Heartless

But nothing happened.

At last he found the strength to raise his head to look. The eyes were gone. He crawled forward again, pulled himself to his feet, and made himself continue to climb. I must find Father! The urgent thought repeated in his head with each step, and he focused on it, trying not to think of the eyes.

Smoke drifted in the air down the hillside – dragon smoke.

“Father!” Felix called, his voice faint with terror but determined. He was near the gate now, which stood open wide. His gaze darted over the road for any sign of the king.

A body lay just off the road, a lump in the shadows only a few yards from the gate.

Felix sucked in a sharp breath and rushed to it. “Father!” Felix grabbed the king by the shoulders and rolled him over. Fidel was not only alive but still conscious, though his breath came uneasily as fumes thickened the air around them.

“Una,” he moaned.

Casting desperate glances over his shoulder, terrified that the awful eyes would appear again at any moment, Felix helped his father to his feet. The prince had not yet come into his manly size, but he pulled Fidel’s arm over his bony shoulders and, supporting him as best he could, started down the hill away from the palace.

“Una,” the king moaned again.

“Shhh, Father,” Felix pleaded.

“Is that you, Felix?”

“Yes, Father.”

“We must save Una.” Fidel struggled to stand on his own. He collapsed and nearly brought the boy down with him. Felix clenched his teeth and used all his strength to keep them both upright. His father was near fainting, and Felix didn’t know what he would do if Fidel lost consciousness. He had not the strength to carry the king on his own.

“Come, Father,” he said, murmuring encouraging words as he half carried Fidel down the hill and off the road. The rough terrain was difficult to traverse in the dark, and more than once Felix thought they would tumble headlong.

Felix recognized the boulder he had climbed before. He gently leaned his father against it. “I’ll be right back,” he said and scrambled up once more.

The flames in the city rose higher, particularly in the western quarter. People streamed out of it on all sides, fleeing into the surrounding countryside. Torches flashed at the bottom of the hill road. Dark figures were approaching.

Felix leapt down, praying he had not been spotted. He crawled to his father and put his arms around him, desperately trying to think. Where were their guards? Where could they go? Questions swirled in his head, but no answers came.

“You’re trembling,” Fidel said, his voice frail. “What’s wrong?”

Felix did not like to answer when his father was so weak, but he did not know what else to do. “The city is under attack,” he whispered, feeling guilty as he spoke, as though he were confessing a crime. “Men with weapons are coming this way.”

Fidel growled and struggled to his feet, shaking off Felix’s protesting hands. He looked around the boulder, clutching it for support. What he saw confirmed Felix’s words, and he hissed curses through clenched teeth.

Felix hurried to put an arm around his father. The dark figures on the road had already covered half the distance between them. The prince could only hope they had not been seen.

“We must make for Ramgrip,” Fidel whispered. “General Argus will have mustered the men by now if the fort is not taken.”

“But how can we?” Felix asked. “Whoever that is coming up the hill, they’re between us and the fort, and it’s at least three miles to Ramgrip.”

“Courage, son,” Fidel said. “Argus will try to find me, but we must get off this hill. Come, help me.”

Felix and his father skulked into the shadows far off the road, making their way down the southern side of Goldstone Hill. Goldstone Wood loomed near, and Felix feared his father would insist they take shelter under those dark trees. Fidel’s breath came in labored gasps, and Felix found himself bearing more and more of his father’s weight. The king teetered on the brink of unconsciousness.

“Mreeeow?”

Felix gasped and nearly lost his grip on the king. A slinky form emerged from the darkness and wrapped around his ankles.

“Monster!” Felix muttered. “Dragons eat you, cat. Go away!” He kicked the blind cat from between his feet. Monster came back and continued rubbing and purring frantically. Felix scowled at him. “Fine,” he hissed. “You can come. But don’t think I’m going to coddle you, creature.”

The cat ran ahead a few steps, looked back and meowed, then slipped away into the darkness only to appear again at Felix’s feet a moment later. “I’m not following you,” Felix muttered. “You’re blind, stupid.”

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