Another day, another dollar. Yeah, wouldn’t that be nice, Nylah thought, as her and her friend, Lydia galloped into a new village on horseback. Heads all around turned in their direction as they passed by the residents of this sorry excuse for a village. They continued down the muddy path, scanning for any potential places to stay for the night. A man whose hair was caked in dirt and grime trudged past them, carrying a sack of blighted vegetables.  Dirty children poked at a stray cat with a stick in the middle of the road. The cat hissed at Nylah and Lydia as they rode by. Parents called for their children to come inside from behind the doors of their small, stone structures Nylah presumed were their houses. There were scarcely any cattle or horses anywhere around. The whole village reeked of mold and desperation. 

            “Man, this place is even worse than I imagined.” Lydia said, looking out at all the dirty faces staring back at them.

            “I know, right? I’ve never seen so many children in my life.” Nylah said, crinkling her face in disgust, as a child picked up a small, mud-covered carrot that had fallen out of the man’s bag and shoved it into her mouth. 

            Lydia laughed. “There probably won’t be after Ranger shows up with his raiders,” she said. Nylah had never actually seen a raid, but she didn’t like the sound. She just knew she didn’t want to be a victim. Lydia had allowed her to tag along for this one. She wasn’t sure what exactly their job was, but she figured she’d find out soon enough. They were both part of a larger group of thieves, but Lydia had gotten involved with a few money sources outside their circle.

 “This place is an easy target. I’m glad we chose this village instead of the one across the marsh. That would have been a nightmare…” Lydia finished. 

            They pulled their horses up to an old, wooden shack that seemed to be abandoned.

“Well, this will do until the rest of the group gets here at sundown.” Lydia said, dismounting off her horse. “You want to go and see what treasures we can snag for ourselves before the raiders get here?” she smiled and raised one eyebrow.

            “Yeah, sure. I doubt I’ll find anything in this place, though.” Nylah replied. 

“You never know. Do you remember when we found fifty gold coins under the floorboards of that old man’s house in the village down by the South Stream?”

 “Yeah, he creeped me out but it was totally worth it. What is there to lose, really?” Nylah plopped her bag on the ground.  “Just watch the horses and my bags, please.” She said.

            “Ok. Bring home the gold, Nylah!” Lydia said enthusiastically. 

Nylah scoffed and started walking back down the road the way they came.

 

            Nylah was able to find eight coins so far, six gold and two copper. She searched nine different houses. There was probably more she missed, but she didn’t want to risk getting caught. Besides, she was almost seen by a dirty old lady sitting in a rocking chair, who raised her cane at Nylah as she ran by and shouted through her yellow, rotting teeth and stringy gray hair.  She knew better than to underestimate angry old ladies. She just took what was within arm’s reach of one of the windows. Apparently, people didn’t know better than to leave their valuables sitting on their windowsill. Well, more for me, Nylah thought. 

            She was sneaking behind the back of her last house, when she heard voices coming from inside. Shouting. Nylah inched closer, and crouched underneath the back window to listen.

            “No! You don’t deserve dinner tonight! You think I even have enough money to afford food for you?!” It was a man’s voice.

            “But, daddy, I haven’t eaten since yesterday! All of my friends get meals.” A little girl said.

            “Well, I bet your friends aren’t useless like you, huh? They probably earn their meals and work like everyone else has to.” The man again. 

            Nylah could hear the little girl’s voice falter. “Mommy never made me work. And she always cooked for us.” She said.

            “Well, your mother isn’t here anymore, is she?!” The man shouted.

At that moment, Nylah felt something. She felt sorry for the little girl. Why? She knew the answer.  Memories came flooding to the front of her mind. Her father yelling and screaming at her, his face cold and hard. Going to bed starving. Playing in the dirt with her friends. Crying by her mother’s empty bed. 

            Nylah peaked over the wall into the house. She could see one silver coin sitting on the windowsill. Within her grasp. 

In front of her, a tall, ragged man towered over a little girl. Her light blonde hair fell to her hips, the ends looked split and choppy. Her chubby, rosy cheeks quivered as she looked desperately into her father’s face with big, round, hazel eyes. She was adorable. What am I thinking? Nylah thought, I hate children. She shook her head and stood up a little more to get a better look. 

            “Just go to bed and maybe I’ll give you food in the morning. You should know, I miss your mother too, Jasmine. She always knew how to deal with you when you were being a spoiled brat!” He yelled, waving his fist dangerously close to her cheek. 

            The little girl’s eyes filled with tears and her lip started to quiver. She turned around without a word and walked through a doorway, that led to what must have been a bedroom. The only one, judging by the size of this house. 

            “Useless brats like you don’t make it in the world!” The man shouted as she walked away. He banged his fist on the wall and took a seat in a single wooden chair next to a lonely table in the center of the room. Nylah was suddenly filled with contempt toward this man. Every time she looked in his face, she saw her father’s. How could anyone treat an innocent little girl like that? 

