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Epilouge

The galaxy hadn't always been endangered like this. It was, at one point, one big, vast, empty space of beautiful stars and nebula, comets blazing through this gigantic mass of nothingness, leaving beautiful trails of dust and ice behind. Back when everything was nothing. But now, it was threatened with war. An ancient one, at that. As far as records go, the 'Void' and the 'Larks' had been at war for the longest time, pitted against each other for what seemed to be an eternity. It wasn't pretty....not like the worlds the war destroyed. The lives it had stolen, the families it had broken, the cities it had demolished, the countries it had obliterated...these poor souls that had been torn from each other. The war had caused so much pain in such a huge place. It seemed so unreal. Why did it all happen? What had caused the spark of hate between these species? Why didn't they just destroy each other? Why did they have to take their petty war to other planets? Not only was it unreal, but it wasn't fair. Not to the orphans, not to the widows, not to anyone. So much pain...so much depression...why was it so? I'd only been nine years old when they arrived. And on that day, everything that I loved and cared for had been ripped from me.

Chapter One: They Day They Burned Before Me

The night was cool and quiet, minus the chirping of the kuukta bugs in the forest that laid just outside of the city borders. These little guys played music with each other every night, not to hunt for a mate, but for the joy of playing music for all to hear. And the sounds they made weren't just mindless chirping, but actual music. There was harmony to their sound, an organization of noises that created a beautiful song that I used every night to fall asleep. At least, the nights that I wanted to sleep. A crisp chill tickled my nose as a breeze crept into my room from the patio door, leaving the curtains to flow like the free waters of a river. The curtains, of course, couldn't keep it out, but that couldn't stop me from enjoying it. The mildly cold air was pleasant and I loved the feeling of it. This had always been my favorite time of the year. When the sun was further away from us, and the moons seemed to be closer. And tonight, Crimson and Jade seemed to be as close as ever. The two moons were as beautiful as ever up there in the night sky, surrounded by the millions of equally as beautiful stars that shone brightly down on our world. These moons had been given their names for obvious reasons: Crimson was the color crimson, and Jade was the color jade. Jade was smaller than Crimson, which was significantly bigger, and many referred to her as the Mother Moon. Crimson was, of course, the Father Moon. There was a third moon, but it never came out at night. Indigo only ever sprouted from the horizon when the Morning Star did so. Indigo was the Child Moon and was, as one could solve using their common sense, smaller than both Crimson and Jade. Indigo was a deep, beautiful blue that, were it not for the Morning Star, I was sure would glow as brightly as its parents. I'd always had some sort of love for Indigo. No one seemed to pay as much attention to him as they did to Crimson and Jade. The two adult moons had their own legends, but Indigo had nothing. He was only a child. Though I thought it was unfair, the legends were still very interesting, and I liked thinking about them. On the nights that Jade was bigger and brighter, the Good Spirits visited good people in their sleep, leaving wonderful dreams and sometimes even presents underneath their beds. I believed it. One time when Jade was at her best, my mother had been visited by a good spirit and had been awarded with a present of jewelry, a pretty pearlstone necklace that she, to this day, still wears. On the nights that Crimson was larger and darker, the 'Nightcrawlers were more active, and the bad people would be visited by the Bad Spirits and received nightmares. The 'Nightcrawlers' were the monsters that lurked outside of the walls, haunting the forest, and gobbling up the "bad children that left the safety of the town at night." At least, that's what my father told me. No one had ever seen the 'Nightcrawlers' before, and even those who did never returned to talk about it. I always snuck out at night to get away from my town. Outside was so much better. The soft grass, the warm ground, the beautiful night sky. Of course, my mother and father didn't approve of it, so I got scolded whenever I got caught. One night I'd actually stayed out the entire time and didn't return until the Morning Star had risen. My mother was so worried she started crying...I felt really bad, and promised to never to do it again. Never stay out until morning, anyway. Bending words was my specialty.

