now.  The road bee-lines for the village, and then curves around the side of the wall, running parallel with it.  It quickly rises up to meet us, and blocks out the setting sun as we step into its shadow.  

“I don’t recognize these banners.‭”  ‬Alistar says now that we are close enough to inspect them.‭  “‬They aren’t the kings,‭ ‬and I doubt he would let them brandish their own.‭”

“Do you think this town is independent‭?”  ‬I ask.‭  

“It is the only thing that would make sense.‭  ‬Perhaps we can stay the night here after all,‭ ‬if his soldier goons aren’t running the streets.‭”  ‬I brighten up at the thought of not sleeping on a rock.‭  ‬I speed up my pace,‭ ‬and Alistar groans as he hustles to keep up with me.

The wall finally drops away as we reach the entrance gate to the village.‭  ‬I’m a little surprised that I don’t immediately see any guards,‭ ‬and it takes me a moment to notice the scene in front of me.‭  ‬The large‭ ‬iron gate was shut,‭ ‬but there was a gaping hole in it.‭  ‬I gasped and stopped dead in my tracks.

‭“What the hell?”  I hear Alistar behind me, voicing my thoughts.  We walk up to the gate and Alistar looks closely at the edge of the hole.  

“This was melted.‭”  ‬He says.‭ “‬See‭?  ‬I don’t know for sure,‭ ‬but I’m pretty sure this village was destroyed.‭”  ‬I don’t say anything,‭ ‬but instead step through the hole and look into the town itself.‭  ‬The whole place is a blackened ruin.‭  ‬Not a single building was left standing.

‭“It doesn’t look like this happened recently, I don’t see smoke or embers.”  I say to Alistar, who had came in behind me through the hole.  The atmosphere is completely silent and unnerving, not even a breeze disturbs the eerie quiet.  The scene before me seems to strike a nerve and my legs become wobbly.

‭“You don’t think that... mages did this?”  I ask, thinking back to what I did earlier.  Alistar shakes his head slowly, but doesn’t answer.  “I don’t understand, how could someone just burn a whole village to the ground?!”  I ask, my voice rising until it cracks.  Tears start to form in my eyes, and my cheeks flush with anger.  A lot of innocent people lived here, and they didn’t deserve this.  “And to make it worse, I have something in common with these monsters!”

“Vorasi,‭ ‬don’t do this to yourself.‭”  ‬He turns me around so that I’m facing him before he continues.‭ “‬Just because you have a gift like them doesn’t mean you have to be like them.‭  ‬It depends on the person on whether they are evil enough to do this.‭ ‬ You have the power to do this,‭ but it ‬doesn’t mean you have to do it.‭”  ‬I shake my head angrily at him.

‭“You don’t get it, do you?  Mages can’t do anything but harm people!  The only difference between each mage is their excuse for killing!”  I break out of his grasp and stomp away a few feet, toward one of the burned buildings.  “Whether it be greed, justice, or revenge, it’s just a reason to kill.”  I mumble, not caring if Alistar heard.  I fall to my knees in ashes and let the tears flow freely.  I was never good at staying strong, and if I felt like crying.  I didn’t see the point in holding it in.  Since I learned I was a mage, I haven‘t done a single good thing for anyone.  I used, injured, and stole from people.

‭“No, these mages did it under orders.  The king is the one who is responsible for this, not the mages.  They are just being used.”  Alistar continues, walking toward me, but keeping a small gap between us.

‭“You can say it’s the kings fault, but the mages are to blame too.  There comes a time when you can’t blindly follow orders, there comes a time when you know what you are doing is wrong.”  I want to be mad at mages; I want to be mad at who I am, and Alistar isn’t helping.

‭“When have you ever hurt someone with your magic?  Apart from those soldiers, I don’t think you’ve hurt anyone.”  He says.

‭“That’s just it, I hurt those soldiers.”  

“What,‭ ‬the soldiers that were beating the stuffing out of me‭?  ‬The soldiers that didn’t care whether I lived or died‭?‬  The soldiers that enjoyed inflicting pain and taking other peoples stuf‭?‬  They don’t even deserve to be called humans‭!  ‬You didn’t kill them,‭ ‬you only hurt them,‭ ‬and all that is to me is just a slap on the hand for them doing something bad.‭”

“It doesn’t matter,‭ ‬when people find out I’m a mage,‭ ‬I’ll be branded just like them.‭ ‬People won’t even have to see my face to assume‭ ‬I’m a heartless killer.‭  ‬People wouldn’t care if I were dying on the street,‭ ‬because they would be too terrified of me to help‭!”  ‬After those words,‭ ‬it seemed I had finally won this argument with Alistar.‭  ‬He didn’t say anything‭ ‬else,‭ ‬instead he just stood there and rubbed his head slowly.

