United Against Hate: Chapter 7

“Why did you stop us from helping her!” Sefirin asked his eyes wide and scales already forming over his body.

“We could have saved her!” Sofie shouted and looked away. “And now we don’t know where she’s going. Or what’s going to happen to her.”

The pair of siblings were inside another small building. It was empty, mainly used for storage. The only light around them was from the sun peeking through the cracks in the ceiling. But there was a third person in the storage room with them, a woman that had dragged them within it during the soldier’s approach and forced them to stay put until they were gone.

Her beaded and braided hair clacked together as she stood up. Her brown skin seemed to glow with a pale inner light and one of her eyes was a clear brown while the other was a deep black, veins going out to her ear and neck. She stood slowly from her sitting position on a crate.

“We stopped you from getting captured as well,” she said standing up and looking at the pair of them. “Running out to fight with the Norian army is a fast way to get captured and turned into one of their shadow soldiers.”

“Shadow soldiers? Norian?” Sofie repeated and glanced at her brother. He was still angry but his sister’s glance made him pause. Sofie looked at the woman and narrowed her eyes forcing herself to be calm. “Explain. Everything.”

The woman looked at her and met her eyes The black eye, when Sofie looked at it, felt like she was staring into an abyss. An abyss so wide and old that she felt like she was suddenly a child again. But then the woman smiled and the smile beat back the darkness with a light that warmed her. It reminded her of her mother.

  “My name is Alison. Neither of you nor your sister are from here. That much is obvious,” she looked at Sefirin and raised her eyebrow. “And you’re more magically gifted than I would have anticipated. We know Ryza would have a field day with you two.”

Taking a deep breath, she continued, “And a long time ago us and our brother used to live in Noria. It was an imperialistic and aggressive place then but it’s become something even more dangerous since then.

“It was around two years ago that the power shifted in Noria. Instead of bringing about another great leader, a steward took the throne. That steward changed things in Noria. Rather than focusing outward on this crusade against the Sanctum they instead went inward. They cultivated mages, experimented on their own citizens, and made many breakthroughs but a lot of sacrifices. The idea of strengthening Noria was a forgone conclusion.”

“Experimenting on their own people?” Sefirin asked. “What kind of kingdom does that?”

“One ruled by a madman,” Alison replied. “The shadow soldiers of the kingdom are monstrous and made from their own citizens.”

“People that can be a good host?” Sefirin asked.

She shook her head, “People that can be sacrificed. Otherwise known as the lucky ones.”

“What about the people called suitable for a host?” Sofie asked.

“You saw the hooded one?” They both nodded. “There are more like her. Mages who willingly give themselves over to demons for power. They round up more and more people to continue to grow the shadow army and gain more sacrifices.”

Sofie made a horrified face as Alison spoke and looked away, “Why? What could cause all this? What would their goal even be?”

“That we don’t know. And we don’t really care. We just intend on making sure as many people can get out as possible,” she said determinedly. “That includes your sister. And you’re going to help me do it we take it.”

“Yes,” both said together.

“We like you two,” she laughed. “Come on. We’ll get horses and start chasing after them. We’ll be behind but we can catch them.”

Sofie frowned, “Do you know where they took them?”

“We have an idea. They would likely be on their way to another surrounding city. There aren’t a lot of places they would take that many prisoners.”

“Isal.”

Alison turned to face him, “What?”

“The weird robed woman said Isal.”

“Isal. That’s. Unexpected. They’ve turned that city into a facility for them,” she frowned hard. “That complicates things.”

“What do you mean? I feel like I’m missing a lot,” Sefirin said scratching his head.

“Me too,” Sofie made a face of a deep frown.

“We’ll explain on the way. Come on. Times of the essence,” she said and walked out of the storage room. They followed her quickly confused as well.

The village was in a hushed sort of silence now. Families that had been torn apart. Friends gone forever. It was sobering to look at. Sofie did her best to not look at the people, to tune out the cries but it was hard. When she felt her brother squeeze her hand, she looked at him but saw his pained expression as well.

Alison walked toward the stables and the man who had owned it was gone for the time being.  But that didn’t stop Alison. She walked a few rows down before finding the horse that she came along with. A tall beige hose with a dark mane. He came forward and eagerly pressed his muzzle against her face and she giggled.

“Oh come on Blaze we weren’t gone that long,” Alison said softly. Blaze stamped and she nodded. “Yeah the cult came by. Yes we’re going to save people.” He chuffed and she unfastened his reins which seemed to be attached to handlebars on either side of his head.

Leading the horse out he looked at the pair of them and let out a soft noise. “These two are friends. This is Blaze and these two are,” Alison motioned toward them and blinked quickly. “We never asked you two your names. We’re sorry about that. Caught up in the moment.”

“I’m Sofie. And this is my older brother Sefirin,” she said pointing toward him.

“Sofie and Sefirin,” she laughed. “You really do remind us of us and our brother.”

“You keep saying us and we,” Sefirin frowned. “Who else are you talking about?”

Alison pointed to her eyes, “I have a partner inside me. Their name is Penny. And together we’ve done a lot more than we could on our own.” She led the horse forward and they followed.

They slowed down as Alison passed and Sefirin watched her, sniffing the air softly. He glanced back at his sister and frowned, “You sure about this sis?”

Sofie nodded, “I feel like we can trust her. I want to at the very least. She knows a lot and we need to find Silva. We can’t let that cult take her.” Just when things were starting to get better, she was gone now. She didn’t even let herself think of what she might be going through. Just that she was going to get her back.

“I know. Just. Don’t want to get into more trouble,” he said and she could hear the guilt in his voice. But when he looked at his other little sister he forced a smile. “Okay. Silva first. We’ll figure things out after she’s back.”

