章節 2: Grandmother and I

Under the waning moon, I ran.

Flames raged around me, leaping from house to house, fueled by the screams of the innocents within. I had no idea what had happened; I was only thinking of where I lived. And the woman I had left asleep inside.

Tears clouded my eyes as smoke filled my lungs. I ripped off the sleeves of my tunic and placed it over my nose, sputtering as I ran. I could see people dropping to the ground, some retching and clawing at their throats as they suffocated to death, while others ran about, bodies ablaze, screaming for someone to help them.

I had no time to worry about them. Panic swelled in my chest each time I remembered my grandmother's face. I could almost see the stern look in her eyes, scolding me for wandering off in the middle of the night once again. I would rather that than see her burn alive. I couldn't bear losing yet another member of my family.

'Please,' I thought, my legs screaming as I ran. 'Please be there.'

Ahead, the fire seemed to have reduced; although it was still leaping from building to building, it didn't look like it had gotten to our house yet. Rejuvenated with hope, I sped up, ignoring the people pleading for my assistance. They didn't matter. Only she did.

"Grandmother!" I screamed, flinging the piece of my cloth aside. "Grandmother!"

I had reached the part of the city I lived in, the only area the fire hadn't fully destroyed. But it was spreading fast. I had to find her before it engulfed our house and took her as well.

Screaming her name at the top of my lungs, I bolted to my house. A horrible feeling began creeping at the back of my brain as I approached the small, wooden hut. Forcing it back, I kept yelling before reaching the front of our house. Not stopping, I used my momentum to smash through the door with my shoulder. A sharp pain shot up my arm, but I ignored it. I'll deal with it later.

The house was eerily silent and dark, much to my surprise. My grandmother wasn't a heavy sleeper. The screams outside would have woken her up. I hurried over to her bed and reached down to wake her up, only to find nothing.

I stumbled back in disbelief, cursing violently. Of course, she wouldn't be here. She was probably trying to help the people whose houses were burning down. Spinning around, I dashed out of the house and looked around, wondering where she could possibly be.

"Grandmother!!!"

Suddenly, I felt a pair of hands grab me from behind. I turned around, only to find the house I had just left on fire and the woman I was looking for burning with it.

"You must survive, Miles," she wailed, writhing in pain.

Ignoring the heat, I hugged her, tears rolling down my cheeks. "I don't understand," I whimpered. "Don't leave me. Please."

"Miles!" She screamed in my ear, but I refused to let go. I would die with her.

"Miles!" She tried pushing me off, but I tightened his grip. My tears dried up as the heat consumed us both.

"Miles!!!!"

I sat up at once, feeling a stinging sensation on my left cheek. I groggily rubbed it, before looking up at the cause. My grandmother stared down at me with her stern brown eyes, shaking her head. I was glad that was just a dream and she was safe.

"First, you wake me up with your foolish mumbling. It's not enough that I leave you to get enough sleep so you're efficient for the day. I try to wake you up, and you start yelling like you're about to die!"

I smiled at her as she launched into a tirade. Although she was in her sixties, she looked young enough to pass off as my mother. The only thing that gave away her age was the grey hairs that had begun sprouting from her head, merging with her natural light-brown hair. Her unwrinkled face wrinkled up as her rant went on, but I did nothing to put an end to it. It was usually safer to let her get her anger out, or else she'd use something to knock me unconscious.

"- such a long day ahead of us, and here you are not even prepared to leave! What do you have to say for yourself?"

Getting out of bed, I simply hugged her, making sure I wasn't in another dream. "I love you, Grandmother."

She tensed up in surprise but returned the hug, grumbling, 'I love you,' as well as a threat to break his arm if he wasn't ready in the next five minutes.

I hurried over to the chest where I stored my clothes and swung it open, ruffling through for the best set of clothing I had. If I hadn't woken up late, I would have taken a bath as well, but I had no time for such leisure.

My grandmother was a tailor for the royal family, and I was her apprentice. She tailored dresses for the queen and the princess while I ran about, getting whatever she requested. I wasn't allowed in when she was helping them put on their dresses or taking measurements, but I was always there with her when she was at work, listening to her stories and watching her to learn as much as I could.

Her job also meant I got to wear attire that drew gasps from the commoners around me. I was a commoner as well, but I felt a sense of pride knowing my grandmother was held in such high regard by royalty. I was permitted to interact with the princess and prince in my spare time.

As much as I enjoyed staying with my grandmother and watching her at work, I had no interest in succeeding her. Although it enraged her, I wanted to be a knight. Even before she told me my parents had both passed away on duty, I had always dreamed of donning their shiny, iron armor and serving the royal family as a proper hero, not a tailor's grandson.

One of the reasons I enjoyed going to the royal castle was because there was a friend of my grandmother's, one of the king's personal guards, who had taken a liking to me and decided to teach me how to wield a sword personally. I wanted to be his squire, but he refused, scared my grandmother would kill him.

I didn't care much, though. As long as he kept sparring with me, I didn't have much to complain about. I was already old enough to squire under a knight, but I decided to wait for a few more years before defying my grandmother's wishes.

"Miles!"

"I'm coming!"

I slipped on a white, silk shirt and grey pants. I grabbed my cloak as well, a long black robe with a hood hanging off the top. Slipping on sandals, I rushed out. I ruffled my short, curly, dark brown hair, doing the best I could to make it appear as neat as possible. She hadn't emphasized on dressing, so I had no need to waste time looking for something to impress the royal family with.

Leaving my room, my mind drifted back to the dream I had barely a few minutes ago. I didn't know why, but I started having violent and scary dreams a few weeks ago. My grandmother took me to a diviner to ask if there was anything wrong, but after the woman read my palms, the look in my grandmother's eyes made me realize the diviner was nothing but a fraud.

I had told her not to worry, that the dreams would leave. Alas, they were still plaguing me every night, each dream worse than the one before. There was nothing much I could do but hope they would stop eventually. But this one worried me the most. My grandmother had never shown up once in any of the other dreams I had. Seeing her in this one, burning, had me worried. Shaking my head, I brushed the dream aside. I would think about that later. I didn't want her asking questions about the dream.

Heading out the front door, I gave my grandmother yet another warm smile, which she returned, rolling her eyes. Together, we walked off with the sun still sleeping in the dark sky, ready for whatever the day had in store for us.