The North Tower, Scene v2

Minor adjustments to include Elena.

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Citizens were already whispering rumors of a street fight that occurred during the night, but fortunately, there was no mention of a Catheran. Kismet touched her cheek lightly, relieved that the cut had healed before dawn before anyone could notice it. However, her encounter with the Kival spy left her uneasy.

The caravan rolled back to the entrance of town, the food replaced with salt, steel, coal, and oil. A Lokem soldier rushed to the entrance from outside the town. He fell to his knees, out of breath with a few cuts and scrapes. “C…Commander! The North Tower! The Kival...”

Garrick exchanged glances with Devin briefly before dashing North. Elena, along with six of his soldiers, followed while two stayed behind and tended to the exhausted soldier. Devin turned to his soldiers who whispered confusingly amongst themselves. “Nakita, Sara, Lucas, and Kismet, come with me. Sivelle, take everyone else and escort the caravan back to the capitol.”

The base of the tower was in shambles. Furniture was broken under the bodies of two Lokem soldiers. Blood stained the stone walls and floor of the tower. All of the cabinets and storage were stripped bare. Garrick rushed to his fallen comrades in hopes for a sign of life. He swore under his breath. Both of them were dead. He furiously kicked a loose board against the wall with fists clenched. “Damn those Kival! They’ve become nothing more than murderers. Harris, Cutter, Mason, stay here and watch the door. The rest of you come with me.”

They rushed up the stairs, passing by the stripped middle floor, and barged through the door to the roof. Attached to the door were two ropes attached to the lids of two barrels. The lids popped off when the door shot open. Oil spilled out of the barrels and oozed down the stairs.

“What the hell?” asked Garrick. He picked up a note attached to the side of the barrel and read it aloud. “ ‘Empire scum, may you burn in hell.’ ”

“Fire! They set the entrance on fire!” cried Harris from the bottom floor of the tower. The three soldiers began scurrying up the steps in a panic as the fire quickly spread across the room. The rush of oil flooded down the stairs at them. Cutter slipped on the oil and rolled violently down the steps, knocking over Harris and Mason. The three soldiers reached out helplessly for something to stop their fall but to no avail. Tormented screams filled the tower as their oil stained uniforms ignited in the flames.

Garrick cringed at the sound of their cries. “Damn it. Damn those Kival!”

“Celeste, please show us mercy,” prayed Lucas.

“The oil…the fire—!” cried Elena.

She didn’t have to say it. They all knew. The roof was stained with oil, and the fire was spreading quickly. It had already claimed three of their lives, but their only means of escape was now ablaze. The tower was far too tall to jump off, and the trees were beyond jumping reach. With every second, the fire drew closer to the roof.

“Can’t you just make a bunch of water and put the fire out, Nakita?” asked Sara.

“Don’t you think I would’ve done that already if I could? Using water would only spread the fire faster. It’s the oil that’s on fire, and water can’t douse it.”

Kismet ran to the tower’s edge to scan her surroundings. A small group of people fled north through the trees. The woods that surrounded the tower were close, but a leap of faith would not be enough to reach it. Entering the tower was not an option and jumping off would surely result in severe injury, or even death, for the most of them. She realized the first thing that needed to be done was to buy some time. She closed the roof door and kicked it in with a powerful thrust from both her legs. The door crashed down the stairs, into the rising flames. The Catheran placed both her palms on the doorway that led to the roof. She channeled her focus into the stone. The stone cracked loudly and began to crumble, collapsing the doorway over the stairwell.

“What the hell are you doing? You just trapped us up here!” yelled Sara in disbelief.

“I’m sorry. Did you want to go down there?” snapped back Kismet, as she continued by melding the stone together.

Nakita quickly crouched down beside Kismet and helped her in sealing the floor. “Now what? The tower will crumble once the supports burn out.”

“We jump for the trees,” announced Kismet.

“Are you crazy? There’s no way we can jump that far,” said Elena.

“I’ll climb down the tower and collapse its side. If I make it fall north, it should take you all close enough to jump onto the trees.”

“It sounds crazy, but I guess we have no other choice,” approved Devin. “I’ll trust you with this one.”

“You can’t be serious. The damned furlicker is going to get us killed!” snapped Sara.

“Do you have a better idea?” asked Devin. “I didn’t think so.”

Kismet dangled from the edge of the roof. She latched her feet onto the side of the tower with her claws. Focusing her energy, she softened the stone and slid down the outer wall of the tower. As she descended, the stone grew hotter and hotter. She reached a gap half way down the tower. Her foot slipped, followed by her hands. The Catheran found herself staring at the sky, at the soldiers on the roof who leaned over the edge and stared back at her. The stones of the wall became nothing more than a blur of grey.



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