The Girl Born of Smoke (12 page)

She crawled blindly in the direction she
though the door should be, closing her own eyes against the heat
and smoke. Dragging the lump of a child behind her, she abruptly
bumped her head into the wall. She paused for a moment, unsure
which way to follow it. Head resting against the wall, she dully
realized she would only get one chance at making the right
decision.

After another short moment of coughing
heavily, Aurora finally chose a direction and continued along the
wall. She kept crawling for what seemed like far too long, until
she was sure she had turned the wrong way or missed the door.
Still, she kept crawling, feeling the edge of the wall and floor
with her free hand.

Her hand met the corner of another wall.

She had turned the wrong way.

Aurora collapsed to the floor, one hand
still on the wall and other hand still clutching the boy. “I'm
sorry,” she tried to say to him, but it came out as a deep cough.
Something scorchingly hot brushed against her leg and she shifted
away from it uncomfortably. Her head felt murky. As she lay in the
deathly hot room, she wished numbly that it was Djerr she was
dragging along, someone to keep her company as she waited to
die.

Thinking of Djerr, she tried to lift
herself, to go find him, but found she lacked the strength. She was
alone and unable to do anything about it. Smothered under the
enveloping layer of smoke, Aurora was jolted into awareness when a
slippery breath of fresh air brushed past her face. Laboriously,
she lifted her head and slowly moved her hand around the corner of
the walls. Her hand suddenly slipped past the wall and she
gradually realized it wasn't a second wall. It was the edge of the
door frame.

Using her forearm to support herself, she
squirmed out the door. Her world brightened and she opened her
eyes. Collapsing on the rocky road outside the house, she noticed
with surprise the boy was still clutched in her hand. She released
him, her hand aching. Her entire body hurt, especially her chest,
which felt heavy and constricted.

Struggling to take a deeper breath, she
wondered dizzily if the boy was even still alive. As she lay on her
side in the street, she began to wonder if she herself would stay
alive. While the breeze felt wonderfully nice on her face, she
still couldn't breathe. She heard footsteps coming quickly from
behind her.

“Aurora!”

Kirian! she tried to yell back. Instead, a
hacking cough erupted from her mouth and she rolled onto her hands
and knees. She gasped for air, wondering if the coughing would ever
end.

“Aurora! What do you think you were doing,
running into the town like that?” Kirian continued. Aurora glanced
up at him. He looked furious and for a moment, she was glad she
couldn't answer him. Djerr bent down next to her, face creased in
concern. “Are you okay?” he mouthed as Kirian continued to
lecture.

Still racked by coughs, Aurora gestured
toward the lump of a boy and Djerr dutifully went to inspect him.
He looked at the boy for a moment, before reluctantly prodding him
while Aurora watched. At Djerr's touch, the boy's eyes flew open in
terror and he opened his mouth to scream. Instead, he began
coughing as he leapt to his feet and staggered away. Djerr shrugged
slightly at Aurora.

“-and clearly you lack respect for me or the
army.” Kirian hadn't seemed to notice Aurora's lack of attention.
“And,” he paused, “are you alright?”

“Superb,” Aurora croaked, meaning it. She
could breathe again and her eyes no longer felt quite so scorched
dry.

Kirian said nothing and Aurora looked up at
him. To her surprise, he looked worried. “Are you hurt?”

Aurora shook her head. The coughing seemed
to have subsided for the time being. There was another silence as
Kirian offered her a hand and Aurora slowly climbed to her
feet.

“Maybe I was wrong,” he said slowly. “Maybe
I shouldn't have forced you to join this whole thing.”

Aurora shook her head, soot rising from her
hair. “No, I think you were right. I think that kid just now would
have died if I wasn't here. It's all worked out after all.” She
gave Kirian a small smile.

Sighing heavily, Kirian looked away. “Well.
Whatever. The rest of the group's doing their thing, so why don't
you two wait just outside of town for me?”

Coughing again, Aurora nodded and turned
away. She and Djerr walked down the street, ignoring the scattered
clashes between people of the opposing armies. “You're all dirty,”
Djerr said pointedly. He held her arm out. “Look, your skin is even
darker than mine.”

