Over the near crimson sky, there were many pillars of smoke. Furuya could only stand witness to the horrors surrounding them. These invaders must have been all over town. Where would it even be safe? Not to mention that their friends were still trying to make their way back here.
Panic stricken voices surrounded him and offered his mind no respite.
As his mind churned rapidly for a solution, another problem presented itself. As if he didn't have enough on his plate already.
The intruders staggered slowly out of the inn, each of them carrying another of their injured companions.
But none of them seemed to pay any attention to Furuya and his friends, they turned for the street immediately and started to run as fast as they could, all while carrying another person on their backs. Before long, they vanished from view.
Shiro and the others aren’t back yet, this was the rendezvous point, but we can't just stay out here in the open. Damn it Ryuta! Why haven't you brought them back yet?
With this fire, they won't even be able to go next door.
“We have to meet up with them somewhere else, we can't just stand out here.”
“Wait… I think I see someone.”
Furuya turned and saw a figure turning onto the street—running towards them.
It was Zakin, carrying a child.
Zakin! But where is Kichirou? Where is Ryuta???
Schnee wasn’t even with him, he was carrying some other child.
Just as they approached—as if waiting for Zakin, a huge blaze tore through the roof of the inn and began to consume the building entirely.
Everyone stood there watching as their home—that some of them knew for only a day of their lives—burned away.
Zakin fell to his knees, with a face so pale and lifeless that it gave him an almost ethereal appearance. Everyone else shared that same expression, as the inn, their bastion of light in their newly acquired life, went up in flames.
Yet Furuya seemed to be the only one facing the reality before them, he turned and raced to Zakin.
“Zakin! Where are they? Where is Kichirou? Where's Ryuta? Where's Schnee????”
The only response was the roar of flames behind him.
Furuya grabbed him by the shoulder.
“ZAKIN WHERE ARE THEY!?”
“I, I don’t know… they saw us out there... we had to run.” His gaze still unturned from the burning inn.
That hallowed expression on Zakin’s face, in the short time they had met Furuya didn’t think it was even possible for Zakin to show such a face.
“Calbi!”
“Ye—yea?”
“Take him, and everyone else and get the hell out of here.”
“What? Where are you gonna go?”
“I'm going to look for Shiro and the others, isn't that obvious?”
“Ryuta and Zakin went looking for them and only Zakin has come back, we can't afford to split up again.”
“What do you mean? They could be in trouble, we can't just sit here on the sidelines hoping and praying that they will be ok, we have to do something.”
“That’s not the point!”
“It doesn't matter, I have to go.”
“HIRO! Look at the state that we’re all in, we wouldn't even be alive if we were not all working together back there. We need you here!”
“So what am I supposed to do? Just sit on my ass and hope that they are ok?”
Zakin was on his feet again, clearly regained his composure, with a new fire raging in his eyes. The look of pure determination burned with something else entirely.
“Calbi, take this boy, I'm going again. I’m not losing anything else today.”
“You see Calbi, we have to do this, just take everyone else and protect them with your life.”
“.... Hiro”
“You don't have to go.”
“Karin not you too.”
“No, look,” Karin pointed.
All their attention turned to the same street where Zakin had came.
“SHIRO!”
“SCHNEE!”
Zakin bolted towards them, along with Miku.
Even in the distance, he could tell something was off with Kichirou, the way he walked, no rather the way he was practically being pulled by Schnee.
Was he hurt?
As the crimson bandage on Kichirou’s shoulder that glimmered ever so slightly in the flames came into view, he found the answer to his question.
“Schnee, are you hurt anywhere!?” Zakin exclaimed.
“I was so worried, Shiro”
Only after Miku threw her arms around Kichirou in a tear riddled embrace did he notice the error in his assessment. Not only did he not object to it, he didn't even seem to be bothered by it, or even notice the act whatsoever.
“Your arm! Are you ok? Shiro? Shiro, what's wrong?” Miku asked.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
What in the world happened to him… wait.
He almost didn't notice it, it was something so obvious.
Someone was still missing.
“Where's Ryuta!?”
Kichirou’s face twitched as he heard those words, even Schnee seemed to flinch slightly. Neither of them uttered a single word.
No, could it? It couldn’t be!
No, no, no, no, no. There’s no way, there has to be a mistake.
No matter how he tried to silence those thoughts, they still lingered at the back of his mind. The voices only seem to be getting louder and stronger as he approached Kichirou. The source of his worry grew more and more clear.
