Homes were soon lit on fire. Not by the oncoming attackers, but by those who stood on the city walls of Denckwood.
They didn’t give a rat’s ass about the peasants, who liked to beg and camp outside of their glorious city! No, instead of helping those poor folk defend the camp, they used their homes as torches. Lighting up the surroundings considerably so it was easier for them to spot the enemy. Ones they were getting really annoyed at.
“I can’t believe it!”, William uttered to Lucifer. All over the camp, small flames grew into consistent fires. Their red glow reflected themselves in William’s eyes, who had clearly underestimated the destruction that can occur between two clans. He had not foreseen war to suddenly erupt like this. Nor did he ever suspect that he would be unlucky enough to witness it first hand.
While these thoughts sunk his mood further down, he tried to search for the distressed mother of Ottis. She had called out a few times; more than enough for William to pinpoint her location. When he found her, she was huddled over a big bag of random goods, ready to flee at the drop of a hat. “Have you lost your son?”, William inquired, with hands ready for assistance.
The woman looked back at him in shock, “Wha-!? It’s you again!?... Oh, don’t bother, don’t bother! I’ll find him myself!”, she said as she mowed him down in a panicked state. William lightly frowned but decided not to bother her any further. Instead, he stood in silence, trying to pick up any trace of Ottis while Lucifer growled in the background… “I think his over this way!”, William declared. Then he began to run towards the area.
A few seconds after he ran off, a loud roar boomed throughout the camp, saying, “WE’LL NEVER SURRENDER TO YOU!”. It came from someone on top of the wall. The owner of the voice’s intent was to rally his men before they without warning, let a rain of arrows fall into the camp. Hitting both ‘friends’ and foes.
William was left devastated at their actions as he tried to evade their piercing rain. The first arrows to come were few, but as soon as the main flock arrived, William had to seek cover beneath a worn table that stood out in the open. Through one of its cracks, an arrow came bursting in, just close enough to tear a fling on William’s shoulder. The pain was light but searing. He could only be glad that none managed to hit them anywhere fatal.
Behind the table’s legs, William peeked at the disaster the arrows left in their wake. Anywhere he looked, a body could be spotted nailed to the burning clutter. Some had a dusin arrows pinning them down, while others moaned at the intrusion of a few.
Of what he could gather, now was the time to use his ability without having to fear the consequences! Thus William tried to make his heart beat faster. Once it had reached the appropriate tempo, he ran out of safety to finally reach the boy he wanted to save. He had, after all, saved Ottis once before, so why should he let this boy’s life go to waste?... Even if both he and his mother didn’t seem that grateful about it.
Another wave of arrows came down. However, this time even the main flock could be evaded with some luck. William smiled. Again, happy to have this ability of swiftness. He traveled only a few meters away from the table when he found the one he was looking for. Impaled and lifeless on the side of a ruined tent. William stood there for what felt like an eternity, taking in the view of what little change he could have made, now permanently taken away.
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He was nothing but a bystander, no tears touched his face, but a feeling of defeat and emptiness crossed William after he saw Ottis’ life end in vain. With a downtrodden voice, he told Lucifer, “I’m afraid… There’s nothing more for us to do here…”.
William had to admit to himself, that his efforts would just be pointless in this conflict that he wasn’t really apart of. Because in the end, he knew neither the people of Denckwood nor Ponile. Only the ones who were caught in their drama… Which side was righteous? Who deserved to die? This, he wasn’t entitled to enforce, even if he could perhaps take down a few of them...
While he stood and took in the view of one of their more heavy casualties, William thought: Hopefully these kinds of spiteful battles will be fewer, if not gone, once Julian has united the land. Just like he did it, in the book… Because if that doesn't happen… I might have to take up this duty myself...
“RAWRF!”, Lucifer yelped as it caught a stray arrow from piercing William in the chest. It was no longer just Denckwood who shot their missiles about like confetti. The Ponile’s were also getting happy with how agile their fingers could get.
This meant that arrows no longer just came from above but from below as well! William widened his eyes. If he stayed here, no matter how fast he was, there would come a time where he would be forced to take a hit! “Lucifer! Come!”, he commanded.
His decision to flee was right, but unfortunately a little too late. For when he turned around a suitable path was no longer visible. All that remained from the dwellings they had once passed, was an obstacle course, full of fallen poles and burning shelters.
At first glance, William deemed it useless to try and best the broken path. But time was short so they had to take the challenge and hope for the best. William and Lucifer twisted and turned themselves to avoid getting trapped in the flames, however, this also slowed them down. Just enough for an arrow to meet its target. “ARGH! Fricking cold-blooded dogs!”, William cursed as he grasped at the polished branch sticking out from the back of his thigh. He was wounded and hurt, but still full of life. And if there was one thing he didn’t want, it was to become just another nameless pin-cushion, somewhere dirty and far from home.
Hearing the anguish come from its parent made Lucifer whine in dismay. William clapped the poor beast as he forced himself to continue on, “Urghh…! Damn it, it hurts!... But don’t worry Lucifer!... I’ll make it! We’ll both make it!”. And so they did.
On the outskirts of the forest, they hid in a wall of wildflowers, spectating the battle that raged on.
“Aruuh?”, Lucifer sang. It didn’t like how William remained still as sweat covered his forehead. “Yeah… I think we’ll be safe here for now… It’s just… What should I do with this thing poking out of my leg?...”, William asked Lucifer as he looked grimly down on the wound. It forced him to lie on his stomach as he wanted to avoid jerking the stick around. The white dinosaur also looked down on the arrow’s shaft. With a few glances back and forth it steadily came closer with its jaws half-open.
Those jaws then closed themselves around the shaft, which made William give out a painful grunt, “AHHH!!! You can’t just yank it out!... Ughh…”. William tried to ignore the pangs of pain as he thought back to his former practice, “I think I remember now… They said during page training, that it can be dangerous to remove an arrow with just a forceful yank. As it can cause the arrow-head to be left behind; dealing the wounded person further injury… SO!...”. With conviction, William pushed away Lucifer’s head and turned himself around to take a gander at how far the arrow had gone through his flesh.
Seeing the arrowhead slightly poke through the other side made William take on a warped grin and a pale complexion. He knew what needed to be done, but… “I don’t think I can do this…”, he said as he returned to lie on his stomach. Lucifer came closer to his head to nudge it a few times with its own. Its encouragement was enough to make William want to believe in it. So he whispered to the beast, “... But maybe you can…”.