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  For the next few hours the carnival rode along the path to the town, most of the performers cheered by their expectation of a chance to work in front of a crowd again. Shortly after noon they rounded a bend in the road, and saw a slight smoky haze above the valley in front of them. “That must be from the town,” Ari said, looking ahead. “Have you noticed that we haven’t seen another person on the road yet?”

  They approached the town, and the musicians began to play music. Small homes and cabins began to appear along the road. But rather than seeing anyone come bursting out in wonder at the sight of the circus, the wagon passengers saw only doors that remained closed.

  The front of the carnival caravan entered the town proper, and Alec heard the music falter, then stop. They continued to move on, and Alec saw why the notes had died away. The town was ashes and ruins. The buildings still smoldered, charred timbers lay askew, and not a person was in sight. Natalie started to cry silent tears at the horrific sight.

  Richard rode his white horse madly back to Ari, his face showing fear. “What do you suggest?” he asked. “Do we try to just get through here as fast as possible and make our way down river?”

  “That’s the only thing you can do,” Ari replied tensely. “Start everyone moving fast and don’t stop for anything. Let’s get as far away from here before nightfall as possible.”

  “Amen to that,” Richard said, and rode forward again, telling each wagon to speed up and get through town as quickly as possible.

  The front wagons began to speed up, while that the rear wagons had to wait long minutes before they had a chance to increase their speed as well. Ari looked grimly at the wagon in front of him, following the path it chose that wove in and out among the debris spilling out to block the road on both sides.

  Suddenly, blood-curdling screams sounded from up ahead. Wagon after wagon slammed to a halt as the front wagons stopped to fight off the ambush that descended upon them.

  “What is it? What’s going on?” Natalie asked with a note of panic in her voice.

  “It’s lacertii, and we’re under attack,” Ari said angrily. “Listen, we’ve got to get out of this wagon. The last wagon isn’t going to be able to get away, especially not among this wreckage.” Ari climbed down from the wagon bench, and shouted to Alec and Natalie, “Grab some supplies and climb down on this side of the wagon. We’ll try to run up ahead to the front of the caravan and see if Richard can win his way free.

  “If we don’t fight our way out, or if we get separated, I want you two to sneak past these lacertii and go to the river. There’s a bridge across the river. We’ll meet in the underbrush on the bank under the bridge. And we’ll make further plans from there when we know what we’re dealing with.”

  “Alec, do you have all that? Natalie, do you understand?”

  They both nodded their heads, though Alec wasn’t sure he could remember anything at the moment. He saw Natalie grab hold of the bag of food that Ari usually kept behind his seat. He remembered to grab his roll of blankets, and also pulled his walking stick out from under the wagon seat, then prepared to face the horrific reality of Riverside.

  Chapter 3 – Ambush at Riverside

  The wagon jerked violently as one of their horses reared in pain, with an arrow in its shoulder.

  “Okay, let’s go now,” Ari said in a resolute voice, and the two youngsters climbed out of the wagon to join him on the left side of the caravan.

  They followed Ari’s example and crouched low as they ran alongside the road, passing other wagons in the heart of the decimated town. Many were scenes of stomach-turning violence, and smoke was rising from several. Up ahead they could see a squadron of lacertii setting a furious attack on the front wagons. Screams from the wagons, the horses, the roar of the fires, and guttural growling from the attacks created an overwhelming confusion of sounds.

  Nearing the sixth wagon, only a stone’s throw from the battle, Ari stopped.

  Alec glanced out of the corner of his eye at Natalie. Her eyes were red, rimmed with tears, he saw. He heard a terrified scream that he knew was Mathara, one of the other ballerinas, and Natalie visibly shuddered. Inside, Alec felt just as frightened. We’ve got to run away now, he thought to himself. Ari, take us away from this, he silently begged, ready to flee in self-preservation.