After a few minutes,‭ ‬when I had stopped crying,‭ ‬he speaks up again.‭  “‬We can sleep here‭ ‬tonight,‭ ‬inside these walls is the safest place for us at the moment.‭”  ‬He pauses for a moment.‭  “‬Can you handle staying the night here‭?”

“I’ll be fine,‭ ‬don’t worry.‭”  ‬I say dully.‭  ‬He helps me stand up,‭ ‬and we head for a building that still has a roof,‭ ‬if only bits of one.  We pull food out and snack on that while the sun drops, giving a beautiful view over a horrible scene.  There was only silence while we ate, but there wasn‘t much to say at the moment, not with us both dwelling in our own thoughts.

‭“You can be branded a mage, but it hasn’t made me think of you as a monster.”  He says quietly when we settle down in the building.  This one sentence makes me come up short.  It takes another prolonged silence before I can answer him.

‭“I suppose your right, but I already had your trust before you knew what I was, even before I knew what I was.”  I pulled out a blanket from my sack and moved closer to Alistar so we could share it.

‭“You had my trust because you were a scared little girl running from the soldiers.  You may be a mage now, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are still a scared little girl running from the soldiers.”  He wraps up in the blanket beside me, and I give up on trying to argue with him.  

‭The ground is hard, and I’m confident that I’ll never sleep on this.  I tossed and turned a lot, sometimes snatching too much of the blanket and making Alistar tug on it so I’d give some back.  Minutes tick by as we lay there in silence, pretending to be asleep.

‭“You said you used to live on the street, right?"Alistar finally spoke up, after an hour or so passes.

‭“Yeah, what’s that have to do with anything?”  I asked, still a little angry at him for arguing with me.

‭“Did you ever sleep outside, where you could see the stars?  I remember staring up at them from my window.”  He said.

‭“I didn’t sleep outside often, but sometimes I would hide in the woods, and I could see some of them through the leaves.”  I murmur, thinking back to those days.

‭“My mother would tell me that the stars had their own magic, and that the healers watched them for years until they learned the secret of magic.  There was a children’s tale, you remember it?”  He asked, I roll over to stare at him.

‭“I never heard any children’s tales, is there a point to this?” I grumble, losing the memory I had floating in my head.

‭“Fine, I’ll tell it to you.”  Alistar said, refusing to let my sour mood rub off on him.  “Once upon a time, there was a little child, that lost his father in a great war.  His heart was torn to shreds, and his mother could only comfort him so much.  With his father gone, his mother could only do so much to support the both of them.  The boy stopped eating, and spent all his time at his fathers grave.      “One day, he stayed at his father’s grave too long, and night came.  Everything looked different, and he couldn’t find his way home.  He became lost, and didn’t know where to go.  He was starved, scared, and depressed, and there was only one thing he thought to do.  He pulled his hunting knife out of its sheathe, and stabbed it into his chest.

‭“He fell onto his back, as his life started to slip away.  His last view, was that of the brilliantly bright stars staring back at him.  Tears welled in his eyes, wondering if his father was up there, and he felt ashamed for what he had done.  Just before his life was completely gone, a single star dropped down to him.  He washed over him, completely healing the knife wound, and saved his life.  He was no longer hungry, or depressed, or even scared.  After that, he spent his entire life watching the stars until he learned their secret art of healing.

‭“Since then, people say that when you see a shooting star, it is dropping down to save someone who really needs it.  Those who are saved by a star, are touched with inspiration to change the world...”  His voice began to grow distant, and I started to drift off to another world.  The last thing I remember, was his drowsy voice, and then I fell asleep.



*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *



I jump awake from a nightmare,‭ ‬where the whole village was burning down to the ground and I was the mastermind behind it.  Star were falling everywhere, trying to save the people trapped in the burning buildings.‭  ‬The dream seemed so‭ ‬realistic,‭ ‬I could smell the smoke and hear the crackle of flames.‭  ‬This wasn’t what I needed to start the morning off.‭  

It was actually a little past morning,‭ ‬with the sun climbing high into the clear sky,‭ ‬with only a bit of smoke to smog the view.‭  ‬Smoke‭!  ‬I jumped out of my makeshift bed and almost went berserk.‭  ‬What did I do while I was asleep‭?

