The Fields of Fire

Chapter 2: Arthus Adana

Arty sat on the floor, gripping the radio as he tuned the signal to the proper channel. He scanned past all the music, he didn't really care about any of that. He just wanted to know how the war was going. Eventually, he reached the proper radio station and the familiar voice of newsman came on.

"Tragic news coming from the front. An air-raid on the Atherian capital was repulsed last night. With more than 90% of the aircraft sent for the attack being destroyed, and one entire airship being lost. The Navy Air Arm claims to have achieved the objective of the attack, but at what cost? We'll be here with more detai--"

The radio suddenly cut out, and Arty had a feeling why. He looked up from the black box of the radio to see his mom holding the power cord. "MOM!"

"No radio till you do your chores, that was our deal."

"But Mom!"

"There aren't any buts about it, mister. This is a big farm, there's a lot of work to be done and I can't do it all by myself. Besides what did I tell you about the radio? It's all propaganda, you can't trust what you hear."

Arty frowned, "You know, Tau could have died in that attack. I'm just worried."

"Your sister is fine," Arty's mother sat down next to him on the carpet floor, "and either way, worrying about it won't do any good."

Arty put his ten year old frustrations into words, "I wish it was me out there fighting! I'd fly my plane and kill all those stupid elves!"

She laughed, "I doubt they'd want a ten-year-old flying a plane."

"I don't care! I could be a normal soldier with a gun too. I just want to fight in the war! Like Tau."

Her attitude changed, "You know, we almost went to live in Atheria." Arty was surprised, "When you were very very little, your father and I talked about leaving the farm and going to live there. So maybe you should temper your attitude a bit, because you could just as easily have been on the other side of this war."

Arty was confused "Why would you want to leave?"

His mom grabbed his hand and shook her head, "You should do your chores."

"Mom-" A knock interrupted Arty as he spoke. He looked up across the humble farm home and towards the door. "I'll get it." He stood up and started towards the door.

The man outside the door spoke, "Zytrian domestic intelligence. We need to speak with the owner of this property. Open up!"

Arty looked back towards his mother, "Mom why would--"

His mom stood up, "I want you to go out the back door and go hide okay." Her face looked serious, "Just like before, just like always, okay?"

The man shouted again, this time with more anger in his voice. "Open up!"

This man seemed different than the usual mailman or banker who stopped by. Arty was curious about him, and wanted to stay to see what he was here for. He offered some retort to his mother's request. "Mom why do I have to hide? Tau never had to hide!"

"You need to go! I'm your mother and I'm keeping you safe, now go hide."

"Yes mom," he said reluctantly. He ran across the room before opening the back door and stepping out into the summer air. He ran as fast as he could into the forest, he had to get far enough away so that no one could find him. The government men never took too long when talking with his mom, so Arty knew he could run back soon. He ran for what felt like an eternity until he finally reached his favorite place, a small clearing filled with several dozen broken trees. It looked as if all the trees had been struck by lightning, or that a firebomb had been dropped on the forest. Though Arty new why the trees were the way they were, it was because of him.