  He smelled something that he knew must be blood. All the horses from the front wagons were down, some silent, some still thrashing and screaming. Suddenly, around the front of the lead wagon Richard came into view, still riding his stallion, swinging a sword that Alec had never seen used except in circus acts. Richard stabbed one lacerta, pulled his sword free, and swung at the next, hacking its neck halfway through. He pulled the blade free as his horse rose and wheeled around. The lacertii turned their attention from the wagons they were plundering and towards Richard.

  “The caravan won’t escape. I’m going to create a diversion for us. You start heading to the river now!” Ari told his two young companions, whose eyes were glued on the battle tableau.

  A moment later a bolt of lightning struck a cluster of lacertii bowmen preparing to shoot at Richard. Alec realized that Ari was no longer with Natalie and him. The ingenaire had raced up to the front of the fray, and had cast his hands towards the skies. Alec heard Ari begin a chant, but a shout from behind drowned it out. Alec swung around and saw a foursome of lacertii just yards behind, charging towards the two of them with dark swords held high. He dove away from the wagons, towards the rubble of the roadside buildings, grabbing Natalie’s hand as he moved. She responded to his movement without seeing the threat behind, and dove with him. They landed in a collapsed doorway and rolled together further inside.

  Looking up, Alec saw three of the lacertii run by, but the fourth stopped in front of the door. It was panting as it poked its sword into the charred beams that leaned across the doorway, then after a moment’s decision it entered the building.

  The noises of slaughter continued outside in the streets. Alec looked into Natalie’s wide eyes. Do I look that wild, he wondered. Suddenly he realized he still had the long walking stick in his hand. He pulled it up in front of him, and looked again at Natalie, nodding his head towards the stick. She looked at him and seemed to put her faith in him. He waited until the lacerta was just past their hiding place under a low, cinder-covered table.

  With a sudden thrust, he pushed the stick between the legs of the lacerta, tripping it and sending it sprawling forward with a howl. Natalie bolted out from under the table with Alec, moving left as he went right.

  The lacerta groped up to its feet, angry and in pain from the fall. It turned, saw Alec, and growled, then opened its wide mouthful of stained fangs. Alec held his stick out in front of him. The lacerta started to raise its hands to attack him, only to discover it no longer held its sword.

  At that moment the sword appeared from the dark room behind the lacerta and sliced into its arm. Howling with pain, the creature wheeled, and Alec saw Natalie, holding the sword with an unsteady hand as the lacerta advanced on her. Alec stepped forward, arced his staff behind his back, and then swung with all his strength, breaking it on the lacerta’s neck.

  With another howl the creature started to twist back around to face him, then fell to all fours. Natalie moved without hesitation and savagely stabbed downward with the sword, sending dark blood flying up and across her, Alec, and the room.

  The wound was mortal. The creature collapsed to the ground, whimpered, and died. Natalie and Alec stared at one another, shock on both faces, then grabbed each other in a hug that shared relief and disbelief at the battle they had just waged.

  “Thank you for saving me, Alec. When that creature turned to face me I thought I was going to die,” Natalie said.

  “No, you saved me by using the sword. You’re more a hero than me,” he responded, seeing the savage hatred fading from her eyes.

  He belatedly recollected the battle around them. “Let’s go see what’s happening. We’ve got to get out there to
Ari and Richard.”

  They crawled out through the broken doorframe and crouched on the litter-strewn street. Looking to the left they saw the caravan devastated as completely as the city around them. There was no one else left alive from their group, except one.

  Ari still stood atop one wagon, which was partially burning. More than a dozen of the lacertii surrounded him, and he was chanting again, in a low ominous voice. He looked towards Alec and Natalie for a moment, saw them, then thrust his hands into the air and clapped them over his head. Immediately a ring of lightning came down from the sky. For the blink of an eye the glowing bolts seemed to form a protective cage around the ingenaire. Then a jarring explosion knocked Alec and Natalie off their feet, while raising a cloud of flame and dust and heat that dropped the nearby lacertii dead.

