Return to Glory

Unexpected Change of Plans

As they came closer to the village, Alex noticed Aidan became increasingly more tense. The smoke she had seen in the distance began to seem too much to be just the chimneys of the people's homes. A sudden sense of terror settled at the pit of her stomach as her heart began to race differently now. Something was not right and she could already feel it inside.

Aidan picked up his pace silently, while the brunette followed suit. He had also noticed. As the denseness of the forest began to wane, the outlines of the first houses became visible. Alex's heart almost stopped as the nausea increased; the smoke was dense, dark, rising menacingly. The small cottages, not much fancier than Aidan's, were enveloped in red flames.

The brunette hadn't even noticed they were already running by the time they reached the first one, immediately looking all around to see if the owners were outside or not. Relief hit her for a split second when Alex spotted an elderly couple embracing one another just a few feet away. The prince was already with them, asking them if they were the only ones from that house. Once he had confirmed that they were and that they were in no need for immediate attention, he excused himself and ran off to the next home. The young girl couldn't believe how, even in this emergency, he was poised and courteous; it truly was in his nature. He was also quick - nothing like the way he had frozen in shock during the invasion.

Shaking her head, reminding herself that this wasn't a moment to be pondering about life, Alex went off to another cabin to ensure the inhabitants were all well.

Before she knew it, she and Aidan had a group of other individuals doing the same as them, and the people who had escaped from their homes were gathering to do what they could to put out the fires all over the town. She couldn't even register how many houses she had checked so far, and didn't have time to let herself take a breath as it seemed that every building in the entire village had been incinerated. The dense smoke surrounded them and it began to grow harder to move around, as the exhaustion and lack of air started to affect her, but she remained determined with her current task. In the distance, she would spot the prince from time to time, just as agile and unwavering as she was.

Unfortunately, they did encounter a few individuals that were badly injured, but as long as they were steady enough to hold on for a while, they were having to be left all gathered in a safe place to be tended to afterwards. One of the healers of the village, along with the pastor, were doing their best to manage the mounting number of victims, but it was obvious they were going to be needing much more help later on. The amount of people affected by the fire was alarming, and most of the homes were wrecked.

Watching around, Alex knew this would be a day of nothing but work. Their bright plans would have to wait for a better moment. Though she had been excited for what they were initially going to do, she knew well that their priorities were others, and was not going to be crying over something they could do later on. Glancing over at Aidan as he helped an elderly man move away from one of the spreading fires, she knew her love for him would remain unwavering. They could tie their souls another day.