Blood and Thunder

Prologue

Prologue

Thick, grey smoke filled the air around him, it curled and twisted as it floated around in the wind. His eyes were stinging, tears rolled down his cheeks as he tried to clear the filth from them. He wiped the warm tears away on the back of his hand and sleeve, he needed to clear his vision. This wasn't the time or place for him not to see clearly.

Uh....?

Alexander tried to take a breath, but it wasn't just warm air filling his lungs. Smoke mixed with the air and danced freely around, tickling his chest and throat, making it much harder to breathe. Coughing and wheezing, he tried to rid his lungs of the filth. The smoke was forced out of his body and instantly the pressure released. Inhaling deeply, he took a moment to catch his breath again. It took a little while but it slowly came back to him and he finally regained his normal breathing rhythm. However, the smoke left his mouth very dry, making it harder to swallow and leaving a peculiar feeling down the sides of his throat. This, he had a feeling, wasn't going to go for a while.

This was not helping him. It made his struggle to find the group even harder. He pulled his top up over his nose and mouth, in an attempt to block out some of the smoke. He needed to ease his breathing.

Looking around, he could only make out a few people either running or hiding in the shadows. The only light source was from the roaring fire that was consuming the buildings that were once crowded with people. The silhouette of those running stood out in front of the reds, oranges and yellows that were dancing and twisting around the structures like an evening shadow show. The flames flickered and teased against the walls. Windows smashed. Panic rose.

Where am I? What is going on? Why is there fire?

Focus Alexander. FOCUS!

Tearing his attention away from the tall buildings, he searched around, trying to spot anyone he recognised. But he couldn't, he was by himself in the crowd. He needed to find someone quickly, he hated being in a crowded area alone. His anxiety levels rose, at times like this everything that could go wrong raced through his mind.

"Okay Alexander, stop. Relax. Think." he told himself. Speaking out loud always helped to calm his nerves, but still he couldn't shift the terrible feeling of apprehension that was in his gut, like something was about to happen.

He hoped he would have an idea of what it could be, but he didn't. No gut instinct, no solution. He struggled to stay focused, unable to calm his racing mind. If he could just... concentrate. He needed to find his sister and the rest of the group and he needed to do it quickly. Focus.

What? Where is Rosia? Wait. Is this...? No, it can't be. No. Stop!

"Rosia! Where are you? Rosia!"

Alexander tried to push his way through the crowd but there were too many people here. It was difficult to find anyone. People of all ages and sizes were running in every direction away from the raging flames. Finding the group seemed to be almost impossible. He ran forwards, pushing past people, trying to get through the panicking horde. Maybe Rosia was hiding in the cover of darkness, away from all of the panic. That was probably the safest place, she wouldn't get trampled over there. He started to head towards the edges, away from the masses.

He felt a sudden pain in his shoulder as he was knocked to the floor. He fell and whacked his head on the cold concrete below. Shocks of sharp pain rocketed down his nerves to the back of his head and neck, then to his chest and shoulder. He laid there for a few seconds, wondering what just happened. His ears started ringing and his vision was spinning slowly. His head felt light and it took him a while to re-focus his eyes. Time seemed to slow. People ran at a fraction of the speed. He could see men, women and children screaming, the panic on their faces was as clear as day, he wished he could help all of them. But he had no chance.