Chapter 01 (Part 3): Escape.

Part 3: Fire and Betrayal

We've arrived at our house... Now that I look at it closely, I can notice that despite being so far from the initial blast, there were remains of debris in the area. And to think that something like that is even possible.

A fireball that reached the skies... Something's not right. I know the destruction it caused was enormous, I saw it with my own eyes. I know many people died... But it's not right. The fire reached the skies, I'm sure it covered beyond the limits of the center. Looking at Bridgely, he doesn't seem to have more than burns on his face and arm. We could even see people fleeing towards the outskirts of the town... Although injured, it's still strange. How did they survive being at the center of something like that for several seconds? Something's not right.

"You take care of Conrad, I'll look for the essentials to be able to survive our journey."

He handed his son to Edith to carry and left his backpack on the ground. When he was at the door, he turned looking towards the town.

"It shouldn't be long before the Ius troops arrive..."

Then he entered our house. Ius... It's the second time I've heard him say this. Aren't they the country that the Continental alliance put in charge of protecting this town? It doesn't make sense. What reason would they have to do this? My children... Damn it. MY CHILDREN!!

I clench my fists to the point that I feel the blood beginning to flow from my palms. I'm trembling. It's not fair, they didn't deserve this.

At the center of that explosion... As we approached the Market, I could see how the bodies became less and less recognizable. I can't help but think that, even if we had tried to find them, it would have been impossible for us to even recognize their bodies...

I look at Edith, she's holding Conrad in her arms. I can also see her hands trembling, her gaze hard to describe fixed on the ground.

Neither of us said anything until Bridgely came back. He had taken one of my backpacks, which he seemed to have filled with various things. It was old and had even faded, but had plenty of space. Maybe that's why he chose it.

"Here you go."

He handed me the backpack, and I automatically put it on my shoulders. Bridgely did the same with his.

Edith was still holding Conrad. I noticed a tear falling down her cheek, though her strange vacant look didn't change at all. I understand her...

And so, with the sun about to set, we walked following Bridgely. Leaving everything behind... Under other conditions, we would have stayed in our home. But I trust him. He has always been a good friend of the family. If he says we're in danger, we must follow him.

I don't know how long we were walking in the forest. I kept going over what happened and it was impossible for me to think of anything else. After a while walking, we heard screams in the distance... People begging for help, as well as furious shouts and the galloping of horses.

"Shit... It started. We'll take a detour, we must get as far away from them as possible."

Bridgely whispered this, while making a hand signal for us to remain silent. Maybe about 20 minutes passed until we got far enough away that we couldn't hear the screams anymore. The sun had already set, giving way to the stars.

At our feet was green grass covering the entire ground. There were also a large number of bushes and huge protruding roots hindering our progress.

However, we weren't running. Bridgely explained that the horses wouldn't be able to get through the flora of this place; due to the large number of trees, whose thick trunks acted as a kind of wall preventing large animals from passing.

Edith clung to Conrad, she seemed a little calmer. She was still trembling, but had a determined look. One that seemed to say she was going to survive no matter what... I highly doubt I can have that same look.

In fact, I highly doubt I can even keep up with them. I'm still trying to resist the urge to run back and try to find them... Our children... Because of my mistakes they had to go through that. If only I had been a more responsible father...

We heard a scream in the distance...

"What? They went into the forest?"

Bridgely seemed very confused as he said this, we all turned in the direction of the scream. ... .. .

We didn't hear another scream or noise.

"It seems it was the last one... If we keep going in this direction, they shouldn't catch up to us. We're saf-"

And then it happened. A white light illuminated the forest, coming from the same direction we heard that scream.

"What is that...?"

I turned my head to see Bridgely in search of an answer, only to notice that he had taken his son from Edith's arms. With a confused look from her, he stood with his back against a tree, hiding from that light.

Perhaps out of fear, Edith did the same. I was the only one who didn't react.

Grave mistake.

A horrifying noise. The sound of an explosion. I covered my ears.

My ears hurt. They hurt so much! It feels like my head is going to explode.

But it didn't stop there. I felt something push me, doubling my body and propelling me at full speed, causing me to crash into one of the trunks with my stomach taking the full impact. I couldn't help but cough up blood.

Once I fell to the ground, I could observe my surroundings a little. Edith, Bridgely and his son seem to be fine...

Maybe it was 1 second, maybe less, but I began to feel heat at the same time that I saw a wall of fire rapidly approaching us. I instinctively covered my face, the heat increasing more and more. I was burning alive. This isn't right... My skin is burning.

But the wall of fire passed quickly... I opened my eyes... Somehow I'm still alive...

I look at my arms... My clothes are clearly deteriorated and the burns have left the skin of several areas bright red. Around me the forest is illuminated, this time in a reddish/yellowish color. I direct my gaze to the sky...

Again...? No... How can THIS be happening again...?

The stars could no longer be seen. Rising imposingly in the sky was a great dome of fire. And we were in the center... The leaves of the trees around us are starting to be consumed by the flames.

Am I dead...? This seems like hell... It's terrifying, my whole body trembles with fear. I can't hear anything, my ears are only receiving a strange ringing. I can see the fire covering the skies, surrounding a large part of the forest. And as if announcing my death, the pain in my body spread making it impossible for me to resist any longer... I lost consciousness.

"Brishen???"

"..."

"Brishen! React!"

"Hm...?"

