The house shook violently.
The ground cracked beneath their feet, and the windows shattered one after another.
Aether held his little sister, Kartithia, tightly in his arms. She trembled with fear, tears streaming down her face as she cried.
Outside, the roar of the monsters never stopped...
But now, the real danger had reached inside the house.
Suddenly—
CRASH!
A massive section of the wall collapsed.
A gigantic monster forced its way through the opening.
Its body was black as charcoal, its long arms ending in razor-sharp claws. Its eyes glowed with an eerie, demonic purple light.
Luna, their mother, screamed as she ran toward the two children as fast as she could.
"RUN!!!"
But the monster gave them no time.
It lunged straight toward them.
BOOM!
A violent impact blasted through the opposite wall.
Mark, Aether's father, was thrown through the debris and crashed heavily onto the ground.
He was badly wounded.
His sword lay beside him—
broken in half.
Aether's eyes widened in terror.
"DAD!!!"
Luna looked at Mark.
Then she looked at the monster.
And she understood...
This might be goodbye.
She grabbed a broken wooden stick from the floor and charged toward the monster, screaming with every ounce of strength left in her heart.
"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH THEM!!!"
But the monster did not even flinch.
It swung one of its massive claws.
SLASH!
The claw pierced Luna's abdomen.
She froze.
Blood began pouring from her wound...
Then from her mouth.
She staggered backward, trembling, one hand clutching the monster's claw as she coughed up blood.
The monster tore its claw away.
Luna collapsed heavily onto the floor.
The creature roared in triumph.
But she was not dead yet...
Not yet.
With every breath becoming harder than the last, Luna began to crawl.
Through the blood.
Through the rubble.
Through the unbearable pain.
Toward her little daughter, Kartithia, who was still crying in fear.
Aether screamed desperately:
"MOM!!! NOOOOO!!!"
Luna finally reached Kartithia.
Her trembling hand slowly rose.
She touched her daughter's forehead.
Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth as she whispered:
"Don't be afraid, my little one... You will be safe..."
A faint white light began to glow around her hand.
Luna transferred the last remnants of her healing magic into Kartithia.
A soft white beam flowed into the child's body.
Then Luna looked toward Aether.
Despite the unbearable pain, she smiled.
A mother's final smile.
Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
"Protect her... You are the hope now..."
Her hand fell.
The light disappeared.
And then...
Luna stopped breathing.
For a moment...
There was silence.
The world seemed to stop.
Aether stared at his mother's lifeless body.
He couldn't understand what he was seeing.
His mind refused to accept it.
Something inside him...
broke.
A grief he had no name for.
A rage he could not release.
The heart of a little boy...
shattered before his very eyes.