Date: February 19th
Time: Sunset
Location: A few miles outside Arx
Status: Closed for @ioneseseri
The sun was just beginning to tip below the horizon when Mareona let her weary feet cease their movement and for a moment tipped her head back to feel the cool breeze on her hot face. She’d been in Khaggon when word of the attack had arrived, and then she’d wasted precious time trying to decide what to do. She had no place in Rolland’s army, but neither could she simply stand by and do nothing while an entire city full of innocent people suffered for crimes that weren’t theirs. By the time she made it to the port city it was enshrouded in chaos, and for a time she’d simply focused on helping the next person she came across, one after another in an endless parade of broken and bloody faces. The children were the worst. Her first night there she’d tried to help a young family. Only the father and oldest daughter had made it out alive and Mare was sure that once she allowed herself more than a few hours of rest at a time their faces were not something she’d be able to forget.
Getting into the city had been relatively simple, one woman alone, particularly one with her training had little trouble slipping past the guards but getting back out again had proved considerably more difficult. It was only in the last few days that she’d been able to make any real progress, gathering small clusters of townspeople and escorting them out of the city, sneaking and fighting by turns. The camp that was spread out before her wasn’t much, one of many ragged enclaves collecting those too lost or wounded to travel far, but she’d spent the last three days doing everything she could to ensure those fleeing the burning city made it to relative safety beyond the front lines of fighting that still raged. She wasn’t the only one engaged in such work, all around her other souls labored tirelessly to provide shelter and care. And that wasn’t even considering Rolland’s forces that had flooded Arx in the last week. She tried not to wonder where Avi was in the midst of it all, or any of her new acquaintances, (her friends?) for that matter. She had long since learned that dwelling on such things was less than useful. And being useful was all that mattered for the time being.
With a sigh she lowered herself onto a waiting stone and ran a hand through her filthy hair. She should head back out, getting people out of the city was easier under cover of night and she could make several more trips before dawn if nothing disastrous happened. Just a few minutes. She told herself, letting her head drop into her hands, fingers rubbing gently at her aching eyes, she’d rest for a few minutes and then head back into the fray.