Despite the flashy soldier with the barely-there beard though, there was something flashier that piqued Maya’s interest.

An obvious criminal stood beside the soldier, his hands bound in poorly tied ropes. Even Maya could have knotted it better.

The criminal hung his head low, causing his eyes to be covered by his hair.

His hair…

Maya finally understood why people were so interested.

Even in the darkening day of dusk and the weak light of the flickering electric lanterns, the hair of the criminal was clearly seen as it glinted proudly on his head. It was intense, it was captivating. It was golden.

Maya’s eyes widened. Such hair color was not a norm in Osreon for sure. In fact, this was Maya’s first time to see one. Something about it wasn’t just mere gold color. The way it rustled so softly with the wind, the way it reflected light from the sun… Maya wondered how much she could a strand of that hair for.

To make the sight more confusing for everyone present was the fact that the criminal looked nothing like a criminal. From his linen shirt to his leather-bound shoes, the tied up man looked more like he should be the one charging offenses against the soldier. He was more sophisticated than any Archanian Maya has ever seen.

The soldier finally cleared his throat amidst all the hushed whispers. “Here I present to the public, as a warning and as punishment, a stray rebel! He was caught red-handed in the act of theft, and nothing petty as well. A jewelry shop… owned by the poor Miss Violet… Nothing less from a poor rebel.” He shook his head. “His rights end today, as tomorrow he will be executed!”

The crowd moved uneasily behind Maya. Public executions had become a legal thing in Osreon ever since the Military Regime had started. Back then, the Archanian government wanted these kind of things done in secrecy.

“What say you, criminal?” the soldier said.

No response. The golden-haired criminal kept his head down.

“What say you?” the soldier asked again, louder.

This time, the criminal raised his head. The crowd stepped back. Maya unconsciously did so too. She tried not to get over-excited at the sight.

His eyes were gold too. Two suns on his face, intensity ten-fold anything that Maya had witnessed. He commanded their attention, and everyone was hooked.

In the moment of confusion and awe, Maya’s eyes met with the criminal’s. She shuddered at the contact, feeling as though she glanced at something unnatural. If she didn’t see it wrong either, the young criminal might have even shot her a cynical smile.

“I say…” said the criminal slowly. He looked around at the crowd, eyeing everyone as if looking for someone. Finally, he met with Maya’s gaze again. He smiled for sure this time.

Maya felt unwell.

“We will get away!”

With one swift movement, the criminal swiped his hands down. His bounds were somehow cut, freeing his hands.

The crowd jostled back in a panic, trying to shove one another out of the way. The soldier, meanwhile, was too slow and too dumbfound to bring out his pistol.

Before Maya could even move her foot to turn away, something grabbed her arm. She looked, horrified, at the criminal who dragged her out of the packed crowd in a second.

“What are you doing?” she screamed. Her feet tried to skid with the ground, but the criminal was too fast and his grip was too strong. “Let go! Let go, let go!” As a last resort, she continuously slapped his grip with her free hand. “Somebody! Help!”

The young criminal scowled as he ran. He dodged past confused civilians. “Stop that!” he said.

He tried to grab Maya’s other hand to get her to stop slapping, but to no avail. “Tell me where the ships are! This town is so damn confusing!”

Maya gave up trying to stop herself. It hurt, and there was no way she could beat this man in terms of strength. She instead ran with the momentum. Her hair was fluttered wildly with their speed. “No!” she said. “You’re crazy! Just let me go!”

They ducked past a large man in the way.

“If I let you go,” the criminal said with a laugh, “You’d have to deal with them.” He gestured to what was behind her.

Maya turned and paled. A number of soldiers were chasing after them, trying to steady themselves for a clean pistol shot. The bearded soldier from a while ago led the team. Fortunately, they couldn’t brave themselves to shoot a zigzagging criminal and a girl.

“Anyway,” the criminal continued, “If we stop, they’ll just put you in ropes. They won’t help you. They think you’re with me.”

“I’m not a rebel!”

“They don’t know that.”

The dread that Maya felt was her first. Her head hurt from the sudden stress she felt when she thought of the consequences of all these. How was she going to explain all these to Mister Castel? Never in her life did she think that something outrageous as being in a Military chase would actually happen to her. Never did she imagine that she’d have to be in a fight like this.