I was going to sneak out again tonight and visit the sacred 'Heart of the Forest', a large, warm rock that lied in the center of the woods. My father had taken me there once before when I was younger, showing me the way to the large boulder that rested in the middle of a field of ember flowers. "This is the Heart of the Forest. Here is what the forest relies on to stay alive. This big rock right here is what helps the forest provide what we need to stay safe and alive inside the walls. Without this, the rivers would dry up, the trees would die, and the grass would turn brown," he told me. I looked at the stone with curiosity. How could a simple thing like this give something as huge as the forest life? It was only a rock. When my father told me to touch it, I looked at him strangely. The spectacles on his face reflected the light of the Morning Star, and that all-knowing look that only came up when he was showing me things was on his face. His bushy tail was waving back and forth, and his arms were crossed. I turned back to face the stone and lifted my paw to the smooth surface of it. When I first touched it, it was strangely warm, and I quickly removed my hand. It was weird....it wasn't warm like a rock that had been sitting in the sun all day...it was warm like something that was actually living. Once again, I placed my hand against it and kept it there...there was a pulse! This rock was literally like a heart. This was so strange and amazing. I kept my hand in place, marveling at this feeling as I felt a small laugh escape me. Tonight, I was going back for that again.

Once I'd heard my fathers snoring commence, I knew it was time for me to make my escape. Once he started his snoring, not only were other noises drowned out, but no one was going to sleep. I slipped out of my bed quietly and slowly, then crept across my room to the curtains that hid my room from the rest of the village. They were pushed aside, and another wonderful rush of wind hit me. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the soft air invade my lungs before opening my eyes again. Turning around to stare at my doorway for a few more seconds to make sure no one would come up to see I'd left my bed, or more likely my mom if she'd been unlucky enough to have dad fall asleep before her, I found no one and continued along, letting the curtains fall back into place. Crimson and Jade were lovely tonight as I gave them a wave, praying for protection from the 'Nightcrawlers'. After doing so, I looked over to my left, the route I naturally took to get the top of the walls to reach a tree branch that happened to be close enough for me to grab onto and climb down to the forest floor. The building over there was close enough for me to jump onto and climb up, but first I had to climb the railing of my balcony. It wasn't much of a climb, but keeping my balance on the railing was the real challenge. I stuck my arms out straight to help stay balanced, and slowly began to inch my way across it. I looked down over the edge. A good fifteen foot drop. Falling wasn't something I was wanting to do. Due to the railing being short, my time was running out for playing it safe. At one point, I'd need to get a running start so I could clear the jump, and that point was now. I began to run along the railing, and reached the end of it in a matter of exactly two seconds. As I put my foot down to kick off the edge, my foot slipped and I didn't get the boost I wanted. Instinctively, I reached out as far as I could to grab onto anything sticking out of the building opposite to my house. Luckily.....I grabbed hold of something, and took a firm grasp to it. Whew....there goes a few years of my life...Oh well, at least I'd get to live it. I hoisted myself up the side of the concrete building and rolled over the top, placing my hand on my chest as I caught my breath. "No more slip-ups, huh?" I asked myself, then let out a small chuckle from the adrenaline rush I just earned myself. Now I was ready to go. I hopped right back up to my feet and looked out on the buildings that were ahead of me and the wall that wasn't too far away. Taking to the streets to leave the town at night wasn't the best idea as enforcers were everywhere at this time to keep us villagers safe from anything that might sneak in....or stop the kids who sneak out. I'd been caught a few times before, mostly by an enforcer named Zhugehki. He was a pretty cool guy, and my father had ties to him as they were friends growing up. I'd wanted to be an enforcer when I was older, but once I found out you had to be of the reptillian species to be an enforcer, my dreams were shifted towards those of being a merchant, which is what the vulpine, my species, had been doing for a few millenia. Merchant was the next best thing, I guess. I still got to go outside to travel to other places. I was more interested in fighting 'Nightcrawlers' rather than selling and buying stuff, though. Numbers and business just wasn't my thing. Nonetheless, I ran along the line of the cold, smooth buildings, the chilly wind hitting my face as a smile escaped me. The line seemed to be shorter this time, as I reached the wall within just a little over two minutes. I reached up for the edge of the wall and climbed more, pulling myself over the top. I looked to my left - no enforcers. I looked to my right - Uh-oh. Two enforcers were heading my way, spears in hand. They were only walking, so it seemed that they hadn't seen me yet. Our world wasn't very advanced in technology. The best source of light available to us was the Morning Star, but that wasn't there at night, so we used oil lanterns. I quickly dashed across the few feet of wall and launched myself to the tree branch that was opposite of me. Once I'd grabbed on and wrapped my body as tightly as I could around it, I waited quietly for the guards to say something....nothing. Another relieved sigh left my mouth, and I began to descend down the tree. I felt some things squish under my hands and feet, then I realized they were the chimgo leaves of the tree. Oops. The chimgo leaves slowly shuddered after being rudely awoken, reforming back into shape as they rubbed their adorable little eyes. The chimgos yawned, then looked in my direction. The chimgo leaves were very strange little creatures. They seemed to be plants and animals at the same time, digging roots deep into trees and chittering amongst themselves as they waved to travelers that passed by beneath them. The chimgos were what made most of the noise during the day. They came in varying colors as well: light blue, purple, pink, light green, and the rarest of them all, light red. No one knew much about the chimgos, as no one ever bothered to study them. The chimgos were planted deep inside of the trees they inhabited, and it was against the law to steal animals from their homes. No one had ever found the dead body of a chimgo, and no one had ever seen a chimgo leave its place. They were VERY peculiar. The chimgos that I'd awoken began to softly chatter to each other, then realized I'd been the cause of their disruption of slumber. Even though I'd woken them up the way I did, they waved happily to me, greeting me with happy noises. These little guys really were weird.....I waved back to them with a cheery "Hello," before continuing with my descent.

