The flames can be extinguished,

But the flames cannot be killed.

For the light has gone, relinquished;

Be it weak or the strong willed.

Evelyn

A suffocating smell greeted Evelyn as she awoke.

Smoke? It's not dawn yet. How did I wake up?

The sound of hoofbeats and commotion presented her the answer. She got out of the room to find the inn empty, the diner, the reception, even the owner had eloped.

A raid? Where is Edwin?

She got out of inn Mist Light and saw half of the town of Wheatbridge aflame, the part on the other side of the river bank. She ran to the stables with as much speed as her legs could summon, partly hoping to find Edwin there, and partly to check on the horses. Her fears were realised when she found the stable completely empty, except for Wind and Nameless. Edwin was nowhere in sight. A hot sensation trickled her eyes as tears started welling up. She looked around desperately.

No this is not the time.

She hurriedly wiped her eyes as she reasoned Edwin wasn't trying to escape considering Nameless was here. But then the next thought was a punch in the gut.

Did he rush in the raid to save people or something of the sort?

Her eyes widened as she saw him close the door behind saying he would be back soon.

Is that the last time I see him?

She did not want to think what the raiders might have done to him.

That fool! We could have run.

She clenched her fist and unbuckled Wind, her resolve affirmed.

No I am just over thinking. He will be there.

Wind ironically seemed to disapprove of the wind around as he snorted immediately after getting out of the stable. Then Evelyn saw the bodies. The bridge that connected the two sides of the town had corpses of men draped in red.

Raiders.

Five corpses. Evelyn wondered why she counted them. Various cuts had opened up on their bodies. Evelyn recalled how the cuts had opened up on the Troll just before it fell. Her stomach churned. She hesitated awhile as her eyes darted from the flames on the other side to the water and bridge. She somehow knew Edwin was on the other side of the town. Evelyn did not have time to ponder on whether it was intuition or logic that led her to the conclusion.

I have to find him.

Wind neighed as Evelyn led him to the burning half of the town. "I know you don't like it boy. Nor do I," she said, trying to conjure up some resolve, ruffling his mane, urging him to run faster. The houses seemed to breathe smoke. Much effort was being made to quell the flames. She concluded that the efforts were succeeding, apparent from the lack of visible fire around. The night air seemed many a times warmer on this side of the town as the dying fire boasted of its past glory.

These people are raided frequently. No wonder, they have techniques to recover quickly.

She heard a little cheering in the distance. She urged Wind to slow down a little as the cheering grew louder.

Cheering in a raid? Never heard of that before.

Evelyn found a group of people, townsfolk, dressed in simple clothes to be the apparent source of the cheering. An old man cheered the loudest of them all, while the other joined him. There were all in the crowd, men, women and elder folk. They had surrounded a seven foot tall man, who was in red battle armour short of helmet. The raider was dead, or so his distorted neck proclaimed. Five other raiders lay around dead, killed by sword apparently. The old man raised a stick he held in his hand and let it fall on the seven foot raider's face, with full force. Evelyn looked away as the dead man's lower jaw was dislocated and a few teeth came off in his now bloodied mouth. The old man's fury did not stop there, only to be fueled by the instant cheering from the crowd around.

If a wise man had found himself in the situation Evelyn was in, he would calmly have turned the horse around and looked not behind. Unfortunately Evelyn did not consider herself wise.

She blurted," Good Sirs, by any chance have you seen a man in light brown travelling robes, clean shaven, jet black hair, around average height? And yeah probably with a sword in his right." Evelyn added details randomly from Edwin's mental image she had conjured.

The cheering instantly ceased. It was then that Evelyn noticed their eyes. All the people had something different about their eyes. She knew not a term for it, so decided it must be madness.

The old man took a step towards her, "Do you mean our saviour?" He asked with a broken smile.

"Uh? I guess," Evelyn replied, confused if Edwin really had killed those red men.

"How can I forget where he went little miss," the old man pointed down the street. "He waited not for any reward I could offer, for others he had to save." Another cheer passed through the crowd.

Good with words are you, old one?

The old man raised his bloodied stick and said," The raiders beat my boy to unconsciousness. And that man avenged him. A single smooth arc and this ruffian was dead." The old man completed his sentence by bringing down the stick on the seven footed dead man's face. He gritted his teeth as he continued," Every time he did that, every few months my boy met the same fate. Now he is dead." The crowd started kicking and smashing the corpses of the dead raiders like possessed wolves.

And Evelyn managed to do something else a wise man would never do," You should probably stop. They are dead anyways. Should we not respect the dead?"

For a second time that day the townsfolk stopped. The old man looked up from the red raider," What do you know little girl? What do you know, eh? I am a Priest. I am the Goddamn town Priest. I know what and when and who must be respected. You do not teach me." He said pointing a finger menacingly at Evelyn. He spat, his voice rose with every word as he looked at Evelyn with those fanatical eyes," Little girl, you do not teach me. These are not dead men, they are not even animals, they are rodents that spread disease, and you tell me, respect them? You tell me respect rapists and murderers? They tried to loot from the temple of The White God. They..."

Wind edged away from the old man sensing Evelyn's unease. Evelyn started to turn her horse as the old man kept shouting, her heart beating faster with every passing second. Wind broke into a gallop and the old man's voice started fading in the distance. "Run, little girl. Run! I will pray to God you don't know what we do."

Why did he have to do something so reckless?

She repressed the thought as a tear rolled down her cheek. The last thing she wanted to see then was Edwin dead in some random alleyway in a town aflame. A lump formed in her throat.

I told him not to come here. He didn't listen!

She slowed again as she saw another two raiders dead. One was stabbed through the neck another had a large cut, up his body, spikes lying around.

An alchemist? Only noblemen or someone related to them can perform alchemy, the descendants from the old ruling alchemist houses.

The houses were from ages long gone and the descendants were many. Their noble families still ruled and were in various positions with or under the King. But even among the various people of noble birth, some had a natural gift for alchemy while others fell short and so their skill and rank would be decided upon such factors. But if there were men of noble birth in this raiding guild that would explain why the King and the nobles under them chose to ignore Wheatbridge entirely.

I wonder if I would have learned alchemy by now if my father had decided t take me with him.

The thought was a melancholic one, to the point that Evelyn tried to push it back by looking at the situation at hand, only to be overcome by another one.

Where are you Edwin?

To further escape this cycle Evelyn rushed Wind, they soon reached the town circle. Wind neighed and turned his head to the left as if to indicate urgency. She slowed down as she stroked his mane again."We will find him boy," she said in a meek voice. Another uproar became distinct as the sound of the townsfolk chanting something became audible.

She looked towards the source of the town to find another group of people. She knew she should not have. This time a much younger man in lead. He held a blunt steel spear in hand, the head of a raider at its neck. The man swung it as if relinquishing invisible foes in the air above him, singing a monotonous hymn that the people behind him approved of, "DEATH TO THE RAIDERS! DEATH TO THE KING!" Their eyes had the same lack lustre look.

Evelyn quickly turned Wind to enter some other route to elope the madness. And elope she did; much of which was a blur for her.

After crossing a few roads she reached saw smoke rising in the sky from far. It was not from the town, it was way too far for that. It rose from the forest dancing its way up the sky with renewed vigour.

****