The shout was so loud and frantic that Keith had to clasp his hands over his ears, wincing at the pain it caused him. His head snapped around toward the man pointing at the sky, his heart dropping to the pit of his stomach as he made out the outline of a giant shadowy figure in the sky, flying behind the clouds.

For a moment, there was noting but dead silence.

And then, they heard it—the unmistakable, bone-chilling roar that shook the earth itself.

ROAR!!

It was deep—far deeper and more terrifying than anything Keith had ever heard in his otherwise short life. It made his knees buckle. People around him ducked instinctively, many of them letting out panicked screams as they scattered in every direction. The marketplace once a place of loud chatter and banter, erupted into chaos—not the calm and everyday chaos its inhabitants were used to, but a different kind altogether. Vendors abandoned their stalls, mothers grabbed their children, and everyone surged towards the northern gates, that leads deeper into the mountain and onto other kingdoms, desperate to escape the horror that loomed above.

But Keith stood frozen in place, his mind struggling to comprehend what was happening around him. A dragon? Here? Why? When one hasn’t been sighted in over a hundred years? His flickered upward, and there it was—Ash, massive and cutting through the sky like a nightmare made real.

The creature circled overhead, its wings casting a monstrous shadow across the city. It let out another deafening roar, sending more people screaming and fleeing in terror. The dragon had left the embrace of the clouds and was now bare in all its glory—ash in color and scaly. Scaly? Keith thought at the sights of those scales. The first thing that came to his mind was the scaly object he had seen earlier today during his brief interaction with those hooded men. ‘It can’t be right?’ he asked himself as he saw the dragon open its mouth wide and saw a red and yellowish glow rising from its throat.

At the sights of that, the already frantic crowd became even more so, with everyone trying to get as far away from the creature as possible. But what can man do in the face the closest thing to a god? As it fired it breath down at the kingdom—not far from where the marketplace was, In—fact it looked kind of close. Very close to the area where Keith was coming from. At the thought of that—

“Mum!” a voice shouted amidst the screaming and panic in the marketplace. The words barely escaped Keith’s lips, his heart racing. All he could think about now was his mother. Without a second thought, he bolted in the direction of his home, pushing through the frantic crowd as he tried to reach her. People jostled him, shoving him aside as they ran for their lives, but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. His breath came in sharp, desperate gasps as he sprinted faster than ever before. He had to get to her. He had to—

But then, he noticed the couldn’t see the dragon's shadow in the sky. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it—the dragon’s massive head turning, its eyes glowing red like molten fire. He noticed it opened its mouth again, and the same red and yellow glow began to gather. Keith felt his heart skip a beat.

No, no, no…!

The dragon’s mouth opened wide, and the next thing he knew, flames erupted from its maw—a blazing inferno that engulfed the streets in front of him, just a couple of feet ahead of him. People burned to a crisp before his very eyes. The heat hit him like a wave, knocking him to the ground, scorching the air around him. He felt it even from a distance—the searing suffocating heat, like the breath of death itself.

Hands and knees on the floor, his lungs burned, his throat tight. His skin felt parched and dry, stinging from the heat. His vision blurred as he gasped for air.

Wheeze… cough cough.

He realized he had forgotten to breathe amid chaos.

He forced himself to move, to keep running, even as the dragon’s roar echoed in his ears and the flames danced ever closer.

‘I have to get to her… I have to…!’ his mind screamed, but his legs were weak feeling heavier with every step. The world around him blurred into a dizzying mix of fire, smoke, and panic. His eyes stung from the heat, but he won’t give up here. He won’t stop. Not now. Not when his mother needed him the most.

The dragon who looked to be preparing another fire breath, suddenly stopped. It appeared to be sniffing around, and then its head snapped in another direction. It started to growl menacingly, before it roared again, this time more primal and louder than before, its eyes fixed deeper within the kingdom as it started flying that way, shooting its fire breath at a particular place.