Shiro’s eyes, they were bloodshot. His expression was blank, it was similar to the one that he would normally wear, but there was a distinct difference this time, the intent behind the mask.
“Shiro what happened? Where's Ryuta?”
This time Kichirou just stood there, with his deathly blank stare into the distance. He didn't even acknowledge the words spoken to him anymore.
Furuya got up to him, pushed Miku aside and shook him :“Oi Shiro, stop messing with me, where is he?! … Answer me! Where is he?”
“He’s gone.”
“No...”
“I'm sorry, I’m sorry....”
“No.. no, no, no, no, no….”
There's no way that could be true, that can't happen to Ryuta, it just can't happen, no.
“It was too late… I… I… I couldn't save him…”
How could this happen… He was always carrying that same goofy smile…
Tears began welling up from within, blurring Furuya’s vision.
DAMN IT!
He wanted to shout but he couldn't, it would attract unwanted attention. He saw the look on everyone's faces then took a deep breath.
“I—I,” Kichirou wanted to continue.
“Kichirou, whatever it is, save it for later,” He turned to the others: “We have to go, they’re burning down the whole town.”
“Furuya’s is right,” Zakin added. “We need to move, I have a carriage at one of my confidant’s stable, we can use it to get out of town and head towards the capital.”
“But what about…”
“It's all gone in flames, once lord Tray Debouf catches wind of what happened here, war would be inevitable. We need to move to the capital while we still can..”
His voice was full of conviction, but the painstaking look on his face told a different tale. Furuya nodded in agreement.
“Is everyone ok to run? We’re leaving now.”
“Wait Zakin, I don't think this boy is breathing.”
Everyone looked to the boy in Calbi’s arms.
“Then leave him, we can't save everyone.”
…
Everyone else got up to their feet and started to follow Zakin’s lead, even Kichirou was on the move. Calbi was the only one who stood still, with the dead boy still held tightly to his chest.
…
“Its ok man, just give him to me, its ok.”
…
Furuya took the boy from Calbi, laid him to the floor and closed the boy’s eyes.
Another light snuffed out before their time by this cruel world. They were utterly powerless, unable to save anyone, not even Ryuta.
Those are simply the rules of this world, the people are different and the scenery too, but it was all the same at the end of the day.
“Come on Calbi, we don't want to be left behind here, let's go.”
The group made a beeline for the stable following Zakin through the desolate streets—through the wake of the destruction. But they turned a blind eye and ran through all of it, quickly but silently. Surprisingly enough they only caught glimpses of the raiders as they made their way to the edge of town. Luckily for them it was simply a good location, they were headed away from the center of the town which was likely where the raiders were most concentrated.
There wasn't much in this area, just a single house with a stable and a road leading out of town. It was quiet and appeared to be untouched by the fate which consumed the rest of Mercini.
However something was definitely off, the stable doors were wide open.
“You guys wait here, I'll go check it out.”
He walked up to the open doors and called out : “Vorsae? Vorsae are you there?” But only silence answered his call.
“Come everyone quickly.”
The very first thing that assaulted them was the pungent smell of manure that lingered about. Being the city dwellers they all were, none of them have ever had to experience such a thing before in their lives.
But no one was in the mood to complain about such a thing.
“Get two horses and bring them towards the back gate,” Zakin called out before disappearing.
No one else even seemed to acknowledge him, they all just stood there with vague expressions. Even Shiro, the one who would always judge others based on their decisiveness, was also just standing there.
But how could he blame any of them for being so out of it after entering somewhere safe, after a day like today, especially Shiro.
Understandable but, this world is turning out to be even more dangerous than they could have imagined, if this all out war really happens between these two countries none of them will be safe.
They need to figure things out before then. How much time would they even have left after today's events?
Even just thinking about that was giving Furuya a headache. Still, it makes every moment they have now that much more valuable.
He had never worked with horses before, but they’re animals raised and trained to perform their duties. How difficult can it be?
He opened the first two stalls and noticed a hand and pool of blood coming from the next stall down. Could that be the Vorsae fellow Zakin spoke of?
Damn it…
He only paused for a single moment before leading the two horses out, closing the stalls behind him and moving towards the back gate like Zakin had asked.
Just then Zakin popped out from one of the stable’s side doors holding a key in his hand.
“I’ve got the key for that door, my wagon should be right there.”
“Did you find your friend?”
“No, his house’s door was open too, I just hope he’s somewhere safe.”