It took me a moment to gain some composure and actually think.‭  ‬I peeked through what used to be a window,‭ ‬looking in the general direction of where the smoke was coming from.‭  ‬It didn’t take me long to spot the campfire that was burning not far from us. Another burned house is between me and the fire, leaving it barely visible.‭  ‬Immediately,‭ ‬my nerves began to settle,‭ ‬and I took a long,‭ ‬slow breath.‭  ‬Alistar probably made the fire while he was waiting for me to wake up,‭ ‬and he is probably eating while I’m panicking over here.‭  

I go to grab my blanket,‭ ‬only to find Alistar is still wrapped inside of it.‭  ‬My heart skips a beat as I fight the urge to lose it again.‭  ‬I peek back through‭ ‬the should be window,‭ ‬to the small fire burning close to us.‭  ‬Nobody was there,‭ ‬and the longer I stared at it,‭ ‬the more terrified I became.‭  ‬I turn back to Alistar and slapped at his shoulder,‭ ‬trying to wake him up.‭  ‬His eyes flutter open and he turns to stare at me.

‭“Did you light that fire?”  I ask him in a loud whisper.

‭“What?”  He asks, his voice drowsy and his eyes lost.

‭“The fire!”  I exclaim as quietly as I can.  Sadly, it didn’t seem to make sense to him what I was trying to say.  “There is a camp fire not far from us, which either means this place isn’t finished burning to the ground, or that we aren’t alone.”  I said.  It takes a moment for things to click, but after a while, Alistar hopped out from under the blanket, and peered through the window after me.  He stared for no more than three seconds before he jumped away from the window and dragged me with him.

‭“How long have they been there?  Why did you sit here and let me sleep?”  He whispered angrily.

‭“I don’t know, I just woke up!”  I whispered back, my voice cracking and the last part came out loudly.  I slapped my hand over my mouth and stare at Alistar, who just stared back at me.  We sat like this for an extended moment, listening for any sign of movement.  When the silence drew on, I let out a breath of relief.  

“I’m going to look at what we are dealing with here.‭”  ‬Alistar said,‭ ‬and moved toward the fire.‭  ‬He steps through a gap where the wall used to be,‭ ‬and scurried to another burned house,‭ ‬where he sat and waited.‭  ‬Nothing happened,‭ ‬and he peeked around the side of the house.‭  ‬Apparently,‭ ‬he assumed it was safe,‭ ‬because he quickly dashed forward to the next house,‭ ‬but he disappeared from my sight,‭ ‬and that was the last I saw.‭  ‬I clenched my hands and held my breath,‭ ‬hoping that nothing bad happened.‭  ‬No shouts were heard,‭ ‬and I didn’t hear anything that could signify he was spotted.

The seconds ticked by,‭ ‬and it seems a whole minute passed by.‭  ‬Where was Alistar‭?  ‬I tucked my clothes in and prepared to go after him,‭ ‬and as an afterthought I grabbed the knife I borrowed from Scraps.‭  ‬I took a deep breath‭ ‬and started through the hole in the wall.‭  ‬Immediately,‭ ‬I bumped into someone and start flailing the knife in front of me.

‭“Calm down!”  Alistar whispered loudly, grabbing my wrist with ease and snatching the knife out of my hand.  So much for self defense.

‭“Alistar!  I was worried sick, what took you so long?”  I said as he guided me back through the hole.

‭“I was trying to figure something out.  It was exactly what we feared, soldiers.”  He said when we were back in the safety of our sleeping spot.  “It isn’t that bad though, they are out cold, and we can get out of here without worrying about them catching us.”

“Why are they out cold‭?”

“I don’t know,‭ ‬but there‭ ‬was a couple of empty rum bottles,‭ ‬which is the reason I think they are sleeping so hard.‭  ‬I was able to get pretty close,‭ ‬and they didn’t even twitch.‭  ‬Hurry up and pack your stuff,‭ ‬we don’t want to miss the opportunity.‭”  ‬He picked up our blanket and stuffed it in my bag and handed it to me.‭  ‬I grab the bag,‭ ‬but then put it back down.

