“BOOM!”
A deafening sound echoed across the landscape, rattling the quiet village. The villagers froze, exchanging uneasy glances, their attention drawn in the same direction, toward the dense, shadowed forest. From its edge, a young man emerged, breathless and wild-eyed. His simple, worn uniform clung to him as he stumbled forward, his face a mask of fear and disbelief.
The young man coughs and speaks, "Th-they’re here!" His voice cracked with terror, rising into a frantic shout. "Everyone, inside! Lock your doors now! RUN!"
The villagers' faces drained of colour as the terrible realisation set in, they knew exactly who the young man was warning them about. Panic swept through the crowd like wildfire. Without hesitation, every villager bolted for their homes, slamming doors and bolting locks. Inside, they huddled in terrified silence, whispering desperate prayers for safety.
“BOOM!”
Another explosion from the exact same direction.
“ARTHUR, GET YOUR ASS HERE NOW!” A woman yells at the young man.
The young man looks up as he begins to gain pace, running towards the woman.
“GET IN!” The woman steps aside as the young man dashes into the house through the door. The woman enters as well, slamming the door shut and locking it. “LOCK THE WINDOWS! NOW!”
The young man rushed and locked the windows, closed the curtains and went to stand beside the woman who was panting and looked stressed.
“Arthur… Hartley. WHAT. WERE. YOU. THINKING?!”
“MOM! JUST HEAR ME OUT!”
“WHAT?!”
“JUST… hear me out…” Arthur sighs, looking down, “Ali’s dead. We heard a small crack, something off in the distance, and he went to check it out. He was shot… killed instantly. That’s when I ran. Ali’s gone.”
“..I see.” The woman crossed her arms, “I’m sorry for your loss but this is NOT… normal. Who shot Ali dead?”
“I don’t know but… whatever shot him sent out extreme heat.”
“Fire Bullets.”
“The… Faeclavige.” Arthur muttered.
“Yep.” The woman sighs. “Fire wielders aren’t exactly rare in the Fae Bloodline. It has to be them. Casimir’s people wouldn’t invade like this.”
“Why wouldn’t they?” Arthur questioned, curious.
“Pyroar, of course. He wouldn’t let him touch our lands.”
“True…” He says as he peaks out the window. Suddenly, his eyes widened.
“Arthur…? Is there anything outside?”
“I see them…”
The woman leaned towards Arthur and saw nothing. “Who? Where?”
“The Faeclavige…”
“Where?” The woman begins to look with full focus.
“Behind the trees…”
“Are you okay, Arthur?”
“I SEE THEM! THERE GETTING READY TO SEND ANOTHER EXPLOSION!”
“WHAT?!”
“HIDE! THEY’LL ENTER THE VILLAGE SOON!” Arthur yells out as he dashes upstairs.
The woman, puzzled, followed Arthur upstairs, her footsteps hesitant. He led her into a small room, stepping aside as she entered. Without a word, Arthur closed the door behind them, the soft click of the lock echoing in the quiet space.
“Now… Arthur, explain. What did you see?” the woman demanded, her tone edged with impatience.
Arthur’s eyes were wide with fear and exhaustion. “I saw… the Faeclavige’s men. I saw them…”
The woman’s brow furrowed in confusion. “How? They were hidden.”
Arthur hesitated, his voice faltering. “I- I don’t know.”
A moment of realisation struck the woman. Her eyes narrowed as she muttered to herself, “It’s his blind eye… isn’t it?”
She turned back to Arthur, her expression serious. “Your blind eye. It must have allowed you to see something others couldn’t. Did you notice anything unusual about it?”
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Arthur looked up, confusion and curiosity in his eyes. “I… I don’t understand. What does my blind eye have to do with this?”
The woman sighed, her mind racing. “If your blind eye has unique properties, it might have enabled you to detect the presence of the Faeclavige, despite their attempts to stay hidden. We need to consider this carefully. The Faeclavige’s involvement complicates things, and your ability to see them might be crucial.”
Arthur nodded, beginning to understand the gravity of the situation. “So what do we do now?”
The woman’s gaze was resolute. “We need to gather more information and prepare for any further threats. Stay alert and be ready. This is far from over.”
As the woman began making plans, Arthur remained tense, knowing that the danger was far from past. The revelation about his blind eye might be the key to unravelling everything.
“BOOM!”
The explosion that followed was louder and more jarring than the previous ones. It seized the woman's attention instantly, her face reflecting a deep sense of stress and worry.
“Mom… there here.” Arthur’s eyes widened.
“Just… shush.” She sighed as she placed her finger on top of Arthur’s lips, “Just stay quiet… It’ll be alright, dear.”
“Hm.” Arthur sighs as he was stressed as well.
“BOOM!”
The next explosion was even louder and more jarring than any before it. The woman’s fear for her and Arthur’s lives was palpable, her anxiety growing with this deafening blast as she knew they were in the region of the village.
“Set it all ABLAZE!” A man’s yell rang out, quickly followed by a chorus of similar shouts.
