He walked along the Rift's edge.
Kar never tired of its vastness. The land split open beside them, jagged and endless, a scar carved by the Cataclysm. A thin ribbon of water crept along the bottom—the Rift river—barely alive yet stubbornly enduring.
Derek's voice broke into his thoughts. He sounded bored, "You want to go see if anything's happening up at the front?"
The caravan had swollen steadily since they'd set out from Riftwater. Refugees from nearby settlements had joined them first, then more travelers along the road. Everyone seemed to be heading east, toward Iridess.
Kar pretended to think it over, then shoved Derek lightly and took off running. "Race you!"
They sprinted alongside the wagons. Kar slipped a hand into his pocket, fingers closing around the crystal shard he carried everywhere now. Aldwin's gift warmed and steadied him. Since childhood, fatigue had clung to him like a curse. Now he felt lighter, stronger. Like he could outrun the wind.
Just not Derek.
His friend quickly caught up and passed him, laughing. Kar pushed harder, stumbled, then slowed to a stop, breathless. His body felt better than it ever had, but still wasn't at the same level as his new-found confidence.
"Kar!"
Isa's shout snapped his head around. She leaned from the back of their wagon, one hand gripping the frame.
"Something's wrong!"
The caravan began lurching to a halt piecemeal. Screams rising and echoing along the Rift.
What was going on?
Kar scrambled toward his sister at the wagon's rear and shoved the canvas flap aside.
Natalie was resting inside—or had been—she was sitting up now, wide-eyed. "What's happening?"
"I don't know aunt Nat. I'm going to check it out. Isa, stay here with her."
More and more of the surrounding wagons were stopping, drivers sawing at the reins to bring their teams of donkey's to a standstill.
"Be careful!" Nat called out after him as he ducked away.
Kar leaned out and scanned the road. Derek was standing there, shading his eyes.
"Can you see what's happening?" Kar yelled.
"Can't tell, some kind of trouble at the front! You stay here, I'll go get a closer look!" Derek took off and vanished into the roiling dust.
A fresh wave of shouting erupted behind Kar. He spun.
Riders were coming up fast from the rear—rough men on horseback, fanning out across the road. Raiders. Aldwin and some other seasoned travelers had mentioned them, but there weren't supposed to be any this close to Iridess. The Guilds were supposed to keep the roads safe.
More riders emerged from the tall grass beside the road to join the others. Were they at the head of the caravan too?
Isa appeared beside Kar, "What's happening?" She whispered.
"I think we're in danger." He said, forcing her back inside.
Kar stepped off the road and ran a short ways into the grass, climbing the incline to gain a better view. From here he saw the sickening reality of things.
The raiders charged straight into the rear wagons, scattering people in every direction. They weren't here to loot. They were grabbing people and hauling them off.
To a woman, who sat astride a massive, ruddy red horse. She carried a slender rod.
One by one, captives were dragged before her. The rod flared for some, dimmed for others. Those it rejected were thrown aside. Those accepted were bound and tossed into waiting carts the raiders had brought with them.
She was testing them?
Kar turned and ran, grass whipping at his arms and legs.
He burst back onto the road just behind their wagon and skidded to a stop, kicking up dust.
Two raiders on foot turned toward him, abandoning the nearby wagon they were searching. They stalked his way with crooked grins.
Kar looked around frantically, hoping to see someone, anyone who could help. Everything was chaos. People were running away from the caravan in droves. Some out into the tall grass Kar had just left, others down the road towards the front of the wagon train; anywhere to get away. He looked back at the approaching men and tried to muster up some courage. He held up his shaking hands which were balled into fists. There was a terrible thudding in his chest and a pounding in his ears.
He heard the canvas flap lift behind him, "Get back inside, Isa!" He growled. A hand gripped his shoulder and he twisted to yell at his sister, only to find that it wasn't her, but Nat crouched behind him. She lowered herself gingerly from the wagon, leaning on Kar to maintain her balance. Isa crawled to the end of the wagon behind her, terrified.
Nat inhaled deeply, and something about her changed. She was holding her crystal shard in hand, and it glowed faintly.
Nat's shaking body relaxed, and then she flowed forward gracefully. The two raiders pulled up short, one of them cursing in surprise. But Nat—who appeared emaciated and weak—moved with deceptive swiftness.
She reached the man on the left quickly and struck out, her hands a blur. His body contorted and shook under a flurry of blows that thumped and thudded like drumbeats. He collapsed, coughing and spitting blood. Nat crouched and spun as his partner leapt towards her, her outstretched leg whipping into his side. Her heel folded his body with a sickening crunch, and he careened away into a nearby wagon-side.
He slumped motionless to the ground as Nat rose back to her feet smoothly.
Kar looked from the two men back to Nat in bewilderment. But she had already squared up to face more raiders, who had heard the commotion and now warily approached.
She glanced over her shoulder towards Kar and Isa and yelled, "Run!"
Isa stumbled off the tailboard of the wagon and grabbed hold of Kar tightly, "What do we do?" She asked.
Kar froze. None of this was right, none of this made sense. Who were these people? Why were they attacking them? How could Nat move like that?
The Raiders fanned out swiftly around them, cutting off any chance of escape. There were more than a half dozen of them who had formed a rough semicircle. Nat shifted back, her head swiveling side to side to keep track of them all.
The woman with the rod rode up on her red horse, "Stop." She ordered.
Her people halted in place abruptly.
"Only bastards I've seen move like that are Guardians," She turned her head and spat as she said the word, "What's one of you lot doing all the way out here with a bunch of refugees?"
Nat's body tensed but she stayed silent.
The woman chuckled, "You look like hell though, now that I've got a good look at you. You're hardly standing—these your brats?"
"Stay back." Nat hissed.
The woman grinned, and held up her hand, the fingers pointed skyward. A singular flame sparked to life above one finger and hung suspended there.
"It's like that then. You run away and try to start a life out in the boonies somewhere?"
Kar realized then that Nat's shaking had returned, "Leave us alone!" He shouted in an attempt to draw attention away from her.
The woman turned to look at Kar, then sized he and Isa up appraisingly. That flame started to dance from one finger to the next, "Let's grab the brats for testing, no use bringing her." She made a chopping motion with her hand, and the flame roared to a fireball that roared towards Nat. Kar's aunt spun away from it and the raiders surged forward.
Rough hands grabbed hold of Kar. Even as he tried to shove them away he heard Isa scream as she was ripped from his side. Something cracked against the back of his skull and stars and shadows bloomed and burst across his sight.
He felt himself being dragged away and groggily tried to lift his head to see where Nat and Isa were, but everything was swimming. He saw that slender rod held above him and it flashed brightly. Something rough, made of fabric, was dragged over his head and everything went dim.
Kar didn't even struggle as his hands were tied and bound painfully behind him. Then he was dragged off the path and into the grass, where he was thrown roughly onto a lumpy pile of something that groaned and whimpered beneath him. He tried to sit up but careened forward as everything beneath him shifted suddenly. His head thudded against something solid that had the sound and feel of wood.
Horses snorted and the clopping of their hooves along with the creaking of turning wheels drowned out Kar's pained moans. He lay there, shaking in the dark, tears hot on his face as he listened to the sobbing of others all around him. He cursed his own uselessness then, fearing—deep down—that his life had just been irrevocably changed.