The noise pierced my ears, like the sound of glass shattering, but deeper, and as if heard from a great distance.

Mom and I both froze, a little more than a foot from one another, our eyes locked. If the tingling feeling running over my skin were any indication, whatever had made that noise was closer than it had sounded.

And was probably magical in nature. A Veilborn?

We heard Lucinia before we saw her. She scampered back into the main area of the house, her bare feet pattering over the wooden floors.

“What was that?” she choked out, eyes darting between Mom and me. The eyebrows over her wide eyes furrowed for a moment, detecting the lingering tension. Neither of us could answer her question. Not only because we didn’t know the answer, but also because the sight outside the window shocked us into silence.

Faster than one could breath, the world outside was cast in a dark purple shade, like we were looking at it through stained glass. There was the clattering and clanging of the emergency alarm bell, and I thought I smelled smoke from somewhere as the ground began to rumble subtly from the sudden stamping of many panicked pairs of feet. Blaise, riled from his sleep, started wailing. Mom drifted over to his crib, worry etched onto her face even as she lifted him up to try to comfort him.

My eyes stayed stuck to the window. Outside, a small, swirling, black vortex formed in the air. I watched in frozen bewilderment as it drifted lazily to the ground, then began to pulse, pulling itself along the dirt like a snail with each writhing motion, devouring all in its path. In the apparition’s wake, the ground became a marred trail, the color of charcoal with hints of amethyst. The vortex grew with every pebble and planter box it absorbed, until it was the size of a footstool.

In the growing, panicked throngs of people running this way and that, a man tripped. He fell into the vortex face first. I tore my eyes away just as the spray of dark crimson ripped out into the air, but the sound—a grotesque, wet crack—made me shudder. The timber of the house groaned, and a stray ember outside the window caught my attention, even in my peripheral vision.

I shook myself from my stationary shock, and found Lucinia staring, slack jawed, out the window. Her small hands trembled, and her lips quivered as if she wanted to cry but couldn’t quite manage it. As I moved towards her, I only hoped, from her height, she hadn’t witnessed that man’s death.

Emptiness pervaded every corner of my mind—I had no idea what to do, I realized. Looking at Mom, she wasn’t in much better position.

I shook Lucinia by her shoulders. “We can’t stay here,” I blurted to no one in particular. Stating the obvious. But the warning buzzing coursing through my blood felt like something greater than a gut feeling. The acrid smell of smoke grew stronger, screams sounding from every corner of the village.

My words shook Mom from her stupor. “You’re… you’re right.” Her arms moved instinctively, cradling Blaise even as her gaze darted around the room. “Luce, Kael,” she said, finding her bearings. She fixed us with the steadfast gaze I associated with her. “Quickly,” she said, snatching up a cloth from the kitchen counter, balancing Blaise’s crying form over her shoulder. She started to loop the cloth around him, securing him to her chest. “Grab the essentials. Kaelion, make sure you get my medical satchel from my room. Go.” She snatched up a rucksack and tossed some bread in, then her limbs became a flurry. Or maybe it was my own eyes blurring.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Whatever the case, I spring into action, more than eager to have some direction. “Come on, Luce,” I said, pulling her along with me as I walked, trying not to trip over my own feet. “You heard Mom,” I said, trying to keep the quiver from my voice.

“What’s happening?” she asked. She flinched at the distant sound of a scream.

“I don’t know,” I answered simply, shaking my head. “Just grab what you need. Only what you need, though. Just stuff you can—“ Stuff you can run with, I almost said. I grit my teeth. “Only things you can easily carry. Alright?”

I grabbed my rucksack from our shared bedroom and stuffed a simple change of clothes into it. I was almost out of the room again before I remembered something else, turning back around. I swiped my journal and Dad’s knife from under my bed—one of the last remnants of him we had. From there, I gathered up Mom’s satchel, a lantern, a fire starter, and few other things that seemed useful, though I hardly had the space to think about what that meant. Once it was full, I hefted the pack up over my shoulders. Something bit into my back, but there was no time to rearrange everything.

Back in the main part of the house, Mom was just finishing with her own bag, securing the clasps as I stepped into few. Lucinia ambled out right after me, distracted enough that she walked into my back. I quickly turned and caught her arm to her from falling on her behind.

“Ready?” Mom asked as I pulled Lucinia to her feet.

Only a few minutes had passed since we heard the first noise, but the overbearing smell of smoke and the constant bloodcurdling screams had made the short interval feel like an eternity. It seemed strange that I should have been worried about Frif just hours earlier.

“Mhm,” Lucinia said absently, while I only nodded, starting towards the door, where Mom was reaching for the handle.

“We’ll make for Teithus. If the situation’s bad enough,” Mom said, the second part added to try to ease our worries. “It’s about half a day by—“

I rushed forward, a torrent of adrenaline rushing through my veins. A black-purple hole had formed at the foot of the door, the wood curling away from the gap as if recoiling from a fire. The rot spread upward as I watched, in slow motion, as vortex identical to the one I’d seen earlier wormed through the bottom of the door, eating away at the obstruction rather than giving it any thought.

I reached for Mom’s arm, and pulled her back just as the pulsating mass was about to reach the toe of her front foot. She yelped in surprise, but it was mostly drowned out by the roaring in my ears. I could almost feel my nerves fraying from the events of the day.

The vortex paused, the entire lower half of of the door, and the surrounding wall, absorbed into its mass. I watched it grow just a bit as it sat there. For a moment, nobody moved. All three of us stared at the thing in horror. Confusion.

I felt a concentrated pinprick on my skin. Then the vortex coiled jerkily, then pushed off the ground, leaping at me as if angry I deprived it of its meal.

Taken off guard by the sudden motion, I pushed mom to the side, then raised my arm over my face, bracing myself against the black mass hurtling toward me. The image of the man from earlier, falling into the vortex, flashed through my mind, and panic gripped my chest. Foolish, I thought, cursing myself, but it was too late now. I hoped Mom, Lucinia, and Blaise would be able to escape whatever was happening outside without me. Not that my being there would have made much different. Maybe I could have used myself as a human shield against something that wouldn’t go right through me, I mused wryly.

“Kael?”

I opened my eyes hesitantly at the sound of Mom’s voice, taken aback.

“I’m… alive?” I said. Then I properly looked around. Lowering my arm, I blinked. Surrounding me, a bright orange haze shimmered, rapidly fading away. My eyes fixed on the loose after-image of a large paw within the orange, losing its shape even as I looked at it. Beyond the particles of light, the mass of the vortex dispersed, falling harmlessly to the floor and settling there like a fine layer of ash.