I wake up as best I can, though I'm weak. I can barely open my eyes. I feel my body heavy and the pain makes me think that maybe I broke a couple of ribs, it hurts to breathe... Maybe the impact also damaged my lungs... The flames around us are spreading rapidly, but it's only the fire I can see in the treetops. The imposing dome of fire is no longer in the sky. Only large columns of smoke can be seen.

"By the gods... Thank goodness you're alive!"

I try to get up, but my body doesn't obey me. I barely have enough strength to stay conscious.

"Can you lift me up?"

"U-hm..."

"..."

I can't even speak either. My mouth tastes like blood... The truth is, I don't think I'll live much longer...

From there I couldn't clearly understand what was happening around me. I know he dragged me as best he could through the fire, I wanted to tell him to leave me there. They could die trying to take me with them. But I didn't have the strength to even open my mouth.

Edith was carrying Conrad. Bridgely was carrying one of the backpacks on his back, while dragging me as best he could. I don't see the other backpack...

After walking for several minutes they found a rather deep cave they entered and dragged me into. The ground is hot, it's like being in a pressure cooker, but it's still better than dying burned outside.

Here is a translation of the provided text, being careful not to reproduce any copyrighted material:

I observe the cave entrance. It's impossible to leave... The fire rises menacingly and doesn't seem like it will extinguish soon due to the large amount of vegetation. My eyes feel heavy... I'm going to lose consciousness again...

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Edith:

I'm suffocating. The smoke has started to enter the cave. That's why I'm lying down, with my face towards the ground despite it being so hot. If we breathe that smoke we could asphyxiate.

My husband... He hasn't woken up for a while, we left one of the backpacks behind to be able to carry him.

In the desperation of the moment, we didn't choose well... The backpack left behind was Bridgely's. That's where most of the food was.

All because I didn't have enough strength to carry Conrad and the other backpack at the same time...

Conrad is next to his father, he also seems to be unconscious. Now that I think about it... I haven't seen him wake up since we met Bridgely in the Town. Is he dead...? It's not like I want to think about that either...

I couldn't see my children's bodies. Even so... There's no way they could have survived that. My husband ended up like this for not taking cover in time. And that's even though, from what I saw, we weren't even that close to where the explosion originated.

Unlike Lutero and Freyja who were right in the center... I remember that the closer we got to the Market, the less life there was in the surroundings. Until we reached the point where we only found corpses...

Maybe this was good, I don't think I would have had the courage to flee if I saw them in that state. Although it's impossible for me not to feel guilty... It hurts, but now is not the time. We must survive. Once we have survived we can bid them farewell properly...

I decide the best thing would be to check that Brishen is okay, so I crawl over to him. The skin on his arms looks quite burned, as does part of his hair and clothes. He has traces of blood in his mouth and his breathing is quite irregular... For now we're safe from the smoke, but without food and with the fire spreading more and more...

How long can we last?

Brishen... Will he forgive me for stopping him from looking for our children? He thought they would still be alive. I didn't have the courage to tell him otherwise... My breathing is becoming more and more irregular, I'm exhausted. I need to sleep, but it's impossible under these conditions. For the time being I should treat Brishen's wounds. I don't know what I should do... But if I don't do anything he could die too. I try to talk to Bridgely, feeling the burning in my throat and coughing.

"Bridgely...? cough hey... Are you awake?"

"..."

He turned his head, until he could see me over his shoulder. Without letting go of his son, whom he holds on top of his body to prevent him from touching the burning ground. His face... Is full of worry.

When I carried his son I realized. The blood on his head... The weakness of his breathing. Surely the blow left him unconscious and without the necessary medical attention, he... But despite knowing why he has that look on his face, that's a topic I must avoid.

Stay strong, Bridgely, we still need you.

"I have to treat my husband's wounds... In the backpack you filled at our house. Did you happen to put a bottle of medicine in it?"

"..."

He nodded his head. Good. Good good good! With that I'll be able to save not only Brishen, but Conrad too!

I drag myself with difficulty to the backpack. After taking out various things like a knife and several meters of rope, I saw it. A glass bottle with a label that says 'Remedy'. Luckily it didn't break.

This is, in fact, a very valuable product. I got it from a merchant who visited the town... He didn't seem very intelligent. Because he sold this as if it were common medicine despite it clearly being something different from the other medicines in his carriage. I recognized it immediately thanks to some books on magical items that I used to read to my children... At first I thought they were just myths, but this was very real.

A cream that heals any external wound after a couple of hours just by applying it. It's also edible, if eaten in large quantities it can even cure internal bleeding...

But... There's not much left. This is not enough for both of them. No... It's not enough to cure Conrad...

While I was lost in my thoughts, looking at the bottle, Bridgely spoke in a hoarse voice.

"That... What kind of medicine is it...?"

It's his son... What would he do if he knew he could save his son? But if I cured his son, Brishen could die. Even so... The right thing would be to tell him. Maybe I could even share it with both of them... It wouldn't be the exact dose, but maybe it could cure them both... I must tell him.

"... It's to relieve pain. I want Brishen to at least be able to sleep well for a few hours."

And yet, I lied...

"Ah... Right, maybe that will help him..."

Forgive me, Bridgely...

With the decision I'm about to make weighing on my heart, I approach my husband. I'm willing to give him the very last gram.

And that's what I do, while caressing his head with a tear on my face.

"You're going to recover soon... I swear..."