An imperial soldier passed in front of the group’s hiding spot, a blind spot in the middle of a trio of bushes. Anjali poked her head out of the bush, her helmet’s visor pulled up to give a better view. The soldier was gone, their footprints leading back south from where they came. The anurian breathed a sigh of relief and pulled her head back into their hiding spot, fully removing her helm as she did so. She gingerly rubbed her long pointed ears as she stared at her charges in front of her.

Sarah was still trying to break Ryker out of his hypnotic state that he had been in, trying everything from slapping him to gently singing. Nothing worked and Ryker still held his same expressionless face he bored for the last few hours. Sarah threw her hands up in defeat and picked her dagger back up angrily. She sat by her son and pouted to herself, quietly stewing in her anger; Anjali just shook her head.

“So why is Ryker acting like a doll,” Anjali quietly asked, she was concerned for Ryker as the normally talkative man was now as silent as a stillborn child. Sarah brushed Ryker’s hair out of his face, his dead eyes staring back at her, she sighed. 

“He’s having a PTSD episode,” Sarah explained, “Aaron’s fire must’ve triggered something from his days as a soldier back home. It's rare, but sometimes he goes catatonic like this if the trigger is strong enough, unable to respond to anyone.”

“PTSD huh? Here we call that Scared Memories; like him, soldiers here also experience episodes where they go unresponsive, but i’ve never seen it this bad before.”

“Mmm,” Sarah mumbled, “How's the situation looking?”

Sarah peaked back out from the bush, the clanking of boots could still be heard but they were slowly fading into the distance, soon all that remained was the low buzz of insects flying around and the breeze in the treetops. 

“Alright,” Anjali whispered, Sarah perked up in anticipation, “The area should be clear now. Let's move while we have the chance.”

“Right,” Sarah agreed, picking herself and Ryker off the forest floor. A leaf had fallen onto Ryker’s blank face with silent grace. His mother calmed herself and plucked the leaf from its laurels. 

Anjali once again poked her head out from their hiding place and observed her surroundings, she turned and motioned for the humans to follow her. Together they quietly snuck out of the bushes and ran for a nearby clearing of trees. An animal trail was there, going downhill towards a distant pond, to her right Anjali heard voices approaching. She grabbed Sarah and ushered them down towards the pond and behind a tree towards the bottom of the hill. She peered from her hiding place.

The area around the body of water was as clear as fresh clay, the grass worn down from the many herbivores that frequented the watering hole; a flock of birds were wading in the shallows of the water near the far end of the pond. There was a small campsite here as well, the smoldering embers of a fire remaining in the fire pit quickly went out as another gust of wind blew them away; the flapping of the old tanned tents broke the silence. Anjali looked closely, there were no signs of soldiers within the tents and none without. 

Silently, she stalked out from behind the tree, gently nudging the humans along; she made sure to give the camp a wide berth, going around the far end of the pond. The birds there paid them no mind as they eagerly gulped down fish with their toothed beaks and jagged tongues. The voices behind her were now audible, two feminine and a single masculine chatter filled the dead air. The male was clearly frustrated as he threw his helmet to the ground with a large showing of bravado.

“Gods damn it,” he roared, Anjali dived towards the trees and held her breath. Sarah did much the same, placing a hand over Ryker’s mouth. Anjali gingelly peaked from behind their hiding spot, desperate for an opening.

“How hard can it be to find a hundred Heli damned Anurians!” 

“Lieutenant please,” one of the female Anurians said, hushing her superior, “They’re using Gemsti tactics to hide their numbers, splitting into smaller groups to travel easier. Of course they’re gonna be difficult to find.”

“Yes Huali I know,” he sarcastically responded, “But that's not the problem. Those damned conglomerates have important assets to the general and if we don’t find them he’s gonna have every ranked head he can find.” The lieutenant picked up his helmet and threw it across the pond, knocking into the toothed birds as it did so. They scattered like a riot, fleeing in every direction, including right into Ryker’s face.

Sarah yelped as she let go of her son, who held up his face in pain and surprise, knocked out of his stupor,  as he fell to the ground. Right into the imperials’ line of sight. They locked eyes, their stares boring into each other. 

“Of all times to come back to reality,” Sarah thought to herself.

“Fuck,” Ryker said, he grabbed his mother with his good hand and took off in the opposite direction. Anjali ran after them into the woods as the soldiers behind them gave chase. The lieutenant yanked off a bundle of twigs from trees nearby as they ran; whispering to himself he raised the twigs skyward, and each took off like a bottle rocket, exploding in the air with a loud popping sound that could be heard for kilometers around. 

“He’s sending out signals to the others,” Anjali yelled between her labored gasps. She caught up with the humans, they were red as a beat, their sweat racing down their panicking faces,  “I’m gonna try and lead them away from you two.” 