After I'd reached the base of the tree, I flipped off of it and landed on my butt. Ow. Not what I'd planned, but close enough. I got back up and began to walk off into the woods, staying close enough to the path that led from town to town, but far enough to stay out of the sight of enforcers. Once I'd figured I was far enough, I made my way back onto the path and walked along the direction it lead in. Though it was dark and the trees were blocking the light of Crimson and Jade, gogga beetles were fluttering about. These little insects were bioluminescent, meaning they produced their own light. The small bugs made a mild buzzing noise when they flew around, and created their own neon pink light, giving me enough vision to see ahead of myself. I used to collect gogga bugs whenever I went out with my dad to visit other towns for the merchant business, and we'd use them as night lights before releasing them when we got to the next town. It was easy to appreciate these cute little things, and one landed on my shoulder to rest its wings. The little guy rubbed his attanae against my neck, tickling me a little bit. I giggled, then pet his back before he left to fly off somewhere again. I followed him for a bit longer before I finally reached my own destination; the field of ember flowers that gathered around the Heart of the Forest. My own heart beat a little bit faster with excitement as I walked over to the stone that laid there in the center. The huge rock was towering and gave off a sense of security and happiness. It was amazing to stand there before the giant and feel the warmth that it gave off. My father had told me before that someone could sleep underneath the rock on the coldest of nights with nothing but the clothes on their backs and still remain warm. The heat it gave off felt like a bonfire, but as I came closer to it, the it seemed to dim down, as if the rock knew I was coming closer to it. Once again, I lifted my paw as I had last time to touch the smooth, warm surface of this strange beauty. The astoundment that filled me as I felt the Heart was absolutely amazing...this awesome anamoly being something so strange and...simply amazing. Amazement was the only word that could be used to describe the Heart. I felt the pulse of the stone beat against my hand, and I let out a soft "Wow..."

Upon finishing my word, the Heart exploded.

