Desert Thirst Ch.7

• Posted by Borommakot April 23, 2014 - 1,230 views

  The fine rain of ash had been falling for hours when Alazir woke up. He came to slowly, his sight little more than a red-orange blur mixed with dark smears. He tried to move before his vision cleared, but found that his legs were pinned. The dull throb of pain in his back, legs and head began to grow as soon as he noticed it, causing him to cringe and groan. He tried to use the rag still tied around his wrist to brush the soot and sweat from his eyes, but he could smell the tang of blood on it and see that it was now more red than gray, and the sticky feeling around his temple made it clear why. His bare hand fared better at wiping away the grime, and after a couple of blinks he could see more clearly. The settlement had been leveled, not a single building still standing. Embers and fire still licked at what was left of several homes. The groaning and cracking of heated stone and timber was the only thing he could hear.

  There was one charred corpse further down the street, toward the bay, but there was no sign of any of the others who had remained behind to defend their homes. Alazir pushed himself up on his elbows and looked back to see what held his legs. A broken beam from the roof of his own house lay at an angle across the back of his right knee and his left thigh. There was some rubble from the walls piled loosely on one end, but otherwise it wasn't deeply buried. Groaning at the pain, he started working his right leg free. After much grunting and straining, he managed it without rubbing too much skin off. With the one leg free, he was able to roll onto his side and slide the other one out.

  He pulled himself to his feet, fighting against the trembling in his legs, and looked around again. There was virtually nothing left. A flash in the distance cause him to flinch, one leg giving out and dropping him to a knee. Looking up, he saw more flashes of lightning near the edge of the horizon, at Hegathe. The Dominion. The aching in his body assured him this was no dream, but he could still hardly believe it. Suddenly he remembered with terror the closed gates of the city, and his family on that road.

  Forgetting all pain and weakness, he stumbled to his feet and began running toward Hegathe, charred and tattered boots barely clinging to his feet. After a couple of pauses, and more than few stumbles and falls, he slowed to a stop no more than two miles from the city. A stretch of the road was lined with bodies. Familiar ones. He wandered between them, shaking his head, seeing, but not looking. Friends, family, all that remained of his home, all dead. He wanted to close his eyes, but he couldn't. Moments later, he found the two still forms he was most afraid of seeing, and was brought to his knees at their feet. The tracks of Lidis' tears were still clear through the dirt staining her cheeks, the wound in her abdomen matching the one on Rithnna's chest. His wife's unseeing eyes were fixed on the smoky sky above. He closed them with a shaking hand. His eyes burned, no moisture left to make tears.

  From his position on the road Alazir could see the backs of the Dominion invaders in the distance, still locked in a standoff with Hegathe's defenders. There would be no entering the city for a while. Feeling numb, he carried his wife and daughter away from the road and spent the next several hours digging them a shallow grave with his hands and nearby rocks. He got to his feet, and paused, knowing that his next steps would carry him away from his old life forever. Slowly turning, he set Hegathe at his back and started walking.

  Four days later, parched, burnt and bloodied Alazir stumbled into the town of Gilane. As they nursed him back to health, the locals told him that word of the invasion had reached them only the day before and the town's arena fighters, the Dire Wolves, were preparing to organize the militia and join the resistance. As soon as he was strong enough to stand, Alazir began joining them as they trained. He soon proved to be cunning, brutal and tireless as a warrior. When a battle weary detachment of Redguard warriors from the desert north of Hegathe arrived in Gilane to rest and resupply, Alazir was among those who joined them. While others spoke of reclaiming taken land and upholding honor, Alazir only had one purpose in mind:

  The taking of Dominion lives until he lost his own.

  ~~~

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