Harbinger - Chapter 1

I am standing inside a burning town, I can hear the screams of people as they succumb to the fire, above me, a figure hovers menacingly, however, i don't have an urge to get away like everyone else, instead i feel a sense of calm, i reach my hand out towards the figure and it turns to me, but before anything else happens, i am jolted awake.

“Alice...Alice!” A soft voices urges me. “Come on, we have to go.” I feel a small tug that finally wakes me up. I sit up and stretch.

“Ah, good morning Wan… Sorry, i just had the weirdest dream, there was a city and it was burning, and a strange figure was standing above it.” I respond..

“We don't have time for you weird dreams Alice, we need to go now.” A voice impatiently responds from the door of my tent. These two are the only friends I've had since i arrived in this slave camp two years ago. The small, demi-human beast girl is Wan, I met her when i first arrived and she taught the ropes of the quarry. How not to get scolded by the guards and who to watch out for. The other girl standing impatiently at the door to my camp is Emily, she arrived a few months ago. She is older and taller than us, and the very first thing she said to me was

“Let’s escape!”

I was taken aback, all the time i spent here escaping was never something i dreamed of, to begin with, the forest that borders our camp and the quarry is known as Doomwoods, monsters inhabit that area, and there are rumors it is where the Demon race and the Dark elf race make their kingdoms, so there's no way we could escape there, the only other option is through the front gate, outside of it is a patch of tall grass, tall enough that we could lose pursuers in. At first i was hesitant to Emily’s plan, but the more she described our escape, the more wanted too. She had planned originally for it to only be us two, however, after much deliberation, she finally agreed to let Wan escape with us.

Wan is the reason i was able to survive when i first got here, and i saw her as a little sister, i couldn't leave her here alone, and so, tonight is the night. The clouds cover the sky, making it hard for moonlight to pierce, the perfect night to escape.

I quickly stand up from my cot, “Sorry, I’m ready now.” I answer Emily's gaze.

She nods then motions for us to follow her. I grab Wan’s hand and we silently make our way through the tents, following Emily’s command. The guards patrol the tents, however, they aren't very attentive, they know escape is nearly impossible, so they have to reason to be alert. These guards won't be a problem. It’s the guards on the gate we need to be weary of, Emily said she had a plan however, we are going to cause a commotion at the farm, drawing all the guards, then we make our escape through the gates and dash into the tall grass, losing the guards in it.

Following Emily’s lead, we expertly avoid the patrols in the camp and make our way to the Farm. We see a couple of dozen cows laying together on the grass.

“How are we going to cause a large commotion here?” I ask Emily.

“With these.” She says while pulling something out from a sack she had been carrying. From her sack she draws a metallic, ball, with a strange nub that has a pin in it.

“H-hey, aren't those the explosive devices the guards use to scare away the monsters? How did you get those!” Wan asks nervously.

“Don't worry, i have my methods, any way, as soon as i pull the pin, be ready to run, these explosion should attract all the guards.”

Wan and i nod, and ready ourselves as Emily pulls the pin and tosses the ball in the middle of the laying cows. We begin to run with all our might following Emily, weaving through the tents trying to not get spotted, suddenly a large explosion is heard behind us, followed by a pillar of flame. I quickly turn my head back and catch a glimpse of it. I had heard of magic, and know that humans are incapable, that's why devices like that ball were created, however, i never knew there were that devastating.

Throughout the commotion, we were able to make it top the gate, which the guards had left unattended as the went towards the explosion. All three of us start climbing, trying to get over as quickly as possible, and just as we are about to clear it, we hear a voice from behind.

“Hey guards, those girls are escaping!” a female voice from behind us shouts.

That voice, it wasn’t from one of the guards, they are all men, then, it must be from one of the other slaves! Why, why would they rat us out!

We make it over the gate and start to run towards the field of tall grass, but, we know it's going to be hard now, the guards who were supposed to be distracted seem to have regrouped and the gate opens behind us, followed by the sound of their yells ordering us to stop.

We enter the grass, running as hard as we can, trying to lose them, then, Emily who is in front, seems to pull something from out of her bad, she turns her head around and gives us an evil grin.

“Sorry, but this is plan B.” She says, then she trikes me with a baton that she pulled out, i feel a surge of electricity enter my body, and Wan who’s hand i hold,.also gets shocked. We let out a loud scream and fall to the ground in pain. I look up, but Emily is already long gone, i pass out from the pain, that bitch, she abandoned us. In my mind, i see my soul, the seed inside it is gone, and now in its place is a small, black rose, slow spreading roots within my soul.