Infinite 01 - Infinite Sacrifice

clutches her middle. She bends over and cries. I begin crying again too.
    “Hurry, Liam!” she screams, then tries to run again, holding her stomach, but shortly after has to stop.
    On her knees with her face drawn up in pain, she looks back to the invaders who are now going into the houses right onshore. We hear desperate screams as the men kick their way inside. Smoke begins to plume up as men with torches light the thatch on fire. My mother looks back up the steep hill to the stone church up top, still much farther than we now are from our home. She turns her head all around her, looking for a place to hide, but there is only some underbrush and a few large stones. “I can’t make it, Liam. We have to go back and hide.”
    I help her back, and as soon as we get home, she rushes to grab the key from above the fireplace and runs to the large, black chest. She unlocks it, takes out Da’s sword, and all of the bowls and linens. She yanks a blanket off the bed but leans on the post as she grimaces in pain again. As soon as she can move again, she unfolds the blanket and lays it in the chest. “Get in, Liam.”
    I don’t understand. Why does she want me to get in the place I wasn’t allowed to ever touch?
    She grabs herself again and yells, “Get in now!”
    I try to get in on my own but catch my foot on the side and fall in. When I lift my head, her face is much softer. I look into her large, worried, brown eyes and see her many little spots I love so much.
    She gives me a white, flashing smile as the tears fall down her cheeks. “Be a good boy, now, Liam, and stay quiet. Bad men are coming, and you’ll be safe in here. Don’t make a peep.” She makes the sign of the cross. “God help us now.”
    I hear the door crash in on the house next to us. Ma startles at the noise, takes Da’s sword in her hand, and holds it up as she brings her slender finger up to her pink lips. I lay my head down, and everything goes black as the lid shuts. I hear her rattle with the lock and shuffle away. Our door crashes in. Ma screams, and I hear things falling about the room. Something heavy slams against the chest. My mother keeps crying, and strange, deep voices fill the air. I almost scream when I feel the chest move but try my hardest to be silent. I crash into the sides as it tilts, rolls, and after a long while, finally hits the ground.
    I don’t know how long I am in the dark; the air is getting harder to breathe. I wait for Ma to come and open the chest. Wait for the jingling of the keys I saw hung over the fireplace and cried so many times to be able to touch. Suddenly the chest is dragged. I listen, trying to quiet my breathing when—SMASH!
    I jump back against the other side as the whole chest shudders. The lid opens, and my eyes hurt with the sudden light. I hear an eruption of laughter and feel a large hand grab the back of my shirt and pull me up out of the chest like a kitten.
    I open my eyes to see the most terrifying men I’ve ever seen in my life, all gathered aboard a giant ship on the endless sea. Tall men with long yellow or red hair and shaggy beards, covered in sweat, dirt, and blood. They smell like old cheese. I scream and try to run in the air, causing them to laugh louder. The one holding me turns me around to look at him. He is darker than the others with two spots on the side of his face where his beard doesn’t grow. He puts me down and grabs both my arms to keep me from running. He brings my arms up for all to see, flaps them up and down like a chicken, and laughter follows again.
    The man holding me speaks to me in a language I cannot understand. He tries again, but it only makes the others laugh. He shakes his head, puts me back in the chest, and shuts the lid. Each day he opens the lid once and drops me on the deck to drink beer from a bowl and eat some stale bread. As soon as I finish, he throws me back into the chest. I have no safe place; I can only disappear within me.
    After a few days, the chest is moved again and opened. I have to wait until I can see, and once I can, I see a whole village surrounding me. Old people, young people, children of every age all around me, staring at me, saying things I can’t understand. One man steps forward with a giant helmet and a long, fur-lined cloak pinned at the shoulder with a large, gold circle. The opening of the cape reveals a massive silver inlayed sword at his hip. He points to me and asks something of the people. No one answers, yet