"Come", he urged her, "we have to leave, come on, now!" He pulled her arm roughly, forcing her to scramble to her feet and follow him. "What's going on?" she asked confused. Hapred tried to answer her, but suddenly the earth underneath their feet shook violently and the templewalls were trembling. Hapred tripped and fell, and his painful scream echoed through the room. "Run!" he shouted at the helpless priestess, "don't bother about me, run and save your life!" Again the Temple shook like a house of cards, and Siona whirled around and made for the exit. Even when she heard the beautiful building collapse to a heap of debris, she didn't turn around but hurried on.
Siona had just managed to leave the city walls behind when exhaustion got the better of her. She fell to her knees and hands, trying to support her weakened body, and gasped for air. Her lungs were stinging because the air she was taking in was hot and thick with dust, feeling as if she was breathing fire, not air. Siona could feel the heat surrounding her, shrouding the whole world like a flaming cape. Her legs trembled when she got up again. Still she didn't care to look around at the tall, frightening mountain and the doomed city at its foot. Through the rising clouds of dust she had made out the shape of a building of some sort in the field next to the road and she stumbled from the stone path onto flaky earth to reach the shelter.
Tyras' heart jumped when the door of the little hut was opened carefully. Someone entered and shut the door again very firmly. Tyras strained his eyes to see who was intruding in his shady refuge. It was a young woman with tousled hazel-coloured hair, dressed in a priestesses robe and looking vaguely familiar.
Siona gaped at Tyras open-mouthed. Was this really possible? Was this the guy from the ceremony? His name popped up in her mind and before she could hold her tongue it had slipped out of her mouth:"Tyras!"
Tyras nodded slowly. "And your name is not Vesuvia, I guess?" Siona sat down on the floor, her back propped against a wall, unconsciously imitating Tyras' pose. "No, my name is Siona", she murmured. Despite the sticky heat that had already reached the little shelter she wrapped her arms around herself as if she was feeling cold.
"Are you alright?" Tyras' voice sounded gentle and concerned. Siona, who was used to being joked about and pushed around by the other priestesses in the convent, gazed at him with a startled look on her face. "I - I - well, how right can I be at this moment?" She regretted sounding so angry as there was no need for it; Tyras had been quite nice to her until now!
Tyras obviously didn't hold it against her. He smiled warmly, got up and slowly came over to where Siona had slumped down. He indicated at the floor beside her and asked courteously:"Would you mind...?"
Siona looked up at his smiling face, his sparkling eyes, and suddenly the ability to speak seemed to have left her. She could only nod slowly, nod and watch Tyras lowering himself down onto the dusty floor close to her.
"You look like you're cold."
Without asking for another permission he gingerly put his arm around the priestess and pulled her close to him.
The stress and discomposure of the last hours got the better of Siona, and, leaning against Tyras' chest, she began to cry.
