The First King

The Earth rumbled as cracks radiated down to its core. The ground started to crumble, creating a hole from which fire and lava spewed. The sound of roaring filled the air, and all around, it looked as if the gates of hell had opened upon their mortal realm. Everyone began to scatter, forgetting about the battle that was taking place only moments ago. The violence and bloodshed did not matter anymore, not when it seemed as if the world would soon be engulfed in flames.

As everything fell into chaos, Prew stood there, searching for Konrad. She last saw him lying on the ground, recovering from Thayer's attack, but now she could not see him. There were so many people running around, and the air around her began to fill with smoke. The only thing she could see was the glow from the fires just to the North of her. With that as her guide, she turned, running East. But before she could get far, a large, reddish wolf blocked her path. When she tried to go around him, he would nip at her ankles, forcing her back.

"Stop it, Alder!" Prew yelled as tears stung the edges of her eyes.

The wolf snorted at her, shaking his head defiantly. Her bottom lip quivered as she glared at him. Never once had Alder defied her, and now here he was, stopping her from saving Konrad.

"I command you to move!" She shouted as she attempted to kick him, but the wolf was unmoving. Though Alder usually obeyed her, it was done out of respect, not because of some primal urge to follow the Luna. And in this instance, he would not let her pass, no matter how angry or upset she was. It was not safe, and he would do everything within his power to keep her out of harm's way.

When Prew rushed around him again, Alder shifted into his human form, grabbing her quickly on one of her arms. He roughly yanked her, pulling her towards him.

"Unhand me!" She demanded as she struggled against him. With her free arm, she slapped him, hit him, anything she could do to fight. But Alder was not budging, and his grip only tightened on her. As tears rolled down her cheeks, she looked up at him pleadingly. "Please. I need to help Konrad. He is out there, all alone and wounded."

"I'm sorry, I really am," Alder replied as he looked at her solemnly. "But fire and chaos stands between you and him. There is no way you can reach him alive, and if you did, there is no chance that you two would survive this."

"You don't know that!" She argued as she tried to pull away from him. "You don't know anything! Now let me go!"

"Screw this," he grumbled as he grabbed her by the hips, tossing her onto his shoulder. With Prew secured under his left arm, he turned around, heading away from the fire.

With her hands curled into fists, Prew kept hitting against Alder's back. She yelled at him, pleaded with him, begged him to let her go, but he wouldn't. All he did was run, putting distance between them and the hellish calamity. And there was nothing that Prew could do other than watch as the battlefield faded away into the distance.

After running for several minutes straight with Prew limp in his arms, Alder finally stopped. They were out of range of the suffocating smoke and burning flames, but it would not take long before it caught up to them. And with exhaustion catching up to him, Alder would not be able to keep out running it at this rate. He glanced over his shoulder, looking at Prew. She had gone still, except for a few tremors caused by her quiet sobs. There was a pang of guilt that stabbed at his heart. In the past, Alder had wished for Konrad's death so that he and Prew could be together. But now, as he stood there, listening to her cries, he wanted nothing more than to take it back. With a sigh, he looked away from her, gazing toward the path ahead.

"If I put you down, will you run back there?" He questioned softly.

"No," Prew whimpered as she looked toward the distant fires. As much as she wanted to go back, part of her knew it was too late. She could hear the constant roaring of the Earth as it continued to split open. This thing was growing larger and larger, and by now, the area where Konrad was, would have been swallowed up.

Alder grunted as he gently set Prew back down on her feet. He smoothed the stray hairs away from her face and wiped the tears off her cheeks.

"I don't know why you're crying. There were so many wolves and Lode Star witches over by Konrad. I have no doubt that he had several people rushing to help him," He assured her with a small smile.

Prew looked up at Alder, staring at him with a blank expression. As much as she wanted to believe him, to believe that Konrad was indeed out there, alive and well, she couldn't. How could she have hope when she saw the destruction firsthand? How could anyone survive when hell itself was spreading across the lands? And as Prew exhaled the breath that she held, she wondered how long it would take before the fires, the lava, and the gaping hole would make their way to them.

"We should get going," Prew whispered as she turned away. She looked around, suddenly realizing she had no idea where she was. "But… where do we go?"

Alder sniffed the air, wondering the same thing. Their fallback point was Huthwaite, but with the setting sun, dark clouds overhead, and smoke from the fires, it was hard to tell where anything was. As he looked around, the light of the flames began to grow brighter. The inferno was getting closer to them, which meant they needed to get moving quickly.

