Jere awoke in a daze. He hadn’t been out long. He’d been watching Appo work the crowd, impressed by his gall and his choice of words. The last thing he remembered before the explosion was how good of a performer Appo proved to be.

“Explosion. Why was there an explosion?”

Jere lifted himself off the ground, his ears still ringing from the blast. He could barely see it through the dust: the entire Manor gate was lit aflame, with two massive holes blown away on each side. Wood and mud-brick littered the courtyard, and a smokey haze permeated the air. Was it Brown Ash that he smelled?

The explosion seemed to have knocked the entire crowd off their feet. Some were already up, chattering amongst each other in utter horror. Others were still unconscious by the blast.

“That wasn’t part of the plan,” Jere thought.

Adok lay next to Jere, laying sprawled out. He was one of many knocked unconscious, but he was breathing. Jere tore off his broken shackles and tried to shake Adok awake.

“Get up!” Jere shouted. He could barely hear himself, still muffled by the ringing in his ears.

Behind them, another blast launched debris through the air. Jere huddled down over Adok as he heard more brick fly past him. The ringing of his ears returned in full force. As he ducked his head, Adok suddenly awoke, gasping for air. Jere could only feel him as he struggled underneath.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

After a moment, Jere turned back to the site of the explosion: it was near the far left corner of the gate. This explosion seemed to have been smaller, but it knocked away another piece of the Manor wall. The entire left side collapsed over, the iron doors vibrating as they crashed into the ground. Everything seemed on fire. Jere even noticed a few poor souls flinging their arms about as the flames engulfed them.

Jere heard muffled shouting. He turned back to Adok, who pushed against him. “What happened?” Adok’s lips mouthed. Jere shook his head. He had no clue.

As Jere moved to his knees, he looked to his right, expecting to find Eevi. She had behind the fountain, which could have protected her from the full force of the blast. But she was gone. All the prisoners were, even the crippled Urash.

“Jere!” a voice called, the ringing diminished again. Jere followed the voice, finding Appo’s silhouette stumbling through the dust storm. “Are you okay?!”

“What is going on?!” Jere shouted, unable to control the volume of his voice.

As Appo helped the two get to their feet, he looked around. “Eevi?!”

“Who gives a shit?!” Jere said, angrily. “We need to get out of here, fast! Go back to the tunnel!”

Appo looked behind Jere, his eyes suddenly going wide. Jere turned back, realizing what he was looking at. More burning bodies were coming through the flaming walls now, but they moved in an uncoordinated fashion. Their screaming did not even seem unusual until he noticed how their red, translucent eyes focused on all of them.