I was thrown backwards as the Heart of the Forest, the beautiful, amazing stone that breathed life into the woods that kept my city alive, was blown into millions of shards of rock. I hit the ground with a hard thump, having the wind knocked out of me. My ears were ringing with sharp pain as small pebbles landed next to me. I tried to reach out for air and grab at it, but nothing was coming my way. I remembered to get up to let the air go through me and I rolled over onto my stomach, trying to get into at least an all fours position. I succeeded in doing so and slowly made my way back onto my feet, feeling the air quickly fill my lungs once again. A relieved breath left my lips and I looked at a steaming shard of rock that had landed next to me, a more frightened breath entering my mouth. I reached for the chunk and picked it up, feeling the heat of it leaving it. No. What was this? That wasn't a piece of the Heart. The Heart was always alive and beating and warm. This wasn't the Heart. After looking behind me to see the horrible truth, the rock in my hand was a piece of the Heart, which was no longer there. The ringing in my ears was going away, but the daze and confusion was still there. The ember flowers had reacted to the explosion that had happened and set off sparks of flame everywhere, burning the grass that surrounded them. But it wasn't just the ember flowers that were burning, but something behind the leftovers of the Heart was on fire as well. Suddenly, a loud screech of pain filled the burning air. I covered my ears, which had only just recovered from the ringing, and crouched down. What in the world was that!? What the heck was going on!? I looked up in pain as I watched countless gogga beetles collapse to the ground, their pink glows fading out slowly with them. All the light they'd been making to enlighten the forest was destroyed and could no longer be seen. Now, the flames from the ember flowers had ignited the area around me, and the flames crackled as the screeching continued. The inferno licked at the sky as I finally saw what was making those sounds. The chimgo leaves were dying. They were all screaming from the pain that had been delivered to them upon the destruction of the Heart. I looked away from this horror, turning to the grass that was fading to an ugly light brown. The cries from the chimgos slowly and painfully died down as more roars came from another direction. I uncovered my ears and looked behind me to see a large, black, silky looking creature run through the flames. It was a 'Nightcrawler'. The creature had a vacant face minus two pupilless eyes that streaked across it's head. It didn't look like it was hunting anything, it didn't look like it was protecting its young that followed behind it from anyone. It looked frightened. It let out another thunderous roar before running towards my direction. I curled up on the ground as it leaped over me, the two kittens following it. I stood back up and looked to where the 'Nightcrawler' had disappeared, finding nothing but turned-up grass and dirt. Just then, I heard another noise....except this one was different from the dying Chimgos and the scared 'Nightcrawlers'. This sounded....I don't know what it sounded like. I'd never heard anything like it before. Something behind me yelled at me and I covered my ears again, jumping in fright once I'd heard it. It seemed to be the voice of a male as he yelled at me again. I didn't want to turn around. I didn't want to face this. I was scared. My paws shifted to my eyes and I began to cry as I crumpled down to my knees, letting a stream of tears collect in my palms. Something grabbed me by the back of my shirt and lifted me up. Whatever did it had no problem with picking me up, and he turned me around to face him. I opened my eyes and looked at this....thing. It looked like a reptile, but it wasn't an enforcer. This monster was covered from chest to toe in some sort of armor I'd never seen before. Based on that attire, he definitely wasn't an enforcer, and from the sound of his voice, he wasn't friendly either. He screamed at me again, but I had no idea what he was saying. It wasn't in a language I knew. After a look of unsatisfaction crossed his face, he threw me to the ground and pulled out some sort of tool that slowly churned and began to glow. He pointed it at me as I listened to the sound of it charge up. It didn't take all that long for me to understand he was going to kill me. I rolled away before he fired this weapon, causing something to hit the ground and explode, once more propelling me away. I rolled more, this time without intention, but quickly got back up. Smoke was rising from the spot I'd been sitting in, the ground charred and burned. Looking at that gave me enough motivation to get up and run.

I ran as fast as I could through the flames and chaos, wanting to avoid the lifeless bodies of gogga beetles beneath me. I was scared for my life, running as fast as my feet would carry me through the forest of collapsing chimgos, the once lively and happy creatures slowly floating down to the ground as they faded to a sad color of gray. Explosions were going on everywhere. Trees were being uplifted from shockwaves and thrown into the air. The forest was ablaze. At one point, a tree nearly collapsed on me. Tears never stopped rolling down my face, air seeming to thin out and refuse to come to me. I was heading as quick as I could for my village, wanting to be inside the safety of the walls again. I wanted to crawl back into my bed and hide from the world. I wanted to wake up to find tonight was Crimson's night and I was being awarded a nightmare for being a bad kid. I tripped, letting out a pained yelp as I hit the ground. There wasn't time to waste. I couldn't lay there. I had to get back up and get home. Home was the safe place. The enforcers would protect me. Mom and dad would protect me. I'd be safe there. I got back up, keeping my mother's sad face in mind. I had to come back to her. I couldn't let her know her only son died in a forest fire. Once I'd reached the walls of the city......I was met with what I'd never expected. Before me was my village. Set ablaze. A giant, metal, faceless demon floating above it. "No," I said quietly to myself. On the ground were the couple of enforcers that watched the gates all day long...dead. One had been split open, his internals on the ground surrounded by a pool of blood. My stomach churned. I closed my eyes. Seconds passed before I reopened them. No. It wasn't a dream. The enforcers were dead. My town was ablaze. There were screams of horror and pain resognating from inside the walls. I took a step forward before hearing the sound of some sort of monster scream, something high-pitched and ear splitting. I looked back to find a giant six-legged bug with a mouth lined with rows of teeth bared at me, thorns poking out of the creatures legs and body. It's eyes were empty and soulless and pierced my heart, a green ooze dripping from its mouth. The creature growled before lurching towards me, its maw open. I only stood there, staring at the beast, waiting for my end to come. Before it could bite down on me, however, another explosion sounded off. The monster was thrown against the wall, two of its legs on the right side of its body torn away from it. Another chill-inducing scream filled the air before being drowned out by the blood that filled its lunges, some of that blood splattered against the wall and the floor, and even a line of it pouring out of the monster's mouth. I looked to my right to find the same lizard-man that had tried to kill me and our eyes met. My eyes widened in fear as he growled at me, quickening his pace as he walked over to me. I fell onto my back. He advanced. I crawled backwards until I hit the wall. He picked me up. I couldn't breath. He lifted his arm and clenched his fist. I stared at the hand as it came closer to my face. Everything went black.