Keith stood frozen, watching the dragon continue firing it breath with renewed vigor and enthusiasm towards another area deeper within the kingdom. He didn’t understand why it had shifted its focus, but he was glad it no longer focused where he was, and he wasn’t about to waste the opportunity.

TWANG!

Suddenly, a loud noise echoed from the capital, followed by a blur that shot through the sky. Something long and hard pierced the dragon’s leg.

ROAR!!!

The dragon roared in pain, thrashing in the air as its fiery breath faltered. Keith, watching all of this unfold, felt a pang of sorrow for the beast. It was terrifying but….it was in pain. He did not know why, but he felt sorry for it.

But then he remembered: this was the monster that destroyed his kingdom, his home.

Without so much as another thought, he turned and ran, heart pounding, praying he wasn’t too late. He was determined to reach his house and find his mother—to return to her warmth.

The dragon roared once more from somewhere deep within the kingdom. Amidst the smoke and noise, it had finally found what it had been searching for—what it had flown so far away from its mountain without rest for—it’s stolen egg.

After acquiring what it came here for, safely within its grasp, it’s roar spreading across the kingdom, vengeance apparent in its voice. Not only had these humans stolen its egg, they also dared to harm it! It turned its gaze to where the long spear still sticking out of its hind leg, where its pain came from, and roared to the heavens.

It flew towards the direction it was shot from, the capital of the kingdom. It vowed to destroy this little kingdom for the sin they have committed. It would ensure to burn it all to the ground and turn this once beautiful and peaceful kingdom to a hellscape—one that would be uninhabitable for at least ten years. And if these humans ever dared to build this kingdom again, it would come back again and repeat the same thing, over and over again.

Thus began its dance with the kingdom—A dance to the death.

While all this transpired behind him, it didn’t concern Keith. The sounds of more fire breaths and the strange sound that happened before that spear hit the dragon kept ringing out in the distance. He just kept running towards home.

The streets he knew, once filled with chatter and laughter, were now a burning nightmare. Everything was ash－building crumbling, bodies strewn about, and the thick stench of death in the air.

A mixture of charred and trampled bodies of men, women and children alike, lay in grotesque positions. Their eyes once filled with life’s hardships, its stories, its sorrows, now all vacant, empty and bloodied. This wasn’t his home anymore; it was a torment of flame and destruction.

Keith could barely see through the smoke. He tripped and fell, injuring his knees in the process, but that was the least of his worries. As he looked at what had caused his descent, his face froze in horror at the sight; the face of his uncle—the same man he had just greeted this morning, talking about how he and his mother should visit soon. But here he was, lying lifeless on the floor, with half his body charred. He could see the look of agony and despair that marred his uncle’s face—the last look of intense pain he was going through before he died. For the first time since this whole ordeal began, Keith started entertaining the thought of his mother—the thought of her turning up this way too. The thought brought shivers down his spine, as he started hyperventilating.

He vomited bile on the ground, the grim reality of everything dawned on him. He could smell the thick scent of cooked flesh, the iron scent of blood. He could see the bowels and organs of people protruding out from them, having been stepped on. Worse of all were their eyes—the eyes really scared him, each one he looked at held a look of despair, anguish, and overwhelming pain.It was as if they all were looking upon him. It was too much. He vomited again, holding his chest, struggling to breathe.

He forced himself to calm down. ‘I have to go… to find out what’s happened,’ he told himself. He couldn’t stop here either way, so needless fear did him no good. He closed his uncle’s remaining eye—the one that hadn’t been burned, once filled with love for his son, pride for his achievements, and vigour—he was so full of life. He prayed a short, silent prayer for him and his son, Carl, wherever he was, wishing him safety, and hoping he could escape in time.

He got back to his feet, eyes burning with determination to see this through and continued his journey home. As he made his way, he could hear sounds of children screaming and calling out for their mothers and fathers, the cries of babies and husbands searching for their wives, shouts of parents looking for their children. But it all fell on deaf ears as he stared at the multitude of people running toward the northern gates, shrieking in fear, panic and desperation. No one seemed to bother or care for anyone else; people shoved each other, fighting one another, tumbling to the ground, getting stepped upon, without care for their their screams of pain.

