A Fall into Red

The flames raged on, covering the sky with dense smoke and sparkling embers. Its cause, the lightning, still terrorized the fleeting residents of Arenard. Those afar were already too late to save – trapped by the rubble, their cries pierced the air, only lessened by the rampant echoing of running feet.

“For crying out loud, brat! What have I told you about keeping it together!”

Isolde, barely keeping up with Madigan and Jaswyn, quivered from head to toe. “I-I am together!”

“Yeah, right! You look like you’re about to pass out, and if you do we ain’t helping ya—”

“Be patient with her, Madi!” Jaswyn said, stopping to lift Isolde onto her back. She was lucky that Fliers possessed such tall, sturdy bodies – otherwise, she’d be left for dead. “She’s already terrified enough, and you yelling at her isn’t going to help!”

Madigan glowered. “Easy for you to say,” he thought. “You weren’t there!”

He lost count of how many times he had to stop her from screaming, or running straight into danger while trying to get away from it, or always pulling her away from the light… It was like protecting a toddler, and every day the urge to abandon her grew stronger. But held back by either a slither of guilty conscience or Olga’s looming threats, he didn’t.

Watching Isolde cling onto his wife like some poor kitten made him wonder if that was the wrong choice.

The three of them stopped, but not because their plight was over. Far from it. A large crowd of Fliers prevented them from progressing, and they too were blocked by another multitude. It was hard for Madigan to differentiate them from pests. Of all times, why did Arenard have to be stacked to the brim now?

There was whimpering beside him, coming from a small child pushing through the masses. Messy red hair, a freckled face, and eyes as vibrant a green as his mother’s – though the last feature was imagined, Madigan temporarily illusioned by the striking similarity. Whoever this kid was, he wasn’t his son. Unfortunately.

“Mommy, Daddy!” he cried.

That’s when Madigan realized he was lost. Perhaps Jaswyn would’ve too, if she wasn’t too busy trying to soothe the whole adult on her back. Lightning flashed more than once, resulting in both a great stir of panic, and a short opportunity for Madigan to survey those surrounding him. Nobody seemed to be looking for a child, not that he could see.

“Oi, kid. Come here,” he said.

The boy looked confused and hesitant, obviously surprised by a stranger’s sudden request. Madigan simply waited for the next thunder to encourage him to abide – and it worked. The scared-to-death kid was by his side in an instant.

“What happened to your mom and dad?”

“I don’t know, mister! I can’t find them!”

“Well, you shouldn’t be by yourself. Stick by us, and we’ll find your folks eventually.”

The boy nodded and inched closer, sandwiched in between them like they were his lifeline. In the corner of his eye, Madigan could detect a faint smile on Jaswyn’s face. He resented himself for the satisfaction it gave him – but on the outside, he huffed and looked afar, towards the well-dressed Fliers who stood on branches stretching over below.

Elders.

“Everyone, everyone! Please remain calm!” directed the one in the middle. “We understand – the matter at hand is dangerous, and frankly, far from anyone’s expectations… But regardless! We must evacuate orderly, lest we trample each other underfoot.”

Another bright light, and a nearby tree was set on fire. Summer in Arenard, dry as ever, was the worst season for this “storm.” The red spread violently, making its way towards the huddled civilians who hid their noses and mouths from the thick smoke. But frightened as they were, the Elders were right – if they wanted to make it out in one piece, they had to be calm.

“You will be divided into groups of thirty,” another began, “and will take turns heading out east and west. Starting from those nearest to the front…”

“Madigan,” Isolde whispered. “The west… That’s where the anomalies are.”

He scoffed, swinging his head with a scornful grin. “What do you think I did before I went home? Tried to warn those bastards, but guess what? They thought I was crazy. So now, they’re about’a learn the hard way.”

“Wait a minute, anomalies?” Jaswyn said.

“Ignore Brat for now. I’ll tell you another time.”

The Fliers, group by group as the Elders instructed, went onward from the inclosing blaze. Of course, it didn’t go as smoothly as desired – why would it? Many rebuked the Elders, insisting their strategy would only kill those further behind. Others were impatient, roughly shoving their way through and starting senseless altercations. When not even the boy was safe from their aggression, Madigan had to put not one, but two men into a bruising chokehold until they practically begged for freedom.

It felt like a thousand years before Madigan’s lot arrived at the final bridge leading out of the Arenardian capital. Their bodies were drenched in sweat, lungs exhausted by the constant coughing. But salvation was just a breath away, the open field ahead a gate to mountainous paradise. Yet even so, as he muted out the hurried chatter all around him, there was an imperceptible frown on his lips.

This was the second time he escaped near-death by flames. Eventually, he’d run out of luck with nowhere else to go. Avenging Luka would have to come sooner than later… Briefly, he turned to Jaswyn, her tired face red from the heat. Thinking of what awaited her in the future, he created distance. It didn’t matter, he told himself, she might as well already be dead to him. But he knew that was a lie.

However, as a streak of lightning charged right in the middle of the bridge, his emotions had to wait.

Fliers screamed as the bridge snapped in half, sending the singed bodies of those in the center to the ground, their wings damaged by the impact. The rest had no choice but to take risky flights to avoid the same fate – except wounded Madigan, Isolde, who fell off Jaswyn’s back, and the little boy who had yet to learn to fly.

The three of them, with burning wood on all sides, were amongst those falling to their demise.