MTO C80

Chapter 80

“Huh? Why are the bells…?”

Leaving behind the bewildered Michel, Kaidan immediately rushed out. In the distance, a mounted scout came tearing toward him in a panic. Upon spotting the duke, the scout slid off his horse in haste.

“What is going on?”

“A great fire has broken out in the village! It began from the marketplace building in the square and is spreading rapidly! At this rate, even the grain storehouses may be lost!”

The servants who had followed Kaidan out to see what had happened erupted in alarm at the scout’s report. For a moment, Kaidan felt as though the ground had dropped out beneath him. If the grain storehouses burned, the seed stores would be lost as well—meaning this year’s entire harvest would be ruined.

But the storehouses were not the only concern. The square was littered with old wooden buildings. Should they catch fire and collapse, the destruction would spread far beyond control.

Kaidan instinctively turned to summon Lawrence, only to remember he was not at his side. David, who should have been leading the knights, was nowhere to be seen either. Only the household servants of Eglence stood before him, staring with fear and expectation, waiting for his command.

His teeth ground together. There was no time to be a useless fool.

“Send all knights and soldiers down to the village, leaving only the minimum guard for the castle. Any spare hands among the servants, bring tools fit to douse flames. The maids are to go with the physician and prepare to tend the wounded—move to the village immediately! Go, now!”

At his orders, those who only moments before had fretted in panic now scattered into orderly motion. Taking the reins from the scout almost by force, Kaidan mounted the horse in one swift move and charged through the castle gates.

The world outside lay in pitch-black shadow. The moon had not risen, and even the road beneath his horse’s hooves was barely visible. Yet Kaidan did not hesitate. He loosened the reins and urged on greater speed.

Snowstorms whipped around him with the fury of dragon’s envy. The wind would soon feed the fire, spreading it even faster. Already the acrid sting of smoke burned at his nose.

A dark certainty took root within him. Tonight would be a long night.

Finding the fire’s location proved no difficulty—the inferno lit the sky like a beacon.

By the time he arrived, the square blazed bright as noon.

“Move, it’s going to collapse!”

“Your clothes are on fire, put it out!”

“Damn it, where is the water?!”

Was this what hell looked like brought upon the earth? The once-peaceful town square was now chaos, filled with screams and anguish. People ran frantically in every direction as the fire devoured everything it touched.

Smoke and drifting ash filled the air so thickly it was hard to keep one’s eyes open. Before, Kaidan had shivered in the biting cold, but now, beneath the flames, his body was drenched in sweat, hot as if a blazing sun burned against his skin.

The villagers had tried desperately to fight the fire on their own, but the flames threatened to swallow them instead. The wounded were already many, their bodies marked by severe burns.

“Half of the order, to the lake—haul water! The rest, tear down the buildings in the fire’s path to halt its spread! Move at once!”

Kaidan barked his commands, and the knights obeyed without hesitation. He, too, went forward to tear down structures not yet engulfed, preventing the flames from advancing further.

“No! My shop—!”

The grief-stricken cries of villagers pierced his ears, but there was no other choice. Unless the buildings were brought down first, the fire would spread unchecked, and extinguishing it would become impossible. Now was not the time to save everything—it was the time to minimize loss.

As he worked, a particularly sharp cry rang out.

“My baby! No!”

Kaidan turned to see it. Beneath a roof burning wildly, a small child—barely five years old—had fallen, wailing. The mother tried to run for him but was restrained by others. The flames overhead threatened to collapse at any moment.

Without hesitation, Kaidan turned his horse and charged toward the inferno. But someone else reached the boy first.

“My son!”

A man darted into the flames and, in the blink of an eye, emerged cradling the child. His massive frame moved with startling agility. Kaidan froze when he saw the man’s face.

It was Jared.

His appearance was in ruins, his once-white hair curled and singed from the heat, his entire body smudged and streaked with soot and ash. Without armor, he looked more like a common townsman than a knight.