And it was a fight that Maya could not win. The soldiers were against her, and she was too weak to fight off the criminal. She was smart, she could admit that, but what she was about to do was far from it.

With a curse aimed at the heavens, Maya forced her legs to move faster. She tried to match herself with the criminal’s speed and she even stopped slapping his hand. Her legs felt relief and comfort now that they ran with their own will, but Maya was still angry at herself for not being able to do anything against this.

“Smart choice,” the criminal said. “Now, show me where the ships are at and I’ll let you go.” He loosened his grip on Maya’s arm, but he still didn’t let go.

“You better keep that promise.”

“I didn’t promise.”

The criminal ran beside her with such a glint in his eyes that he looked fulfilled despite the situation. Maya wondered if he actually enjoyed getting chased around in life and death situations. She could understand him a bit if that were the case, though. Sometimes, she’d jump at troublesome situations in the Kingfisher, like saving a drowning sailor or pulling the outside ropes when a storm was happening. It was what made life exciting.

But being a wanted rebel on death row was another thing.

“Your name?” he asked.

She glared. No way.

“Okay,” he said exasperatedly. “Nice to meet you too. Call me Zachary.”

Maya really didn’t have any time to bother with his name—she was too busy feeling void on her face as a continuous stream of wind batted against it.

The two of them continued to enter confusing alleyways and crevices just to lose the soldiers. The straight, rigid streets were starting to turn much more crazy and maze-like the farther they got. Nothing made sense, houses were built on roads, roads were built around other winding roads. The sun had set as well, making everything harder to bear with.

A sudden bullet shot through the lamppost in front of them.

Maya’s forehead furrowed. “Please tell me they shot their gun just to scare us,” she said.

Zachary looked back. He gave a half-smile. “Uhm, if that’s what you want to hear…”

They continued to outrun the soldiers until they were faced with three pathways—left, right, and one that went ahead to another sharp bend. “Straight!” said Maya.

“No, we go left! We have to get to the ships!” His grip was still as heavy as iron locks.

Maya tried to pull back. The fast footsteps of the soldiers could be heard now, they were coming closer from behind. “That street is a long, straight path with nothing that can hide us,” explained Maya. “Trust me, I’ve been to this town more than most people.”

When Zachary still didn’t look convinced, she continued, “Let’s hide, and then we come back.”

“We can’t!” he said. His eyes were steely as before, but his mouth was upturned in a frown. He looked up the sky and cursed. “We need to get to the ships. Now.”

Zachary looked scared and worried to such a degree that Maya could not help feeling that way, too. Although she did not truly mean to help the criminal out, she still had to save her own skin. What was he so afraid of?

The soldiers arrived right at their backs. All four of them—Maya counted—pointed their guns right at the two of them.

“Don’t shoot!” Maya said in reflex. She knew then what she needed to do. She just had to raise her hands and surrender, and the soldiers could resort to a more civilized means of arrest. Maybe, they could even listen to her and see that she was just an innocent bystander who got dragged into some kind of blackmail.

Zachary’s grip went slack, and Maya used the chance to pull her hand out. She raised both above her head. “I didn’t mea—”

A sharp gunshot pierced through her ears. She screamed.

The next second, she saw her hand, right below wrist, deeply grazed and pouring out blood.

“Bastards!” shouted Zachary.

Before anyone could do anything, though, the ground started to shake.

Maya’s legs shook violently along with her whole body. Her sense of balance was lost, and she almost fell to the ground if not for Zachary’s support. The soldiers, too, were lost in the shock, their guns lowered and faces confused.

As Maya whimpered with the pain from the gunshot and the vertigo washing over her, a boom deafened everyone’s ears, accompanied with a blinding saturated flash.

A strong gust of wind from behind Maya whipped her hair all over her face. Her hair obstructed her view, but she could still clearly see the houses alongside of her… swaying and tilting.

Another boom came up from behind her. The force of it was doubled from the last one, so strong that Maya and Zachary were both blown onto a wall.

Maya blinked the stars off her view, but they seemed to be permanent. She was staring up at the night sky, and yet she could see the sun. Zachary focused into view, his mouth moving and shouting something, but all Maya heard was high pitch ringing.