“Yeah… I hope so too.”
Sometimes it's better not to know, though who was he to hide the facts from this man. What if the shoe had been on the other foot and Zakin was the one to hide the death of Ryuta from him and his friends, left to wander around looking desperately for him in the future.
Furuya signed internally and looked at Zakin.
The man had endured enough for one day.
“Let's get going quickly whilst the coast is still clear.”
Zakin quickly pulled the wagon out of its garage and hitched it to the waiting horses.
The carriage itself was comprised almost entirely of wood, the interior was nothing special, with enough room to possibly fit six people with a roof hanging not too far above their heads.
“Everyone get in quickly, there is not enough room for everyone inside, two of you would have to ride atop.”
“I’ll stay up top with Kichirou, the rest of you guys get in,” Furuya volunteered.
Looks like It won't be a comfortable ride by any means, at least he would have some company to discuss their upcoming plans.
Kichirou sat towards the back of the wagon with his legs hanging off slightly, staring up blankly at the fading sky. Furuya sat in the front right behind Zakin.
“Everyone ready? we are going.”
The wagon wasn’t designed for nine passengers, as a result the speed and maneuverability was greatly reduced. Enough so that a single rider could easily catch them.
“Wait a second, aren’t we going to be easy pickings for them, if we are out in the open going at this speed?” Furuya purposely spoke low enough that those in the wagon wouldn’t be able to hear it.
“No we will be safe, they won’t chase us out of town.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“There’s only one reason they attacked Mercini, they are after her, lady Ashel and the rest of the Debouf family. They won’t chase after every fleeing civilian.”
“Wouldn’t a carriage heading out of town seem suspicious, they won't know that we aren't carrying those nobles aboard.”
“Do you think we would be here without immediate pursuers if they had suspected us?”
Zakin was right, if this was truly an attack targeting the Debouf family, they would have had spies locating their targets before calling in the strike for maximum effectiveness. And given the nature of this world it wouldn't be a far cry to imagine assasination to be utilized in an attack such as this, and with the possibility of tracking spells too, there was little to no chance of them following a random carriage like theirs.
Even after reaching this conclusion somehow the unease still refused to fade from the back of his mind, but it's not like they had another choice in the matter.
“Well how long would it take for us to reach the capital?”
“Three days, maybe two if the weather permits it.”
“Wait, two days? What are we going to do about food and water?”
“That won't be an issue, there’s a few towns on the way we can stop by and grab some supplies… I'm sorry about your friend…”
...
“I don’t even know what happened to him…” He said aloud looking towards Kichirou.
“Once lord Tray arrives they will sort everything out.”
“Yea…”
Furuya took one last look at the town shrinking behind them, and his eyes grew wide as he saw two mounted raiders watching them, with the stable set ablaze.
…
“Lady Ashel wasn’t with them.”
“Damn it, where the hell did she go then?”
“Just go and report to lord Chedarr.”
“Hmph of course you want me to report our failures.”
“Just go already.”
The man's face soured: “Fine.”
He rode back to the other end of town to a group of five men waiting just on the outskirts.
It was lord Chedarr and his personal guards.
As he was about to get off his horse, lord Chedarr stopped him in his tracks.
“Enough with the formalities, just tell me what happened.”
“We lost track of lady Ashel, her whereabouts are unknown at this time.”
“We confirmed her presence before the start of this and put up a search party for her, how could you fools lose her!?”
“Ah, I’m sorry my lord, but the entire team that was sent after her was wiped out.”
“What?”
“I was stationed at the other end of town, only when we tightened the net did we notice it, and by then the target was already gone, and not a single member that was sent directly after her was still alive my lord.”
...
She was supposed to be the one bargaining chip he could have leveraged for a better deal in the end.
How could they have made such a blunder, he had underestimated the guards protecting the Debouf family.
Now the only card he could have had, has vanished from his grasp.
“Send the signal, we’re going home.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Chedarr, looked to the once lively and peaceful town.
“Are we really doing the right thing?”
“My lord? If his majesty had ordered this, it was bound to happen with or without us being his sword. But truthfully it's for the better that old timers like us see this to the end, wouldn't you agree?”
What would be there to see at the end? A question he could not answer, if this is the path for Bereene that his majesty wishes for then Botanus must have the answer that eludes him so.
“Lyghen, my friend, perhaps you are right, nevertheless I need an audience with his majesty immediately once we return.”
“Yes my lord.”