Smoke burns my nostrils, coughing wracks my body ripping me from sleep. My eyes burn, the room is filled with a black haze. I quickly throw on some semblance of clothing and wrap my cloak around my face. Ivar has done the same.
We rush to the windows and fling them open. Planks and metal barr our exit. I whirl around and rush to the door, tugging on the locked handle. I throw my shoulder into it, again and again. Nothing moves.
“Step aside.” Ivar pushes me from the door and steps back. With a roar he throws the might of his entire body into it. A loud snap echos, but the wood remains intact. Ivar falls to the floor groaning and gripping has shoulder. My heart shoots into my throat, and my mind races with a thousand thoughts of burning alive. What do we do? A loud bang comes from the other side of the door.
“You in there, clear the door and cover your ears!” It’s a voice I don’t recognize, but it’s a welcome one given the circumstances. Ivar and I get as far from the door as possible, and just a few seconds later it’s blasted off its hinges to the other side of the room. The hooded man from the bar walks in through the smoke.
“Come with me if you want to live.” Without another word we jump to our feet and run along behind the man, meeting Rhys and During at the top of the stairs. I yell to Rhys, my voice nearly drowned by the crackling of flames.
“Where’s Aurora?!”
“I don’t know, she wasn’t in her room!” The hooded man cuts our conversation short, waving us down the stairs.
“This way!” We follow him down into the kitchen, where he unlocks a trap door and disappears into the blackness of the cellar below. I take a breath and jump after him. We land hard on the stone floor. The only light coming from the fire blazing above us. Through the dimness I make out another door. Our saviour is already kneeling there, flicking his picks carefully about the internal lock. With a loud click he throws the iron lock to the floor and flings the door open. We rush through the dark tunnel, my lungs burning from the smoke.
Soon we reach another trap door, above us this time. We pull ourselves quickly up the ladder, escaping the blaze. We emerge several hundred feet from the now half standing tavern. Smoke billows up into the sky, the engulfing flames flick embers onto the entirety of the town. People are running in a panic trying to put out the fire with small buckets of water. Screams come from the tavern as it continues to crumble. I stand and being to rush over, yelling at the others for help.
“There’s still people in there!” I feel something wrap around my ankle and I’m pulled hard to the ground. A black hood is thrown over my head and my hands are bound behind me.
“Where’s the witch?” A new voice has joined us.
“She left shortly after the fire broke out.” The hooded man says.
“I see, shall we go after her?”
“I wager she’s already halfway back to her coven by now. No chance we catch her without having to deal with the entirety of their ranks first.” Footsteps begin walking around me, hands grab my arms and hoist me to my feet.
“Who are you?” I ask.
“None of your concern Soren.”
“How do you know my-” Something hard hits the back of my head, and I black out.