“No use,” Ryker responded between his own breaths, “they’re right on our tail and have the numbers to chase us even if we split up.”

“We’re gonna have to fight them then and hope their backup doesn’t get here on time,” Anjali unsheathed the sword on her belt and tossed it to Ryker, grabbing it in mid air he ran in front of his mother; together, him and Anjali formed a small shield between Sarah and their pursuers. The Imperials quickly caught up with them, as the final of the Lieutenants’ signals left his hand, exploding into red smoke above the skirmish. Their labored breathing filled the forest, as the last birds above them faded into the distance. 

“Well,” the Lieutenant started, “ask and you shall receive. Not only do I finally find a ranking conglomerate, but they’ve brought our missing targets back with them too boot!”

“Listen carefully,” Ryker said, his voice going low trying to intimidate them, “we don’t want to have to hurt you. Just leave now and we-”

“Sorry,” the lieutenant interrupted, “but the singular soldier, the woman with a letter opener, and the child with a broken arm have no ground to be making threats or demands.” He grabbed a handful of leaves from a tree above him, and whispered to himself again. The leaves collapsed into a ball and ignited with a snap of his fingers. The flickering light radiated off his bronze armor; his eyes aglow with flames he chucked it at Ryker, who was transfixed on the forming fireball. 

“Ryker down,” Anjali yelled, knocking him to his knees with her spear. The fireball sailed over their heads and exploded behind them in a grove of trees. Smoke filled the air as the flames spread from the spell, Anjali went to lift Ryker back up but found him staring off once again, his sword on the ground next to him.

“Gods damn it, not again,” Anjali had no time to help him, the two other soldiers had made use of the opening and rushed Agali, one kicking her to her stomach and the other grabbing hold of her arms; the imperial twisted Anjali’s wrist, knocking the spear from her grasp.

The one that had kicked her had now gone for Sarah, their spear posed to strike, she dove out of the way. The spear made a poof of dirt as it struck the ground where Sarah once stood; the soldier charged at her. Ryker intercepted the elf’s tackle, throwing them both to the ground. The Imperial managed to wrestle herself on top of Ryker, straddling his chest and locking his arms in place with her legs. With her now free hands, Sarah stood in horror as the elf pummeled into Ryker, blood pooling from his bruised and battered face with each strike. Anjali was doing no better, the lieutenant of the group kicking her into the dirt with his boot, a sinister smile on his face growing more and more with each hit. Then he turned his attention to Sarah, the knife in her hands trembling she rushed at him with a roar.

With the grace of an eagle, he knocked the knife out of her hands. It went flying behind her, landing in a nearby shrub; scaring a small animal out of its nest, it flew out with a shriek. Sarah made much the same noise as she too was kicked to the ground. Her face in the dirt, she was dragged over to Ryker, whose beating had thankfully stopped for the time being. His purple face stared at his mother, blood from a broken tooth dribbling down his chin mixing with that from his nose. A weak smile formed on his bleeding purple lips.

“Don’t worry, Sarah,” he feebly said, “I’ll get us out of this.” That remark was met with another punch, and Ryker went silent. Sarah saw red and struggled against her captor, forcing herself out of his hands she kicked and clawed like as if she was a punished child. The lieutenant held his grip for as long as he could, but the anger of the mother before him was too much and he quickly lost that battle. Saarah cried out for her son and jumped onto the elf straddling him, bringing her full weight onto her, pushing her off Ryker.

“Ugh,” the lieutenant groaned, “I hate it when they reist.” Suddenly a pop rang out from above. He looked up and saw a signal flare much like his own, only blue this time. His smile returned- an ear to ear grin - his backup had finally arrived, it was time to end this and get his reward. His attention turned back towards Sarah, who was now huddled over Ryker as the elf she was fighting was trying to yank her off the Target.

“Enough already,” he yelled, approaching the women he picked up the spear stuck in the ground, their screams and grunts ignored as he slowly made his way over.

“Just give up, come quietly or I’m gonna have to break that mouth of yours.”

“No,” she rescinded between blows, “I’d rather die than force my son back to that hell!”

“Oh? Is that so? Well what about us, huh? Would you rather us let you go and we suffer the fate you 're supposed to go through?”

“I’D RATHER YOU ALL BURN!” she cried out with all her heart. The magic in the air formed around her, swirling into visibility. The elf kicking her stepped back in fear, her mouth agape at the magic in the air. Sarah stood up; all of her veins were aglow, pulsating with a blinding rainbow light as the Magic flowed into her, the lieutenant also backing up, his smile was shattered. The glare from the human was impossibly bright now, no Magic left in the area, the fire from the burning trees behind her surrounded each of the elves. She let out a final roar and unleashed the fire unto them, setting them ablaze.

