Disaster and Calamity: Inferno

The alarm went out at 1:11 on Sunday morning, and it didn’t take long for news to reach me. There was a fire burning at the Savage Farm, and all the buildings were ablaze.

Part of the Savage Farm lay along the north side of Blood Lake, so I took a portion of the Cross Fire Department through my lands until we came abreast of the lake and were forced to board shallow-draft boats. Once we reached the Savage lands, we put the hoses directly into the lake and ran them into pumps, which were manned non-stop for 30 hours.

Of the five members of the Savage family who lived and worked the farm, only one survived, 19-year-old Randall. He was the one who told me what happened, and he agreed to keep the reason secret.

Randall told me that his father had found an interesting lamp on the side of the road returning from the sale of a horse in Pepperell. It was bronze and decorated with what looked to be a language. Randall left the house as his father attempted to clean the lamp, and it was that simple act of walking out of the building, which saved his life.

The house burst into flames a moment later, and Randall attempted to run back inside to save his family. His father was gone, as were his mother and two sisters. What he found instead was a large man, whose eyes were fire and the stamp of his face cold and heartless. Randall attempted to drag the man out of the flames and was burned severely for his efforts.

The stranger laughed and cast Randall out, calling after him in an unknown tongue. It was only then that he realized that every building on the property, regardless of how far it was from the main house, was burning.

I searched the ashes for the lamp and found it. Now, as I write this, it rests in my lower library, sealed behind glass. I’ll not risk anyone awakening the djinn lurking there.

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