Burning City Chapter 2
A shorter chapter this time
Max woke up with his face on the ground. Groggily, he lifted himself up. The ground was not the normal white of snow and ice, it was green. He gasped in surprise, and ran his hand against the ground. It felt like nothing he had ever felt before. He realized suddenly that this must be grass. He had never been far enough north to see it.
His train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a sharp yank around his neck. His hands shot to his neck to find a metal collar. He realized in horror that he was in the dream again. The dream of the burning city. The tugging on his neck jerked him forward, and he scrambled onto his feet. He was in a line of about five other people. They looked like foxes and wolves to him, but they were not white like the foxes and wolves that visited Southern Haven. These foxes were all bright orange, and the wolves were all gray. They were all wearing dark gray chest plates, with red shirts underneath. The line of prisoners passed by a pile of discarded helmets with red stripes painted on the top of them.
Max looked past the wolves and foxes in front of him to see who was at the front of the line. It was another wolf, but with different clothing. This wolf's armor was some sort of brown, and he was fully armored unlike the prisoners. At his left side was a short sword, and he held the rope attached to the prisoners with his left paw as well. Max was suddenly very aware of the fact that he himself had no armor at all. He looked at his clothes. Gone were his heavy jacket and pants that protected him from the cold weather. He was wearing some sort of strange outfit he had never seen before. His shirt was red like that of the other prisoners, but unlike their red pants that matched their shirts he had some sort of tan pants that only went down to his knees. Thankfully the weather was warm, but he worried that the half-pants and the shirt wouldn't protect him if it got cold.
The group passed by several trees, and he realized that they were going up a hill. Max had seen trees before, but the trees that grew in the south were shockingly different from those that grew in the north. The trees he knew were slender, and pale blue, with bare branches that reached up towards the sky. These trees were massive, and instead of being a light blue they were a dark brown. The branches reached out in all different directions instead of directly up. The strangest thing of course was that it had grass growing on the branches. He didn't even know such a thing was possible.
Finally, they reached the top of the hill. There were other groups of prisoners here, and many of the fully armor-clad soldiers. There were massive banners, brilliant blue with a white flower in the center. Max's group was corralled into a larger group of prisoners who were kneeling on the ground. He felt someone force him down, and soon he and the other's in his group were kneeling as well.
"Max, is that you?" Max looked to see who was talking to him, and found himself looking at one of the wolves. "Yes, it's me," he answered, unsure who exactly the wolf was. The wolf smiled at him, "Thank redemption you survived! I was worried you wouldn't make it out when the fire started." Max closed his eyes. Despite having had this dream multiple times, everytime he dreamed it was as if the dream was brand new, and he could never predict what would happen.
"There you are!" Max opened his eyes to see what new person had somehow recognized him. A silver fox was standing over him. The fox grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up. The collar choked him, and he clawed at it. The fox was surprisingly strong, despite his small stature. Now standing on his feet, Max gasped for air. The fox grabbed him, and spun him around. "Look at the city," the fox commanded him. Max looked. At the bottom of the hill he had been forced to climb was a stream. The stream winded its way through a field, a field that ended with massive gray walls. The walls were at least thirty or forty feet high, it was hard to tell exactly from his vantage point. Inside the walls, a city burned. Buildings collapsed, and plumes of smoke burst forth out of the city. The walls stood helplessly looking outward, as the city was gutted from the inside. He could smell the smoke from where he stood on the hill. His eyes watered, and he wasn't sure whether or not he was crying from the smoke or the horrible sight before him. The fox laughed next to him, "Isn't it so beautiful?"
Max woke up, and still smelled the smoke from his dream.