Chapter 17 A King Worth Saving #2
Ramses turned to Namir, signing and gesturing to Ahmose. Namir put his hand up, glancing at Zahra. “Wait a moment.”
“Zahra,” Ahmose said, coming to her side. He gave her space, but he tried to see her front. “Can I help?”
Zahra shook her head. Grains of sand sat between her fingers and toes, and silver moonlight—Selene’s power—pushed on the corners of her vision. The air smelled of dry earth. It was as if she was back in that vision of Aur, clawing her way away from the bodies of the fallen.
Namir shared a glance with Ramses and stepped toward them. “What is going on?”
Zahra’s voice trembled as she spoke. “Something is wrong.”
A woman’s scream came from outside. Bright, roaring flames sparked into existence, and horrified screams filled the village.
Ahmose glanced at Zahra before running out the door. Zahra stumbled after him. Fire raged everywhere. The tables were burning, and men with weapons and torches chased the people. The bonfire had spread to nearby buildings, not from the wind but from large sticks being thrown toward the homes.
The image was all too familiar to Zahra, pulling at long-buried memories filled with terror and death.
The shrill scream of a child snapped Zahra out of her trance, and she dove into action. One of the attackers stood over a fallen woman, whose child was pulling at her arm. Ahmose darted toward the man, tackling him to the ground. Zahra took the small girl in her arms.
The child was Eboni. She sobbed, tugging on her mother’s blood-soaked sleeve. Zahra stumbled back, holding Eboni against her chest as she turned away from Amina’s lifeless eyes.
Namir grabbed Zahra’s arm, and she flinched, glancing back at him. His gaze softened, and he led her and Eboni away from the scene.
Ramses ran ahead of them and raised his dagger.
He sliced at an attacker’s chest and looked back at Namir.
Namir signed for him to follow, but Ramses shook his head and signed.
Namir’s face filled with worry, but he turned his attention back to Zahra and guided them to safety as Ramses returned to fighting.
Other mothers and their children were escaping behind the houses. There were over a dozen men with torches and small weapons. Some held rocks in their hands, throwing them at the fathers and sons that tried to protect their families.
Zahra ran toward a small stable house, clutching the shivering Eboni. Namir followed. A man stepped in their path with a knife, his eyes glowing with the red flame of the keres. Zahra slid to a stop and screamed.
Namir leaped in front of them, using a wooden rod to block the man’s attacks.
Zahra stumbled back. “Namir!”
The bonfire surged, shining light on the man’s face. Dread filled Zahra’s frame. The attackers were Auran.
“I am your King,” Namir roared, throwing the man back. “Cease this bloodshed at once!”
The man laughed. “My King wouldn’t lie with sobki like these.” He brought his knife down on Namir, slicing his arm. Namir howled, swinging the rod. The wood struck the man’s head, and he fell to the ground, dead.
Namir snatched the man’s knife, running after Zahra. She led him to the stable house. Others were hiding there, praying for the bloodshed to end. The animals had been released at some point, and only darkness and those hiding remained.
Zahra slid down against the wood, a surge of guilt hitting her frame. This was all her fault. She had stayed too late, and the keres had come for her, and her people were suffering for it.
Namir sat across from her, his eyes clouded and distant. He held his bleeding arm. “He—He did not believe me. But I can stop this. If I run to the pr-aa—”
Zahra’s tone was flat as she spoke. “We are too far.”
He shook his head, grinding his jaw. “I can make it.”
Zahra let go of Eboni’s head to grab Namir’s arm. “If you go, they will kill you.”
“I must do something,” Namir cried. “Those are my people out there. They… They cannot do this!”
“Namir!” Her eyes filled with tears. “If your life is lost, we will have no chance of preventing this tragedy.”
Namir shook his head. “But I can—”
“Please!” Zahra’s lip quivered. “We have to help as many as we can, but you can’t risk your life. I will not allow it. Not when I can prevent this all from happening tomorrow.”
If she had never come here, her people wouldn’t have been punished.
“Please, Namir. Do it for them. Do it for me.”
Namir leaned back, listening to the screams of the slaughtered. Anger and grief flashed across his face. The battle within him ceased, and he looked up with a controlled expression. “Tell me what to do.”
Zahra handed Eboni to Namir. “Take the others out the back. Save as many as you can, but stay out of sight.”
Namir took Eboni, his forehead wrinkling. “What about you?”
Zahra clenched her jaw. “I can’t lose my family again.”
Namir’s eyes went wide. “But if you go out there…”
Zahra nodded and stood. “I know.”
Namir watched as Zahra ran out of the stable house. Immediately, she found familiar faces among those killed: people she had visited over the years, friends from her village in Ionia. Ramses was still fighting somewhere, his cries echoing through the village.
Zahra’s heart jumped in her throat as she saw Ahmose among the carnage. “No. No!” She fell to her knees by his side, taking his face in her hands. His head and chest were covered in blood, and his eyes were half closed.
“Ahmose.” She choked down a sob. “Adelphos!” She kissed his head, crying an apology and a prayer. “May Selene receive your soul with gladness and glory.”
Zahra’s head shot up at Heba’s screams. “Get away from them!”
Zahra ran toward the sound. A woman ran past, her face bloody and her arms cradling an infant. A tall man stood over Heba, who was sprawled on the ground.
Zahra searched her surroundings, finding a large stone.
She picked it up, weighed it in her palm, and then threw it as hard as she could.
The stone struck the man’s jaw. He howled, stumbling away from Heba.
His furious eyes turned on Zahra as Heba groaned.
Blood trickled from his mouth. He smiled.
“Why hello, pretty thing. You have quite the aim.”
“Leave her alone!” Zahra readied another rock.
The man raised his eyebrows in amusement. He stepped away from Heba, approaching Zahra. His eyes glowed red.
Zahra stumbled back, the hand holding the rock trembling. “S—Stay back!”
Her brain urged her to run, but she kept her feet planted in place. If it was the keres that were making these Aurans attack her people, perhaps they would stop once she was dead.
Zahra dropped the rock by her side and whimpered as the man drew closer. He grabbed her arm, and she closed her eyes.
The man cried out, and Zahra opened her eyes to see Heba standing behind him with the stone Zahra had thrown at him. He dropped Zahra and turned around toward Heba. “Why you—!”
A glint of bronze pulled Zahra’s eyes to a dagger on the ground. The man reached for Heba. Zahra grabbed the dagger and jumped, sinking the dagger into the back of his neck.
The man cried out, throwing Zahra off. Blood spurted from the wound, and he turned with glowing eyes toward her.
“Zahra!” Heba cried.
Zahra tried to step back, but he was too fast. With one hand, he grabbed the side of Zahra’s head and slammed her skull into a rock wall.
Zahra gasped, opening her eyes to the golden sands of the Duat. Zahra scrambled to her knees. Several keres stood on a hill near her. They stared at her, but showed no signs of aggression or intent of attacking. After several moments, the jackals turned and ran away.
Zahra gulped in a breath and brought her trembling hands to her face. The cracks in the tips of her fingers grew longer, covering her nails. The skin beneath the cracks looked like grains of sand.
Zahra clenched her jaw and slammed her fists into the sand as she screamed.