The Fire in the Wind // Book One (Complete)

Three - Burned and Branded

They moved out of the house quietly, under the cover of darkness, Hope and Alice were in cloaks, along with the Finch siblings, and the refugees carried bags of food and water with them, a few coins were added by Amber as well. They were silent, and Phoenix held a lantern out for them, he spotted something on the horizon, what looked like a ship, and ignored it. They were at the edge of the forest when they heard it, the dreaded words.

"SMUGGLERS SPOTTED!" A man's voice bellowed, Phoenix cursed and shoved the lantern into Amber's hand.

"Run! I'll distract them!" He said, he quickly lit a torch and waved it around, "YOU WON'T CATCH ME!" He taunted, taking off in the other direction, Amber blew out the lamp to keep them unseen, and they ran into the woods as Phoenix was chased.

His lungs burned as he rushed across the field, looking for a way into the forest that wouldn't lead the soldiers to his sister, his legs ached and burned. He kept running, and cursed loudly at the sound of gunshots coming his way, he ducked in between scattered trees, and that was his downfall. He tripped on a snarled branch that extended from the ground, and fell on the ground harshly, his arm landed on the torch, and the heat ate though his sleeve before he could put it out. He sat with his back against the tree, cradling the arm he landed on his sleeve ripped off at the elbow, and waited with bated breath. After a few minutes, there was no noise, and he exhaled, standing up to sneak back home, he was instead met face to face with a rifle.

They dragged him into the prison, kicking and screaming, they chained him upon capture, and threw him into a dank cell. Thankfully, they were in a separate part of town, the guards didn't know who he was, and when they asked, he spit in their face, earning a harsh kick to the ribs. The prison was dark and cold, the air stale and filled with stench, hay and dirt made up the floor, and he spotted many sick and dying prisoners as he was dragged to a wooden stool. They sat him down harshly in front of a burning fire, and an officer came to stand in front of him, a sneer on his face.

"Do you know why you are here?" He asked coldly, Phoenix clenched his jaw, silent, and the officer harshly lifted his chin, forcing him to meet his harsh, soulless eyes. "I asked you a question, boy."

"I was simply strolling through the woods." Phoenix answered, looking him in the eye. "And then a bastard lobster snatched me."

He was struck across the face, hard, and would have fallen off his stool if not for the harsh grip the man had on his shirt. "You were smuggling cargo, child." He spat.

"People are not cargo." He hissed lowly, staring down the red coat with fire in his eyes, the officer stared back for a moment, before calmly walking over to the fire, and pulling out a metal rod. A mark lay at the end of it, an arrow with an "x" going through to complete it, two more lines under it created a diamond. It glowed an angry red on the edge, Phoenix felt a pool of dread settle in his stomach. It was the mark of a pirate.

"Slaves are." He said flippantly, as though he were talking about the color of his shoes, he eyed the rod for a moment, and then looked to the guards next to Phoenix. "Keep him still, and gag him, I don't want to hear his screams."

The guards clamped onto his shoulders and arms as he tried to struggle, the hot metal coming closer and closer, one guard shoved a piece of cloth in his mouth, and held it shut. Phoenix tried and tried to pull away, but the guards were far too strong, the officer grabbed ahold of his left arm, the one with the torn sleeve, and held it still. He raised the iron and Phoenix closed his eyes tightly, tensing up for the pain to come.

Nothing could have prepared him for it. His screams were hardly muffled by the hand clapped over it, he struggled to get out of their grip, and was grabbed by the hair. The red metal scorched his skin, sending unimaginable pain throughout his arm, his nerves screamed for release as pain burned throughout his body. His skin quickly became marred by the heat, and tears of agony poured from his eyes, though it felt as if it lasted hours, it was only a few seconds, and he was released from the iron grip on his wrist. He nearly fell limp, but the red coats held him up in his seat, the officer calmly tossed the iron back into the fire, and turned to Phoenix with a sick grin.

"Maybe that should teach you better than to steal, pirate." He said smugly, he nodded to his subordinates, and they dragged him to a cell, tossing him in as though he were a sack of flour. He landed on his hands and knees, pain burning in his arm, and the guards left him, laughing like it was the most hilarious thing in the world. He sat himself down, spitting out the fabric in his mouth, and leaned his head against the iron cage, so this it then, I'll probably be hanged in the morning.

"That was cruel of them." A strained voice said, Phoenix looked up and realised that he was sharing a cell with someone else about the same age as him, the same branding rested upon his arm, though it was faded and healed. "It takes about six months to fully heal, you'll need to clean it with saltwater."

"You say that as if I'll ever leave this cell." He muttered bitterly, the pirate gave him a grin, his dark hair fell over his eyes in curls, his brown eyes, though tired, displayed a certain sense of mischief.

"You never know, the world works in strange ways." He said happily, Phoenix eyed him for a moment, and frowned when he noticed blood on the man's shirt.

"You're injured." He muttered, the pirate nodded.

"Aye, those damned bloody backs gave me a good poke with them daggers over there." He said, and groaned as he tried to sit up, he lifted his dirtied hand. "Leo Cortes, at your service."

He eyed his hand warily before slowly taking it, "Phoenix Finch."

Leo smiled. "Nice to meet you, Finch. Looks like we're roomies now, ey?"

Phoenix scowled, "I don't befriend pirates."

Leo gave him a surprised look before he let out a barking laughter, he shook his head. "Aye? Seems as though might want to start, seeing as you're one of us now." He gestured to Phoenix's arm.

"This is just a misunderstanding." He said coldly, eyeing the blood soaking through the man's shirt the man looked pale and sick, he was clearly on the brink of death, he looked around the cell and found nothing he could use to help.

"Oh? So you didn't try to smuggle a slave across a border?" He asked, Phoenix's face burned, he grumbled, and ripped off a strip of his white shirt, figuring it was the cleanest thing he'd find in the cell.

"Shut it." He warned, "And lift your shirt, I'm going to bandage your wounds."

"Is that so?" He asked, "I thought you didn't make friends with pirates."

"I don't." Phoenix said, wrapping the cloth around Leo's abdomen. "But I don't let people die in front of me either."

"You a doctor?" He asked, wincing as Phoenix tightened his bandage.

"Sorta." He mumbled, adding more cloth to the makeshift bandage. "I'm being trained still. Try not to move, idiot."

"Why are you helping me again?" He asked, chuckling slightly, "Not that I'm complaining, but you don't seem to like me much."

"I've got nothing else to do." He replied, pulling down Leo's shirt, he didn't add that he couldn't bear to see others in such pain, besides, he was already on the wrong side of the law. "I'm finished, try not to move too fast or too much, you've clearly lost a lot of blood."

"You certainly know your stuff, Finch." He said, sounding impressed, then he let out a small chuckle. "You sound like Adilah."

"Who?" He asked, Leo shook his head, and Phoenix figured he'd said it mostly for himself. Phoenix sighed as he looked to the blood on his own hands and wiped it on his pants sluggishly, the pain from the branding seemed to suck his energy away.

"You should sleep." Leo said to him, "Who knows, maybe the morning will bring freedom." Phoenix ignored the strange way he said it, as if he knew something he didn't, and heeded his advice, he laid down on the hay, and fell asleep.

If only he knew what he'd wake up to, he'd've never been able to fall asleep in the first place.