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The horse let out an alain, Silas ran, leapt onto the horse’s rump and clutched the saddle The horse bucked Only Silas’s hands, face, and neck remained in contact while the rest of his body flopped into the air He thudded back onto the horse, every bit of breath forced out of him He pulled forwards, chest to saddle The horse reared and bucked His arms burned If he came off now, he’d be tra crowd

He screa his knees into its sides Then screaot into the saddle, kicking a man in the face who clawed at his shin He pulled hard on the reins and dug in his heels The horse turned and ran, bouncing hih the ss

The led by their necks from the portcullis, Silas nearly knocked fro into him He was out Alive

Silas pulled up the horse He stroked its neck as it continued to whimper and snort “Calht, the horse still wanting to bolt He couldn’t blas ran with blood It wouldn’t be long until it went down once the adrenaline wore off “Okay” He slid off and let the horse run, kicking up a cloud of dust as it disappeared into the distance

Vala She was still in there Probably stolen or butchered by now He felt helpless as he turned to face the city Smoke bellowed in thick black clouds fros that peaked above the city walls The one constant good in his fucked-up life was gone Goodbye, Vala A tear leaked from his swollen eye

The sadness within hie without notice He collapsed to his knees and screaround with his fists “Why, hy?” he shouted

I did this, I caused it all One stupid decision to help a boy The biggest city in the country burned Countless people already dead “I have to do so I have to stop him”

16

Mara stood as of a sh the mud between house, barn and stable The sht fall down soon

Inside the house, three s one wall The s pit on the opposite side Mara searched the chests at the bottoms of the beds The trousers and shirt that looked like they’d fit him were full of holes but were dry, and most importantly, didn’t smell of piss

He returned to the barrels of water he’d passed by the barn, got naked, and jumped in He’d expected it to feel nice with all the blood and dirt washed off, but it didn’t He felt nothing He prodded at the burns, then dug his nail into one, pus leaking out, first clear then yellow Why doesn’t it hurt?

“What in the fuck d’you think you’re doing?” A farmer ran toward Mara, stick in hand

Mara hopped out of the bucket and pulled on the dry clothes “I escaped the city,” he said, pointing toward the smoke in the sky

“What the bloody hell’s happening over there?”

“The whole city’s fighting”