            She crouched there for a moment, contemplating. Just take the money and go, one part of her said. They need this money, the other one said. A third part of her was thinking, why do I even care? But she knew the answer. Nylah had felt so alone and desperate during her childhood. She knew the pain of losing a loved one when she was just a little girl. She knew how much a father like that could chip away at your soul until it shattered. Luckily, she had found enough strength in herself to keep that from happening. So will this little girl, right? One coin won’t make a difference, Nylah thought. They need that money. One coin could mean a meal for a helpless little girl. Her conscience was arguing with itself. Again, a third voice popped into her mind, why do I care? 

            Nylah took one last look at the coin, sighed, and walked away. She strode down the street, back towards Lydia. I do not want to be in the streets when the raiders come, she thought. Whatever they may do. But her mind was filled with thoughts of the little girl and her situation. She shook those thoughts out of her mind and continued walking. 

 

            Nylah had split what she collected with Lydia. “Nice! Poor saps were robbed blind. They won’t even know what hit them!” Was her response. 

They sat against opposite walls of the one-room, abandoned, wooden shack. The sun had almost set now, it’s golden rays casting light into the center of the room between them. Lydia tossed a gold coin up into the air and caught it. But Nylah was distracted. She hadn’t expected to be reminded of all that past trauma she thought she pushed out of her mind. But seeing that little girl treated like that… she almost felt bad. What is wrong with you? She thought.

“Hey? Nylah? Did you hear me?” Lydia asked.

Nylah realized she had been staring at the floor and apparently, Lydia was talking to her. “Oh, yeah.” She looked up at her, “What was that?”

Lydia scoffed. “What’s up with you? Why are you acting all weird?” She asked.

Nylah just shrugged.

            “Anyway, I just said I was wondering when the raiders were going to show up. Usually they’re not this far behind us.” 

At that moment, there was a noise from outside the shack, down the street. A scream and a crash. Then another. Then what sounded like an explosion. Nylah’s head shot up and she jumped to her feet; Lydia did the same.

            “Guess they’re here!” She exclaimed. “Let’s get out of here.” Lydia grabbed her bag and jogged outside. 

            Nylah slung her bag over both of her shoulders and stepped outside. What was once a small, peaceful village was now almost totally engulfed in flames. Smoke poured out of multiple houses and buildings, and embers littered the street. Screams erupted from everywhere and Nylah could see people on horseback galloping at full speed down the streets, knocking over anyone who was in their path. The raiders. In front of her, a man with a torch came running out of his house and hurdled a torch at one of the raiders’ horses. It missed as the man quickly galloped by. The torch flew an inch past Nylah’s ear as it whistled past and landed behind her, sparking a small fire in the grass. 

            Nylah felt frozen in place. This was a massacre. Whatever it was she expected from a “raid”, it wasn’t this. 

            Lydia was mounting her horse when she shouted over at Nylah. “Hey! Are you coming? I’d rather not get toasted on accident!” 

            Nylah was about to run over to her horse, but before she could peel her eyes away from the sight, something caught her eye. A little girl in the street stood in front of a burning house, crying. Nylah squinted and walked closer. That was the house she had almost robbed earlier, with the little girl. It clicked. She was in trouble, and her father was probably caught in the house when this destructive inferno happened. How had a fire this big happened, anyway? And why would the raiders burn down the houses they’re trying to rob? A power show? To induce fear? 

            Scanning the scene, Nylah noticed a raider on the other side of the girl, galloping toward her, with a ferocious grin. She knew she had to act. She didn’t have time to speculate. She realized she cared about the life of this little girl. Her instincts took over, and she started sprinting to the girl, who stood in front of her house, sobbing, unaware of any other present danger.  

            “Nylah! Where are you going?!” Lydia shouted after her, but Nylah didn’t care.

Staring directly ahead of her, she reckoned she could close the gap between her and- Jasmine, it was? Before the raider did. Her feet pounded on the stone beneath her, as she closed the gap. She saw the raider pull out a sword and point it out toward Jasmine. Nylah ran as fast and as hard as she possibly could. He kept on coming toward her at full speed. At the last second, Nylah jumped toward Jasmine, and pushed her onto the ground, just as the silver tip of the sword passed over their heads. The raider kept galloping forward, letting out a howl of wicked laughter that disappeared into the night.

            For a few seconds, Nylah just laid in the dirt next to Jasmine, baffled by what she had just done. She was snapped out of her trance by the sobs of the helpless little girl beside her. 

            “Are you ok? Are you hurt?” Nylah stood up next to Jasmine. 

“My daddy is in there!” Jasmine shouted, tears streaming down her round, pink cheeks as she pointed at her burning house.

            Nylah knew that if her father was still alive, he would have come out of there by now. But she couldn’t tell Jasmine that. Not right now. All around them, people screamed, raiders slashed, and the smoke was becoming too thick to breathe. 

            “Hey! I know you’re afraid and you’re lost and you feel alone, but right now we have to get out of here, ok?” Nylah knelt next to Jasmine and put her hands on her shaking shoulders.

            “I can’t without my daddy!” Jasmine began to run toward the house. 

Nylah grabbed her arm and pulled her back as Jasmine cried out in protest. “You can’t! It’s too dangerous! There’s too much fire. I’ll get you out of here, and maybe your daddy can meet us after.” Nylah knew they didn’t have time to stand out in the open.