  When Alec rolled over and looked at the wagon again, it was only a charred heap of smoking timbers, surrounded by the lacertii bodies. There was no sign of Ari. There was no sign of the man who had just shocked Alec by demonstrating the tremendous power of a skilled ingenaire.

  The ingenairii were the small group of people with special powers that had great impact on the lands of the Dominion. They called upon abilities to perform deeds of magic. They were sought by kings and princes and mighty merchants, but they seemed free to do as they pleased. The few ingenairii who traveled through the lands were lauded as great people, and Alec had never seen one on person. Most stayed in the imperial city of the Dominion, Oyster Bay.

  Except apparently he had been friends with one for several months, and never known. Aristotle had just blasted away a whole platoon of lacertii. Alec had never realized that the old man he looked up to had such abilities. Alec had admired him for his wisdom and kindness and humor and much more, but had never dreamed that his friend had capabilities that others could only dream of.

  Alec heard sounds of more lacertii nearby and knew he and Natalie must act to save themselves. He realized that Natalie was still lying with her hands covering her face, crying.

  “Alec, what happened to Ari? Everyone’s dead, and we’re here in this city without another living soul except those monsters. I don’t know what to do,” she said in hysterical tones.

  He didn’t know either, but he knew they couldn’t stay still. “Let’s get our supplies, find weapons, and then head down to the river like we told Ari we would,” he urged, starting to rise to his feet. He knew there was no point in expecting to find the ingenaire after watching the blast of energy. But he also knew they needed to have some goal to focus on, and getting away from the death scene was his immediate priority.

  Natalie slowly sat up. She didn’t say anything, but when Alec offered his hand, she took it and rose to her feet.

  They looked over the dead lacertii and pilfered long bladed knives. Natalie took one that had rubies on the handle, while Alec selected one so long it almost constituted a sword. He tried not to think about the unsavory creatures he was robbing, but concentrated on his and Natalie’s need to flee. How would the two of them survive in these wild mountains if more of these creatures lurked among the rocks and the trees?

  With that, the forlorn couple started climbing through the rapidly darkening town towards the river. Each came to the aid of the other as they tripped over unseen rubble in the roads or climbed over destroyed buildings. They were guided by the sounds of the river, flowing with an incongruous gentle noise on its way through the city. The river sounds grew stronger as the unbearable sounds from the destroyed carnival grew fainter behind them.

  Chapter 4 – A Night with Natalie

  There came a point when Alec and Natalie decided that they couldn’t climb through the rubble any further in the sable-clad ill-fated city. They climbed into the remains of a building and settled into a mostly intact room that faced away from the street.

  “Would you like something to eat?” Natalie asked Alec as they settled on the floor. He knew he wasn’t hungry, but also knew that he hadn’t eaten anything in hours.

  “That’s probably a good idea,” he responded.

  “Can you spark some light and I’ll see what we have in the sack,” she suggested.

  “Let’s not make any light tonight. Just grab something and surprise me with it,” he responded, afraid to attract attention to their location.

  He heard the rustling of the sack, and then felt something pressed against his side as Natalie passed food to him. Fumbling to take a crusty loaf of bread from her, Alec said “Thank you. It tastes,” he paused to take a bite and chew, “it tastes like apple flavored frozen custard from Three Forks,” he announced lightheartedly, trying to remember the most exotic food he had ever heard of.

  Natalie made a noise that might have been a muffled chuckle as she rustled the bag to find her own supper. “I remember going to such amazing feasts in Stronghold! You probably have the very same menu in mind for tonight that I have,” she said softly. “I have here a lightly baked asparagus tart,” she announced in a mock serious voice. “Would you pass me some of that Goldenfields wine?” she asked. Thrilled that the resilient girl hadn’t wilted from the pressure of their trauma, Alec took the water skin strap from his shoulder and pressed it into her hand.

