Page 7 of Heart of Defiance

"The Darium army has put out an order that this town is to be burned to the ground," he says. "We're under orders tohelpthem, but we'll help you as much as we can before they get here. Please, grab only what you absolutely need and leave. I don't know how far behind us they are."

My chest constricts so tightly that for a moment, I can't breathe at all. An ache spreads all the way to my ribs.

It's because of me. Because I attacked the soldiers and stirred up the rest of the town to follow my lead.

The Darium soldiers said we'd pay for it. I just had no idea—I never thought?—

All sense of revelry has vanished from the square. My neighbors grab their children and run toward their houses or off to the west without stopping to collect any belongings.

We all know that when the Darium army says they're going to burn a place, they're not going to hesitate to burn up anyone still in it too.

The banging of doors and the soldiers' hollered voices carry from the nearby streets. "We're evacuating the town! You need to leave now. Everyone, quickly!"

I remain on the rim of the fountain's basin, frozen amid the panicked bustle of the crowd fleeing the square. The bottom of my stomach has dropped out.

Burn the town. My parents’ old house, since claimed by another family. The homes where so many were born, grew up, made lives for themselves.

The gorgeous temple I admired just this afternoon. The grand old town hall.

My gaze darts to the memorial on the hill, and my lungs clench even tighter.

The Darium soldiers will destroy that too, won't they? They'll scorch or smash the stones with the names of the fallen, score my parents' names out of existence as if they never lived at all.

I told them they couldn't take everything that belonged to us, and they mean to prove me wrong.

Where will we go after we flee? What town will take in another town's worth of people?

The soldiers will probably hunt us down across the countryside once they've destroyed our home.

If we let them.

A sharp sear of conviction shoots up from my gut. "No!" I shout over the frantic clamor. "We stood up to them before. We showed them they couldn't bully us. We can stop them!"

As several people turn to stare, I leap off the basin and cast around.

Bertha brought out a few geese from the butcher shop to roast—carcasses are still dangling from rods near the braziers. I run over and yank out one of the pointed roasting spits.

Brandishing it in the air like a spear, I call out again. "There are hundreds of us. They won't be sending that many soldiers. If we push back, we can save our town. We don't have to let them get away with this."

Some of the townspeople keep rushing by, but others hesitate. Gunther glances back toward his bakery and then toward the fountain where our first confrontation was successful. His hands ball into fists.

Bertha marches over to me and grabs another of the spits. Fear shines in her eyes, but her jaw is set.

She raises her makeshift weapon in the air like I did. "We should fight for what's ours! Come on, everyone. I have more rods and knives in my shop. We'll batter them with frying pans and garden hoes if that's what it takes."

I might have gained a little respect from my defense of the fountain, but Bertha has been considered an upstanding citizen for a lot longer than I have. Her voice rallies far more people than mine did.

As she ushers people into her shop to arm themselves, thehead Veldunian soldier and his remaining companion ride over to us. His startlingly bright blue eyes flash with anger—and maybe a little fear of his own. "What in the realms do you think you're doing?"

I hold up the roasting spit and set my other hand on my hip, ignoring the racing of my heart. "This is our town. We can't just stand by and watch them destroy it."

He wheels his horse around. "You don't have any choice. You can't hope to push back an entire squadron of Darium soldiers."

"We sent them running this afternoon. We weren't even prepared then."

Bertha comes bustling back out of the butcher shop. More figures are gathering around us, gripping whatever makeshift weapon they could get their hands on.

Sef the farrier swings his arm. "If they're coming from the east, we have to meet them there. Gather your friends—anyone who'll stand and?—"

---