"Cale. Cale. Wake up!"
Cale moaned. The panicked whisper was accompanied by violent shaking. Who in the world was shaking him?
"Leave him and come on!"
"Cale. Get up, right now!"
Cale moaned and rubbed his eyes. Byron stood over him, his night shirt drenched in sweat. Tully continued to try to shake him awake. There was no reason for his siblings to be in the barn, especially together. Byron kept looking around, his eyes wide in fear.
"Wa's going on?" Cale grunted, sitting up in confusion.
"Come on. Get up. We have to go now!" Tully pulled him to his feet.
"What's going on?" He grabbed his hat.
"Let's get out of here," Byron whispered before running away. Tully took Cale's hand and ran, as well.
It took Cale several minutes before he realized how wrong everything was. To go directly from a deep sleep to a brisk run in the night air was not an easy thing to do. It was yet another experience Cale wished he could avoid.
All the animals were gone. How strange. Usually they stuck close to the barn or near fields at night, but they were nowhere in sight. He could only hear the faint screaming of the pigs. It was an uneasy sound at the best of times, and entirely terrifying given the time of night.
This scared Cale even more. It was still far too early for dawn, yet an orange glow could be seen on the horizon.
The wrong horizon.
"What's going on?" Cale asked between heavy breaths, sweating despite the cool night air.
"I don't know." Tully wasn't even winded. "The pigs are gone and the town is on fire. Pa and Aaron went to investigate. Regina told me and Byron to run for the river. I had to convince him to stop for you."
"Thank you."
"I would never leave you." She gripped his hand tighter.
"I know." At least Cale had Tully.
They paused at the ridgeline to catch their breath. Byron crouched low, looking as if he was trying not to throw up. He was not exactly built for running.
Cale also gulped down air. Tully turned back, watching the house on the other side of the clearing. She was the first to see it.
"AH!" She screamed.
The first tendrils of smoke were unnoticeable against the black sky, but the orange tongues of fire lapping against the roof were not. Within a manner of seconds, their home was engulfed in flames. Two figures ran from the inferno, only to succumb to the fire themselves. Cale wasn't sure which of his siblings was screaming, only that Byron was the only one holding them all back.
The barn was the next to go. Isolated apart from the house, it erupted into a blaze as well. Cale thought some stray spark must have set it off, but the ferocity was unlike any fire he'd ever seen. Through it all, he kept his eyes on the unmoving bodies of Regina and their mother. Tully wailed as quietly as she could, clinging to Cale in desperation. Even Byron's quips and bullying fell silent.
As the barn collapsed in on itself with the roar of thunder, one lone pillar remained, bathed in light. Cale rubbed his eyes, finally looking away from his family toward the oddity. The barn was little more than an open-sided shack. There were no pillars in it, certainly none able to withstand the fire and the collapse of the building. Though aflame, the obelisk was not consumed.
Then, it turned its head.
The pillar was a man, a being, with charred and cracked skin constantly ablaze as if bathed in lamp oil. The radiant being stood almost eight feet tall, Cale guessed, with shoulders as broad as a man. It stood motionless, scanning the tree line as the fire crackled around it. When its glowing eyes met Cale's, he almost fainted. The world went gray, existing only in that creature's fiery pupils. The moment seared into his memory, ensuring he would remain with him forever. He forgot to breathe. It was like being plunged beneath an icy lake in the dead of winter. Every single fiber of his being screamed one thing.
Fear.
There was a shout, or maybe a scream. Cale could barely process anything as his world went blank.
A man came running for the creature, brandishing a shovel. Another followed after him. Pa and Aaron. They would fix everything. Their father reared back and struck with the shovel, sending out a mighty clang Cale could hear even from where he hid. It was a cold, solid sound, similar to striking wet sand. Without even flinching the flaming beast turned its attention to the two newcomers.
It was over in an instant. Tully clung to Cale's chest, squeezing her eyes tight shut against the sight. Cale could not look away, though, either out of shock or bravado. He bore full witness as two more members of their family were cut down, and two more torches blazed to life.
