Fly

"It is indeed a beautiful poem," Salazar smiled, brushing his long beard with his fingers. "It makes me feel back to the feelings I had during my youth."

At that moment, the gray dog ​​that had been lying down until then started barking. The noise of barking makes everyone tense. The children, in particular, were even paler than they already were.

'What's going on?' thought Loreto.

"Hurry up, grab your guns," as he spoke, Turico ran to the painting on the wall and turned it to the side. "Our old enemies are about to pay us a visit!"

Behind the frame, an old shotgun with small cracks in its structure emerged. The long-bearded man picked up the item in a hurry. Next to himself, Loreto saw Yan drag a heavy piece of furniture to one side.

The creak of heavy furniture being dragged across the wooden floor greeted Loreto's ears. He watched with intent eyes as a silver revolver appeared in Yan's hands from a hole in the ground, hidden by the heavy furniture.

Linda wasn't useless either. Within seconds, she acquired her black pistol and prepared for combat. The same could be said of the Esbim family, Gaspar and Lucia struggled to push a nightstand; revealing a passage small enough to hide both.

Among all, Loreto was the only one lost. His weakened body did not allow him to fight in a hand-to-hand fight, his only way out was to use a firearm like the rest of the adults.

"What is happening? If there's anything," Loreto sat on the edge of the tacky sofa he was lying on before continuing, "Tell me. I can try to help you."

Yan and Turico looked at each other, the latter showing an expression of displeasure as he looked at the former. As the two men fought this invisible battle, Linda appeared at Loreto's side and gave him a simple kitchen knife.

"Thank you," despite the bandages, Loreto gritted his teeth and squeezed the plastic handle of the item tightly in his hands. "What is the enemy?"

"It's not the enemy, but the enemies. We are isolated people living in the mountains, which means that we are vulnerable in the eyes of many. Ever since Inglaintia Steel City began its expansion, it has aimed to capture people like us."

Loreto's eyebrows began to twitch like worms in a fire at those words.

"Don't be too confused. You might think our decision to live far away from the big cities is something stupid, but we don't think so," she then stared at the black pistol in her hand, the veins in her pulse leaping. "All of us here lost something at the hands of the people who used to live there."

Loreto shook his head as he said, "I'm not confused by this. I'm just amazed at your courage to leave the place where you lived before to stay here. My confusion is more about what made you all take this decision."

Linda said nothing but pressed the pistol more firmly in her hands. Yan chuckled as he said, "You should avoid talking about the past, it's in the rules of coexistence here."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause discomfort." Loreto apologized a few more times to the others, but the awkwardness he felt didn't lessen.

'Aren't they supposed to be positioning themselves to fight?' he thought.

Suddenly-!

"REFUGEE FROM THE MOUNTAINS! I COME HERE WITH MY COMPANIONS BRINGING THE GLORY OF OUR CITY OF STEEL, THE MAGNIFICENT INGLAINTIA! JOIN US TO BE PART OF THE ORDER OF FIRE!"

A male voice echoed through all the rooms in the simple house, making Loreto's eardrums shrink.

"They're using speakers again," Linda kicked the tacky couch with pursed lips. "Damn those bastards!"

"Calm down," Turico used a white cloth to scrub the old shotgun, a white cloth which turned gray as he wiped the dust off the gun. "Unsettling our emotions is their first step. Yan, are they in the same place as usual?"

"No," Yan squinted as he looked through the small crack in the wooden wall. "They seem to be closer to the-"

"MY BROTHERS OF FIRE AND I THIS TIME WE WILL NOT DEPART WITH EMPTY HANDS. REFUGEES FROM THE MOUNTAINS, YOU ARE PREVENTING OUR DREAM OF FIRE! JOIN US OR DIE!"

"Close to where?!" Turico yelled, snapping Yan out of his shock.

"They are close to crossing the ravine!"

"We have to hurry. Loreto and Yan, try to delay them as much as possible. Linda, get the kids and go up to the stone forest. As for me, I'll stay here to pack my things before I go help you two."

No one said anything after these words.

Silence reigned in this tense atmosphere.

'How can this guy be so brazen at a time like this?' Loreto didn't voice his thoughts, but the two others besides him couldn't contain themselves.

"Salazar, my friend," Yan very tactfully touched the revolver in his hand. "I hope this is just a weird joke."

"I beg to differ," Linda then looked at the children in the room. "Turico, I don't know or care what things you want to keep from this house. I'm willing to accept as long as it doesn't take you more than three minutes to do what you want."

"Beautiful! Are you really going to let him do this?" Yan Melbor glared at the only woman present among them before saying, "Salazar is obviously hiding something!"

"Please calm down. How many times have we gone through this? I have not abandoned you before, I will not abandon you now. Besides, what else can I be hiding from you? This is my only home." Turico Salazar countered the complaints with his impassive expression.

"Very well! Linda, don't tell me I didn't warn you," the furry man who spoke didn't even bother to continue arguing. Yan looked at Loreto and said, "Let's go. I take care of the shooting part, you keep an eye around to make sure no one approaches us."

Loreto nodded, leaving with Yan. As soon as the door opened, he saw the surroundings of this ice world once more. It was later, the sunlight no longer made Loreto have to blink his eyes many times.

Still, the downside of this was that the less light was available, the colder the white world was. Loreto gripped his hand, holding the kitchen knife with force as he continued to admire this dangerous world.

Ahead of him were several ravines that joined to create a deadly gorge. Loreto couldn't see the bottom, and he didn't even dare get close to see if he could. Strong winds blew his black hair, taking the cold air from that gorge with it.

In all, Loreto guessed that there were more than three large ravines. The most surprising thing about all this was that a natural bridge connected both sides of this gorge. This bridge was narrow, but it was possible to cross as long as someone had luck and courage.

"Where are we going?"

"We'll wait here by this bridge, those bastards from Inglaintia always try to get through here," Yan licked his lips and rubbed his forearm against his mouth. "They have to wait for these winds to subside, though. We need to delay them until the winds come back."

"Wait, are they really going to try to get through this here? Isn't it too risky?" Loreto's mouth was open, but he closed it in a hurry when he felt his tongue being frozen.

"It's risky, but that's also why they want to dominate this part of the mountain. Where we are is an important strategic point. If any base of operations is installed here, the City of Steel will gain access to a lot of unexplored land."

Yan sighed, white clouds emerged from that act and were blown away by the strong winds.

"Wait, if this place is so important, why did Turico build his house here?"

Yan shook his head, he then said, "You are mistaken. The house was built by his grandfather. For some reason, that old man said he built the house here because he dreamed that one day he would fly through this canyon."

"Hm?" Loreto's brow twitched at the last sentence.

"Yeah, you didn't hear wrong," Yan smiled, taking care not to bark his teeth like Loreto. "Old Salazar said he dreamed of this canyon. The day he turned 60, he threw himself out of here."

Loreto was shocked, saying nothing for a moment.

'Did this old man really think he could fly?'