Chapter 42 - 41: Scars You Can’t See
The city bell rang again.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Smoke curled into the dawn sky, thick and black, dancing above rooftops like the devil’s own banner. People scrambled through the streets — buckets in hand, shouting, coughing.
The fire spread fast, orange tongues licking greedily at the wooden bones of the house.
The Guard Captain shoved his way through the crowd.
"What in the hells is going on now?" he growled, surveying the chaos.
A younger soldier ran up, out of breath, helmet askew. "Captain! Situation is under control. We managed to contain the blaze to one building. Two civilians were rescued. One’s the shop owner. The other’s his assistant. One injured."
"Which building?"
"Artificer’s workshop, sir."
The Captain muttered a curse and pushed forward. The familiar sight of the Artificer’s workshop now stood in ruins, charred timbers still smoking. Buckets of water had soaked the street, and the heat was just beginning to die down. The structure, or what was left of it, leaned like a dying beast.
The Artificer sat slumped against a broken beam, blanket over his shoulders, face pale. His assistant, equally shaken, stood nearby with a soldier.