‭“I’ve got an idea.”  I peak around to the fire.  I didn’t see the guards he was talking about, but a lot of my view was cut off by the skeletons of houses.  “I’m going to steal anything those soldiers have.”  I must be turning into a thief.

‭“You idiot, do you want to get yourself killed?”

“No,‭ ‬but those monsters probably bought that stuff with stolen money.‭  ‬It is only fair they get a taste of their own medicine.‭  ‬How many soldiers are there‭?”

“You’re out of your mind,‭ ‬we need to leave‭!”

“You leave,‭ ‬I’m getting free stuff.‭”

“Fine,‭ ‬there were twelve soldiers,‭ ‬you think you can waltz into their camp and not wake a single one of them‭? “

“Yes.‭”  ‬I climb back through the wall,‭ ‬expecting this conversation to be over.

‭“Wait, let me go instead.  If someone does wake up I have a better chance of getting away.”  Alistar said as he caught my arm.

‭“Are you kidding me, you couldn’t be quiet if it killed you!  Just, hold my bag.  I’ll be right back.”  He lets me go after he grumbles something, but I didn’t hear what he said.  I tip toed to the next building, peeking around to see if I could spot any of the soldiers.  From this view point I could see a few soldiers slumped on the ground.  There was no particular order, it just looked like they dropped where they were randomly.  Most had their armor and weapons on them, but a couple were undressed and threw their equipment randomly about the ground.  Some food was stockpiled close by the fire, and I made that my first target.

I took my shoes off,‭ ‬for good measure,‭ ‬and started tip toeing toward the camp.‭  ‬My muscles are tense to the point of trembling,‭ ‬and I’m worried my trembling legs will buckle when I didn’t want them to.‭  ‬Despite this little problem,‭ ‬I was confident these soldiers wouldn’t wake up,‭ ‬if they were anything like the guards.‭  

It didn’t take long for me to step past the last burnt house and to stand in the open.‭  ‬From here,‭ ‬I was about four feet away from the closest soldier,‭ ‬and this suddenly seemed like a bad idea.‭  ‬I inched next to the first soldier,‭ ‬and tried to skirt around him.‭  ‬The soldiers were scattered everywhere,‭ ‬making it a very hard path to scoot to the food pile,‭ ‬but I made it there without making a sound.‭  ‬I snatched up a large chunk of the food,‭ ‬and tucked it into my shirt.‭  ‬I should have brought my bag instead of handing it to Alistar,‭ ‬I was an idiot.

Now that I had the food,‭ ‬I looked for a weapon that wasn’t attached to a soldier.‭  ‬The closest thing I could find was a helmet,‭ ‬and I snatched that up instead.‭  ‬The next item I came to was a shield,‭ ‬but there didn’t‭ ‬seem to be a sword anywhere.‭  ‬I found some silver pieces lying on the ground,‭ ‬a bottle of rum that hadn‭’‬t been drank dry,‭ ‬and a boot that I took,‭ ‬without a pair.‭  ‬I was about to call it quits,‭ ‬mostly because I couldn’t hold anything else,‭ ‬when I finally spotted a sword.‭  ‬It was lying partly under a‭ ‬soldier,‭ ‬no doubt fell out of his sheath when he passed out.‭  ‬I creeped next to the soldier and attempted to readjust what I was holding.‭  ‬I put the boot inside the helmet,‭ ‬freeing up a hand,‭ ‬and I grab the sword handle gently.‭  ‬Pulling at it didn’t work,‭ ‬and I was too scared to wedge it out.‭  

I didn’t know why I wanted the weapon so badly,‭ ‬but I couldn’t bring myself to leave it.  Instead, I took one foot and gently place it on the side of the soldier, putting my weight slowly on that foot as I started pulling at the sword.  It was an agonizing process, but I put more of my weight on the sleeping soldier and pulled a little harder, and the sword suddenly came free.  I stumbled backwards from the sudden jerk.  Both hands were full, making it impossible for me to steady myself, and it was all I could do to not fall on my face.  Despite my attempts, my foot kicked something solid, and I lost what little balance I had.

I landed flat on my butt, and it didn’t land on solid ground.  I looked down to see that I tripped over a soldier, and I jumped up and fought back a scream.  The soldier groaned and rolled over, the breath knocked out of him.  I started to run, but I knew it was too late, I woke up a soldier.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed this one. Chapter two is under some revisions, so it took me a while to get this one out.