Unable to Calm

"Stay calm," Elder Bola said, "And whatever you see, try not to scream."

Ginika frowned as confusion cloaked his face. What was this old man mumbling about? The answer struck him when his gaze fell upon the burning buildings.

The people were no longer running, or they had been arranged in a single file and were walking towards the taskmaster.

"We would start from the nursing mothers." She said and pointed her sword towards a woman who had a baby.

The woman's scream covered the air as two soldiers dragged her to the front and made her kneel before the taskmaster.

The child was crying, but its cry ceased when the taskmaster plunged her sword into its forehead.

The mother's anguish was soul-piercing.

"I said no, screaming!" Without warning, the taskmaster's sword separated the mother's head from her shoulders.

Goosebump covered Ginika's skin as he shrieked, but the hands of Bola, which covered his mouth, kept the screams trapped in his throat. His eyes were hot with tears that were gushing out.

"You, the woman behind her husband," The taskmaster pointed again to a couple.

"That's my mother!" Ginika hurried to meet them, but Bola's muscle was an obstacle that he needed to beat.

He tried to fight through the strong arms, but they were too big for him. All he could do was watch helplessly.

"If you cry," The taskmaster threatened Ginika's mother, "I will kill you and the child."

"Please, don't do this," The woman tried to say, but her blood and that of her baby stained the brown face of the sands.

Ginika's father jumped on the taskmaster and tried to wrestle with her, but he disintegrated into ashes from the fireball she shot him.

'No, I will shred your skin to pieces, ' Ginika tried to say, but Bola's hand kept his scream back in his throat. The hate and rage that was burning inside him heated his body.

He could feel every bone and nerve, arching to avenge his family. He knew it was dangerous, but he couldn't bring himself to stand here and weep like a helpless maroon. The only desire in his heart was to kill the taskmaster.

Without knowing what he was doing, Ginika focused on the hate and rage that blazed like a fire inside him.

That was when he heard a loud outburst and a wave that went out of him, sending Bola flying into the air.

His heart was thumping heavily in his chest, with eyes and body burning with a blue flame and giving a brilliance that has never been seen before.

Every strand of hair on his head was in flame. It was a mixture of yellow and blue.

The activity in the village square had stopped, and all eyes had elevated to behold the blue flames which were burning in the air. Its brilliance outshined even the burning building.

"Shoot him down, now," The taskmasters commanded her soldiers and repeated, "Shoot that thing down!"

The archers were ready as if they had been waiting for this moment. Nocking their arrows, they took aim and let their arrows fly.

***

Bola grumbled and shook his head. He made to stand, but a sharp pain pinged his left rib cage, making him bend away from it.

'You are a mage. Do try to learn the art of meddling the wind and directing which side of your body you will land with.' The voice of his master seemed to say in his mind.

That was the fifth law of the wing mage dancer. His master had credited him in all skill, but the wind mage dancer, was one skill he didn't think anybody could learn. Even Jinta, his master, had not mastered the skill himself.

Dried leaves crushed under his weight as he walked his weight up to a seating position. With his right hand, he pulled out the twig that had pierced his side.

If the leather coat he wore had not cushioned his fall, he was sure the flesh wound would not have been the only thing he would be worried about.

A blue light flared, and Bola's brown eyes elevated into the sky to behold the source. The radiance emanating from the light was eye-blinding.