Everyone seemed to have gone mad in fear. Keith watched as people he has seen all his life growing up shoved aside children just so they can get a few steps ahead, pulling people to ground for being slightly slower than them, dragging others down by their hair to get a slight advantage, as they tried different ways to reach if only a few step forward faster.

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‘Crazy…’ Keith thought. ‘They are all crazy’ He couldn't recognize this people anymore; gone were their warm and affectionate smiles he grew up knowing, now all he could see on their faces were crazed and maddened looks of desperation.

He couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t understand it, the way they acted, the decisions they made just to save themselves. He shuddered, thinking if he and his mom would have done the same if they were part of them, or be part of the people screaming and searching for themselves in the deafening sounds of men and women alike running and shrieking.

He shook his head to clear all these useless thoughts. ‘All of this doesn’t matter if I don’t reach home first,’ he told himself as he quickened his pace, using all his extensive knowledge of the streets to pass through alleyways and shortcuts—anything to reduce the distance between him and his house, even if only a little faster. He had to backtrack sometimes, as the roads were either too destroyed to pass through or too littered with corpses to go through. It would seem the dragon initially focused on the areas closest to his house. Hopefully his house was safe.

Keith passed through the alleyways, each step bringing him closer to home, his heart started beating faster and loudly till he could hear it clearly, he was afraid—afraid of what he might see, but he drove away the negative thoughts as he focused on reaching there first.

He passed some more alleyways, not far from his house now, when he froze at the sight before him. His heart plummeted into his stomach, cold sweat trickling down his back, he felt stumped and stupefied at the sight.

“No… it can’t be… Mom!!”

He screamed, desperation slicing through the panic as he beheld his house in ruins. The small, sturdy structure where he had grown up, played, slept and lived with his mom, lay shattered, the roof crumbled, and flames licking at the walls.

“Mum!”

Keith’s scream tore through the smoke-filled air as he stumbled toward the wreckage of their home, frantically searching for any sign of her among the rubble. His heart pounded in his ears, drowning out the roaring flames and distant shouts. He clawed at the debris, tossing aside shattered beams and broken stone, his hands trembling, desperate for something—anything—that would prove she was still alive.

“Please, no…,” he whispered, his breath ragged. His fingers bled from scraping at the ruins, but he barely felt it.

Then, he heard it: a faint voice, barely a whisper carried on the wind.

“Keith…”

“Mum!”

With renewed vigour, he raced toward the sound. There she was, not far from where he was initially searching for her. But at the sight of her—so helpless, so wounded—his breath hitched as a wave of cold horror came crashing over him at the scene, the thoughts he had so desperately been trying to stop from creeping in, started flooding in with wild abandon. Tears streamed down his face as he struggled to comprehend the scene before him.

She lay helpless, pinned beneath heavy debris—large pieces of wood on her left leg and a slab of stone crushing her left arm. Blood soaked her right hand, her own blood, dripping from a knife she was holdingtightly, a deep gash to the very bone could be seen on her left arm just a little bit above her elbow as her forearm and hand were being crushed by the stone. The horror of her injury pierced his heart, the realization of her struggle crashing down upon him.

“Thank the heavens you are safe,” she said, her voice weak and strained. “I’m so sorry I could not come get you. I tried… tried to get free… to come find you.” Her eyes, usually so vibrant, were now filled with pain and fatigue. She looked at him lovingly, with so much affection, relief and guilt in her eyes. Keith couldn’t bare the look in her eye. He fell to his knees beside her, his hands shaking as touched her pale and cold face, his heart breaking at the sight of her in so much pain, he then hugged her aggressively tears streaming down his cheeks. He screamed, feeling powerless against the overwhelming horror.

