ELEX VINSPEAR’S (POV)

Father was holding my hand tightly, pulling me along behind him as we went through the front door. The look on my parents faces only turned sour as we exited the building, and it was apparent to all of us as to why. The screams and shrieks we could hear from a distance were horrifying, only making them more spine-chilling as we were surrounded by darkness. I could see fire amongst the murky shade of the air from afar, tearing down the houses of our neighbors, some too unfortunate to make it out before then. My father and I took the lead with my mother and brother directly behind us. He lit a path for us with his hands like before, the gem in his shoulder glowing again, creating a small ball of fire to guide us as we made our way discreetly through the town. Father told us the only way to get to our destination was to cross the town center, which he naturally assumed would be the most dangerous place, so he kept us all behind him with my mother and little brother at the back, while he led at the front with me in the middle.

I looked over my shoulder at my mother who had Casper dipping his head in her chest in fear, while tightly wrapping his arms around her neck. I wasn't exactly a fighter, and I couldn't control a single element, unlike my father, so having them placed behind me as their protector didn't sit right in my head. Nevertheless, I trusted in my father’s ability to get us out of there. I had to trust him because without him there would be no hope for us.

As we approached the town center the air had become less cloudy, and it was possible for us to see clearly without having to be wary of every step we took. Being overly cautious is never a mistake when you have people to protect, especially when those people are your loved ones. So, my father insisted we walk through the alleyways, which would, unfortunately, make our journey slightly longer, but hopefully much safer. As we dashed from alleyway to alleyway, we now approached a big crossing to get to our next passage. However, my father came to a sudden halt. He had let go of my hand and placed his own in the air behind him, signaling to my mother to stop moving.

“Hold on, I think I hear something,” He whispered, while another gem embedded in his back began to glimmer a flint blue. I stretched my head upwards in an attempt to see the gem glow at the bottom of his neck, but it seemed his clothes were covering the stone, only allowing me to watch its color glow. He crouched on his knees, and the rest of us followed his lead to appear less obvious. As we hid in the dark shaded alley behind some crates in the town center, we saw a cohort of men walking past us, forcing groups of people they had collected into a larger bunch. Some of the civilians tried to fight back, manipulating the elements to their will, but their attempts were futile. These men in hooded charcoal black robes with the symbol of a white horse covering their hearts were much more powerful than the civilians of Leeton village, and those who attempted to fight back were killed on the spot. Amongst them there was a man, conspicuous to the rest, he was like a light amongst the darkness, with his milk-white robe and piercing silver eyes which could be seen through the mask he wore, it was obvious he was the leader. He walked confidently, with a few of his men around him while the rest ran rampant. I could see that as he walked past us with his small unit, he caught a glimpse of my father, emitting the blue light which I assumed to benefit our survival, but now I wasn't so sure.

“Those people over there in the alleyway, retrieve them and lump them with the rest of the group” The man muttered apathetically, his entire demeanor seemed more like he didn't really care what happened to us.

“Get up and run!” My father shouted in an attempt to escape. We hastily got on our feet and rushed further back into the alleyway from which we came. However, we were already surrounded and were forced to get in line. Two hooded men led us to the town center, pushing and edging on my father, clearly trying to give themselves a reason to kill him, but he held strong. Approaching the market, the two men left us to join the rest of the people, grimacing at the fact they couldn't get a rise out of my father.

Hundreds of families were hoarded in a single area like livestock. Confusion and fear flooded our faces as we were standing in the cold surrounded by darkness, only the small light provided by the lackeys in black robes, who now surrounded us, allowed us to have some sort of vision. Some of the men were shouting at them in protest, demanding they give us an explanation of what was going on, but they only stood there in silence. I wasn't able to see any of their faces as the shade of the dark sky and their hooded robes unnaturally hid their faces.

“Shit,” I heard my father cuss under his breath. Hearing him say words that indicate impending doom tested my patience, because the sad truth is… If he loses hope, we all lose hope.

A woman trembled “Please you have to tell us what is going on” getting down on her knees grabbing one of the soldiers' attire.