Once Alison had Blaze out of the stables she looked back and thought to herself. “Let’s see. A horse. We don’t want to steal one, that wouldn’t be right, but we need to catch up.”

“Don’t worry. We have our transportation,” Sofie said. “We just have to get away from the village.”

“You. What?” Alison raised her eyebrow confused.

“Follow us. And keep a hand on your horse,” Sefirin said smirking at his sister.

They left the stables behind and passed through the town itself again. “Hey you two!”

The trio stopped and turned to face the owner of it. A grey haired old man with a gruff look on his face. He had a package in his hand but neither of them recognized him. But he came up and shoved the package into Sefirin’s hand. “You’re her brother right?”

“What?”

“That girl. Angry blue eyes. Silver hair like metal. The one that got taken away,” Sefirin stiffened. “She bought this. Probably for you two. Sorry you had to pass through here today of all days.” He looked at them and he suddenly looked a lot older than he really was. “A terrible thing that’s happened to this country.”

He turned around and went back to his shop. Sefirin stared down at the food and then glanced at his sister. Sofie’s eyes were a deep green like the sea tinged with the yellow of the morning sun. Sefirin squeezed the package hard and did his best to smile. Even though she knew he was doing it for her, she appreciated it. “Don’t worry Sofie. Silva’s strong. She’ll be okay until we can save her.”

They left the town far behind them, Alison in the lead with the siblings behind her. Once they were clear of the town and with enough distance between them Sofie darted forward. Sofie put her hands to her mouth and called out as loud as she could, “Emeralda!”

Her cry echoed into the sky startling Blaze. Alison looked at her confused, “You have another companion?”

“Yep. And like we said, keep a hand on your horse.”

He looked to the sky and watched as the clouds parted and the giant green shape made herself known. She came down her wings spread and hit the ground with a mighty thud. The ground shook as Emeralda got her bearings and Sofie ran over quickly hugging her head. The massive dragon hummed softly as she leaned against her.

“I heard your thoughts hatchling. We have a journey ahead of us.”

“Yeah we do Em. But we’re gonna get Silva back.”

She stroked her fingers against her scales and then turned to Alison who seemed dumbfounded. If it weren’t for taking care of the clearly spooked horse she might have just been staring. As she stared at the large scaled lizard she didn’t know how to properly process what she was looking at. Gripping the handlebars both to steady Blaze and herself Alison shook her head.

“What. What is that?”

“That’s Emeralda,” Sefirin said. “My sister’s partner.”

“A dragon?” she said fighting her disbelief. “But those are just stories. They aren’t real.”

“Well there’s one right in front of you,” Sefirin smirked and let his eyes change. “And part of one inside of me.”

Her black eye widened and as she looked at him there was more than him than she imagined. She blinked quickly and watched as he moved over to the great beast. Alison kept her distance watching the three of them and shook her head. “Well Penny. This wasn’t on the list of things, was it?”

“No. But nothing is ever straightforward or simple with you, is it?” Penny griped.

With a snarky roll of her eyes she smiled, “No it isn’t.”

“Our horse seems to be as hesitant as you are,” Penny mused. “I wonder what Vincent would have to say about this.”

“Vince would throw a fit,” she laughed. “Though Brynie would be over the moon right now. Imagine her face seeing a dragon.”

Looking down at Blaze she stroked his neck slowly. “Alright Blaze. I know that isn’t something you’re used to but they’re friends.” He threw his head back looking back at her. “I know. It has me weirded out too but trust me boy.”

He chuffed again and after a bit more coaxing approached them. Emeralda turned her head slowly and blinked at them. “You will help us rescue my hatchling’s sister,” she said and Alison once she got over the shock of the dragon’s voice in her head nodded. “Good. These people, even to one of my kind, feel dangerous.”

“They are,” Alison said. “We’ve been doing this mostly on our own. Sometimes with our boyfriend but mostly just us. Having the three of you along will make things easier. Or at least less lonely.”

“Which way do we go?” Sefirin asked as he packed their bags with what they had managed to buy. Lots of bread and dried fruits. The meat Silva had bought they put in a different pouch on Emeralda’s side. “How do we get to Isal?”

“Walk,” Alison replied. “Well in your case fly. Us and Blaze’ll be running. He may not be as fancy as a dragon but he can keep up just fine.”

“How far away is Isal?” Emeralda asked.

“About three days. Probably a little longer.”

“Couldn’t we catch them by flying with Em?” Sofie asked and Emeralda spread her wings as if to emphasize this.

“We don’t know how fast a dragon flies but the Norians are long gone by now,” Alison turned to look toward the sky. “With the magic they’ve been using I wouldn’t be surprised if they were already there. Follow behind us and try not to get lost. Once we get close, we can do reconnaissance and figure out our next play.”

“Once we get close, we can use these,” Sofie pulled out her pocket watch.  “We can track each other using them.

Alison nodded, Blaze’s handlebars and nudging him in the proper direction. “Come on Blaze. We’ve done this a bunch of times before now. Let’s get moving!”

Blaze took off, breaking into a run and she looked over her shoulder and watched as Emeralda flapped her wings and took off from the ground. She soared high into the sky and even Penny had to marvel at things.

“In all my time alive, I haven’t seen anything quite like that.”

“Me either. Glad there’s still stuff out there that can surprise us.” Alison touched her stomach and grunted as she took Blaze’s handlebars.

“Coming out here. Is bold considering your condition.”

“Considering nothing. We still don’t know for sure.”

“You’re in denial.”

“Maybe. But people need our help still.”

“You’ll have to confront this soon Alison. Not just for your sake but for Vincent and your daughter’s as well.” Alison nodded stubbornly and absently kept one hand on her stomach as she rode in the dragon’s shadow, taking the lead.