"Follow me," Alder instructed as he took off, heading away from the chaos.

Without hesitating, Prew followed, jogging alongside the Alpha. They hurried through the darkened lands, stopping only long enough to catch their breaths. Though their legs were aching, it was too risky to stop for long. It seemed as though no matter how much they ran, the fires seemed to follow them, inching closer and closer.

As Prew and Alder ran toward a hill, they suddenly stopped as a line of witches came into view. With the sun nearly set, it was hard to tell the color of the robes they wore. Were they witches from Thresnora? Or perhaps they were from another coven? At this point, with exhaustion setting in and the fires rapidly approaching, Prew was willing to take the risk and run toward the line of people before her.

"Prew? Alder?" A familiar voice called out from behind the line of witches.

"Oh my Gods, it's Sofia!" Prew gasped as she ran up the hill, followed closely by Alder. As they reached the top, Sofia ran forward, embracing Prew tightly.

"Are you two alright?" The witch questioned as she looked over Prew, searching for any scrapes or bruises.

"No," Prew murmured as she fought back her tears. "Konrad…"

"Is he-"

"We don't know," Alder interjected quickly. "He was on the other side of the… hole to hell... There was no way for us to reach him. But, for all we know, he ran East."

"Julius and Yousef were in the East," Sofia added as she looked back at Prew with a soft smile. "I'm sure he is fine!"

Prew nodded as she looked down to the ground. Her heart was heavy, and it wasn't just for Konrad. It was for Jude, for Sofia, for every other person who died or lost someone that day. She stared at her hands, and though they weren't bloodied, she felt as if they should have been. How many people did she kill today? How many died all because they followed her to war?

"Come," Sofia instructed as she took Prew's hands, pulling her from her thoughts. She led them behind the line of witches toward a table that had been set up. Standing beside it was an older woman wearing a dark green robe accented with various shades of green thread. "Johanna, this is Prew, the Queen of Queens. And this is Alder, the Alpha of the Frostpaws."

"It's nice to finally meet your acquaintance," Johanna replied as she bowed her head to Prew. "I am the High Priestess of the Earthen Circle."

"The Earthen Circle?" Prew questioned with a frown. She furrowed her eyes, her gaze turning into a glare for the witch.

"I went and got them," Sofia interjected as she touched Prew's shoulder. "We need their help."

"We needed their help out there!" Prew shouted as she shrugged Sofia off. "We needed help when we were fighting against the Thresnora Witches and their allies!"

"My coven does not believe in fighting wars," Johanna stated calmly. "What you did out there was your fight, not ours."

"I am so tired of hearing people say that! Is the threat of our world falling to darkness of no concern to anyone else?! So many of you wait until it is on your doorstep before you dare do anything!"

"Fighting goes against my coven's convictions," Johanna replied, her voice remaining smooth and steady. "I do not expect you to know this because you are a human, but we witches live by the rules of the Gods. Frigg does not pick up a spear at the slightest inconvenience. Mihr does not resort to anger when something is new or doesn't make sense."

"And those who follow Eir do not go about harming those who kill their loved ones," she added as she glanced at Sofia.

"So, you'd rather sit idly by while thousands die around you? While your own people die at the hands of the Coven of Stardust? You think yourself so high and mighty, but I know the teachings of your Gods. I know that Frigg has spoken that life is sacred, that we should be thankful for every breath we take. But what would she say when you tell her that you've allowed for others to die, all because you refused to help? The blood of the dead is on your hands as much as it is mine. You need not swing a weapon to be a killer; your willful ignorance is more than enough. Tell me… do you think Frigg will forgive you for what you've done?"

"Your prophetic words are as sharp as blades," Johanna murmured as she exhaled deeply. "Should my actions be wrong, then may Frigg forgive me. I live my life by the moral convictions set forth by my coven, but it is not without flaws. Perhaps when the world isn't burning or splitting apart, you and I can discuss this further?"

"Perhaps not," Prew scoffed as she crossed her arms, turning instead to face Sofia. "You brought her here; explain how they will help us now."

"The Earthen Circle comprises of witches mostly blessed by Frigg, Inti, and other elemental Gods. They can stop the fire and that hole from spreading any further." Sofia answered quickly.

"But first, we need to concentrate on pushing back this fire," Johanna added. "After we have control over the inferno, we will stop the hole from growing any larger."

