Having survived the previous encounter, Kiur snuck through the areas with heightened caution.

Scouting from one of the higher areas, Kiur spotted fights raging near the market. Inhabitants fought against their assailants and were slowly getting overwhelmed. 

A lot of magic was involved, but only visible from Kiur’s people. The invaders focused more on fighting at close range. 

At first glance, they looked like a ragtag group of people. Awfully lean, with shambled and ragged clothes and rusty weapons in hand. Much like the one called Hessian, yet not as strong as he was.

“Kom i gang, kom i gang.” 

Kiur ducked away when he heard heavy footsteps approaching. They belonged to a dwarf and another man with pale skin and foreign outfits made of leather, fur and metal with polished swords, axes and shields.

Kiur held his breath.

“Vi har arbeid å gjøre og får så mye vi kan få.”

“Get going. We have work to do and get as much as we can.” Translated Kiur while eavesdropping on the Reiszer. They looked different from the other attackers.

He wondered; did they belong together? He wasn’t familiar with their clothes or weapons.

“Whatever they are, they are armed and dangerous. We need to stay clear of them.” Kiur waited some more until the Reiszer were out of sight.

“Let’s cut through the barley fields,” suggested Kiur, signalling for the children to be quiet. “We need to go around the market, so we need to be quiet, ok?”

The siblings nodded, holding each other by the hand. “It will be alright… it will be alright,” Kiur whispered the last bit to himself. He always did that like it was a charm.

It kept his head sane from the gravity of the situation. “It will be alright.” 

Knowing the fields like the back of his hand, Kiur outmanoeuvred any encounter with the Reiszer. He saw one group cutting through the field. 

Hiding the children and distracting the group to search elsewhere, they continued their path.

Call it luck or tenacity, but it was working.

So far. 

“We’re almost there,” said Kiur as they left the barley fields and arrived at the grape hills. “Here, eat some to calm your nerves.” 

The ziggurat wasn’t far anymore, but Kiur grew wary the closer they came. Below the hills, chaos and fights were raging between the growing flames.

His people erected walls and redirected the blaze towards the attackers, but the Reiszer besieged them, regardless. 

Those who were dressed similarly to Hessian appeared like slaves by the way they were thrown like cannon fodder or abused by the Reiszer soldiers when orders were refused—like throwing themselves into said fire.

It was a war of attrition. 

Kiur spotted single wizard-robed Reiszer to fire destructive spells and capture with the help of the soldiers whoever they could get their hands on with nets and drag them away. 

“This is madness,” said Kiur a bit too loudly.  

“Stop! Who’s hiding there?” 

Grabbed from behind, someone dragged Kiur out of his hiding spot. Fearing it was an enemy, he freed himself and raised his fists before realising who it was. 

“Kiur, that you?” The one who dragged him out was a priestess named Tabira, his colleague from work. “Those children, no way,” and she was the surrogate mother for the fathers of Ninda and her brother Hazir. “Where are their parents?” she turned to Kiur and inspected the children. She hugged them close. 

“They stayed behind to give us a chance to escape. I was over at their place when this…  mess happened,” Kiur explained their situation and was relieved to see a familiar face. “Is the temple safe? We need to go there quickly.” 

He heard sounds of awkward shuffling and whispering behind Tabira.

He hadn’t noticed them at first, but a group of people accompanied Tabira—mostly elderly and children—all in distress about what was happening to their city.

“We just came from there,” replied Tabira bitterly. “Gala Enlil and the other priests, alongside the stationed soldiers, are holding back a large group of those invaders. We escaped in the hopes of evacuating everyone to the underground area by making it through the market area.” 

“Bad idea.” Kiur crossed his hands into an X. “The market is in total chaos. I am unsure how many there are, but it’s too dangerous.” Travelling with a large group like this would draw too much attention. Something they couldn’t risk. “We need to get to the ports in the lower areas through the bridges.”

“I agree; it’s unlikely they know about the passageways.” Tabira’s hand hovered over her mount. “It might be dangerous, but it’s all we got.” 

Travelling in a large group wasn’t particularly wise. Many were non-combatants like Kiur, which lowered their fighting chances drastically. They needed a contingency plan.

Kiur proposed to split the groups into smaller sections, with the ones who couldn’t defend themselves putting them at the rear end. 

They needed to spearhead if necessary—otherwise, they might get overwhelmed in an encounter.

When Tabira inquired if Kiur could fight as well, she was disappointed to hear his answer. He argued he needed to protect the children as he promised.

She accepted his decision to be placed at the rear while she took the responsibilities for the front. 

It infuriated Kiur how she put in so much more effort than he did, despite her pregnancy. She had earned the right to be his replacement for Enlil’s successor. “Why do I have to be so pathetic? What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I be better?” 

“Your leg is still bleeding.” Pointed out Ninda, waking Kiur up from his stupor. “You need someone to look at it.” 

“It’s nothing.” Kiur held his poorly bandaged thigh, biting his lip from the pain. Bending down, Kiur straightened Ninda’s wild hair, giving her a comforting smile. “Don’t worry about me. Let’s focus on your brother, shall we?” 

Ninda held her brother’s hand even tighter, worrying about him. “I miss my parents. Do you think they will be alright?” 

“No, they won’t.” Was Kiur's first and most pessimistic thought. They were ordinary people, not fighters. A simple baker family and parents. “They will be, I’m sure of it,” lied Kiur once again. He had never lied so much in his life as in the past few years. 

It made him sick.

Sick of lying to everyone, but he would keep at least Ninda and her brother safe, no matter what.