Erythro - Prologue

There was a storm outside. The girl rushed to her windows and looked out onto the city below. It was not night, but the storm turned the sky black. In the distance, she saw something – lights. Thousands of lights, somehow burning through the rain. She had never seen that before. Her curious mind would not let her eyes look away, but her heart still pounded with fright.

Her door flew open and she instinctively screamed. It was a man that she knew, the father of one of her school mates. “Quickly, out this way,” he said softly. She ran to him. Her younger sister was waiting in the hall, looking just as frightened as she felt, her blond hair a disheveled mess. There was no sign of their older brother. “We need to get downstairs. It’s not safe up here.”

“What’s going on?” she asked.

The man glanced toward the windows nervously. “Don’t worry, they will protect us. But we need to be out of harm’s way just in case.”

“They are attacking us, aren’t they?” her sister asked, her tiny voice squeaking with fear. “Those people they keep telling us about, that’s them, isn’t it?”

“Downstairs, girls, quickly.” The man pushed them towards the stairs. Her sister’s hand slipped into her hand. The two girls glanced at each other, both wondering what was going on. She felt every inch of the wooden floor on her bare feet. Below them, she heard an argument. Her brother was standing in front of the wide open front door, and her father was standing farther back.

“You will need protection!” her brother said.

“We have all the protection we will need,” her father replied calmly. “Join your comrades outside.”

“I’m not leaving my family behind. What if they get inside?”

“The wall is impenetrable. They will not. Go.”
“You have never fought against them! How could you know -”

“Silence boy! You could leave or you could be known as the coward that did nothing while his city was attacked!”

Her brother glanced around nervously, but no one would support him. Somehow his eyes found hers. He stared at her for a second, and then turned to face his father again. Without another word he marched out. She ran down the stairs and to the door, watching her brother until he disappeared into the rain. Suddenly a deafening horn sounded, causing her to run away from the door. She hit into her father. He turned, completely unaffected by what had just happened.

Suddenly a tall man wearing a uniform ran to the door. “Sir!”

Her father turned back, annoyed. “What?”

“Umm… we need your orders.”

“Follow what your commander says.”

“Yes, well… he’s the one that sent me… sir.”

Her father walked very quickly toward the man. “Are you telling me that your commander is incapable of leading?”

The soldier lowered his head. “No, sir.”

“Then follow his orders. He already knows my plans.”

The uniformed man suddenly shouted out, losing control of himself. “It’s madness! You can’t chase them!”

“Enough.”

“You’ll kill them all!”

“I said enough.”

“Your own son, Oliver, he’s in that group!”

“Soldier, you will follow your orders or you will hang. Do I make myself clear?”

The soldier lowered his head again. “Yes, sir.”

“Rejoin your division before you are the next coward to be punished for desertion.” The soldier left, looking defeated and afraid.

The girl looked from the empty door to her father. “What’s going to happen to Oliver?” she asked.
“It’s none of your concern,” her father mumbled.
“He’s my brother!”

Her father grabbed her shoulder roughly. “Go below, with your sister.”

“No! What are you doing with Oliver?” She stared at her father’s eyes, but that only confirmed her fears. Something very bad was going to happen to her brother and her father did not care. Even worse, he had ordered it to happen. She had to stop him.

She wrenched herself free and sprinted out the open door faster than anyone could stop her. Through the rain and the mud she ran until she came upon the wall of the city. It towered over her. She had to get up there. Her brother was up there somewhere. When she reached the top, all she could see for miles around were dark men pointing weapons up at them. Suddenly she heard a small zip sound rush by her ear as an arrow flew just past her and landed harmlessly behind her feet. She screamed.

Someone pulled her to the ground. She knew him as well. His name was Henry, the brother of her school mate and the older son of the man who had recently tried to usher her downstairs. Henry was also the commander of their army. “What are you doing here?” he asked her. He was trying to sound calm, but she could tell that he was afraid as well.

“Oliver, I -” More arrows flew past them.

“This is not the time. You need to go home."

“But -”

“Oliver will be fine, trust me. Go home.” More arrows came. Then a large ball of light came flying over their heads and crashed into the ground below. She screamed. “Someone get her out of here!” Henry yelled. She was pulled toward the stairs, but her eyes would not leave Henry. He was standing tall, shouting orders and returning fire.
The storm was slowing down, and the sun began to poke through the clouds. A ray of sunshine fell on Henry, making him look powerful, almost godlike.
That power was abruptly taken away by an arrow that sliced straight through his neck. Henry fell backward off of the wall, collapsing on the ground below. Her eyes went to the attackers, and she saw who had fired the shot. It was a young man, probably only a few years older than she was. He was staring where Henry had once been, admiring his shot. His head turned to the right and those eyes suddenly stared directly at her, dark menacing eyes, and she knew that she was the next target. She screamed.

(A note on formatting: I double space the paragraphs to make it easier to read this online. Obviously it would not be published like that.)