“I’m here now mum! I’m here now…” he said through choking breaths, as he tried to sniffle back tears. “I’m sorry… I should’ve come sooner… I should’ve”

She held unto his face with her bloodied hand, smiling weakly, she gently wiped away his tears with trembling fingers.

“What do I always say… big boys like you shouldn’t cry, girls don’t like boys that are cry babies.” she said to him while laughing lightly, pain apparent in her voice.

Keith couldn’t even speak and just cried more and more. She just looked at him with love and shook her head.

“What am I going to do with you, boy?…” she said with a smile on her face. Keith still balling in her arms. He could barely breathe through all the sorrow and guilt he was felling.

Then they both heard another thunderous roar in the distance from the dragon.

“Keith…” Her voice was so soft, so broken, it made his chest ache. “listen to me, I want you to run… run as far away from here as possible, run and don’t look back.”

Keith looked at his mother in horror at her words, as if he had just heard the worst thing anyone could ever say to him.

He shook his head furiously, tears blurring his vision.

“NO!!…” he screamed his voice breaking.

“I could never do that! I won’t leave you! I can’t!”

He said, trying to sound resolute but with the tears and his shaking voice, he failed miserably at the attempt.

His mother looked at him fondly with a gentle smile gracing her face. She used what little strength she had left and removed the necklace she wore. The same necklace her son had saved money up for months to purchase for her as a gift for her birthday as a surprise. She took it off and handed it over to him.

“Take this, Keith. When you look at it, remember that I’m always with you.”

“Mom… please, don’t—” He tried to say, but she cut him off.

“Keith, listen to me. I know you’re scared. I know you are in pain. But you’re strong. You must live. This world has so much to offer you. I need you to run, not in fear but to embrace life.” She said while looking at him softly.

He took the necklace, shaking as he clasped it in his hands.

“I can’t… I can’t abandon you!” he tried to protest, his voice breaking. She then brought her hand back to his face and continued.

“You are my son, my hope, my life. I’m not going away forever, if you ever need me, just look at it and you’ll see me beside you.”

Keith couldn’t bare all this, he couldn’t fathom leaving her, not like this, bleeding, cold and alone. He stood up and tried to push the stone crushing her left arm away, but he couldn’t even lift it, he slipped and fell, and then he caught sight of it, the knife his mother had been holding, then he shifted his head to look at where she had been trying to cut it off, trying to get rid of it so she can reach him as quick as possible. His eyes blurred with new tears streaming down his face as he crawled back to her abdomen and cried softly while hugging. He cried because he was weak… too weak to move the stone. He cried because there was nothing he could do to stop the bleeding. Nothing he could say to change her mind. He cried because he felt so utterly powerless and useless at his inability to do or change anything. His mum just kept quiet and ruffled his hair with a soft and contended smile on her face. Then she lifted his face up, she hugged him tightly one last time, as if trying to ingrain as much warmth from his body unto her’s forever. As if trying to forever ingrain his scent unto her body. As if trying to carve his body shape unto her very being. She ended the hug and took one last look at him because she knew this was the last time she was going to see. So she took one last long hard look at him, so as to ingrain his very visage unto her memory, for eternity. She wiped away his tear and blood stricken face, twisted in so much pain. Her face had a resolute look and a smile wavering on her lips, filled with warmth despite her pain.

“Keith, get up, you need to leave quickly, there isn’t much time left now. Who knows how long the capital can last before the dragon rains down fire upon us once more. You need to go now!” she shouted, the urgency was palpable; the distant roar of the dragon grew closer.

With tears streaming down his face, he felt the weight of her words crushing him.

“I love you!” he choked out, desperation etched across his face.

“And I love you, my beautiful boy,” she whispered, her eyes softening. “Now, go! Live for both of us.”

Trembling, Keith with tears in his eyes and pain on his face stood up, looking at the necklace, a glass type material made in the shape of a star, painted blue. He had given it to her for her birthday and now here it was being given back to him, by the same person he had gotten it for. He wore the necklace, now a lifeline to her memory.He glanced back one last time, seeing the determination in her eyes, before turning and sprinting away from the only home he had ever known.