"Is this all of your witches?" Prew questioned as she looked back at the line. There were about two dozen men and women, but it would not be enough to stop the destruction coming their way.

"No, I have sent others around to the North and some to the South. Sofia said that Huthwaite was where your army would regroup, so I sent more that way."

"Good," Prew nodded as she looked toward the South. "How far is Huthwaite from here?"

"About forty miles," Johanna answered as she looked down at the map on the table.

"It'll take us two, maybe three days to get there on foot," Prew scowled as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Then we best get going," Alder stated as he stepped forward. "The longer we stand here talking, the longer it'll take to get there. I'm sure many of our people will be there when we arrive."

Prew looked from the wolf to the fires that were rapidly approaching. As much as she wanted to watch the Earthen Circle in action, Alder was right. Everyone else would be headed south, and without Konrad, they would need their Queen of Queens to help guide them.

Konrad… thinking about him, brought tears to the edges of her eyes. The last time Prew saw him, he was lying on the ground, gasping for air. And now the thought of him being burned alive, of being alone in his final moments, it made her chest heavy, making it difficult to breathe. She clasped her hands together, trying desperately to stop them from trembling. As a hand went to her back, she jumped, startled by the sudden touch.

"Are you still with us?" Alder questioned. He had noticed that she had started to space out, getting lost in her thoughts. And then, as her body started to shake, he knew she was thinking of Konrad.

"Oh, sorry," she replied as she shook her head, pushing away her doubts and unnerving thoughts. "Let's go."

Prew led the way, followed closely by Alder and Sofia. With the sun setting in the west, the three used the light of the distant flames to guide their way. While traveling, they would pass by the occasional Earthen witch, putting out the fires or stopping cracks that snaked for miles through the ground. It amazed them how, even after walking a great distance, they would still come across the destruction caused by Evie.

At some point in the night, they came across a camp with several members of their army. At first, seeing their Queen of Queens filled everyone with hope and excitement, but as everyone recanted their battle stories, the happiness began to fade away. There was so much violence, so much bloodshed. Though everyone was tired, none wanted to sleep, fearing the nightmares that would visit them. It also did not help that everyone would jump to their feet at the slightest sound. All were on edge, unsure of what lay out there in the darkness.

Finally, after nearly three days of walking, Prew and the group she had amassed throughout her travels arrived at Huthwaite. As they entered the town, it became apparent that they were not the first to arrive. There were nearly a hundred other soldiers there, recovering and waiting. Though her heart began to race erratically, she pushed down the hope that threatened to rise. Of all of the faces that she had seen, none were from the Wild Haer pack. And after speaking with the city's officials, it was clear that Konrad was not there, either.

Prew had steeled her heart, readying herself for that news. She had not expected him to be there, nor did she expect him to ever come. But to hear it, for someone to say that he wasn't there, it broke something within her. She had held back her tears for days, fighting to remain strong in front of those who looked to her, but she couldn't do that anymore. She needed to escape…

While many were busy discussing their next course of action, Prew slipped away. She headed toward the stables where she had left Meeka, but when she got there, she saw it was devoid of horses. After looking around, she noticed a broken fence on the edge of the pasture. No one needed to tell her what happened; she knew everything already. Meeka escaped to chase after her. He had never once been penned up or confined to any space. And now he was gone, just like Konrad.

Prew sank to her knees as she stared into the distance. Though the Earthen witches had stopped the fires from reaching the city, she could still see the burnt landscape and lingering smoke. Somewhere out there, hundreds of others were still missing or unaccounted for. And among them was Konrad.

"Is this what we were fated for?" She questioned to the nothingness as tears fell to the ground below. "For you to die and leave me here all alone? I suffered through all of your lies and deceit, and yet you still continue to hurt me. You said we would stay together, that I would always be by your side, but you left me! You made me believe that we had a future, that we could be happy… that we could love one another. But all I have to show for it is a heart that has been shattered into hundreds of pieces. Your death has broken me, and for that, I will never forgive you. Never."

Man, what a roller coaster of emotions this chapter was. All in one day, I wrote a line that I was incredibly proud of ("The blood of the dead is on your hands as much as it is mine. You need not swing a weapon to be a killer; your willful ignorance is more than enough.”) and then by the end of the chapter I was in tears.

Have a song! "Here's to the Heartache" by Nothing More.