Page 59 of Wicked Thieves
“Anyone who dares try to ally themselves with the rebels will be met with a long, drawn-out end. You will wish for death before I shall grant it to you,” the Watchman sneered, holding his hands behind his back as if he were the ruler and his subjects were the ones kneeling before him. Trembling from the cold and uncertainty of their fates.
But they knew.
They all did.
“Have them tested. Take the men and women who prove powerless to the whipping posts,” he ordered his men before they began stalking toward them.
“And the children, sir?” one of the Watchmen asked,looking uncertain as he glanced to the sobbing boys and girls who tried desperately to cling to their parents.
His next words sent a chill down Anelize’s spine as he ordered, “Kill them. They’re of no use to us. Better to rid ourselves of the pups before they can think themselves wolves.”
The men and women screamed in protest as they were hauled onto their feet, dragged kicking and screaming away as their children cried out for them.
Children.
They were nothing more than children, and he wanted to kill them all.
Anelize pushed away from the wall, fueled by her outrage as she stepped out of the alleyway and onto the street.
Several Watchmen who noticed her tensed. Releasing the prisoners when they saw her, their apprehension evident on their faces. Her training with Adan could only do so much against more than one person, but at the very least she could try to let the prisoners escape. Perhaps save their lives if they ran fast enough.
The bearded Watchman shifted his depthless gaze to her. His lips parted, a command for her to stop where she was, or an order for his men. He never had the chance to speak, for there were several voices coming from all directions that bellowed at once, “To the pyre with you, Watchmen scum!”
A sudden burst of fire soared across the sky before landing mere feet away from the ground at the bearded Watchman’s feet. The men all stepped forward, glancing down at what appeared to be a blazing stone covered in an inky black substance before looking around.
The men and women, seemingly forgotten for a brief moment, rushed toward their children and urged them to run.
The bearded Watchman glanced up at the rooftops of the homes around them before he unsheathed his sword and called, “Who dares?—”
The blazing stone suddenly burst, like a spark before the flames sputtered and then roared to life, releasing a thunderous boom that engulfed the Watchman in a furious, scorching heat. It swept past them and down the street like a wave of pure flame.
The force of it was so sudden as heat and wind clashed around her and sent her flying through the air, her back slamming hard against the wall behind her. Windows rattled and exploded against the oppressive pressure of the flames, causing shards to scatter all around. Their sharpened edges sliced into her arms and cheek before she covered her face to shield herself from the destruction.
Pain bloomed across her body as the flames died as quickly as they’d been born. This time when screams and groans of pain reached her, she knew what to expect when Anelize glanced up. Seeing that most of the Watchmen on the street had been turned into nothing more than ash, while others writhed in agony from the severe burns that had consumed their bodies.
A horrific gasp escaped her as she heard more Watchmen bellowing nearby, footsteps rushing toward the street, growing closer and closer.
Other voices followed, masked men and women all running past her, some appearing out of nowhere as if they have been hidden away on the rooftops nearby. They yelled in their victory as they continued pushing down the street.
Anelize barely had time to stagger to her feet before stumbling back into the alleyway, barely avoiding being seen by a large group of Watchmen that stormed past, chasing after the rebels.
A searing pain on her shoulder made her glance down to see that the flames had caught her in the explosion of power, burning through her tunic and skin.
She crossed opened courtyards and gardens until she stumbled across a narrow path between two buildings, barely enough space to pass but she managed to inch her way until she reached another empty street. The distant sound of the bells of the Old Church tolling falling over the city.
The sound of steel clashing against steel made her tense as she turned toward it, followed it until she heard it much louder this time, coming from another street. Just as she saw the billowing smoke trailing up into the graying sky.
When she rounded the corner, she stopped in her tracks as she saw a house had been lit on fire, the flames licking up the windows and opened doorway. A man laid on the stoop, half of his body consumed by the fire while the other was covered in blood from horrendous slashes running over his face and neck. A sea of crimson running over the steps. To her left, pressed along the wall, a young mother was holding a small child in her arms on the ground, petrified as a Watchman as tall as a mountain waged a battle against a rebel.
Not just any rebel.
Aeric.
Blood ran down the side of his temple as he dodged the attack the Watchman sent him, their swords clashing so hard that sparks flew against the sharp edges of their steel.The Watchman grunted but did not relent as he pushed Aeric back with brute force, making his boots slide against the snow.
“I’m going to enjoy killing you, Vedran. Just as I did in killing all your little friends before you. When I’m done with you, I’ll go after the rest of your ilk,” the Watchman growled, casting his attention over toward the terrified woman and her child.
Aeric’s eyes flared with rage as he suddenly moved and attacked once more. Pressing all of his weight into his attack this time to parry the Watchman’s sword and land a bone crunching punch toward his face.