As he ran, the roar of the dragon echoed behind him, a sound that would haunt him forever. His mother’s figure grew smaller until it was just a silhouette against the flames. With every step, he felt his heart break further.

But he just kept running, he forced himself not to look back, even as tears blurred his vision, even as his heart screamed for him to turn around. In his backdrop, a dragon breathing down fire in the distance and his mother laying there looking at him, he didn’t turn back, not once. He just ran, as fast as he could to as far as he could go.

“Keith!” she called, her voice strong despite the chaos. “Remember! Live!”

He ran faster, forcing himself to obey, never looking back. The screams of the kingdom faded into the background, replaced by the ache of loss that would linger with him always.

As he fled, his mother lay beneath the rubble. She didn’t know when tears started streaming down her own face, she was sad. Sad at her ending. Sad at how it all ended. Sad at the thought of her son having to live the remainder of his childhood without his mother. Sad that she won’t see how handsome he would become when he grew up. Sad at not being able to advice him on life choices and decisions. Sad at not being there when he eventually wants to settle down, marry and have kids of his own. Sad at not being able to be there to see her grandchildren, and telling them stories of how troublesome their father was when he was younger, and how he never listened. Sad at not being able to meet his beautiful wife. Sad at not being able to die at old age, surrounded by her family, her son, her brother, her nephew and grandchildren. Sad at it all ending this way. She looked at her son and felt so emotional at how tragic their ending is. She cried her own silent tears in pain, not physical pain but emotional. Her heat felt so heavy and torn. She didn’t—‘I don’t want to leave my baby boy!’ She cried silently. Because she knew how much he loves her and how much pain and suffering this is causing him and is going to cause him in future. But she had to hide the pain in her heart, the pain in her voice, the pain in her eyes. Because she knew if he saw it, he wouldn’t leave her. He wouldn’t leave her here to die a slow and painful death, he’d rather try his best to release her and if that proves fruitless, stay by her side, ready to die her side. She couldn’t have that, she still wanted him to experience so much. She still wanted him to live so much. She wanted him to meet a beautiful woman, settle down, have children and find the same love and fulfillment she found in raising and taking care of him. But she was also happy. Happy with what life had given her. Happy at how her life had ended up. Happy at having a rich and fulfilling life. Happy at having a rowdy but fun loving brother. Happy at having a shy but cute nephew. And most of all happy with life for gifting her, her wonderful and beautiful son.

‘And nothing is going to stop him from doing all that, absolutely nothing…not the dragon flying above us, not even me.’ she thought.

“I want you to run, not so you should hide for the rest of you life in fear, but to live with you head held high. I want you to live… live a very happy life.” She said to no one in particular but maybe the wind, hoping it carried her voice to his ears. Her voice was breaking with tears.

“My beautiful baby boy… I love you…so so much and even death isn’t going to take that away. Even death cannot stop my love for you” she said, while gazing into the distance, her heart aching unimaginably, her voice now barely a whisper.

Then, the dragon’s roar echoed again, and the weight of her situation crashed down upon her. She screamed loudly at the top of her lungs, letting loose all her anger, frustration, fear, pain, anguish and sorrow. It was a raw, primal sound that resonated with the injustice of it all. As if pouring out all the emotions she had been keeping in, her fear of Keith not going, but now that he has, she let loose. She screamed for a long time. When she was done pouring it all out, she looked as her son disappeared into the distance, a smile of contentment on her lips, even as her heart broke, but she was in peace, at her decisions and outcome.

“Silly boy, you never listen to me when I tell you to, and now you go doing everything I say…” she said in a faint voice, as her heart slowed and her eyes slowly closed.

As Keith ran, the world around him blurred into chaos, but the warmth of her words remained, echoing in his heart: Live for both of us…