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My vision was fading in and out. What was happening? Where was I? Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. My body...felt light...or at least untangeable. It was strange...the world was a blur and the graceful orange lights danced about around me. Was I dreaming? This seemed nice.

Suddenly, a scream woke me up.

This wasn't a dream.

"Mom?" I asked drowsily, feeling the blood rush into my limbs again. A scream echoed once again and my heart began to beat faster. "Mom!" I cried, my eyes wide and awake now. I saw my mother just ahead of me. I tried to move towards her, but something was wrapped around my side. It was the lizard man that had hit me earlier. I began to struggle in his hold, flailing my legs as I shoved his side as hard as I could. "Let me go!" I yelled, but he didn't yield, and just held onto me tighter. I looked back over to my mom who was backed away in a corner, the lizard man closing in on her, the weapon he'd weilded back at the Heart of the Forest in hand and pointed at her. She looked back to me, the tears that I'd never wanted to see streaming from her eyes and down her cheek. "No! Stop! Mom!" I yelled again, tears starting to pour from my own eyes. I looked around, but I couldn't see dad. Had the worst happened? It couldn't have happened. Not my dad. My mom covered her eyes as the weapon began to make that all-familiar noise, the glow once again beginning to emenate from the barrel of it. My eyes were wide as I stared at my mother in the corner, her eyes staring back. Her fright disappeared for just a moment as she let a sad smile cross her lips. "I love you," I saw her mouth, and the weapon fired. A blue streak smeared my vision and stabbed my mother in the chest, blowing her arm away from her body as a pool of blood splattered against the wall, floor, and back towards the lizard man and myself. My heart stopped. I couldn't blink. Only stare. My mother, who had been alive just seconds ago, laid lifeless on the floor with a hole in the side of her body, her cheeks still stained with the wet tears that had drizzled down her face. There was no sound. There was no world. There was no lizard man. There was nothing. There wasn't anything left. Just my dead mother and my empty soul. I felt my body once again go limp as I simply stared at the corpse, the lizard man now turning around to leave the scene. I looked up to him. Instead of grief or guilt or anything symbolizing pain on his face, I saw a look of melancholy. As if what he'd just done was nothing big. My heart pumped again. I took in a large, angry breath and began to scream at him. "You monster! You monster! Let me go!" I continued to command him, but he ignored me. My hands balled up into fists and I began to pound away on his chestplate, but I was sure it was hurting me more than him. I didn't care. I wanted to make him pay. He needed to pay. My paws still hit at him when I suddenly heard another yell. It was my dad! He was still alive! I looked for where the sound had come from and soon enough found my dad. He saw me in the lizard man's arms and growled at the reptile, an enforcer's spear in his right hand. "Dad! Run!" I tried to warn him, but he was undaunted. He stared down the beast that gripped me in his underarm, who still looked as careless as he had before. He raised his weapon and pointed it at my father, charging it up. My eyes went wide once more as my dad steadied himself. I flinched when it fired, but upon openeing my eyes, my dad had dodged the shot and charged the lizard man. The spear was thrust forward into the lizard man's chest and just bareley penetrated it. I saw a spurt of green blood leak forward, but it wasn't much. My dad tried to jam it in deeper, but the lizard man growled, then roared. He removed the spear from his chest, threw it aside, then backhanded my father. "Dad!" I yelled again. I wanted this to stop. I wanted the lizard men and the dark monsters to go away. I wanted my dad to just carry me back to my bed. I wanted my mother back. My father jumped right back up to his feet and wiped a splotch of blood from his maw. My dad was a merchant. He wasn't a fighter. Not even the enforcers were enough for this monster. But still, he stood his ground.

