In the flames

O'Neil was getting confused by the way the discussion was going.

"Be more elaborate," said O'Neil.

"I need you to join me," said De voe

"Do you hear yourself? What makes you think that I would join you in your evil deeds?" asked O'Neil.

"Join me, O'Neil, together we'll reign supreme. This is all you ever dreamt of O'Neil, now it's right in front of you," said De voe, persuading him.

" I can't do this, all I want is the good and the survival of our people, not this," answered O'Neil.

"Be wise, don't let these lemons push you down into situations that you can't handle, that you can't control, you're way over your head," stated De voe.

"Just think about your daughter, think about your wife," he added.

"My family is going to be fine. Let me make something clear to you De voe, I would never join you, not in my sound mind," said O'Neil.

De voe gave out a sigh.

"I miss you brother, and I wish we both had like minds. It looks like we'll be going out separate ways now," he said.

"I wish the same for you De voe, but it appears that the brother I had is long gone," stated O'Neil.

De voe appeared to be enraged by the direct decline of O'Neil.

"How could you do such a thing, O'Neil? You were the one who turned your back on everyone because of a monstrous beast," he said.

"And all these people knew about that, that you were a coward, and that you weren't man enough to make the hard call, but they pretended not to. I'll make all of them suffer, and I'll remind them who their hero is," added De voe.

O'Neil showed no sign of intimidation. Not minding the rage that was now in the eyes of his mischievous host, he was full of courage.

"You can say anything you want to say De voe. Nothing changes the fact that I did the right thing," said O'Neil, "And soon enough I'll stop you on your tracks".

O'Neil stood up immediately from his seat, about to leave.

"Cease him!" ordered De voe.

Six armed men came forth at once from every angle. They surrounded O'Neil preventing him from leaving.

De voe let out a wicked laugh.

O'Neil appeared rather irritated by all these. He wasn't panicking at the moment.

"What is this?" asked O'Neil.

"I can't believe you're so senseless not to be expecting something like this," said De voe, "Come on, I gave you credit for more brains than this".

The guards don't move any closer to O'Neil. Unable to apprehend him, they just surrounded him with their swords and spears.

"What do you men wait for? Cease him already!" De voe yelled.

As they came a little closer, O'Neil looked them in the eyes and said,

"You wouldn't dare touch me if you should live".

He stepped forward, and the man in front of him went out of the way, for some reason. The guards stood still and watched him walk straight out of the door, and down the stairs. De voe couldn't believe what he just witnessed. He was frozen in absolute shock.

"No...!" he roared in anger.

O'Neil mounted on his horse and headed back home. He was thinking, there was something strange about De voe's guards. They wanted to attack him, but it seemed like something was preventing them, holding them back. He soon waved away the thought. As he pressed closer to the seaside, he started hearing indistinct wailings and shouts of people. He increased his speed and got more close. Now he could clearly see houses in flames, and people running around helplessly. He spotted some armed men that were doing the burning. As he raced closer, the men spotted him approaching, and took quickly to their heels. They retreated, leaving the whole place in chaos. From a distance, O'Neil saw his house already ablaze. At this point, his heartbeat quickened the more. He stumped into the house. Inside was clouded with thick black smoke, and bright burning flames on the ceiling, walls, and on some furniture.

"Isabel...! Isabel...!" he called within the burning cottage, but there was no response.

He grew tenser and tenser. He searched the rooms aggressively like a psychopath, not minding the heat of the flames.

"Iris...!" he called out, but his daughter too was not answering.

His heartbeat was presently moving in an insanely fast rhythm. He could even hear them pounding hard within his robust chest. He was afraid, he didn't want to lose either of them. His hands agitated, as he violently cleared out pieces of furniture. Right in front of him was a fallen wooden shelf. He looked away from the sturdy gopher's back shelf that was on the floor. Though many valuable items were in it, he paid no bit of attention. As he looked away from the shelf, he felt like something about it was drawing his attention. He thought he kind of saw someone's arm, stuck out from under the bulky shelf. He rushed back to the shelf. His eyes weren't deceiving him, someone was trapped under the shelf. The shelf had already caught up a little fire, which was now spreading fast to the bottom where the person lay. He knew he had to act fast because he knew this was either his beloved wife Isabel, or his dear daughter Iris. Within wasting even a bit of time, he muscled up the shelf and tumbled it over to the side. Behold, it was his wife Isabel, that lay there. She was lying there, motionless.

O'Neil quickly carried Isabel out of the house, not minding the flames that were almost done burning down the house. He took her down to the shore and laid her down on the sand. Her hair was dry and loose, and her face was stained with black soot from the smoke.

"Isabel! Isabel!" he called, but there was no response. He called and called, patting her, but she still wouldn't wake up or show signs of life.

The smoke in the house was as thick as a fog. Someone is likely to suffocate if they are in there for quite a lengthy period of time. O'Neil was scared that she had not suffocated in the flames. He was even more worried about his daughter Iris.

"Isabel please don't do this," he cried.

He took his ear close to her chest, to check her heartbeat. He couldn't hear a definite beat. He grew even more worried. His wife wasn't breathing, he had to act fast. He induced mouth-to-mouth artificial respiration. He held up her head and breathe air into her mouth continuously. He blew and blew, but she wouldn't respond.

"Just tell me you're alive," he muttered in disappointment, after the last try.

Cough! Cough!

When it looked like all hopes were lost, she came back to her consciousness. Puffs of smoke expelled from her mouth during the cough. She gasped desperately for fresh air.

O'Neil exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness. I thought it lost you," he said.

She was looking so weak and pale. O'Neil whipped off the stains that were on her face with a wet piece of fabric. Isabel jerked, suddenly alert.

"Iris," she whispered with a raspy voice.

"Where is she?" he asked with a tone of desperation.

Isabel's eyes began to form a cloud of tears now. She blinked, letting the salty liquid escape her eyelids. It trickled down vertically to her ears, as she lay down on her back. Observation of this disturbed De voe.

"Talk to me," he said, "Where is Iris?" he asked expectantly.

His veins all were visible on his sweaty face and arms. Isabel was sobbing uncontrollably. He sensed something terrible had happened.

"Please Isabel, I need you to calm down and tell me where our daughter is. Let me go save her," he pleaded.

She sniffed.

"I couldn't save her O'Neil," she cried.

"What do you mean? What happened?" asked O'Neil.

"They took her with them," said Isabel at last.