Shun Aoki’s house is next to the village walls. Every morning he would walk out and see the great stone walls that held the border between the wilderness and the frontier. The walls felt so sturdy and big that nothing could topple it. He was wrong.
After returning from the party with his younger sister, an even smaller pink oni named Momo, and Kaori Yasu, his childhood friend, they joke and laugh while reminiscing about the day. He was feeling a bit tired from the festivities and was now looking to sleep, but he had to at least walk Kaori home. As they approached the walls, they could see someone waving to them.
“Kaori!”
A tall Kitsune male in the typical village guard uniform waved his hands.
“Brother!”
Kaori replies before going up to him and hugging him. They begin speaking about the party before Kaori returns to Shun.
“Thanks for walking me. I’ll be fine now since my brother is here.”
“No problem.”
As he begins walking home, he hears some noise behind him. A weird warping noise can be heard from outside the walls. At first only a few can be heard before hundreds of warping noises overflow and spill into the evening. He looks to the walls and sees several guards looking at something.
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The guards seem to be panicked, but a few rush away into the guardhouse located on the walls. Within moments, a loud announcement originating from the guardhouse.
“IMMEDIATE EVACUATION IS NOW IN…”
Shun knew what the announcement was. He heard it before, but the announcement seemed to fail halfway in. Then he felt it. It was a weird feeling that washed over him. He felt weaker somehow. In any case, he ran to his house. Inside was his younger sister, a small pink oni with a single horn. She looked as if she was enjoying an onigiri made from Azure rice, but now she was confused.
“Sakura, where’s mom and dad?”
“Um they’re out at the shop.”
He takes her hand and brings her outside and towards the dragon roost.
“Okay. We need to go. There was an announ…”
Just as he said that, an explosion deafens him and knocks him down. The entire earth shakes. He looks behind him, bringing his shaky eyes to a scene he never wished would happen. The wall that split the village from the wilderness was blown away. Falling debris and dust scattered the sky. Looking back at his sister who also fell, he could see that something hit her. She was clutching her leg and was obviously in pain.
Getting up, he helps his sister to her feet and begins running with her. Something tells him that this was not the place to stay. He was right. Thunderous hooves ensued after him. He felt a sense of dread as it gained in on him. Running away however, was stopped. His sister fell, slightly pulling on him as she did. Perhaps she tripped or maybe the wound was greater than he imagined. In any case, he looked back.
Terrible horsemen were charging at him. In the short time that he saw them, he could see the ones in the back throwing jars of something at the houses. On impact they combusted into ominous black flames that consumed anything it could.
He couldn’t think about it anymore as the vanguard of the horsemen caught up to him. Many had large blades and were cutting down anyone in the way. With nowhere to go and his sister on the floor, he could only do one thing. He covered her with his body and prayed to the Dragon King.