The smoke coming from all around him was the first thing he noticed as it tinged his nostrils, mixed in with the smell of burning meat. His hair disgusted him, smelling like rotten incense as the fire reached his scalp. The heat was the next thing he noticed, the burning sensation all over his body growing with each passing moment. Then he noticed the pain, an agonizing burst of pain that was coming from all around the lieutenant. And yet, what scared him the most was that he soon felt nothing. No pain whatsoever. He fell to his knees, the strength in them gone, gone in a flash. His lungs were on fire, the flames burning the lining of his throat without prejudice; every breath he took more and more embers entered into him, scalding his boiling tongue further with each pain riddled moment. He choked out his last agony driven breath and stared up at Sarah in pure fear as he succumbed to the fire consuming him, like a deer resigned to the maw of the lion. All of the elves had met the same fate, their bodies burning from within, the black charring of their skins was soon all that remained of them.

Sarah dropped to her knees and vomited, a white purple liquid was being expunged. She coughed and hacked over her son and stared off in horror at what she had done. Speechless, she covered her mouth, the tears welling in her eyes as she realized what she had done. She wanted to scream, she wanted to shout, she wanted to cry, but most of all, she wanted her mother. She wanted her children. She wanted her wife.

Anjali knocked the burning corpse off of her, her wrists having been burnt from their contact with Sarah’s victims. She too was agape with horror at the sight before her. Never before had such an amount of magic been used without a ritual, and never has one been burnt alive like this squad was; the human had used the burning trees around them and somehow directed that chaos. She cautiously approached her charge, gingerly taking a step closer while Sarah stood over Ryker’s body silently. She tapped the human on the shoulder, startling them both back to reality.

“You okay,” Anjali asked. Sarah stood back with blank, teary eyes. Anjali tried to say something, but was at a loss for words. After all, what could she say? It was clear that Sarah had never killed anyone before, and definitely not this brutally before. Nothing she said could comfort the woman, so she turned her attention to Ryker. She examined his face and breathed a sigh of relief. The wind blew the smell of tar and charcoal away from the remains. 

“Ryker’s gonna be okay,” she said stoically, “He just has some bruising and a broken nose. Nothing our medics can’t handle.”

Sarah stared up at the elf, before turning her attention down to her son. She picked him up in her arms and held him like a comforting stuffed animal. There, she began to cry into his hair. A slow, regretful cry; one that she needed right now. Anjali slowly stroked the back of her head in an effort to help comfort her. A tap on her shoulder caused her to jump up, she spun on her heels and punched at the culprit, but her fist was easily caught.

“Woah there Anjali,” Captain Argust said sternly, “I don’t think that punch is meant for me.”

“Captain,” she yelled, she stood at attention, “Forgive me.”

“At ease,” he said, waving her down, “you’re too on edge.”

“Sorry sir.”

“No need for that. So, do you mind explaining why three imperial Anurians are burning at my feet?” 

“We were ambushed sir. They overwhelmed us and we were nearly captured. Until…,” Anjali trailed off.

“Until what?”

“Until I murdered the ones attacking us,” Sarah choked out, her cries ringing into Ryker’s skull.

“You did all of this,” Argos asked. Sarah did not reply, only holding Ryker tighter.

“Answer me Sarah,” she bore daggers into the captain. A coldness crept onto the group as the silence prevailed.

“Yes sir,” Anjali answered, “She did.”

“Mmmmmm, that's troubling to hear. And finally explains why the four of you have been targeted.”

“Pardon me Captain,” began Anjali, “But I don’t understand.”

“I didn’t either at first, until I heard the report from your messenger.”

“Sir,” came a voice from behind, It was Ulia, his helmet obscuring his face, “The area is clear, although there's something you might want to see.”

“Right, I’ll explain later then. Let's grab the humans and head back to camp then.”

Anjali and Ulia nodded in agreement. Ulia grabbed Ryker and swung his limp body over his back, jostling him awake.

“Argh, my head,” he said groggily, “That’s the second time today I passed out.”

“Hey Ryker, don’t worry,” Ulia reassured the man on his back, “You’re safe now.”

“No thanks to me.”

“Alright, that's enough chatting for you two,” August ordered, “Let's get moving, Ulia, show me what you needed me to see.”

Anjali offered a hand to Sarah, who sat and looked at it for a second. Scared that she might hurt Anjali too, she refused her help and picked herself up. She gingerly walked over to Ryker and put a firm grip on his shoulder. He gave a reassuring smile to his mother, and patted the top of her head in an effort to comfort her, but her smile did not return.

Ulia took the group a little way into the woods, away from the battle. There they were hit with the same burning smell as before, the cindering remains of leaves littered the ground. All of their hearts sunk to their stomachs; Sarahs down to her feet.

In front of them, more than thirty burnt corpses of Imperial Anurians covered the forest floor, as if it was a mass grave. Sarah let go of Ryker and fell to her knees, the others were speechless; Ryker eyes glassed over at the scene before him.

And Sarah finally screamed.