Aurora snatched her arm back. “Sorry. Saving
lives is such a dirty job and all.”

“You should try and stay cleaner.” Djerr
grinned crookedly. “No wonder that kid was so scared of you. You
look like a monster.”

“That was you he was scared of!” Aurora
protested.

“Only because he thought I was you.”

Aurora elbowed Djerr fiercely and he
laughed, elbowing her back lightly.

“Hey, boy. Dee-air!” It was Jonah, standing
across the street. “Come over here!”

It was Aurora's turn to grin as Djerr rolled
his eyes and headed over to where Jonah stood. She sat down against
a short stone wall bordering a building and watched as Djerr was
pointed off in another direction. Shifting uncomfortably as the
stones began to dig into her back, she stretched out her legs and
waited. The town was in a state of disarray as Citizens' soldiers
hurried up and down the street, peering in buildings and herding
survivors toward Jonah. Two men began to talk in low voices behind
her and Aurora tried halfheartedly to eavesdrop.

“-don't know where he went. Bastards could
have him already.”

She couldn't make out the other man's
reply.

“We've waited long enough. I say we leave
now. We could pass as villagers long enough to get out of here
anyway. Screw Jake.”

Curious, Aurora slowly peered over the wall,
kneeling on the ground. A hot wave of fury rushed through her
before she could even comprehend what she saw. Her hands clenched
at her sides, fingernails digging into her palms. She recognized
the two men who lurked in the shadows of the squat building behind
the wall.

She smelled the dry musty odor of the air
underneath Djerr's bed as she leapt over the wall and rushed toward
the Wizard's soldiers who had tormented them so many months ago and
killed Djerr’s father. She heard the hiss of a sword being pulled
from its sheathe and realized a moment later that it was her own.
The cool metal hilt felt strange in her hand, but she hardly
noticed the blade's weight.

The first man didn't even turn as she
sprinted lightly across the ground and into the building. She
slashed as she ran, catching him across the back. She heard a crack
and the man collapsed soundlessly. The second man saw her coming
and reached for his sword, only to find it gone. Aurora stabbed him
in the stomach, leaning hard to rip into the man's body, then
stumbled backward as she let go of the sword.

The man let out a bellow, clawing uselessly
at the weapon protruding from his body. He slowly collapsed to his
knees as his yells grew more garbled and thick. He glanced up from
his wound to look up at his attacker, his face twisted in pain and
rage. The two locked eyes and Aurora backed away slowly. She stared
in horrid fascination as a thin dribble of blood trickled down the
man's bearded chin. He looked dirtier and scruffier than before,
but it was definitely the same man who had pulled her out from
under Djerr's bed by her hair.

Aurora tripped over the first man's body as
she backed away, flailing backwards at the same moment the other
man fell to the ground with a last moan. She sat there for several
moments, terrified either man might rise again, but neither did.
Cautiously, she looked around. The building seemed to be some kind
of warehouse with boxes piled to the ceiling in several areas. The
men's armor and weapons were piled nearby, presumably so they could
sneak out of town without being attacked.

Trembling violently, Aurora climbed to her
feet and crept toward the second fallen man. She gripped the hilt
of her sword, yanking it out of his body. The sword slid free
slowly, accompanied by a wet squelching noise. She winced and wiped
the bloody sword on the man's shirt, feeling nauseous as the man's
blood spilled out and the ground grew slick.

Slamming the sword back into its sheath, she
quickly exited the building, trying not to vomit. Feeling dizzy,
she sat back down against the wall, her back to the warehouse. She
drew up her knees to her chest and rested her head in her arms,
eyes closed.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and sprang
upwards, eyes wide open. It was Kirian. “Don't touch me,” she
snapped.

Kirian raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“You knew, didn't you?” She felt desperate.
“You knew we've been following the same group from Kain. We
could've caught them, but we purposely held back. Why?”

“That's ridiculous, Aurora.” He shook his
head. “There are Wizard's armies all over the place. The ones who
destroyed Kain could be anywhere by now.”

