“Children in the Chaos” - A Tale of Heroes - Scene 59: Antonerri

The explosion shook Antonerri to the floor. His head was dazed, but he struggled back to his feet. Others were also standing up. He tried to hold his head to steady the room, but it didn’t seem to help. DeFrantis! Where is DeFrantis?

He turned to look where he thought she had been. Instead he saw the angry face of the man he had been negotiating her sale with. The man was shouting at him, but Antonerri couldn’t hear the words he was saying over the ringing in his ears. But it was clearing, and he was starting to make out sounds. He looked at the other man, confused, as the man drew back and punched Antonerri full in the face, knocking him back, stunned, onto the floor.

Feet were flying all around him. He rolled over, partly to stand, but mostly to protect himself in the stampede of people fleeing the market. He was hearing, now, and people were shouting and fighting.

“Wizards! Run!”

“It’s the city guard!”

“Hide!”

He scrambled to get up, but a knee in his back knocked him down again. A second try got him up on one knee. “DeFrantis!” He called out, as he frantically scanned the room. All he could see was a flurry of bodies. All he could hear were shouts and crashes.

As he turned his head, he saw a man carrying two very young children, one under each arm. Ahead of him, he pushed a third, slightly older child toward a door. The children were screaming and covering their faces with hands that were tied together, and tied to each other. This made it tricky for the one on foot to keep moving, and Antonerri saw the man shouting and pushing him forward.

Children! Antonerri lunged ahead. DeFrantis wanted to find children! She’ll be chasing the children! He pushed through the crowd trying to get to the man. In a moment Antonerri was where he stood, but the man had moved on. People were pressing out the door and running. He followed, rushing through the door.

The bright lights of the noonday sun hit his face and people behind him pushed him through. He stumbled, and caught his balance on a barrell. People were rushing to horses and wagons. Some of the wagons and carriages were finely made, others were old and worn. They hurried to get them loaded and ready. Many were fighting with each other, shouting about who owned which slave.

Where are they? Where did they go?

He stumbled forward, then ran between some wagons. He recognized some of them as having the livery and heraldry of a few of the noble houses of Twynne Rivers. They began rolling away as he came through them. He jumped back to avoid being run over.

He stepped into the clear and scanned the scene, as people mounted up and fled. There they are!

The man who had been carrying the children was roughly handing them up into a wagon, to another man, who grabbed them and threw them down. Antonerri rushed forward.

He threw himself at the man, knocking him to the ground. They rolled, struggling and wrestling, away from the wagon. Antonerri landed on top, and managed to land a good punch to the man’s chest, when he was hit from behind and knocked to the ground. Suddenly, someone else was on top of him, driving a knee into his guts, and pummeling him with fists to his shoulders and face.

Where’s DeFrantis? Then his mind went black.

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This continues the story of the heroes in Wynne, in Twynne Rivers, in the world of The Hero's Tale, Family Friendly RPGs. Here's more info on The Hero's Tale, and family friendly RPGing.


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