Unspeakable Secrets The Alchemist Series (A Dark Medieval Progression Fantasy)

Chapter 1 Fire

"Mommy? Daddy?" Connor yelled frantically between coughs as smoke seared his lungs.

He squinted and blinked away tears. Ash stung his eyes, and everything was a blurry mess of black and orange.

His heart pounded in his chest as the fire raged around him, and the roof above groaned ominously.

He instinctively raised his arms to protect himself from the debris that drifted down, but it did nothing against the oppressive heat around him.

Only one thought pushed him forward. He had to find his parents.

A deafening boom shook the house.

Bookcases crashed to the ground, sending their contents sprawling all over the floor and feeding the hungry flames.

Smoke choked his lungs, and he fell to his knees.

He shook with fear, but when he thought about his parents, he found the strength to stand again even as the floorboards creaked and groaned beneath his feet.

He gritted his teeth and took unsteady steps forward once more.

A wooden beam plummeted from the ceiling and smashed into the floor not far from him, releasing a cloud of ash and cinders.

He jumped back, and a shiver ran down his spine as he looked at the massive, burning beam that could have crushed him.

But, he couldn't give up.

"Mommy? Daddy?" he screamed again as he stumbled down the one path that wasn't blocked by rubble or fire.

"Where are you?" he cried though it came out hoarse and he broke out into a coughing fit.

His parents never let him out of their sight for longer than a second.

He feared never seeing them again. He was only four, but he knew enough to know that things could go away forever... they could... no! He wouldn't let himself think that.

They were here somewhere.

They were probably trying to find him, but how could they hear him over the explosions that ripped apart the air and shook the earth. How could they see him in the fire and smoke?

"Mo-?" He choked on smoke and coughed as his dry, burning throat couldn't finish the word. He tried to swallow, but his mouth was filled with ash.

He heard screams outside before an inhuman roar drowned them out again.

He made it to the other side of the passageway, and someone grabbed him and scooped him up.

He couldn't see their face, but he didn't need to.

"Daddy!" he choked out the word though his throat still burned from the smog around them.

"I've got you, my boy... I've got you..." his father said.

"What's happening daddy? Where's mommy?" Connor asked.

"Shhh, son. It's all okay now. Mommy is fine, she's just busy right now," his father said as he carried Connor through their burning home.

Now that he'd found his dad, everything would be okay. Even so, he held onto his father tightly, afraid that he might somehow disappear.

His father rushed through the house, and into a room that Connor was never allowed into. His father set him down on a workbench and grabbed a piece of parchment while looking around frantically.

Connor picked up a quill next to him without thinking and handed it to his father.

His father took the quill and scribbled something on the parchment, but Connor couldn't see what.