Aurora felt her body shaking. “No, Kirian,
they're not anywhere. They're here. I saw them.”
Body still, he asked slowly, “Why do you say that, Aurora?”

“The men, the men who chased me and Djerr,
they were here. I saw them.”

Seeming to relax slightly, he shrugged. “If
this was the same group from Kain, then where are the people they
recruited from there?”

She blinked. “Maybe they are here. Most of
them have probably already left. Or they could have died. But that
doesn't matter! This is the same army, I know it.”

“Fine. It doesn't matter,” Kirian replied
with a sigh of frustration. “Now where are the men you saw? I'll
get someone to take care of them.”

“They're dead,” Aurora said stonily.

He wrinkled his forehead. “Aurora, what did
you-”

“Hey!” Djerr interrupted, running across the
street toward them. “Jonah says we're leaving now. We've got to get
going.”

Out of the corner of her vision, she could
see Kirian still looking at her. “Aurora,” he said softly.

“Alright, let's go then,” she said.

Djerr looked back and forth between Kirian
and Aurora for a moment, then ran a hand through his hair.
“Alright, over this way.” He led the way through town to where the
rest of the group waited. She noticed several new faces in the
group who looked more than slightly nervous. She only half-listened
as Jonah spoke to them encouragingly, welcoming the newcomers and
congratulating the army on doing the best job they could. Nobody
spoke out against him.

She listened, slightly more interested, when
he mentioned that they would be following the river out of the
valley and eventually crossing the Divine Lake. Aurora wrinkled her
forehead when she heard the name of the lake. It sounded vaguely
familiar and she wondered if she had heard of it before. Her mind
floundering uselessly, she eventually frowned and gave up. The name
slipped from her mind.

They camped just a short distance away from
the town, where the thin smoke took on a strange orange glow as the
sun set, then later blocked out the stars. That night, for the
first time in a long time, she dreamt of Delobo.

Chapter 6

As they continued their journey, the hills
gradually leveled off and they began seeing more needled trees than
before. The trees looked familiar and Aurora wondered if she had
seen the same type in Kain, although most of the trees in Kain had
had leaves, not needles. The stand of trees grew denser until
eventually, the army had to spread itself out a long way to pass
through them. The fallen needles crunched under their feet and
rained down on them when the wind blew hard enough. As the weather
grew wetter, windier, and colder, they finally broke away from the
river and headed even deeper into the forest.

Looking around in confusion, she began to
realize where they were headed. When they broke out of the forest
into the town, the scene confirmed it. It was her hometown, Delobo.
As the rest of the group swarmed into the town, Aurora slowly
shifted to the side and began walking alongside the forest, heading
behind some of the houses.

Djerr turned toward her, smiling. “Look
Aura, this town is fine. Wait, where are you going?” he called
after her, but received no reply. Shrugging, he turned his
attention to Jonah, who stood at the head of the group, waiting for
everyone to gather around.

The town they had just entered was
completely still, except for their group. No one came out to meet
them and the dirt paths before them were devoid of footprints. The
windows of the houses were dusty and the roofs covered in moss.
“Alright!” Jonah called out loudly. “It looks like this town has
been abandoned for quite some time, but we’ll still stay here for
the night, and then head on tomorrow. Take today to rest, because
tomorrow we’ll be taking a boat across the Divine Lake.” He turned
abruptly and walked away.

“Djerr!” Djerr turned to see Kirian heading
toward him.

“Yeah?”

Kirian’s forehead was creased in concern.
“Have you seen Aurora?”

Djerr nodded. “Well yeah. She was here a
little bit ago, but then she wandered off,” he replied, gesturing
in the direction she had gone. “Why?”

“Well, if you see her, keep an eye on her,
will you?” Kirian ignored Djerr’s question and walked away.

Watching him curiously, Djerr finally
shrugged and headed in the direction where he had last seen Aurora.
Following the edge of the forest, he walked behind the decrepit
houses. He peered in one of the windows, rubbing the dirt off with
his fist, and saw that it was in an equal state of abandonment. It
was completely empty, except for a sagging bed in one corner and a
dresser, which had been hastily pulled open with clothes spilled
across the floor.