Citizen 915 Iola

The only forewarning was the sudden exodus of the birds roosting in the trees. Their piercing cries caused Iola to flinch, and no sooner than when she straightened to peer up at the creatures, her world shook. The ground trembled, the sky shivered, and the dome roared. Around her, trees crashed to the ground and Iola realized the danger that she was in. 

She ran. 

Where do I go? Where is safe? She skittered into town and was immediately surrounded with chaos. The guardians of the peace are trying to control the panic, with middling success. It’s quite disturbing, being inside the snowglobe when the world decides to rattle it.

“Move everyone, that tremor destabilized the river bank. We want to be far from the water should it swell and flood,” shouted a guardian, herding the panicking crowd through the street.

“What about the dam? Is it going to hold?” a voice yelled, choking on hysteria, setting off a ripple of fear through the group.

“It is holding.” Everyone could hear the implied for now at the end of the sentence. “Let’s get out of harm's way while that remains true.”

Iola felt crushed, squeezed from all sides as she was swept along, like the river threatened to do the town. She tried to get a view of the rexals around her, frantically looking for any sign of yellow fur, any sign of her mother.

“Mom! Chamomili!” No reply, just the tens of similar shouts being tossed across the square as other families struggled to stay together.

There was no way to know if the starshine rex had thought to flee her farm to the town. Would she know the danger of the river? The rushing water that fed her flowers always seemed so benevolent, it was hard for Iola to consider it even after hearing the shouts of the guardians. What if she was still at home? Isolated from the shouts and panic of the village, she wouldn’t hear the calls to retreat from the bank, to evacuate. Someone had to tell her.

Iola squirmed and struggled her way to the edge of the mass, ducking elbows and twinning between legs. It was a little easier than it could have been, everyone in the crowd was mostly on their hind feet, to give them a better view of spotting their loved ones and keeping track of those they had found. Winding below their worried gestures made the navigation easier, even if it was blindly cutting her way towards an edge, any edge. It was suffocating in the crush of bodies, almost as if the rexals above had used all the air by the time it reached Iola. Despite her measured deep breaths, darkness started creeping from the edges of her vision. Even as her panic spiked and her breathing quickened, it was as if the air she was breathing was stale, used, and useless.

Iola crashed out of the people to stumble over a set of steps and into a fence. The clear space afforded her a breath of fresh air. With each subsequent breath, the darkness retreated and Iola could see that she was hugging a townhome, the crowd barely skirting the yard and its treacherous steps and uneven ground. Iola made the rest of her way out of town by hugging walls and fences. Once clear of the buildings, she made a run for it, sprinting up the familiar road to the farms to the east of Loudi.

The world was silent beyond the sound of Iola’s skittering claws as she turned up the path. Maybe Chamomili wasn’t home? What if she had already evacuated? Iola had to be sure. “Momma! Milli!” she shouted, tearing around the dark house to see the devastated gardens.

The shed had collapsed and the irrigation ditches had flooded, there were pieces of wood strewn through the beds, and there, in the center of it all was Chamomili.

“What’s with all the shouting dear, it was scary but it is all recoverable,” Chamomili said, not even looking over her shoulder, instead she was preoccupied inspecting the sweet pea trellises. 

“Ma, they say the river might flood if the dam didn’t hold, and the banks aren’t stable regardless, we need to get to higher ground and away.”

“Hmmm? Who said?” Chamomili mumbled as she picked up her shovel and started moving dirt to shore up the irrigation ditch.

“The guardians of the peace, this is serious, the farm will be ok, let’s go.”

“Ahh, of course, just a moment.” Chamomili stabbed the shovel into the ground and wandered to grab a bag. “No point in panicking, the bank has held so far. Help me pack for an evening away from home.”

Chamomili’s calm was eerie in comparison to the behaviour of the villagers. “Why aren’t you scared?”

“It is scary, but panicking isn’t going to help, is it?” Chamomili’s gaze caught Iola’s. “You taught me that.”

Iola figured she had a point, but that didn’t really justify not panicking at this pace. “Ok, I will help, but let’s do this quickly.”

The pair were just leaving the farm when chaos started anew. The birds set off a racket of caws and trills as their wingbeats filled the air. The cacophony couldn’t mask the ominous sound of rushing water. Water heading for them, for the town, and particularly, for the bridge they were in the middle of crossing.

Iola, on high alert, wasn’t shocked when the planks started to tremble, and when the water rushed over the railing, she was immediately grabbing for the unprepared Chamomili. A flurry of water and debris swept over them and as the swell passed, Iola found herself holding a dangling Chamomili, in a state of shock as she dripped into the rushing water, now far below. It took all of Iola’s strength to pull her mother up to the bridge, every agonizing moment stretching out to an eternity as the planks below her swayed and she watched the river batter a now unmoored pillar, causing further jerks and instability.

It was difficult but she split her attention between straining her arms and using her magic to hold the pillar steady. Iola needed this bridge to hold until her mother was safely on the far side of it.

Chamomili quickly shook off her shock and Iola saw her halo alight with green magic that matched her own moving to help her hold the bridge for just a few moments longer. While focusing on that, Chamomili was scrabbling with her free legs to find some sort of purchase and help her daughter haul her over the edge.

Before Chamomili was back over the railing, she was extricating herself from her daughter’s hold. “Run! I will be right behind you.”

Iola trusted her mother to do just that, but instead of completely leaving her alone, Iola held her with a magical grip as she scampered to the solid ground beyond the swaying bridge. She didn’t need to worry, the tether never stretched too far, Chamomili was right behind her the whole way.

The pair collapsed into a heap once they reached safety, and Chamomili gathered up her shaking daughter. “I know, I know, you were so very brave. I am so proud of you. I am sorry.”

Iola hiccuped, “no, don’t be sorry. Just, just stay here with me a little while.”

Chamomili buried her head into the crown of Iola’s, “always and forever.”