The woman peeked out the window and saw a group of men in a uniform. Their uniforms were sleek, yet imposing, a combination of deep charcoal-grey coats with high collars and silver accents. Flowing over their shoulders were dark, asymmetrical capes, fastened by brooches shaped like crescent moons. Each soldier wore intricate belts adorned with small, jagged symbols that resembled a shattered star, a unique insignia of their order. One man, distinguished by a gleaming obsidian crest pinned to his chest, likely a captain, commanded his followers, who were similarly dressed in these dark uniforms. With every step, their movements echoed precision and power as they strode through the village, setting everything ablaze with nothing but their breath.
"...Oh god," the woman sighs, her voice shaky as she hugs Arthur tightly. "I'm sorry if we… don’t make it, Arthur, but… I just…” A tear slips down her cheek. “I’m sorry, dear."
“Mom? What’s happening?” Arthur asked, confusion flickering in his voice.
She lets go of him and pulls back the curtain, revealing the men setting the village ablaze. “If we don’t run, we’ll burn to death. If we do… we still might not make it.”
“Well yeah, that makes sense, but how the hell do we survive this?” Arthur’s frustration breaks through.
“It’s… going to be hard. These are Faes. They’re… probably after your blind eye.”
“Why is EVERYONE after my damn eye?” Arthur points at it in exasperation, glaring blankly at his mother.
“You’ll understand soon enough. But for now, we need to focus on getting out of here alive.”
“And… how do we do that?”
“UGH!” She slams the wall as it cracks. The house begins to fill with smoke and heat. “They… already reached us?!” She looks around and kicks the window. Breaking it open and pushing Arthur through.
“MOM! COME!”
“SHUT UP!” She yells at him in a dangerous tone as she jumps out and points straight, “RUN FOR IT!”
Arthur sprinted with everything he had, his feet pounding against the dirt as he dashed toward the forest. His heart raced, pounding louder than the chaos behind him. The heat from the fires scorched the air around him, and the crackling of flames drowned out everything else. He didn’t look back, not once… he couldn’t afford to.
He reached the edge of the forest, eyes wild, and threw himself into the cover of a thick bush, trying to control his ragged breathing. His body trembled, adrenaline still surging through his veins, but for a brief moment, he thought he was safe. The dense trees loomed above him, offering some sort of shelter from the blazing inferno consuming the village behind him.
But then, a piercing scream cut through the air. His heart froze.
“Mom…”
He dared a glance back through the leaves. There, in the distance, he saw her, his mother, running, but she wasn’t fast enough. His eyes widened as a burst of flames erupted from one of the Faes, streaking through the air like a vengeful arrow. It slammed into her back, knocking her to the ground.
“NO!” Arthur wanted to scream, but his voice caught in his throat.
His mother writhed on the ground, her back aflame. The fire clung to her like a living thing, hungry and relentless. Her once beautiful hair was singed as she desperately tried to roll over, trying to smother the flames. Arthur watched in horror, helpless. The heat was so intense he could feel it from where he hid, and it took every ounce of strength not to rush out there. He knew if he did, he’d only meet the same fate.
Her skin blistered under the flames, the heat searing her flesh, leaving horrific burns across her back. First-degree burns, the kind that would scar her for life if she survived. But right now, survival seems impossible.
“You foolish woman.” The one with an obsidian crest pinned to his chest said, with a weird smile on his face and a small chuckle. “You think you’ll survive? Hell no. We need to find this.. ‘God’s Eye’ as soon as we can. Argos will be defeated by it!”
The woman manages to open her eyes and looks at the man, “...Argos created that eye. There is no possible way for you to use it and defeat the creator itself…” She coughed up a bit of blood.
“Uh huh.” The man raises his hand and slaps her, making her fall unconscious at that exact moment.
“Mom…” Arthur whispered, his voice trembling as he fought back the sobs that threatened to spill over. Tears blurred his vision, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the sight before him. The village was engulfed in flames, roaring and crackling like a living beast. Homes crumbled under the heat, reduced to ash and smoke. His mother lay somewhere among the wreckage, unconscious.
He buried his face in his hands, trying to quiet his sobs so no one would hear him. Every part of him ached, not just from the exhaustion of running but from the overwhelming guilt that crushed him. He was hiding here, in the shadows, while the village, their home, burned to the ground. While his mother suffered.
The flickering light of the flames danced across his tear-streaked face as he peeked through the leaves again. Every crack and snap of burning wood sent a shiver through his body. He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms as the weight of the situation pressed down on him. It felt like the world was ending.
“I should have done something… I should have-” His thoughts were a mess, spiralling out of control as the flames grew higher, devouring everything in their path.
But there was nothing he could do now. Nothing except hide, watching the destruction unfold and praying for a way out of this nightmare.
Arthur then looks back. Towards a forest; The Frostwind Forest. He quickly stands and rushes into the forest, in hopes to find shelter and to be safe from the Faes that just burnt his village.