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wightknight) wrote2016-06-11 05:30 pm
wightknight) wrote2016-06-11 05:30 pm
Falling Skies II
[Continued from here]
"Amie?"
His sister pauses in the middle of passing the peas and glances his way with a quizzical expression. For a few moments, he chews thoughtfully on the tines of his fork before continuing on.
"I think the chicken might still be alive."
He pushes at the bit of meat on his plate and draws a smiling face with the red streaks it leaves behind. Amie's cheeks flush almost the same color as she hurriedly reaches across the table and plucks away his meal.
"Can I have some pudding instead?"
His proposal is firmly rejected, and his sister sweeps out of the dining hall back through to the kitchen. For the next ten seconds, he manages to sit quietly. Then he reaches for the bowl of peas and begins to amuse himself by carefully stacking up pyramids on the table. It is more difficult than it seems. Despite a great deal of practice, he can only manage about three stories before it falls apart and sends peas cascading in every direction.
The moment he drops underneath the table, he hears a disapproving clearing of the throat behind him.
"Please get off the floor, young sir.”
The speaker is a severe-looking young woman in light armor. It is too bad, he thinks, that Caddy never appreciates how hard he works at this.
"Hi, Caddy. …Do you want some peas?”
He solemnly drops two dirty peas in her outstretched hand. She heaves a light sigh and readjusts the sleeping infant in her arms. Most days, his younger brother doesn’t do much but sleep and eat. He is very tedious.
"Where is your sister?"
He gives a shrug.
“It’s another envoy from the capital.” She shakes her head. “It’s nothing to worry about, but we’ll need her in the grand foyer as soon as poss – "
She is cut off by a sharp scream that echoes through the corridors.
They both start.
Caddy takes a step towards the door.
The explosion that follows sends a shockwave reeling through the castle so powerful that the plates on the table shatter. He finds himself on the floor without quite realizing how he got there, staring up at the vaulted ceiling. A dull roar echoes in his ears.
“Get up! Get up!”
The sharp words bring him slowly back to reality: Caddy is tugging at his arm, and his brother is screaming at the top of his lungs. He isn’t alone. The sounds of screams and cries can be heard from all directions, only occasionally masked by the noise of a great crash or a smaller explosion.
Still dazed, he stumbles to his feet as Caddy rushes to the main doors of the dining hall and slams them closed, pulling a cabinet in front of them. He cannot understand what is happening.
“We have to go! This way!”
As he is tugged towards an exit, a dim voice at the back of his mind protests.
“Wait!”
He pulls away and darts to a different set of doors.
“Amie! Amie!”
He places a hand on the knob. It is warm. He does not realize what that means. The moment he pulls it open, a roaring blaze sweeps into the room, searing his hair and burning his lungs. He tries to scream, but the heat claws at his throat and he can do nothing more than cough and choke instead.
“We have to go! Right now! Come on, take your brother.”
One more protest that emerges as a sputtering cough.
“I’m sure she’s ahead of us. Your sister is a clever girl. This way!”
A soft bundle is thrust into his arms; swaddled within it, his infant brother screams and screams, the wails barely audible over the sounds of the roaring fire and the crackling wood. With one last glance through the burning doors, he runs along behind Caddy, holding his brother close. They race through the halls – the damage, somehow, is already too severe. The ceiling is crumbling; their possessions are being claimed by the flames. Sometime after this, he will realize that the shockwave had knocked them all out long enough for utter chaos to engulf their home. Tripping and stumbling onwards across fallen beams and upturned tables, he sees, soon enough, that they are taking a circuitous path towards the servant’s quarters. The flames have yet to reach the back of the castle.
As they round the last corner, an almighty crash freezes them in their tracks – up ahead, there comes a scream that is sharply cut off. More crashing. A long shadow falls around the corner.
Caddy grabs his hand and pulls with a force he has never known her to use.
“Get down!”
She thrusts him to the ground. Sliding along the floor, he bashes his head against the stone wall and glimpses nothing but stars; it takes him a few moments to realize he has been hidden underneath a low table. His brother’s screams continue to sound; instinctively, he claps a hand over the open mouth.
More noises. A guttural cry, a clash of steel, a wet thump. Something shakes the floor.
When Caterina grabs his hand again, it is slick with fluid.
“Hurry. Don’t look.”
Despite the command, it is impossible for him not to stare at the purplish face of the man sprawled on the ground as they step over him. Nor can he avoid gaping as they enter the silent servant’s quarters, through the corridors smeared with blood, past bodies lying far too still in pools of liquid. Caterina’s urging isn’t enough to stop him in his tracks as he spies Mary who always leaves an extra candy on his nightstand when she makes up his room.
He takes a step towards her before he’s sharply jerked away.
“Don’t look.”
Lawrence screams again in his arms as he clutches his brother far too tightly.
There is no door left in the quarters, only a gaping hole in the wall where it had stood instead. Once more, Caterina pushes him aside as she steps out first into the shadows of the night.
She beckons him forward a second later.
“Head for the stables.”
