The streets were filled with the children’s wanted posters. Everywhere she looked, Adalene could see the drawings portraying them as filthy monsters. There were even some new ones picturing Adalene herself, but she didn’t mind those as much as the others.
She had seen her fair share of posters wanting her death in her time, so it didn’t surprise her to see her face plastered on the walls of each building, heightening her fear for the safety of the other children.
Adalene chuckled to herself, realizing she was sounding like her mother. It surprised her, realizing how she had never really wanted to have children.
Romance and motherhood were never something she was comfortable with, as if she was never attached to the feeling to begin with. But she supposed one could be a mother without procreating.
The world had a cruel sense of humor, didn’t it?
Well, if the world was going to laugh at her, she might as well laugh as well. With her body deteriorating and time running out, Adalene figured she might as well get the kids together so they could finally leave.
They had spent enough time in this godforsaken country, and they hadn’t even gotten to the worst area of it yet.
Hopefully, Adalene would survive long enough to see this through.
Spotting Lydia, the leader of the Rising Sun, Adalene picked up her pace. She had helped the group so far, but she talked to Skylar the other day, discussing their concerns about the strange girl. Sure, they had been taken under the wings of unconventional friends before, but something was…off about Lydia.
Maybe it was the way her eyes scanned a crowd, maybe it was the tone in her voice when she responded to Alice’s question, or maybe it was the reason she had let them under her wing in the first place.
Either way, Adalene didn’t trust her.
Keeping her distance, Adalene followed Lydia into the small building she was entering. She kept her back to a wall, praying her cloak helped her blend into the shadows.
She watched Lydia as she approached a table in the middle of the room, bearing a variety of items, a jar of powder, a box of matches, and a bottle of oil. It became clear what she was preparing to do, and Adalene would not stand for it.
“Vat are you doing?” Adalene’s swords were in her hands before Lydia could even turn around.
A chuckle sounded from where Lydia was standing, and she turned slowly, her hands already clutching the oil and matches.
“You know,” her face looked mad in the dim light, eyes wide and a smile that was as crazed as a clown, “I was really starting to like you, elfe.”
“Don’t-” Adalaene started to say, but it was too late. Lydia had already smashed the bottle of oil on the ground and set it on fire.
Shielding herself with her arm, Adalene backed away as the fire rose up with an angry flare, making the room instantly hot and glow brighter than it had before.
“May this day be known as the day the Rising Sun finally rose against the oppression of this government and freed their country!” Lydia shouted over the sound of the fire, her eyes barely visible from the other side of the fire, “May we be remembered as the catalyst of freedom for this land, and may our corrupt leaders watch their world burn as we emerge from this war as the victors!”
“I von’t let you do zis,” Adalene edged her way around the fire, fearing that the flames would soon overtake the wooden building before reaching the rest of the town, “Zere are people out zere who are innocent, people who deserve to live!”
Lydia had a sword out now, a weapon Adalene had not yet seen her use. It added even more suspicion towards her, making Adalene believe Lydia had already known that she would be there.
Adalene lunged forward, her swords connecting with Lydia’s who grimaced from the force of it.
Kicking at Adalene’s legs, Lydia jumped backward as she tried to strike again.
“I don’t care,” she muttered, “No matter who gets killed. No matter what gets destroyed, as long as it sends them a message, it’ll be all worth it.”
Adalene parried as Lydia tried to stab at her, dodging out of the way as the fire began to spread. She was fending off the leader of the Rising Sun as much as she could, trying to make sure they could get out of the building and hoping she could stop the fire before it spread to the rest of the town.
As she kicked Lydia away again, Adalene continued to try to change Lydia’s radical mind. After all, she didn’t look much older than the children.
“But at vat cost?” she shouted over the noise of the fire, blocking another strike from Lydia, “Ven vill it be enough? How many vill die at the hands of your revolution? You do not vant to be remembered as a terrorist, Lydia. You can stop zis!”
“You don’t understand!” Lydia’s eyes were filled with rage and fury, a look Adalene had seen many times before in people who had nothing left to lose. “They took everything away from me!”
Adalene was beginning to become short of breath but continued to glare at Lydia as she continued her rant.
“And now…” Lydia’s smile curled once again, her crazed expression looking worse in the light of the flames. “They are going to pay.”
She felt her hands become stiff again, the looming pain in her joints as she gripped her weapons, but Adalene wasn’t going to give up just yet. She couldn’t give up.
“Getting tired, elfe?” Lydia taunted, her sword dragging against the ground as the smoke began to rise from the fire she had set. Pretty soon, the whole house would be consumed in flames, and the whole town would be next.
Becoming desperate, Adalene realized her best course of action at the moment would be to try to drive Lydia out of the building so they wouldn’t all go up in flames. Hopefully, she could get to the others in time to warn the town of their impending doom.
Within a few moments, and careful attacks to drive Lydia out a back door, they made it into the fresh air. Adalene thought she was going to gag from the stick of the smoke stuck to her throat, but now the sweet, clean, air made her head feel clearer.
“Lydia, zis is ridiculous,” Adalene pleaded with her, trying desperately to convince her to stop fighting in between attacks.
“Stop acting like a parent!” Was Lydia’s only reply.
The pain spread throughout Adalene’s body, the aches coming back with a vengeance, it seemed before Adalene felt a new sensation. It began at her shoulders, a slow chill that ran down the rest of her body as if she were sick. Her vision began to blur, and she found a hard time concentrating on Lydia.
‘Hang in there,’ she thought to herself, praying that she could just defeat Lydia before anything worse happened, but her body was at war within itself.
Blood began to trickle from her nose, falling onto the scarf she wore to hide her elfe ears. Her vision became laced with black spots until it was almost unbearable to even stand.
Adalene fell forward and onto the ground quickly, her body filled with chills and pain as the blood ran from her nose, a steady trickle of blood onto the snow-covered ground. That was all she saw before her vision went black, and her mind was at peace...
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