Wolf Heart

Chapter 38

Planet: Eteran

First Insurgency War

MERYN

Sirens. Artillery. Ships painted an unfamiliar, unmarked black.

What's happening?

Another screeching barrage rumbled his bones as he ran as fast, as far as he could from the source of the noise. It chased him with relentless fervor. Ash and grime splattered across his clothes — cornered between a wall of forest smoke and a tide of crumbling buildings and no longer familiar roads.

What is happening? What did we do?

Fire and smoke nipped at his heels, and he tripped on himself as he ran through the forest. Embers fell around him, but wood caved in from the flames. His heart pounded with the ferocity of a jackhammer. It took everything to run through the smoke, keeping his sleeve to his mouth as he tried to find his path to freedom, to life. He choked on a wad of mucus, and lowered himself to the ground to breath, avoiding the worst of the layered smoke.

Tears ran down his face as he glanced back, and the wall of fire swallowed Eastpoint. It crawled through the line between forest and civilization. Every wave of artillery spread and threw it further into the smoke-filled night. It was all he could do. Run. Run, or else he'd die. He straightened himself out with another stinging breath, where the ground trembled and yawned. He raised his hands to his ears to block the excess noise.

Luck. Celestial given luck.

Brimstone raged around him as he escaped the edge of Eastpoint, shuddering at the screams of sirens and people both. He sank to his knees among the curling forest bark, sending his fist into the ground. Water flowed down his cheeks to mingle with the speckled ash.

Death awaited behind him.

At-at least Mom went to see Aelius before he left... A horrible laugh escaped his lips, and he hated the sound his throat made. I-I need to think. I can't let... I can't stay here. I need to breathe, like Aelius taught me.

Count to ten.

Ten.

Ash swirled into his nose and broke the numbers. He kept low to the ground, where waves of heat rose off the burning grass. He tapped his compearl, where the screen froze and spit out his messages of hope. One more step out of the attack, trapped among the noise.

I have to find James. He'll be there. He'll know what to do. He has to. Panic crushed his spine while the wall of fire spluttered in the sky. Clouds around Eastpoint had turned into bloody smoke. Heat crawled through his back while the trees he wandered burnt to nothing but chips in the bark. Back on his feet, he ran before the flames consumed him. His legs wobbled. His knees screamed in pain from the amount of times he hit the ground, but he refused to give up again.

"James!" he screamed through the fury.

He needed to reach his friend, to not be alone.

A-And then we'll go straight to the Falae property — the safehouse. Rayan and Ava will be there. Everyone will be okay. We'll be alright.

"James!" he called over the wall of fire, and tried not to choke on the ashen fog which flaked across the leafy canopy. "James! Answer me!" He ran closer to their meeting point. "James!"

Fire spread through the neck of the woods, a blazing cage. Meryn choked on air, and shook with the deep rumble of ships and the cannons aimed at his home. Teeth against his tongue, he lost his bearings. Artillery smashed into the town he left behind, and tore through the edges of the forest.