He had thought the open air would be less frightening – he is wrong. Torchlight flickers across his vision as he hears the clashing blades and the screams of men. Shadows dance around him. There, a man on horseback plunges his lance into his opponent’s throat. There, a wreath of fire consumes a knight in armor. It is impossible to know who fights for whom. They avoid them all, running through the shadows, abandoning speed sometimes for stealth as they plunge into the thick woods surrounding the castle walls.
He wants to ask why. He wants to ask how. But the words die in his throat, and he vocalizes nothing but heaving gasps.
Where is Amie?
Through the trees, they can see the flickering of firelight once more. More screaming – a different kind of utterance. The panicked screams of animals. Caterina hisses sharply as she pulls him back again, nudging him towards a thicket. In the darkness, a thorn scrapes across his face, and he cries out in pain as it stabs into his eye. There is no time to address it.
“I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”
And she is gone. The noise continues from all sides – he keeps his eyes tightly closed, both because he can no longer stand seeing any more of what is happening and because the sharp pain does not abate. His brother has run out of energy for cries. He pulls Lawrence close to his face and cries lightly in his stead, his breaths emerging as heavy gasps, his heart beating so quickly he thinks it might jump out of his chest.
If he had just eaten the chicken…
A thundering staccato jolts him further back into the thicket; he cracks an eye open and gasps as something barely brushes past him in the blink of an eye. The horses are running wild through the woods. Some limp from their injuries. Others are so mad with fear they rampage through grasping bushes and thick brambles, tearing open their own hides. He whimpers as he retreats back as far as he can, shielding his brother with his own body and ignoring the thorny foliage tearing at his own skin.
The minutes tick on.
He wonders how Caterina will find them again. The night is dark, and the woods are deep. He cannot say where he is. Perhaps they will stay here, and she will never find them again. Perhaps… Perhaps there will be no one to find them at all. He thinks of what he has seen in the servant’s quarters.
Perhaps…
And then behind him, so close that he can feel the shuddering of the earth, something crashes to the ground. He screams for the first time that night, but he doesn’t move. She had told them not to move.
“Leander!”
The voice is harsh.
“Get on!”
He doesn’t need a second invitation. Rolling out of the thicket still clutching his brother, he reaches up towards their salvation – a pegasus, wings black with soot but still beating strong. Caterina pulls him up in one deft motion, and he settles behind her, leaning his trembling body against her own.
“We’ll be safe. It's alright.”
He does not know if he will ever be safe again. But as their steed gallops out from the woods and smoothly rises into the sky, he thinks, at least, that they are still alive.
Beneath them, the castle burns slowly and steadily as the cries of anguished men echo through the night. By morning, it will have died, and the life he had known would fade to ash.
"Amie?"
His sister pauses in the middle of passing the peas and glances his way with a quizzical expression. For a few moments, he chews thoughtfully on the tines of his fork before continuing on.
"I think the chicken might still be alive."
He pushes at the bit of meat on his plate and draws a smiling face with the red streaks it leaves behind. Amie's cheeks flush almost the same color as she hurriedly reaches across the table and plucks away his meal.
"Can I have some pudding instead?"
His proposal is firmly rejected, and his sister sweeps out of the dining hall back through to the kitchen. For the next ten seconds, he manages to sit quietly. Then he reaches for the bowl of peas and begins to amuse himself by carefully stacking up pyramids on the table. It is more difficult than it seems. Despite a great deal of practice, he can only manage about three stories before it falls apart and sends peas cascading in every direction.
The moment he drops underneath the table, he hears a disapproving clearing of the throat behind him.
"Please get off the floor, young sir.”
The speaker is a severe-looking young woman in light armor. It is too bad, he thinks, that Caddy never appreciates how hard he works at this.
"Hi, Caddy. …Do you want some peas?”
He solemnly drops two dirty peas in her outstretched hand. She heaves a light sigh and readjusts the sleeping infant in her arms. Most days, his younger brother doesn’t do much but sleep and eat. He is very tedious.
"Where is your sister?"
He gives a shrug.
“It’s another envoy from the capital.” She shakes her head. “It’s nothing to worry about, but we’ll need her in the grand foyer as soon as poss – "
She is cut off by a sharp scream that echoes through the corridors.
They both start.
Caddy takes a step towards the door.
The explosion that follows sends a shockwave reeling through the castle so powerful that the plates on the table shatter. He finds himself on the floor without quite realizing how he got there, staring up at the vaulted ceiling. A dull roar echoes in his ears.
“Get up! Get up!”
The sharp words bring him slowly back to reality: Caddy is tugging at his arm, and his brother is screaming at the top of his lungs. He isn’t alone. The sounds of screams and cries can be heard from all directions, only occasionally masked by the noise of a great crash or a smaller explosion.
Still dazed, he stumbles to his feet as Caddy rushes to the main doors of the dining hall and slams them closed, pulling a cabinet in front of them. He cannot understand what is happening.
“We have to go! This way!”
As he is tugged towards an exit, a dim voice at the back of his mind protests.
“Wait!”
He pulls away and darts to a different set of doors.
“Amie! Amie!”