            Jasmine sobbed and fell to the ground. Nylah didn’t know what to do. She had to get Jasmine to her horse and get her out safely. Next to them, a house charred beyond repair collapsed, spraying embers in their direction. Jasmine screamed and covered her ears. Nylah put her hand under Jasmine’s chin and tilted it up toward her face. “Listen,” She said, gently lifting Jasmine’s hands off her ears, “I know this is hard. This is terrible. This is a terrible thing for any human being to experience. But right now, you need to be strong and we have to get out of here before you get hurt. Then we will try and find your daddy. Does that sound good?” That was everything Nylah had. She was never good with children. Surprisingly, though, Jasmine tilted her chin up, wiped the tears off her face, and nodded. Wow. This girl is strong. Nylah thought. 

            “Ok, I have a horse and we can get out safely with my friend if we get to it. Sound good?” She asked.

            Jasmine nodded, still shaking from crying. Nylah’s mediocre pep talk may have snapped her back into the moment, but she was still a traumatized child who had seen things no one should ever see, no matter what age. 

            Jasmine hugged Nylah and whispered into her ear, “thank you for saving me.” She then started crying again, but hugged her neck tightly. 

            Nylah smiled. She actually smiled, and hugged her back. She picked her up, and started running as fast as she could for the horses. Jasmine felt light and easy to run with in her arms. Nylah stumbled over charred wood and debris, almost dropping Jasmine as she tried her best to navigate through the thick fog and back toward Lydia.

            “Nylah!” She saw Lydia galloping toward them. She stopped in front of them.

“What are you doing?! Who is that?” She pointed to Jasmine, who had wrapped herself around Nylah. “We have to get out of here!”

            “I don’t have time to explain,” Nylah responded. “Where’s my horse? We have to get her out of here or they’ll kill her.” 

            “Since when do you care?” Lydia asked, crinkling her eyebrows in disgust and looking down at Nylah.

“Lydia! Where is my horse?” Nylah shouted, glancing around wildly.

            “It ran off. It was spooked by all the noise. But you can get on mine and we can go ahead of the raiders.” She leaned down toward Nylah. “They will pay me -- us extra this time.  I set up everything they needed to start the fire and burn this place to the ground quick, while you were out.” She smiled. Her expression quickly changed, though. “Ok, let’s go. Now! I’d like to live to collect that money.” 

            Nylah searched for words. Lydia may not be the kindest person, but she never imagined her assisting in this massacre. And for what? A show of power? “Wait. You helped them start this fire? You did this?” She asked. 

            “Yeah. So? Again, why do you care?” Lydia said. 

“Lydia, this is too far. How could you be involved in this? Sure, we’ve stolen a few things before, but this is a total massacre!” Nylah responded.

            “We do not have time for this, in case you haven’t noticed!” Lydia said, motioning around her. A woman carrying a crying baby sprinted by them, searching frantically for safety as a crazed raider chased her down. “Now, let’s go!” 

            “No! Help me get Jasmine to safety!” Nylah shouted, above the rising noise of screams.

“Jasmine? You-” Lydia started. “Forget it! Get on and come with me, or go help the girl! I’m getting out of here and getting paid.”

             Nylah looked at Lydia, who was beginning to turn around, then down at Jasmine, who was wrapped around her, crying into her shoulder. In that moment, she made a decision. She turned away from Lydia and started sprinting toward the outskirts of the town. 

            “Nylah!” She heard from behind her, as she ran away. Then, she heard Lydia gallop away from her, towards her awaiting reward for murdering innocent people. They split, running opposite directions, both towards what they believed was right. 

            Nylah held tight to Jasmine as she ran for the outskirts of town. She bolted through crowds of fleeing people, dodged by raiders, and coughed as she sucked in the thick smoke that filled her lungs with every breathe. At every turn raiders with sharp swords, pitchforks, and the like, seemed to be waiting for Nylah to make a wrong turn. She almost ran straight into the blade of a crazed man as she turned a corner. Jasmine screamed at the sight of the blood thirsty stranger and dug her fingernails into Nylah’s neck. He smiled at them wickedly, then began to charge them. Nylah bolted away as fast as she could, clinging to Jasmine. She trusted in her legs, as they carried her and the little girl in her arms to safety. 

            Somewhere along the way, they lost their pursuer. Finally, the smoke thinned, and she stepped beyond the small village. She ran for the tree line and darted into the woods. All she cared about now was getting this little girl to safety. Getting her to a new life. There was a chance Jasmine could have a better life than she did. A life full of love and laughter. Something Nylah never had. She was determined to save this girl from the all the pain. Quickly Nylah ran, carrying Jasmine over the threshold of what could be a new life. She felt the warmth of Jasmine’s small body against her chest and her soft hands wrapped around Nylah’s neck. She heard the fading screams and, in the back of her mind, the hooves of Lydia’s horse galloping away from her. Choosing money over what was right. Nylah and Jasmine had escaped from danger. But still, she kept on running, and didn’t look back.