Aldyth stood frozen under the cover of the wagon train. I made it to her side just in time to see one of the horsemen raise his sword above the head of a vaguely familiar face. Then the face turned slightly and my stomach sank down into the deepest pits of the earth. Aldyth's brother was down on his knees, between the two men he was chained to, grimacing as he clutched at an arrow the was lodged in his shoulder. The blade flashed and suddenly all sound was halted. The drums stopped beating, the whistle sound cut off in mid breath, and even the shackled citizens of Gris steadied their jaws.

    I was forced to throw my arms around Aldyth as the sword fell. I snaked my forearm over her mouth before she could scream, only to let out a strangled cry of my own, when her teeth sank down into my flesh. Noah seemed to catch sight of his sister in the sidelines, and his tired eyes widened in surprise. His lips parted as if to say something, but he had not the time before the blade fell down upon the back of his neck.

    There was a second moment of silence in which everything went still. Then with a gush of deep burgundy, the severed head rolled forward on his mangled neck, still half attached by a thin scrap of skin and tissue. The guard swung his sword again.

    There was a beat of silence.

    Aldyth wailed.

    Then the line broke into chaos.

    Men yanked on their chains, the younger ones screamed and tried to spring on the guards. Aldyth struggled against my grasp, wildly, punching and scratching like a rabid animal. "We have to go," I hissed into her ear. "Now."

    Whether she did not hear me or simply did not care, I wasn't sure, but it took all my strength to keep her from running to the bloody corpse that was her brother. The man who had killed Noah wiped the blade clean with a cloth before sheathing it and barking out. "Cut 'im off the chain and feed 'im to the atrixes." He appeared to say some things else, but I was too preoccupied with dragging Aldyth away before someone realized we weren't captured.

    My stomach threatened to lose its lunch as Noah's head somehow got kicked over to us in the midst of the uproar.

    "Stop, stop it," Aldyth whimpered, tears flowing freely now.

    I grabbed her by the shoulders like she had with me back in my house. All the color had drained from her face and she looked as if she was staring right through me. "Look, there's nothing we can do for any of them at this point. We need to hide, before they catch us too. Now."

    Suddenly one of the guards, drew his sword from its sheath and pointed it in our direction. "Over there! Stragglers! Get them!"

    I dragged Aldyth with all my might until we were both running through a blur of tears. Everything felt wrong. We shouldn't have been running, we should have been able to do something more than abandon them. Aldyth stumbled over a knobby root and came crashing to the ground. It was so unlike her that I almost thought she was jesting, despite the widely inappropriate timing.

    But no. She remained on the ground, her entire body trembling as the ground started to shake with the pound of horses. The wagon guards were coming after us. It was insensitive of me to interfere with her grieving -- Noah was everything to her, after all. A brother. A parent. A marshal. A friend. But the soldiers drew nearer with every passing breath and we couldn't afford to let them capture us, even if it did appear to be the more savory option at this point. I mean, what at all, would we stand to gain from running?

    Despite that, I managed to coax Aldyth back to her feet and together we fled as quickly as we could between the trees. We took the narrowest paths that weaved in and out of the low hanging branches, in hopes that they would find us too tedious and cease their chase. But the soldiers persisted.

    They dismounted from their horses and barreled after us on foot. Branches snapped and soil flew into the air as the two of us dashed like mad birds being shot at by hunters. My breath grew heavy in my lungs while my mind grew grey with doubt. The moment the soldiers stopped chasing us would be the moment I left my mum and siblings behind. I was supposed to be the man of the house while my father was away, and I was failing all of them with each step I took. Only a coward leaves his family to the enemy just to prevent his own skin from being strung up on a pole.

    For a brief moment in time, I considered stopping and just giving myself up to the soldiers. Even if I did manage to escape, there was nothing left for me to go back to, but what was probably just a pile of ashes at this point. If I let the soldiers capture me, then at the very least I would be together with Ismay, Barric, and mother. I would know that they were alright.

    But it was only a brief moment, and that moment shattered when I realized that if I got captured, Aldyth would too, and if she got captured, she would truly be alone. No family, chained to a wagon of women and children she hardly associated herself with. Aldyth was not meant to be shackled down and I wouldn't leave her alone.

I still had a chance to help my own family. I could still set them free, which was something that couldn't be done if I was chained up with them. As soon Aldyth was safe, I would go after the wagons and I would get them out.

    My legs screamed in protest to my every step, but still, I pushed on. The voices of the soldiers were slowly fading behind us, but not at a pace that put my heart at ease, nor made either of us want to stop for a rest. Yet, neither of us could go on for much longer, so I pulled down Aldyth into the next ravine I found and hoped for the best.

    It was cramped under the grassy overhang, and Aldyth had to all but sit on my lap to stay out of sight, but it was better than running another four miles in hope that the soldiers would stop chasing us. We held our tired breaths as the voices drew nearer. For a span, a group of maybe three of them seemed to hover over our hiding spot, but then with a quick burst of words that sounded like, charm them out, they continued on their way.

    I was about to release the breath I had been holding when the brisk song of a high pitched flute pierced straight through my skull and sent me scrambling out from under the overhang, screaming in pain.

A/N

So what do you all think is happening?
Edited 6.27.16