Ebony clasped his hands on my mouth at once, muffling my gasp. I shoved his hands off and continued to stare as the horrific scene unfolded.

Zerriki was sitting on the ground tied to a wooden stake near the edge of the clearing, while two men bickered among each other in a strange language right next to him. A fire roared in the center of the clearing. The men looked nothing like normal people. One man had curly red hair that was covered in mud. He was wearing a toga made out of sticks and leaves, and his blue eyes were slightly cross-eyed. The other man looked more formal; he was sporting a feathery headdress and his face was lined with blue paint. He had long, black hair that was woven with leaves. His toga was made out of some kind of brownish animal pelt that barely reached his knees. They looked as if they lived in the forest as both were tan and their hands were rough and calloused.

The two men suddenly shifted positions and the more-formal man yelled out a cry. I held as still as I could, but I knew that he had spotted me. I felt Ebony grab my hand and attempt to tug me away, but I stayed rooted to that spot, determined to find out what they were going to do. Finally, the more formal man reached me and began asking me something. I was puzzled; this man spoke in bird tweets and clicks.

"Excuse me?" I sharply said. He immediately stopped and his dark brown eyes were full of annoyance.

"Oh, you are one of them," he replied thickly. It was clear that he had just learned English, as his tone was still heavily accented.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" I replied stiffly.

"Tell your friend not to try anything funny, or he will end up like his brother," the man warned.

At first, I thought of Zerriki, but then I remembered that Ebony was here as well. I nodded, but I was interrupted by the rustling of leaves behind me. Quick as lightning, the other man dashed to the source and bashed the leaves once. I could hear the sound of a body fall to the ground.

He picked Ebony's limp body up and jogged to the man in front of me.

He asked him, "Torgias, ios gue lop?"

Torgias just answered, "Uisa hispe Zerriki."

The other man nodded and dropped Ebony to the ground. He held out his hand and whispered, "Hispe Zerriki." Ebony floated toward Zerriki, and he was lowered by an invisible force to the ground.

I turned my attention back to Torgias. He knelt down next to me and began to tie my hands and legs to a wooden stake. He picked me up with one arm, swung me over his shoulder, and walked across the clearing.

He stabbed the stake into the ground and jogged back to the fire. Torgias began chanting something, and the other man joined in as well. Their voices grew louder as they turned toward me and marched my way. They stopped and picked Zerriki up, making sure that he was awake. Both hoisted him over their shoulder and marched back to the fire.

Torgias ripped a dagger out from one of his many pouches, then proceeded to cut the binds fastening Zerriki's arms together. Zerriki had barely stretched his arms when they cut the rest of the ropes. He stood on the ground, astonished that he was free.

Suddenly, the other man had Zerriki in a headlock, while Torgias held back his arms. They spoke to him quietly, then he slumped, and they released him. Both of the men unsheathed their long bows and aimed at Zerriki's head. Sighing, Zerriki held out his arm, sealed his eyes shut, and plunged his arm into the fire.

I gasped, but the crackling of the fire increased, swallowing Zerriki's arm whole. Without any warning, Torgias dashed to Zerriki and shoved him into the blazing fire. It roared its approval and rose to an even greater height. My whole body felt numb and my jaw twitched.

A crack of smoke, and the fire and two men were gone. All that was left was Zerriki's body. I dashed madly to his broken body and sat next to it. He bore no burn marks, but the pained expression on his face suggested otherwise. I held his hand in my hands as tears welled in my eyes.

With a great shudder, a black mist erupted from Zerriki's midsection. It gathered into the shape of a human figure and lay floating in the air for what seemed like hours. I heard Ebony finally rise and stalk over to me.

His walk faltered once he saw what I was staring at. He knelt forward, his breath paused. "Z-Z-Zerriki?" he slowly asked the air. He quickly snatched one of Zerriki's hands and felt around it for a pulse. He grabbed a cloth from his pouch and mopped his face. Once he emerged, he whispered something to Zerriki. It sounded something like, "Go, Go." The spirit rose high into the air and bowed to both Ebony and me. The mist then soared over the treetops and it faded out of sight. 

Ebony turned to me with teardrops glistening in his eyes. He held out his hand, and I immediately took it. We just sat there, staring at the spot where Zerriki's body lay. Each comforting the other as the message sunk in:

Zerriki was dead.