Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Impact

After the family finished eating, the children were sent to bed. This left Barlo and Mira alone to talk. As he re-read the paper he read in the morning, Barlo commented, “I cannot believe these bandits are still roaming around free. It’s unlike the military to allow such unrest.”

Bringing over a cup of tea, Mira asked, “Are you referring to the bandit group going around burning down villages and slaughtering the inhabitants?”

Barlo nodded, “Yes, it just seems strange. It feels like something is off about the whole thing. I just hope I am wrong about this for once.”

As Barlo stood up and put the paper onto the paper on the couch, his eyes widened as he looked towards the roof and yelled, “SHIT!”

In a cruel twist of fate, the universe decided to allow him to be right one final time. The house began to rumble briefly before a flaming boulder crashed through the roof, crushing and instantly killing both him and Mira. The impact woke up all three siblings. As Zycor shot out of bed, he heard the cries of people coming from outside. Facing the closed window, he cracked open the shutters and saw the entire village was burning.

As the flames illuminated the night, Zycor watched as men in armor rode horses and cut down the villagers as they cried. It appeared their slaughter was indiscriminate. Seeing all this Zycor stumbled back, his ankle catching one of the legs of his nightstand, causing him to fall down. As he looked back at the window, a man in armor was staring in at him with cold eyes. Zycor, too scared to move, sat there frozen with terror. Right as the man stretched his arm and fire began to form in the center, Scillia barged into the room, grabbed Zycor and pulled him out as the man fired off a stream of fire. Scillia slapped Zycor and yelled, “What the hell are you doing!? You can’t just sit there like that; you could have died, you idiot!”

Pulling him in for a hug, Scillia continued with tears welling up, “What would I have done if you were to die, you idiot.”

Wiping the tears away, Scillia brought Zycor to the back door where Gaus was waiting. “Once you two get out of here, run straight through the forest. Dad said he left something there that we would recognize and would help if we were attacked.”

Zycor, only partially listening, looked around the destroyed house and finally noticed the smoldering boulder in the middle of the living room with blood and some limbs visible. Instantly realizing what had happened, Zycor’s mind began to fracture. But Gaus gripped his hand tight, and asked, “We will be ok, right big brother?”

As Zycor looked at Scillia for reassurance, she smiled and gave a nod. The front door to the house was suddenly destroyed, and the man from earlier stepped in, with his sword drawn. Scillia looked back at Zycor and said, “Listen, it is now your duty to protect Gaus. Now, get out of here!”

“But what about you!?” Zycor yelled.

Scillia turned to face the man, and, with a hint of resignation, she said, “I will buy as much time as I can.”

Zycor, now with tears streaming down his face, turned and opened the door. Before he made it outside, Scillia Shouted, “And before I forget to say it you brat-.” After a brief pause as the man approached, Scillia finished, “I love you. Take care, you morons.”

As they ran out the back, Zycor held tightly to Gaus. As they made it halfway to the forest, Gaus suddenly became much lighter. When he stopped and looked back, there was only Gaus’ upper torso and single hand left, still with a tight grip on Zycors hand. As the corpse's grip went limp, Zycor turned fully, now facing the man, blood dripping from his sword. Doing the only thing he could, Zycor stammered, “W-w-where is my sister?”

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“If you are referring to the girl inside, she is dead,” the man replied coldly.

Looking the man up and down, Zycor recognized the insignia on the man's armor. “W-wait, that is the knight's insignia. Why are you doing this?” Zycor asked, with a completely defeated and soft tone.

The man’s eye twitched as he recalled what he had done and responded, “I did what I was ordered to do.”

When he heard this, Zycor’s demeanor shifted from a defeated one, to one full of anger and rage. Without a word, Zycor grabbed some dirt and charged the man while screaming. Caught slightly off guard by what Zycor was doing, the man did not move, as he had assumed this child posed no threat. As he readied his sword, Zycor threw the dirt into the man’s eyes, which temporarily blinded him. Zycor ran to the back of the house and grabbed the hatchet that was left there. Not missing a beat, he ran back at the man, and mustered all the force he could and drove the hatchet into the man's stomach. The instant it made contact however, it bounced off the man’s armor and caused Zycor to lose his balance and fall backwards. As Zycor looked up at the man, he had regained his sight, and stared down at him.

Perhaps it was a momentary feeling of remorse, or something else, but the man sheathed his sword. He stated, “Despite all you have witnessed and the clear difference in our strength, you still chose to fight. Alright, I have decided that as a reward, I will let you live. You will get to relive and remember this horror for the rest of your life. Tortured by it and consumed by it. You may hate me all you wish, but this came about due to your own actions. Had you not made a sound, I would have assumed that the flaming boulder killed everyone. But thanks to you, I learned there were survivors. So go on and live, hate me, do what you will, it is no longer a concern of mine.”

After having finished his monologue, he grabbed his sheathed sword and hit Zycor hard enough to knock him out and draw blood, but not to kill him.

As the knight returned to his unit, his captain asked from his horse, “Did you find any survivors over there, Volnir?”

Volnir looked up at his commander and responded, “I did, but I took care of them all.”

The captain nodded and ordered his men to raze the rest of the village and then pull out. Torching the house himself, Volnir looked into the flames. His cold eyes appearing to slightly soften for a moment, he muttered, “Survive.” He then whistled for his horse and left.

Waking up the next morning, Zycor stumbled to his feet. He felt a searing pain in his left arm, which hung at his side with no strength to move and brought his right arm up to hold it. He scanned his house, now just a smoldering remnant of what it once was. Only some left-over charred flooring, a few charred wall pieces, and the half destroyed and charred support pillars remained.

Zycor made his way into the smoldering ruins through the back. He saw his sister's body burnt to a crisp and sitting against the wall to his right. As he limped past the boulder the once visible limbs of his parents were now burned to the point of near unrecognizability. As he arrived at what was left of his room, he walked in and leaned against what was left of the door frame, sliding down to the floor.

As he sat there, tears began to flow from his now glazed over and lifeless eyes. Bringing his knees in, the six-year-old boy wrapped his hand around his legs and tucked his head in as he cried. He was left only with his own thoughts. He lost it all. All he cared for, gone forever. Seeing the carnage the knights brought, he could only assume Lizali and her family were killed on their way out. He was truly alone in the world now. The only thing left for him to do is wait for death to claim him as well.

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