POV: Nyra
The world feels like it's standing still.
I have no choice. I can't survive this alone.
I grab the dagger, my notebook containing my past, and the strange book I found in the room. When I reach for his hand, he doesn't hesitate. He lifts me effortlessly and leaps from the window—one I was certain would mean my death.
For him, it's different.
He lands hard, a grunt of pain escaping him. His arms tremble from the impact, but he never loosens his hold on me.
We run.
We reach my stable behind the shop. I look past him and see it—my home, my shop—engulfed in flames. The fire spreads hungrily toward the stables.
Buttercup.
I hear her frantic cries.
Kaelith sets me down near her, and, I rush forward.
"Easy, girl. Easy," I whisper, fumbling with the straps. My hands shake, but I manage to free her.
I mount quickly.
"No matter what happens," he says. "My parents—we need to—" He shakes his head. "There is no time to find them. We need to move."
He takes off, yelling, "Ride in the direction I'm running. Do not stop for anything."
Then he takes off.
I urge Buttercup forward, following him. Somehow he keeps pace with her—impossible for any normal man. But for him… it doesn't surprise me anymore.
His armor made him almost invisible in the smoke and darkness. He cut down anyone in our path as if he were the night itself, culling evil with every swing."
We make a sharp turn.
And I realize where we're heading.
The park.
Where the children I teach play.
Kaelith stops dead in his tracks.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Don't look, Nyra. Just keep your eyes forward."
But it's too late.
I look.
They're there.
The children.
Slaughtered.
Limbs twisted in unnatural ways. The white scarf one of them always wore was now stained red.
My breathing disappears.
The screams. The crackling flames. The heat.
All of it fades into nothing.
"Nyra, we have to move," Kaelith says.
I don't respond.
"Nyra. We have to move. Now."
He shakes me. Footsteps echo somewhere behind us.
They didn't deserve this.
They deserved better.
They deserved—
The thought is ripped away as the reins are pulled from my hands. Something warm presses against me. I grab onto it instinctively.
Kaelith is in the saddle now, guiding Buttercup himself. He kicks away anyone who tries to grab hold and slow us down.
We ride.
And ride.
After some time, I begin to feel cold.
Only then does everything come back into focus.
We're outside the city.
I turn and see flames and smoke swallowing everything I've ever known.
It's all burning.
We stop after putting distance between us and the city. Kaelith dismounts and forces me to do the same. The night air bites at my skin, numbing everything.
He presses something into my chest.
"Put this on."
He turns away.
Numbly, I change into the plain long-sleeved shirt and pants. I hand him my nightclothes, and he stuffs them into a saddlebag. I don't know where he found these clothes. I don't care.
I'm still so cold.
"Nyra, talk to me," he says, helping me back onto Buttercup before mounting behind me.
I try.
"Everything is…"
The words won't come. My teeth chatter. My hands won't stop shaking.
"I know," he says quietly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't save them. Or your parents."
The pain in his voice almost breaks me.
"What do I do now?" I whisper, more to myself than to him. Tears spill freely down my face.
"I don't know, Nyra. That's your choice."
Silence hangs between us for a moment before he continues.
"But if you want direction… I can take you to The 25's base. You'll be safe there."
My throat tightens.
"And my parents? Can they be saved by them?"
"If someone posts the contract and it's accepted, you would also need to offer compensation. "
Compensation.
I have no one left.
No help.
No resources.
"Then what if I were to join?"
The horse slows.
"Nyra," he says gravely, "you could. But the road won't be easy. You would need to pass preliminary training. Then the Trial could kill you. Afterward, you could post the contract yourself. I would take it with you. No payment needed. But even then… it won't be easy."
I inhale deeply, forcing air into my lungs.
"I'll do it," I say. "I will join The 25 if it means saving them." I take a deep breath. "And if it means finding them as well."
"Are you sure? Once you join, you can't go back."
I stare at the flames in the distance.
"I have nowhere to go back to."
Exhaustion drags every word from me.
He is silent for a long moment.
"Alright then."
And so he takes me toward a place I do not know, toward a future I do not understand, and away from everything I once called home.