“All will be answered in due time” The man in white had returned, gaining the attention of the entire village, who were now all gathered in the town center. “A foolish mistake requires a great price for compensation” He muttered what seemed like nonsense. The man walked into a place where everyone could see him, while he looked down at his hands, as if in regret. Allowing me to see his garments more clearly. Underneath his white hooded Victorian cape, a black shirt under a navy waistcoat with silver buttons trailing off to his side as they make their way down his body was in contrast. Black trousers and shoes gave his look a formal vibe, which felt disrespectful considering the situation we were in. looking up at us once again, his plain white mask with facial features carved into it was more obvious now, with a noticeable black horse head under the hole of his right eye. The man spoke once again, breaking the deafening silence in the atmosphere.

“The only thing my Lord needs… is blood.” As the crowd began to slowly murmur, a luminescent white light emitting from the man's face underneath his mask gave him an otherworldly appearance, as his silver eyes continued to glow, he muttered to himself out loud. “Hmm…? Maybe this isn't all in vain.” He said with curiosity. What the hell was he talking about?

“I will be merciful to you people…” he scoffed at his own remark “...well as far as mercy goes. I'll give you all a chance to save your lives as reparation. You have five seconds.” Everyone looked around at each other in confusion as he spoke “... RUN!”

My father didn't hesitate after he heard that. Naturally, as an ex-adventurer, who has also fought many other adventurers and Arc beasts, he used to tell me how he trained to take everything on the battlefield literally, with the thought in mind that the information he obtained could be false, always expecting the worst. However, if someone clearly more powerful than you offers an escape, in a life-or-death situation, even if that may be a trick, you would be stupid not to take it. We ran as fast as we could, sprinting past the diameter of men who surrounded us as they did nothing to halt our escape. I looked back at the majority of the people who stood in skepticism, only a small number of them running away like us while the rest stared blankly into space. I wish I could have said something then, but for some reason, my mouth stayed shut. Like I knew warding out for the others would only hinder our own attempt at freedom

“Time is up, kill them all! and make sure to say the prayer after or before they die, or else this all goes for nothing!” The man in white yelled as all of his men began to slaughter the civilians. Shrieks of dying women and children consumed the entire village. The smoke from fires was accumulating heavily, suffocating those who couldn’t escape, and all I could do was listen as I ran with my back turned.

“Why has the royal army not come here yet? It's been at least an hour since those bastards first arrived.” My father spoke in frustration, looking over at my mother as we ran, who still had my brother clutched in her embrace. I felt a wave of ease as I thought to myself we were going to make it.

“Maybe it's possible they haven't been alerted, We should head to the communication post and try to get a message sent out.” Mother responded confidently. She had been in control of her emotions this entire time, which was unlike her. She was normally very sensitive to even the smallest of things, such as dropping a plate or spilling some tea. However, this was a side of her that I'd never seen before, she was a completely different person. She used to often tell me, at times, about how she would join my father on expeditions to clear dungeons every now and then. She isn't the fighter type but she is able to support with a multitude of elixirs at the ready, it's possible they have already had their fair share of life-or-death situations. Also, the fact that she had her youngest son in her arms most likely played a role in her brave facade, as she couldn't afford to make foolish mistakes if she wanted either of her children to survive.

We had been running for about fifteen minutes until we reached the edge of the village where the communication post was located. Just behind the building, we noticed there was a transparent purple wall, which only seemed to become visible as we got closer within range. When my father approached and touched its surface, it wouldn't let him pass through. I could see his eyes widen in shock, as he moved his whole hand around to see if there was any sort of opening, but to no avail.

“By Arcinose, please!” he begged aloud. He wasn't the religious type, I was sure of that, but I knew where he was coming from.

He took another attempt to break the barrier this time by using his flame abilities. He clearly struggled for the first couple of aggressive hits, seeing the barrier ripple as he slammed his fist into its surface repeatedly. However, it was only after he took a gamble and let loose an excessive amount of his mana in one mighty blow, with a loud blast of fire and smoke he was able to create a temporary gap in the barrier, falling through to the other side as he was still in motion, leaving him exhausted. He came back through before it closed behind him, knowing confidently that he had more than enough mana left to use the communication device and create another opening in the wall. My mother, and I both stood there and watched him walking and panting to regain his breath.