He places a hand on the knob. It is warm. He does not realize what that means. The moment he pulls it open, a roaring blaze sweeps into the room, searing his hair and burning his lungs. He tries to scream, but the heat claws at his throat and he can do nothing more than cough and choke instead.
“We have to go! Right now! Come on, take your brother.”
One more protest that emerges as a sputtering cough.
“I’m sure she’s ahead of us. Your sister is a clever girl. This way!”
A soft bundle is thrust into his arms; swaddled within it, his infant brother screams and screams, the wails barely audible over the sounds of the roaring fire and the crackling wood. With one last glance through the burning doors, he runs along behind Caddy, holding his brother close. They race through the halls – the damage, somehow, is already too severe. The ceiling is crumbling; their possessions are being claimed by the flames. Sometime after this, he will realize that the shockwave had knocked them all out long enough for utter chaos to engulf their home. Tripping and stumbling onwards across fallen beams and upturned tables, he sees, soon enough, that they are taking a circuitous path towards the servant’s quarters. The flames have yet to reach the back of the castle.
As they round the last corner, an almighty crash freezes them in their tracks – up ahead, there comes a scream that is sharply cut off. More crashing. A long shadow falls around the corner.
Caddy grabs his hand and pulls with a force he has never known her to use.
“Get down!”
She thrusts him to the ground. Sliding along the floor, he bashes his head against the stone wall and glimpses nothing but stars; it takes him a few moments to realize he has been hidden underneath a low table. His brother’s screams continue to sound; instinctively, he claps a hand over the open mouth.
More noises. A guttural cry, a clash of steel, a wet thump. Something shakes the floor.
When Caterina grabs his hand again, it is slick with fluid.
“Hurry. Don’t look.”
Despite the command, it is impossible for him not to stare at the purplish face of the man sprawled on the ground as they step over him. Nor can he avoid gaping as they enter the silent servant’s quarters, through the corridors smeared with blood, past bodies lying far too still in pools of liquid. Caterina’s urging isn’t enough to stop him in his tracks as he spies Mary who always leaves an extra candy on his nightstand when she makes up his room.
He takes a step towards her before he’s sharply jerked away.
“Don’t look.”
Lawrence screams again in his arms as he clutches his brother far too tightly.
There is no door left in the quarters, only a gaping hole in the wall where it had stood instead. Once more, Caterina pushes him aside as she steps out first into the shadows of the night.
She beckons him forward a second later.
“Head for the stables.”
He had thought the open air would be less frightening – he is wrong. Torchlight flickers across his vision as he hears the clashing blades and the screams of men. Shadows dance around him. There, a man on horseback plunges his lance into his opponent’s throat. There, a wreath of fire consumes a knight in armor. It is impossible to know who fights for whom. They avoid them all, running through the shadows, abandoning speed sometimes for stealth as they plunge into the thick woods surrounding the castle walls.
He wants to ask why. He wants to ask how. But the words die in his throat, and he vocalizes nothing but heaving gasps.
Where is Amie?
Through the trees, they can see the flickering of firelight once more. More screaming – a different kind of utterance. The panicked screams of animals. Caterina hisses sharply as she pulls him back again, nudging him towards a thicket. In the darkness, a thorn scrapes across his face, and he cries out in pain as it stabs into his eye. There is no time to address it.
“I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”
And she is gone. The noise continues from all sides – he keeps his eyes tightly closed, both because he can no longer stand seeing any more of what is happening and because the sharp pain does not abate. His brother has run out of energy for cries. He pulls Lawrence close to his face and cries lightly in his stead, his breaths emerging as heavy gasps, his heart beating so quickly he thinks it might jump out of his chest.
If he had just eaten the chicken…
A thundering staccato jolts him further back into the thicket; he cracks an eye open and gasps as something barely brushes past him in the blink of an eye. The horses are running wild through the woods. Some limp from their injuries. Others are so mad with fear they rampage through grasping bushes and thick brambles, tearing open their own hides. He whimpers as he retreats back as far as he can, shielding his brother with his own body and ignoring the thorny foliage tearing at his own skin.
The minutes tick on.
He wonders how Caterina will find them again. The night is dark, and the woods are deep. He cannot say where he is. Perhaps they will stay here, and she will never find them again. Perhaps… Perhaps there will be no one to find them at all. He thinks of what he has seen in the servant’s quarters.
Perhaps…
And then behind him, so close that he can feel the shuddering of the earth, something crashes to the ground. He screams for the first time that night, but he doesn’t move. She had told them not to move.
“Leander!”
The voice is harsh.
“Get on!”
He doesn’t need a second invitation. Rolling out of the thicket still clutching his brother, he reaches up towards their salvation – a pegasus, wings black with soot but still beating strong. Caterina pulls him up in one deft motion, and he settles behind her, leaning his trembling body against her own.
“We’ll be safe. It's alright.”
He does not know if he will ever be safe again. But as their steed gallops out from the woods and smoothly rises into the sky, he thinks, at least, that they are still alive.
Beneath them, the castle burns slowly and steadily as the cries of anguished men echo through the night. By morning, it will have died, and the life he had known would fade to ash.