Jared, too, faltered when his eyes met Kaidan’s, but only for a heartbeat. Without a word, he turned away, delivering the child into his mother’s arms.

“Here he is.”

“Thank you! Oh, thank you!”

Jared gave no reply and disappeared back into the thick of those fighting the flames. Kaidan stared a moment at the space he’d left behind, then turned back to his own task. Stopping was not an option—the fire still raged.

“Your Grace! The supply wagons from the castle have arrived!”

Soon reinforcements reached the square. Servants unloaded barrels of water, formed lines, and carried it tirelessly. Some shoveled dirt to bury embers, others dragged the injured away to safety.

But among the bustling servants, Kaidan spotted a round head of gray hair that had no business here.

“What are you doing here?!”

Kaidan seized Michel as he charged head-first into danger. The saint had shed his usual robes, dressed instead in plain, workman’s garb no different from the others. He even held a shovel tight in both hands, so much like the servants that Kaidan nearly hadn’t noticed him at all.

In that instant, Kaidan’s vision went red. Anger burned so hot he even forgot to address Michel with respect before the others.

How in the world had this man made it here? Had no one thought to stop him on the way? He was the last person who should be anywhere but under the safest protection—so why here, in the heart of chaos?

“What else would I be doing? I’m helping to put out the fire!”

But Michel defiantly shouted back. He shrugged off Kaidan’s hold, trying to rush toward the flames again. Kaidan caught him by the collar and yanked him back. Enough of courtesy—this man was going to get himself killed.

“I’ll send knights with you. Go back to the castle at once.”

“What? No, I won’t!”

“Don’t argue and just—”

“Ah!”

Before Kaidan could force him onto a horse, a dreadful cracking noise split the air. Both men turned their heads at once.

The largest windmill in the square was ablaze, flames swallowing the entirety of its wooden structure. Fire climbed the blades, until the whole became a blazing tower.

Crack.

The weakened pillars, scorched and brittle, could no longer bear the weight. The mill’s enormous body toppled forward.

“Run! Move!”

“Screeeam!”

Crash!

The windmill shattered into pieces as it hit the ground. Though no one had been crushed beneath it, the impact sent the flames surging outwards in a roaring wave. The range of the fire, which Kaidan and his knights had just managed to contain, erupted to several times its size.

Kaidan froze for an instant—and in that lapse, Michel tore himself free. Kaidan reached for him too late. Already, Michel was at the side of the servants, shoveling earth onto the flames.

Damn it.

Kaidan tore his eyes away with force, grabbing instead a soldier lingering nearby with a water bucket.

“Why is water taking so long?”

“T-the nearest lake is frozen! The soldiers and townsfolk are breaking the ice together, but it’s slow!”

The supplies from the castle were already spent. Villagers and soldiers had formed lines to haul water from wells and the lake, but both sources were locked in ice. Smothering the fire with dirt was quickly reaching its limits.

“Ahhh! My arm!”

“Idiot! Don’t throw snow into the fire!”

As the flames raged higher, so too did the shouts and cries of the wounded. Fire spread in every direction. No matter where he looked, it was chaos.

“Someone help, please!”

“Damn it, we’re drowning here too!”

Kaidan’s mind faltered. Where should he go? What should he do first? Everywhere, it seemed, voices were screaming his name.

Suddenly his vision blurred. His head spun. Though he did not collapse, a fog washed over his mind. He wiped his face again and again, but the heaviness in his body was unbearable, like a mountain crushing his shoulders.

The toll of exhaustion and burden came crashing all at once, but Kaidan could not recognize it. He only blinked slowly, dazed, standing frozen at the center of calamity.

“Mom! Where are you, mom!”

“Someone’s collapsed here—help!”

“Get out of here, don’t stand around!”

“Ahhh!”

“No, Rob!”

Damn… damn it all…

“Your Grace!”

A strong hand clutched his shoulder and shook him back to awareness. Kaidan’s eyes widened, snapping into focus. Before him stood Jared.