Lydia Caatt

Chapter 2 Arianna woke to the soothing sounds of flowing water.  She blinked several times.  “Arianna?  My love?”  A cool wet cloth gently wiped her brow and dabbed at her throat.  She looked around, dazed and confused by the thick fog surrounding her.  It only took seconds for her head to clear and the memories of what she had seen assaulted her.   “Was the woman?  Is she…”  She sat up and threw her arms around Clad’s neck, holding him tight as she sobbed.   “She lives, but my parents, my brother and sist…” He could not continue and Arianna knew they were all lost to him.  Clad gathered her close, holding her fiercely for a long time, both closing their eyes on the pain, but unable to close their hearts to it.  When Arianna opened hers sometime later, the air seemed to burn them.  Smoke swirled around her.  She looked at Clad with understanding.  They were burning the bodies.   “Who could have done such a thing?”  Arianna asked.  Clad could only shake his head.  He

Intro He closed his eyes, attempting to focus on anything other than the thunderous pounding.   With each thump, his mind raged with unquenchable fear. Panic boiled inside him, building and overwhelming his senses.   How he wished he could escape it. How he begged his eardrums to explode so he would not hear the deafening, rhythmic beating that clouded his mind.   Tension built.   Never before had he experienced the torturous sound of dread.   He shook his head violently.   Nothing could be louder than the sound of his own heartbeat drumming in his chest as anxiety swelled inside him.   A piercing scream cut through the air and forced him to cover his ears. He stood corrected. “I can’t stand here and listen anymore.   There has to be something we can do.” Another agonized shriek ripped through the village, vibrating off the trees and echoing down the valley.   Animals hiding in the shadows, fearing the tormented cries, scattered to find refuge deeper in the forest.   Bird