Everyone knew Princess Gaile loved children, especially her own. So when the local elementary school invited her to come and read a story during an assembly, she accepted with great enthusiasm.
She smiled down at her young audience from her podium. Of all the speeches she had made since winning the election for the Crown, she loved speaking to children most of all. It was part of what had endeared her to her people.
Her two oldest children, Harrick and Reyna, were there in the front row. Reyna looked so precious sitting there in her silver ribbons and swinging her legs beneath her chair. But Harrick just looked bored. He was getting to be of an age where he didn’t care for these little story sessions anymore. But it got him out of regular class for the day, so he didn’t complain too much.
Gaile’s youngest child, Ariadne, was still only a baby and a fussy one at that. Usually, Ariadne’s father, Prince Caelub, would take care of her during occasions like these. But today he was busy, so Gaile had left her at home in the care of her grandfather.
“…the ball of yarn rolled along the floor,” Gaile read, “and the young hero followed it to the heart of the dungeon’s maze…”
She turned the page and showed the children the illustrations of what the maze was like. It was full of traps and goblins and other scary things hiding around every corner. This was one of her favorite stories from their old myths recorded by the ancient scribes long ago, from a time long before the current era of peace on Sylphar.
“The big ugly monster was there in the center, waiting for him,” she continued. “It reached for him with claws like iron, roaring and gnashing its teeth. They had a mighty battle. But the hero was victorious. And when the monster was finally vanquished, the hero followed the thread of yarn back to his fair lady. And the people rejoiced for the—”
A sudden deafening boom erupted as the back wall of the auditorium exploded in a blaze of fire. Bricks and metal rained from the ceiling. Smoke and heat came bellowing out of the gaping hole. The children and teachers were all screaming in terror.
Gaile opened her eyes to find herself on the floor. Her ears were ringing and her head was pounding. She swept her hand behind her ear and it came away with blood. She sat up slowly to a world of smoke and flame. Sounds of screaming and chaos were all around her.
Painfully, she rose to her feet. Her first thoughts were of Harrick and Reyna. They had been seated right in front of her only moments before, and now she couldn’t see them. But the smoke was so thick that it was difficult to see anything. She coughed and stumbled forward, calling out to her children.
Some of the school teachers had begun pulling many of the students out of the building through the exit doors. Gaile ran to speak with them, hoping that maybe her children were already outside too.
“My children! Did you see them?” she asked one of the teachers in earnest.
“No, Princess,” he replied.
”You should get yourself to safety!” said another teacher. “We will save as many as we can and we will look for Harrick and Reyna, but you must go. The fire crew should be here soon.”
“I will not leave these students, nor my own children behind,” she said.
“The sprinklers!” someone shouted. “Why aren’t the sprinklers working?”
Gaile looked up and realized they were right, the fire extinguishing system had not activated. What’s going on? she worried. What happened?
She went to work with the others who were trying to get the children out of the blazing furnace that had once been a school. They plucked them out one by one, dragging them outside to safety, and then ran back into the flames to find as many others as they could. Gaile pulled child after child from the burning wreckage, searching each of their faces for Harrick or Reyna.
Some of the kids were unconscious and she wasn’t sure if they were alive or not. She hoped they were. Many were coughing or crying when she found them. She took that to be a good sign. Injuries and smoke inhalation could be cured. As long as they were alive.
“Please gods, let my children be alive too!” she prayed aloud.
Gaile could not remember the last time she had prayed. The majority of Sylphs, herself included, did not believe in the old gods anymore. But she prayed anyway. Perhaps the silent ancient ones would awaken long enough to hear her. The Sterling line was supposedly sacred, wasn’t it? And her children were Sterling by birth. So if there were any gods listening, surely they would save her babies.
Flames crept along the walls like tongues of the devil, setting everything they licked ablaze. The smoke was becoming almost intolerable. Gaile’s eyes stung and watered. Her lungs were scorched. Everything hurt. It hurt to even breathe, or see, or think. She could hear more students crying out for help, but it was difficult to tell where they might be.
The building made a loud groan and creaked. Gaile looked up in a sudden panic, worried that the building might collapse. Time was running out. And she still had not found her children.
The building groaned again, followed by the sounds of screeching, grating metal. A large support beam overhead tipped sideways and separated from its hinges. Gaile looked down at the floor. A tiny foot was sticking out of the rubble just below. She raced forward to grab the child before it was too late, but the beam came crashing down before she could get there.
“No!” Gaile screamed. She began digging, hoping to find the child alive. Finally, she heard a gasp and a sob from below the rubble. A little hand shot out from the pile. Gaile could see the face of a young girl staring back at her with tears gleaming in her eyes. There had been just enough debris packed around the girl to keep her from being crushed by the beam.
“Reyna!” Gaile said, rushing to free her. “Reyna! I’m here! Mommy’s here!” But when she got the little girl free, she saw the child was not her daughter. Her heart shattered. She choked out a sob as she lifted the little girl and made for the nearest exit.
The smoke had gotten so dark that she couldn’t even see the door. And the sunlight from the outside windows was playing tricks with her eyes. She wandered towards the light.
“Gaile!” she heard a familiar voice call out ahead of her. “Gaile!”
“Caelub! Here!” she croaked back. “I’m here! Keep calling so I can find you.”
The Prince called to his wife and rushed to help her as soon as she was in sight. But before he could reach her, another beam fell. It crashed to the floor between them.
“Caelub!” Gaile cried. Then she saw him emerge from the smoke and was filled with a momentary surge of relief.
Caelub put his hands on the beam and vaulted over it. “We have to go! Now!” he said.
“But... our babies! Caelub, no one has even seen them! We have to find them!”
“You can’t stay in here any longer,” he said. “This building is about to fall.”
He took the little girl from Gaile and tossed her over his shoulder. Then he grabbed his wife by the hand and led her towards the exit. Gaile tried to resist, but Caelub would not let her go.
“I can’t leave them!” she sobbed.
“I won’t let you die in here,” said the prince.
Metal screeched overhead. Another beam came crashing down. Caelub and Gaile jumped out of the way just in time. They were almost to the exit. It was just ahead.
The whole building groaned and shuddered. Debris began to rain down all around them. A large chunk of stone and metal landed in front of the door and blocked their path. Then they watched in terror as the walls around them crumbled and tilted.
Caelub looked at Gaile and then pulled her close to embrace her for the last time. “I’m sorry,” he said above the noise. “I’m so sorry. Gaile, I love you.”