The silence was broken as newcomers arrived, several figures that were clearly human. A man and a woman, clad in black with swords of their own, looked ready for a fight. Rangers, Cale thought to himself. They'll kill the beast. But there was no slaying, no killing. Instead, they simply spoke to the creature as if they knew one another. Then, with a terrifying gesture, all three turned their eyes back to the tree line and stared directly at Cale.
"We need to go." Cale stood, his legs finding strength, though he knew not from where. "Tully, get up. We must leave. Byron--"
Cale turned, but Byron was nowhere to be found. He had taken heed of his cowardice and fled. Tully looked around as well, her expression showing her disbelief that their older brother would abandon them. She screamed anew once arrows began thumping into the trees around them. The strangers were shooting at them.
"Run!" Cale screamed, taking hold of Tully's hand.
The two rushed headlong through the underbrush, not caring for the cuts and scrapes and torn nightclothes. They stumbled and crashed downhill in a mad scramble born of panic and dread. Cale could only hope they were heading the right direction, though what that direction was and what lay ahead he could not say. The oily smoke from a thousand fires filled the night, blotting out the moon and stars. The inky blackness was a curse to the terrified children.
It was also a blessing.
As they stumbled into the river with a scream, it occurred to Cale that they must have lost their pursuers. Surely no one could track them in this darkness.
The siblings came to rest in the river, sputtering up water and gasping for air. The water was frigid, closer to the end of summer than the beginning, and though the river flowed from the warmth of the north, it was still strikingly cold.
"Are you alright?" Tully asked, her wet hair framing her face.
"I'm okay." Cale was covered in scratches and his legs ached but he was otherwise unharmed. "Are you hurt?" Tully shook her head. Cale looked around. "What happened to Byron?"
"Cale," Tully whispered low. "What was that?"
"I--I don't know." Cale thought for a moment, biting his thumb. "I've never read about anything like that."
"It was on fire! Cale. It... It killed Ma and Pa..."
Cale couldn't focus on his sister's words. He was still concentrating on the creature. It was far larger than any man. It burned and yet was not consumed. And were those horns on its head? Did it have a tail?
Cale couldn't remember. It had all happened so fast that the only thing of which he was certain was that it was not even remotely human. The village elders, when they came to buy a pig for their annual sacrifice, spoke of mountain spirits living in the high places, of ancestors long forgotten and deeply angered.
Could that have been what the creature was? But none of the elders had ever spoken of a flaming beast the size of a bear.
The cold water splashing over his face brought Cale back to the present. "Cale!" Tully yelled. "Focus!"
"Sorry." Cale wiped his face, standing unsteadily to his feet. The rocks in the river were loose. Tully accepted his extended hand. His thumb hurt. He tended to chew it when concentrating deeply. He always had. "What do we do now?"
Tully tried her best to wring out her shift. It had torn in many places and the thin material clung to her delicate form. "We need to head downriver. The village is burnt and most likely everyone is--everyone is like Ma and Pa if that creature is still on the loose. Byron is off to who-knows-where. There should be another town farther downstream."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm not sure of anything." Tully's lip quavered. "You ready?"
Cale took a slow look around. Now that they had stopped moving, they were both shivering from the frigid wet and cold. The glow from the farm and the burning village could still be seen over the treetops, farther upstream around the bend.
"I never thought I would be so sad to leave," Cale murmured.
"You're the one who wanted to see the world," Tully reminded him.
"I know. But I've never even been this far from home before."
"It's alright." She smiled. “I'm here with you."
"Yeah, you're right." Cale smiled back, putting on the bravest face he could.
They headed off, not letting go of one another's hand. Cold and fear kept them alive. Hope and familiarity kept them together. The river twisted its path, swaying with a gentle gurgle as if the horrors of the night were nothing more than a strange nightmare.
"I think... I think I know where we are," Tully said hesitantly.
"Where?"
"Regina said Aaron and Byron used to sneak off downriver sometimes with some of the village boys and go swimming, fishing and trapping in the summer. There should be a sandy bank with a big tree somewhere up ahead."
"Maybe that's where Byron went."
"Maybe. I'll be glad to see him, even if he did run off and leave us behind."
