"Gil!? GIL!" Rolan called for his sister, who had not been in her room or anywhere else in the family's lodging, for that matter. Looking through the rooms one more time, Rolan was distracted by the noises outside. Shouts, mostly the shouts of children and women, but also those of older men. What was going on outside?
Running through the entrance of the building, he stopped when he saw the chaos outside. People were running from...who were those men? Someone shouted out the word 'Corsair' before continuing to run down the road ahead. Corsairs! Father had told stories about them! Where was Gillian?
"Rolan!" Rolan heard his name called above the sound of terror. Gil stood in the middle of the road, looking frantically left and right.
"Gil! There you are! Where were you?" Rolan rushed to his sister, bumping into a rushing merchant and then a small boy. When he finally got to Gil, he swept her up in a hug.
"Rolan! I was packing and I heard screams and-" Gil was explaining before Rolan hushed her.
"Gil, you were right! The ships...they weren't merchant ships! It's the Corsairs! You remember, right? Father told us the story a while back. We have to go, now!" Rolan talked quickly, hoping Gil could understand everything he said.
Just as the two were about to go find their family, a large hand grabbed Rolan's shoulder. Before he could see what was going on, everything went dark. There was a sack over his head! Rolan struggled as someone tied his hands behind his back.
"Gil? Gil are you still there?" Rolan wondered if his voice could even be heard.
"Stop squirming, boy!" A gruff, deep voice sounded behind him. "The girl is right here! Now shut up!"
Rolan went to move again, but his hands were tied tight. Then, large hands grasped his shoulder and pushed him in one direction or the other. What about Gil? They had to get out of here and get to their family!
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...Come down now, they'll say. But everything looks perfect from far away - Come down now! But we'll stay.
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