  “I have here a delicate white wine, from the finest vineyards in the River dukedom for milady’s pleasure.” he replied. She stopped, and he sensed that she was feeling great emotion.

  “Did I say something wrong?” he asked.

  “No,” she hesitated. “I just felt one of those moments of being in another time and place for a second, and it was very strong,” her voice trailed off.

  Alec wanted to keep her talking. “What were you doing at a feast in Stronghold? Was it one of the big festival meals put on by the rich merchants?” The Locksfort family of merchants in Stronghold took advantage of their city’s control of the falls on the Carmen River to build up powerful trading alliances, and to accumulate great wealth. Their celebrations were gossiped about throughout the kingdom – jealously by other ruling classes and wistfully by the working classes.

  “I joined the carnival in Stronghold, and that’s how I was able to see the feast. Richard’s troupe was one of the entertainments for the second night of the celebration,” Natalie explained.

  Alec accepted her explanation, although he didn’t recollect anyone going to entertain at a feast. In the darkness he reached into the sack of food and pulled out another item. “I’ve got some very exquisite pate to try next,” he returned to their game, and their whispered banter about the imaginary feast grew more outrageous from there, providing them with a much-needed momentary refuge.

  After they finished their brief meal, Alec decided to turn in. “Let’s see if we can find the stairs to the upper room,” he suggested, remembering the front of the building he had seen in the glimmers of starlight when they entered. “We’ll be safer upstairs if we can get there.” Moving towards the side of the building, they managed to find the steps and climb them. Part of the roof was gone, and they rolled out their blankets to lie down with a view of the sky above them and a crescent moon starting to rise.

  “Natalie,” Alec said as they lay side by side, “you were great today. I don’t know anyone else I’d trust as much as you in these circumstances.”

  She rolled towards him, and then started to cry soft sobs. He uncertainly placed his arm over her.

  Alec felt compelled to talk, the pressures of the day and the presence of this girl combining to raise the voice that usually only spoke in his own mind. “I never really had a friend I could count on until I met Ari,” he said. “In the orphanage I had friends, but they were like me, under the orders of the Sisters. When Ari asked me if I wanted to join him with the circus, I joined because I thought I could count on him to be like family.”

  “I’m going to miss him more than I can say. I’m glad I had a chance to know him for a little while at least. He really took care of me and treated me like I was important to him,” Alec continued.

  “Everyone in the c
arnival knew you two cared for each other,” Natalie replied softly. “I was jealous that no one in the carnival was that concerned about me.”

  “But what about…?” Alec started to respond.

  “The other girls were kind to me and they were friends, but they weren’t ever like family,” Natalie continued. “I have a family back home and I plan to go back to them someday, when the time is right. At least that was my plan until now,” she interrupted herself. “No one in the carnival watched out for me the way a family would, the way Ari watched out for you.”

  “Why would you run away from home and plan to go back?” Alec asked. “I ran away because I never want to go back; I don’t have anything to go back to.”

  “It was just,” Natalie paused, groping for words to explain something she was uncomfortable explaining, “I needed to get away, but not permanently. I always looked forward to a day when I’d walk back into my home as a prodigal daughter.”

  In the ensuing silence Alec reflected on the notion of having a home to always look forward to seeing again. It was nothing he’d ever had. And now, surrounded by death and threatening circumstances, he longed to have a home and family he could cling to like a lifeline.

  Natalie rolled a half turn away from him on the hard floor. “I didn’t want anything to do with boys when I first came to the circus, but after a while, I wanted to be your friend. But you never came over to talk to me,” she said softly. “The girls said I mustn’t chase after you or I’d be pestered by boys forever.”

  Alec slowly tried to find the right words to respond, boggled by what he’d just heard. After a long pause, he said, “I was always afraid to try to talk to you because you were too pretty and popular to bother with the likes of a simple groomsman like me.”