Hungry Flames

"Get moving!" Silver called as the flames flooded the room with light.

Wrapping the cloak tightly around himself, the Guardian rushed forward to grab Dinnick. Rather than push him out the front door, which was closer, the Guardian pulled the farmer toward the bedroom and his family.

He shut the door to the bedroom and stuffed clothing under the gap at the bottom of the entrance. The move momentarily blocked out the heat and smoke of the growing fire.

Before the farmer could ask questions, Silver explained quickly. "There are more of them watching the front door. We have to hurry and get out the window before they realize you didn't die in the blaze."

"Our home!" Edyth finally managed to speak.

"Homes are replaceable, you are not." Silver helped the woman off the bed and pressed a bag of coins from his cloak into Dinnick's hands. "The vagrants you angered are actually spies from Lakyle. They are about to invade and did not want any witnesses when they slaughter the soldiers who have come to help you."

"We have to warn the king!" Dinnick seemed more concerned about the safety of his kingdom than then the more pressing matter of his family.

Maybe because helping the kingdom seemed like an easier feat than getting out of a fiery building surrounded by the enemy.

"That is next on my list after getting you out of here and letting the soldiers know that they are about to be ambushed. Now, do you have horses which can take you away quickly?" Silver grabbed the farmer's shoulders, trying to refocus him.

While it was unlikely that the farmer had anything swift like Daisy, the Guardian at least hoped that the farm had something that would be able to transport the family away from the chaos.

"I've my personal horse and another that helps me plow." Dinnick unconsciously turned his head toward the barn.

"Good. You take the girl, and the boy and his mother can ride on the other. Leave and do not come back for as long as you can. If things go wrong tonight, those men will likely still come after you if you return." Silver was about to give more instructions when Ned pushed himself into the conversation.

"I don't want to ride with mother. I am not a child. I'll stay and fight with you," he announced petulantly.

Silver thought about berating him and letting him know that if he was acting like that then he was, in fact, still a child. But time was of the essence and life lessons were not on the priority list.

"You cannot fight with me. I don't even want to fight if I don't have to. But you can be a hero. Your mother is in shock. She needs someone to make sure she doesn't fall off the horse or get hurt while you leave. Your sister is not strong enough and your father cannot save them both. It is up to you, and you alone."

The words sunk into Ned's very being. He stood a little straighter and gave a determined nod. 'Perhaps he is a man after all,' Silver patted the young man on the back once firmly.

After getting instructions on how to get to a safe place to hide once they left the area, the family was ready to leave as the flames finally ignited the cloth plugging the bottom of the door. Smoke billowed into the room, causing the occupants to cover their mouths and cough.

"Time to go!" Silver slipped out of the window to make sure that there were no men lying in wait for them to exit before quickly motioning to Dinnick.

The farmer passed out Sissy first, and Silver graciously accepted her into his arms. Silver gently wrapped the edge of the cloak around the girl to shield her from the heat of the flames. He tried not to think too hard about the last time he had held a girl in his arms fleeing a burning building. This time he was determined to save her parents too.

Ned came out next and with the help of his father, the two hoisted the frozen Edyth who still did not seem to be processing what was happening around her. Her eyes and mouth were opened wide, but her brain seemed to have shut down. With Ned's help she moved far enough away from the home for Dinnick to pass through.

The farmer was surprised to find his first step out of the window had a soft landing. Two men laid below the window--the one who had attacked his wife and the strange shadow that had alerted them to the danger in the first place.

Dinnick knew better than to ask if they were still alive or not. It did not really matter, the hungry flames would likely envelop them soon if they did not awaken. It was an unpleasant way to die, as the family would have found out if that had tarried longer.

Under Silver's protection, the group passed the small distance between the house and the barn.

A soft whirring sound flew toward the Guardian's head just as they were about to pass into the safety of the large wooden structure. Silver shut the door just in time for the metal bolt to pierce through the planks and stop.

'They have an archer. No wonder no one was waiting for us.' A crossbow was deadly, but it took time to reload. Silver would not waste a single second of the time he had.

Fortunately, Dinnick seemed to be of the same mind. He threw a saddle on his horse and motioned for Ned to put a harness on the other mare. The boy and his mother would have to ride bareback, but at least they would be able to guide the horse.

Silver waited anxiously by the door. He half expected the men to ambush, but only the archer seemed to know of their movements. Silver sensed that no one else was making an approach.

That's when he heard the crackle of fresh straw catching fire. The conflagration had easily made the jump from the house to the tinderbox of the straw laden stable. Suddenly he understood why no one was worried about the barn. They only had a matter of seconds.

"The cattle!" Dinnick rushed and released the gates where his milking cows were penned up for the night. He only hoped they were smart enough to leave with him before the flames engulfed them.

Silver called out to the farmer before he could tarry longer. "There's not time!"

With a sigh, the man leapt onto the horse. Silver pushed back his cloak and handed up Sissy into her father's tender embrace. Somehow even in the madness, the exhausted child had fallen asleep in the Guardian's embrace.

The hay all around them was dry and ready to catch fire. Already the flames were licking at the work horse's tail. Silver took a deep breath.

"Get ready. But wait."

With his enormous strength, the Guardian threw open the door and then bent down and pulled it shut just as quickly. A second bolt landed with a thud next to the first.

"Go!" The Guardian threw open the front door and allowed both horses and cattle to bolt from their fiery cage.

The animals burst into the night. Dinnick pulled away from his dairy cows, following the instructions the Guardian had given them to the letter.

But Silver did not look their way. He knew that somewhere in the brush, the soldier with the crossbow would have a new bolt loaded.

The Guardian strained his ears, listening for the subtle click of the dastardly machine.

'Got you!'

The marksman did not see the shadow coming as he aimed a second time for the fleeing horses. All of a sudden the darkness enveloped him and lifted him from the ground like a feather.

"You almost hit a little girl!" The wraith whispered in his ear.

Discarding the crossbow, the soldier pulled a knife and tried to stab at the Guardian behind him. But he was too slow.

Silver had already released him and proceeded to kick him in the back. Between the swipe with his weapon and the inhuman kick, the vagrant lost his balance and tumbled forward into the barn's flaming maw.

Finally too weak to remain, the structure collapsed on the marksman with a spectacular crash. The fiery mouth swallow him whole.

Silver frowned. If only this had been the outcome years ago when Borit had been the victim, perhaps this would never have happened.

But alas, he would never know for sure.

'Such a shame...'