The lizard man tossed his weapon aside, letting the strange, metalic tool clatter to the rubbel-littered ground as he faced my father, a low, heavy growl rumbling from the inside of his throat. He bared his teeth before opening his mouth to let out a hollowed hiss. My dad growled back, his ears tucked down as he clenched his fists, his eyes never leaving the lizard's as they stared each other down. Their eyes seemed to be locked for eternity when suddenly the lizard man lept towards my dad! The monster threw his arm out from the side at my father, who in turn spread his legs apart and dropped down, popping right back up with a fist to the jaw! The lizard man staggered a few feet after dropping me. I ran over to my father who told me to stay behind him, which I did, and watched him fight. The lizard man growled at my dad again, then came towards him once more. This time he spun around to hit my dad with a tail swipe, but my dad jumped over it. The lizard man swung his arm out again once he'd been facing my father, but my dad just ducked it again. Despite the lizard man being bulky and strong, my father was agile. Once the lizard had let out another swing with his left arm, my dad ducked it and went to send another uppercut to the lizard man's face. Right before it looked like my dad was going to destroy the lizard, he caught my father's hand, picking him up by just that. "No!" I cried and ran out to go save my dad. The lizard man saw me and unsheathed some sort of glowing blade from his pocket, driving it into my father's stomach before tossing him aside like a used quill. I stopped dead in my tracks, staring at what had just happened. "...D-dad?" I murmured, but there was no answer. The lizard man picked me back up and began to carry me away. I'd finally lost all of my hope. My parents had been murdered right in front of me, the enforcers were all being slaughtered along with the civilians, and countless bodies laid wasted on the floor, Royaume's, Lizard Men, and Dark Monsters alike. I simply watched everything pass by me as screams and flames filled the air, the lizard man seeming thoroughly pissed with tonights outcome. I looked up at him once again, and this time he looked at me. His face showed irritation and hatred. But why did he hate us? We never did anything. As we walked along, I heard another charge up of the weapon that the lizard man had used, but I hadn't seen him pick it back up after...dad! "Let him go," my father said quietly in a deep tone before the weapon fired, the lizard man quickly spinning around to face the blue blur that was flying towards him. He let out a pained scream as it hit him directly in the chest, propelling me away from his now mutilated body that had been split in two. I landed a few feet away from him before my dad did his best to get over to me. I beat him to it, though, and I ran over to him to check on him. His stomach was bleeding. The flesh around the hole had been bleeding and burning at the same time, nothing readily avaiable to fix it up and stop the bleeding. "Dad!" I cried. "Dad!" My father looked to me, placing a paw on my cheek with a sad, but seemingly happy smile, similar to the one my mom had worn. "Zay," he coughed. "Your mother and I have always loved you. Please, keep that in mind for as long as you live. Nothing has-" he coughed more, this time blood sputtering forth. My eyes began to tear up again as his paw squeezed my face, hurting it a tiny bit. I didn't mind the pain, though. The pain didn't matter. I hugged my father tighter. "Nothing...has ever changed that, and nothing ever will. Be strong, Zay. Your mother and I....are going to...the Rising Star, now..." he ended in a whisper. I stared at my father. I watched the life leave his body. I saw the energy drain from those once brilliant golden eyes....fade away to a dull, ugly gray. No....this couldn't be happening....not to my mother....not to my father....not to my family. Not this village...

But it was.

I buried my face in my father's chest, tears rolling down my cheeks as I held onto his still somewhat warm body. I didn't want to let go of him. I felt like if I cried and hugged him enough, life would come back to him. But it never did....I laid there in the rubbel with him after closing his eyes for him, sititng urpight to pay my respects to his and my mother's spirits. A voice came from behind me again...rough...mean...but somehow friendly? I turned around...

"Zhugehki!"

"Zay, we need to get out of here. There aren't enough enforcers to hold off this....invasion. C'mon, kid, we're leaving."

Zhugehki grabbed me by the arm and we ran off away from the city, the once safe world of mine that was currently being burned to the ground. I looked back once. Back to the place that was once my home. Back to the place that was once my family. Back to the place that was once my life. But now, it was burning. All disappearing into a wisp of embers. I looked away from it...but the image would forever hold a place in my mind. I'd never forget this day. The day they burned before me.