“That's the reason…” he took a break between his words to breathe “...this barrier” another moment of staggering breaths. “It's a communication blocking barrier, which I assume is surrounding the entire village.” He pointed outwards in a circular motion to indicate the direction the barrier took off. “The problem is that it also has the defense to stop people from passing through, which isn't normal, as magic barriers don't tend to have two properties. It may look like I am able to break through with just an excessive amount of mana, but the physical elements of this barrier were made nonchalantly. If more precaution was taken, then I wouldn't have been able to break through at all.” A chilling thought I felt was unnecessary for him to tell us, if he wanted us to stay calm that is.

Father made his way over to the communication post and entered the closed doors, only coming back out moments later clutching an amulet with a blue arc stone in its center in his palm, placing it in his pocket shortly after. He looked over at my mother who seemed to be getting tired from carrying Casper and a bag full of supplies that were weighing her down.

“Mom give me that bag, I'll carry it for you,” I offered, however, she looked at me with a faint smile and politely rejected.

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“Give it here!” My father said sternly with a hand out in her face, making sure that nothing was to slow down our escape. He took the bag from her and placed the strap over his shoulder. All we needed to do- well all he needed to do, was make another opening in the barrier and send a message to the capital to inform the army of what was going on.

As my father charged up another attack on the barrier, his fist illuminating the dark in the area and capturing all the light, the screams of the people were beginning to fade out, however, the men in robes were now visible to us in the distance. Had we taken that much time? Impossible, we had been running toward here nonstop. I suppose the other people running away from the village center inevitably led them over here as well. One of the men in black had in fact noticed us and called another of his friends to assist him to our location. My father had seen their approach and canceled his ability on the barrier.

“Stand behind me” he ordered the rest of us. Activating his fire ability and creating huge flames to surround him, the two men laughed to themselves, as if my father’s response to their presence was futile.

“Looks like we have a fighter here, eh '' One of them giggled with a raspy voice, his friend pulling out a plain serrated dagger, holding it in a battle-ready stance.

My father made the first move, approaching the two men he bent low, putting his weight onto one leg while the other swept in a circular motion emitting a wide frantic flame towards his opponents. The one with the raspy voice manipulated the earth to create a mini blockade to shelter the two of them, and instantly after, the other came around the small wall of dirt and lunged at my father with his dagger. His speed was incredible, It felt as if the air around him propelled him forward to increase his agility. He swung at him with his knife horizontally, spinning himself around to create more momentum, but my father blocked the attack by grabbing the man's inner arm before impact and activating his power to burn the man's forearm. In response, he pushed my father back with a huge gust of wind aiding him, jumping back in shock at the pain, causing him to scowl.

“You damn bastard, you'll pay for that.” He winced, again the two men approached my father at speed, not giving him a fair fight.

All the ruckus and commotion alerted the other members in the area to gather where the noise was, which was terrible for us, especially since the man in white was somehow in the vicinity. My mother made that obvious as she was watching him approach us from a distance. The fight went on for a couple of minutes, as it seemed my father was an equal match for the two men, despite being out of practice. Their constant barrage of attacks seemed useless as he countered every one of them while also being on the offense.

“C’mon, get him boys” The other men cheered and laughed at the sidelines, making light of the last hope of my family's survival.

There were many times when I thought my father would buckle, as it seemed as if the men were pressured to over-perform with their comrades watching them from behind. However, father began to gain the upper hand as he increased the amount of firepower he emitted, which may have come across as reckless as my mother and I were almost affected by his flaming aura. As everyone watched, my father went in for the final blow; he had caused the two men to jump into the air to dodge a wave of fire he had sent along the ground, leaving them in vulnerable positions. With a burst of flames at his back, he propelled himself forward causing them to lose their balance upon descent, by getting up close he was at an advantage with his destructive element being more life-threatening. He went to finish the fight by placing his hands on either of their abdomens and activating his fire ability to destroy their torsos. A thick suffocating cloud of dust blocked everyone's view of the battle. Had he won? Did my father kill the two men? Even if he did, does that mean we would be able to escape?