He helped her up. “…kay?” was all Maya heard.

Something warm oozed in her mouth. She knew of it, as she had many times been a victim of happy hours on the Kingfisher. She spat out the blood then took a hand to head. Was she seeing in double vision? Or was it the shaking ground?

No time to think. Zachary had pulled her arm to run again.

“We need to get out of here,” he said. “Are you okay?”

She didn’t respond. Instead she looked behind her. Buildings were crashing down into the alleys, completely blocking everything, and lampposts were exploding in sparks from the tremors. Maya couldn’t even bare to ask about it.

Zachary pointed ahead. “The ships! Just a little more, and we’re safe!”

The docks rampaged with people, and ocean glinted red and yellow behind them. Everyone was screaming gut-ripping shrieks. No one looked back—they didn’t even look ahead. They were all so panicked that they trampled over everyone else just to get on the ships.

Smoke and bloodstorms, Maya remembered.

“Oh no,” said Zachary. “There might not be enough ships to carry us. We have to hurry before the last set goes off.”

“Wait,” said Maya, dread building up in her. “What do you mean last set? Last set of what? Of bombs?”

He didn’t have to respond. His grim eyes confirmed everything.

Maya licked her lips. Her eyes were starting to lose focus. She was going die here, just like all those poor souls in Greencall. Just like all the other people in the past cities that the Military bombed. No more ocean breezes, no more warm sunshine.

But she couldn’t just give up. What would Mister Castel think? He would not want a coward for a niece. He did not raise Maya in the hard seas just for her to die in an unworthy land.

“Let’s…” Maya said, losing her breath. “Let’s go to the Kingfisher. It’s my ship. We’ll have space there. I promise.”

“Then let’s hurry up.”

They jolted for the crowd and squeezed themselves within them. Maya almost tripped, dooming her for a stampede, but Zachary fortunately yanked her by the hair. “Oops,” he said flatly.

In a matter of time, they reached the Kingfisher’s boardwalk. Mister Castel stood at the top, waving everyone in. His raincoat fluttered from bomb-winds, and his silhouette lit up with a flash at intervals. “Hurry up or die!” he screamed.

Maya raised both her hands. “Mister Castel!” she shouted.

He swerved his head at her. “Malaya!” he called out relieved. “Get to the quarterdeck!”

She didn’t need to be told. She grabbed Zachary by the arm and pulled him along with her this time. People were not kind to anyone around them. The bombs seemed to get louder and stronger, and everyone was aware of it. Maya got elbowed in the stomach twice during her struggle to the ship.

Finally, the two of them got there. Mister Castel was nowhere to be found now, but Maya knew that he was getting the ship ready. The sailors readied the sails and pulled out the anchors. Maya stumbled her way up onto the quarterdeck. Her knees wobbled, her head pounded, but she knew she was safe.

“Malaya, right?” asked Zachary. He followed her up the stairs. “You’re going to bleed to death.” He handed her a thick white cloth and eyed her hand.

She looked down. She had forgotten about her gunshot wound, but now that she saw her wrist dripping in her own blood, the pain of it started to intensify. The white cloth turned gradient red as soon as she allowed Zachary to bandage her hand.

“Is everyone aboard?” Mister Castel shouted.

“No one’s coming!” replied one of the sailors from the crow’s nest. “The other ships have taken off with other passengers!”

“I can see that for myself!”

The sailors rang the shrieking bell, signalling the departure.

Maya swallowed her dry mouth as she watched Oxford Bay grow smaller and go farther. The port town wailed as the fire crackled around it. There were no more explosions, only despair in which everyone felt. The tall warehouses were degraded to nothing, and the humble houses were blown to bits.

Now that she was calmer, she could find her words. “It’s done…” she choked down.

Zachary grimaced. “No.”

The front part of the city shook violently. Not a second passed when the trees, concrete, and docks exploded into pieces. Wood splintered, cement crackled. It did not stop at just that, though. A dozen more explosions followed, outlining the town.

Maya knew it was too late to do so, but she shut her eyes. She had enough. The horrible sounds of destruction was enough. The dreadful silence that came after was enough.

Bloodstorms.