"Yeah..." Cale slowly agreed. He couldn't handle this on his own. At least Byron was older. Cale wished he didn't have to rely on him. If Cale were older and bigger he could protect Tully all by himself.
If only.
Tully stopped, halting Cale with her.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Shush. Did you hear that?"
The attack came suddenly with a snapping and rustling of trees. Arrows scattered furiously into the ground around them.
Tully called for Cale to run as the two sprinted away. One of their pursuers crossed over the riverbank, giving chase. Cale lost Tully's hand during the mad scramble amid the twang of bowstrings. Then the arrows suddenly fell silent.
And Cale was running by himself.
Turning back, he saw Tully on the ground, struggling to rise. Blood pooled around the arrow shaft lodged in the small of her back. She tried to push herself up but couldn't. She felt for the arrow in her back, and that's when she screamed. A shrill sound of a child, full of agony and suffering, it was born as much of fear as it was of pain.
"Tully!" Cale screamed, his voice high-pitched and full of panic.
"Cale. Run," Tully coughed, her eyes full of tears. Her assailant walked out of the underbrush with a steady pace. Tully tried to drag herself away, trailing her limp legs in the water behind her.
"I..." Cale couldn't think. He was frozen on the spot. He was still so young, no match for bows and arrows and swords and fire monsters. But he also couldn't leave his sister. She was his best friend. His only friend.
"It's okay." Tully smiled so sweetly. She met his eyes to reassure him--the same eyes he had, the eyes he had known since birth. Eyes now full of tears, begging him to leave and yet not wanting to be abandoned.
"It's okay, Cale,” she repeated. “Run."
Cale still couldn't move, undecided.
His decision was taken from his as the Ranger reached Tully. "Run!"
Cale ran. With tears stinging his face, he ran. Fear and regret and cowardice dogged him, but he still ran. The monsters who’d murdered his family were still out there and he'd just left his sister to die at their hands.
Not because she’d told him to, but because he was afraid. He ran with no direction in mind, blinded by fear and grief and tears. He followed the twisting river and almost ran into the tree in the middle of the sand bar.
"Hey, Cale," a voice called out, but there was no one around. "Cale, get me down."
Cale craned up his neck. Byron was hanging from the tree like an animal caught in a snare, slowly spinning on the rope snare which trapped his foot. Gravity had worked its magic on his upside-down form, shifting his pudginess into new places and changing the color of his face. He looked like a purple chipmunk.
"Byron? What are you doing up there?" Cale wiped the snot from his nose.
"Oh, you know. Just, uh, hanging around. The usual. Where's Tully?"
"The--the bandits shot her."
"Oh, her too, huh? I'm sorry. Hey, how about you climb on up here and get me down?"
"I couldn't do anything." Cale started crying again. "She just lay there and I ran. Byron, I'm so scared."
"It's okay. Come on buddy. Cut me down and I'll take care of it."
"But you ran, too." Cale looked up, remembering. "You left me and Tully to that fire thing."
"That? No, I was just looking for a way out for all of us. Cut me down."
"I'm no better." The tears wouldn't stop. "I left Tully. She's dead because of me. It's out there, it's coming for me, and I ran."
"We all make mistakes. No one is perfect. How about you climb on up here and untie me?"
"I can't climb."
"What?"
"I can't climb. You pushed me out of the tree once and mother forbade me to climb trees anymore."
"Well? If you're so smart, figure something else out!"
"I'm thinking," whined Cale.
Cale looked back as another dark figure walked toward the duo, his sword bathed in fire. He was headed straight toward Cale.
"Byron? Help!"
"Help you? Help me, you little runt!"
The figure broke into a run. Cale screamed in fear, his legs moving on their own. He ran away as quickly as possible, feeling the heat of the fire on his back.
"Cale? Cale!" Byron screamed. "Cale, get me down from here! I'll never forgive you for this! If you don't untie me I'm going to come down there and beat the tar out of you. This is your last chance! You hear me? Cale!"
Cale kept running as his brother's screams became more frantic. Soon, they were silenced all together. Tears streaming down his face, Cale kept running, once more into the dark of the night.