“That’s enough” The same voice which came from the man in white before could be heard as the murky mist began to fade. He appeared out of nowhere, tightly gripping my father by the neck staring at him in the face with his piercing silver eyes. The two men he was fighting were on the floor coughing and catching their breath.

The man in white threw my father’s dangling body back at such a speed that he hit against the barrier, causing it to partially open again leaving him lying on the ground outside.

“Raja!” My mother screamed, scaring me in the process. It was apparent she had lost her cool after seeing that, which made me less confident in our survival. Sweat began to bead down my face, my hands slightly trembling in place as I watched my father lay on the ground motionlessly in place.

I ran out through the barrier to see if he was ok, with my mother following me, but what I didn't realize was the barrier closed behind me as soon as I passed through, with my mother and baby brother still on the other side with the rest of the men. My mother turned around to look at the perpetrators who now surrounded her. I ran up to the barrier smashing on it as hard as I could to open it, but it was pointless. I had no real power, I was still weak and useless.

“No! Open open open !” I shouted as I thrashed around to create some sort of breaking.

My mother looked at me once again, her green eyes now forming tears. She tells me to run away with my father while pointing behind me towards him, who was slowly sitting up regaining his conscience.

I turned and ran to my father, shaking him to get up and do something. However, when he opened his eyes clearly to see what was happening, I could see on his face that he realized there was no hope. He himself didn't have the mana to create an attack powerful enough to open the barrier again like last time. He picked me up with one hand and held me tight to his chest as he began running away. All I could do was look back in horror at my mother and see the men slowly closing in on her. No, I couldn't watch, but I could hear everything as I closed my eyes. Tears gushed out from under my clasped eyelids. These feelings I had never felt before, of being completely useless were agonizing. Even my father could only do so much. It wasn't fair, I buried my head in my father's chest as he ran raggedly, clearly fatigued and injured from his previous actions.

We stopped moving after a couple of minutes of strained running just a few hundred meters from the village. My father dropped me on the floor carelessly, as he was too tired to care for my descent. “Elex, I'm sorry.” tears rushed out from his face as he tiredly formed a sentence. His voice trembled as he struggled to gain his breath and cry at the same time.

All I could do was wail as I watched my father rest against a tree, sitting himself upright, still in pain from being thrown so violently. I crawled to him and lay in his arms, sobbing my eyes out, creating a damp patch of liquid on his cloth tunic. He patted my head and ran his fingers through my hair. He reached into the bag that he took from my mother and pulled out the communication device that we had taken from the post in the village.

My father imbued his remaining mana into the object, allowing the blue gem to glow. He closed his eyes and spoke aloud “Hello? If anyone can hear me, my name is Raja Vinspear, I'm sending this message from Leeton village, around forty miles south of the capital. There was an attack on the village, and a group of terrorists massacred everyone. I… I think they blocked our communication with a barrier, but we need help asap. I don't know how many other people were able to get out. Please just send someone to help.”

As he finished talking into the device, I peeked inside the bag he carried to see what my mother had packed inside. Money, the pendant necklace I had gotten her for her birthday this year, and a few other essential needs, but what was obvious was the book father gave me. She had packed this? I wanted to cry even more, but I held it in. I don't want to be weak anymore. I have to get stronger If I want to protect the people I care about.

OLIVIA VINSPEAR’S (POV)-

“Just run!” I wailed back at my son, who I could now see was being taken away by Raja.

“I love you” I quietly muttered under my breath, letting a tear loose, while turning to face my perpetrators.

The one in a white cloak approached me, and said “This is for the good of my lord, you have to forgive me, but I beg you hold no grudge.” He then stepped back and closed his eyes, whispering to himself words I couldn't understand, as if saying a prayer before eating his meal.

He then looked up and stared at Casper and me indifferently, “Kill them” He muttered. No emotion in his voice, no signs of hesitation despite his previous remark.

“Stay back!” I yelled as the men approached me, Casper now crying aloud in fear. “Stay away!” My voice trembled as I stepped backward but was abruptly interrupted by the barrier. The fear that consumed me was overwhelming, despite knowing there is nowhere to run, my mind couldn’t accept the fact that this was the end.

The man with the dagger who fought Raja had charged at me and ripped Casper from my shaking arms, throwing him to the ground, hitting his head off the concrete, and leaving him there for a moment as all I could do was gawk as he cried in pain. I could see a trail of blood running down his face. Other men leaped onto me, pinning me down as I dove to grab him. I struggled in a feeble attempt to escape, but it was pointless, they overpowered me three to one. Even if I could escape their grasp, what could I do? I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I ran away without Casper, which would also be pointless as I don’t have the strength to break the barrier.

“Let go of me!” I screamed while looking over at my son who had foot soldiers surrounding him.

My eyes widened in shock at what had happened next. They were tearing him to shreds, stabbing and cutting his body while he roared in excruciating pain, all I could do was cry. A sickening feeling assaulted my body, as the sounds of his screams made me feel guilt beyond measure. Blood spewed from his stomach and stained the floor while his arms flailed around like someone having a seizure.

“Mommy, Help me!” He yelled, his breathing slowly turning from ragged to sluggish, his life slowly fading away.

“CASPER!” I bawled, finally giving up to the men who held me down. The man in the white cloak walked up to me with such an entitled posture. I could only stare blankly at his incoming feet. I didn't care anymore, I just wanted this all to come to an end. Closing my eyes and praying this was all a nightmare or some sick joke.

“Do not cry, death can only be paid for by more death. You will get your unwanted revenge soon enough, and in the end, my lord will be avenged. After all, this version of me has just about served its purpose. The next one, however, will be the most powerful and the final product.” He said so while clutching my face softly, staring at me intently, as if looking into my soul.

“I understand why you hate me. I'm ugly, we all are. This is the one part about my role which I detest, another reason as to why I am not the ‘end result’ ” He complained as if imitating someone else’s words. “It haunts me sometimes, the faces of those I kill, the way they look at me in disgust as I slaughter their kin, and yet…” He took a breath, rubbing his fingers across my face “... I love every bit of it”.

He was insane, delusional, every moment I was in his presence the feeling of uncertainty was in the air. I uncontrollably shivered at the feeling of his fingers caressing my cheeks. No, I can't show weakness now, I lifted my head up and stared back at him in the eye, barely seeing my bloodied reflection in his silver pearls.

“What? You can't judge me” He began to lose his composure with his voice wavering as he spoke. It looked as if he was on the edge of a breaking point but also completely in character “you all look at me the same, but the truth is none of you have the right.” He said so shouting, while raising me by my head onto my feet, now holding me by my temple with both of his hands. The cool-tempered man before now seemed to be gone.

“I won't let you see me like this, I won't let you” his voice began to calm as he finished his sentence and his eyelids drooped halfway closed as if he were in a trance. He moved his thumbs to the sockets of my eyes, causing me to close them instinctively. I began to shake erratically, in hopes I could break from his grip, but his men were readily holding me in place. I could feel the increasing pressure of his thumbs weighing down on my closed eyelids causing bright lights to appear in my darkness. I screamed as the pain increased, feeling him now dig within my head in an attempt to rip my eyes from their sockets. I tried to cry, but could only feel the more viscous liquid of blood trailing down my face. The sounds of the world began to muffle, and in my last moments of consciousness, I felt my body tumble to the ground. I wasn't dead just yet, but unconscious, I suppose this was what the gods considered lenient

Dying while I slept was always how I wanted to go. However, preferably in a bed, with my children and grandchildren weeping by my side too. Nevertheless, I can rest easier knowing Elex got away. I could see him so clearly, his golden hair and emerald blazing eyes. He is still so young. I pray he never forgets me.