Kaen woke to a strange silence.
A silence that felt heavy and painful.
He slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was smoke rising from burning houses, covering the ground.
The air tasted bitter, as it was filled with ash.
The sky above him was still cracked, golden cracks spread across the clouds.
His heartbeat slowed.
He searched for his parents.
He couldn't remember a thing.
"Mother.... Father...
Where are you?"
No answer came
Only the sound of windows rattling could be heard as the wind blew through them.
Kaen tried to move his body, his arms shook in pain. His clothes were torn, blood flowed from his right leg. He screamed in pain.
His breath slowed down.
He gasped for air.
He tore a piece of his shirt and tied it around the wound on his leg.
He forced himself to get up.
Kaen looked around, searching for anyone, any voice, any movement.
The village of Orvale was gone.
It had turned into ashes.
Houses lay shattered. Roofs burned.
The market road, where people once laughed and traded fruit, was now turned to dust. Stones, pieces of burned wood and blood spilled across the street.
The garden which he used to visit with his mother was buried under huge stone.
The tall banyan tree that stood at the center of the village had turned into black sticks. Leaves turned to ash.
He couldn't believe on his eyes, what he was seeing.
Just Yesterday the villagers were laughing, talked to each other, sharing their problems. Children playing near the river splashing, water on each other.
But now there was nothing left.
He moved ahead and saw a small wooden horse. It was broken and slightly burned.
It belong to a small boy.
The boy was very happy when her mother brought it for him.
He ran across the streets playing with it.
He picked it up in his arm, the wood was cold but the land near it was still warm.
Then he heard it.
A scream.
A child's scream.
He dropped the toy on the ground
and ran toward the sound.
He stumbled, but kept moving.
Finally he saw a child.
It was Riku
His friend
She was smaller than kaen, had black long hairs.
She sat beside the thing which once she called her home, but now it was covered in fire. she cried, her shoulder shook.
Her body covered in dust, hair tangled,her eyes red and swollen.
"Riku" Kaen shouted, rushing towards her.
She looked up at him, tears sliding down her cheeks.
"Kaen... Mother... Father... They didn't come out.
They told me to run outside and they will be right behind me.
But still no one has come out."
Her voice broke.
Kaen didn't know what to say, he sat beside her and hugged her tightly and let her cry.
"Don't cry, riku..."
Before he could say anything, he heard another voice that came from the smoke.
"Help! someone please help!"
Kaen looked up sharply.
Not far away, he saw a boy pushing pieces of wood aside, lifting stones, trying to move anything he could.
It was Darren.
The same age as kaen, tall and muscular.
His hands bled as tried to lift the stone and push it aside. But he didn't stop.
He didn't even slow down.
He tried with all his strength.
Kaen helped riku get up and asked her to follow him.
They hurried toward Darren.
"What happened, Darren?
What are you doing here?"
He didn't looked at them, still moving the stones.
"There are people inside!" he shouted. "I heard them! I heard them crying! I have to get them out!"
He tried to move the wall, but it was too heavy.
Kaen said, "Stop, Darren. It is too heavy you can't move it alone.
"This is my fault!" he yelled.
"I should've gone home earlier! My mom told me to come back before sunset and I didn't listen! They… they were waiting for me…"
He punched the ground again and again so hard untill blood dripped from his knuckles.
Kaen held his arm, "Stop that you will break your hand."
Darren froze.
He fell on his knees, breathing heavily.
Kaen knelt beside him, placed his hand on his shoulder.
"We will find the survivors. We will save them. But we can't do it this way."
Darren wiped his tears.
As Kaen comforted Darren, he saw a boy standing at a distance.
He was holding a bundle of books clenched to his chest, as if they were the last thing precious to him.
He was Draxion.
Quiet,strange, always reading books, never played or interacted with others.
But today he looked even stranger.
His face was covered in dust, but his eyes calm as always. In his eyes, the reflection of the burning village was visible.
"You both should step back," Draxion whispered. His voice calm.
Kaen asked, "Why?"
He pointed toward the nearby wall, cracks in the wall. It could fall at any moment with just wind blowing across it.
Kaen looked at it.
The wall had cracks in it.
About to fall any moment.
Suddenly a sound came.
Crack.
The wall began to fall.
Kaen shouted, "step back, Darren" pulling him away.
The entire wall collapsed, sending dust across the sky.
Riku covered her ears and screamed. Darren hid his face with his arms.
Kaen coughed. Waving the dust away.
"Are you both okay?" Draxion asked.
"Yeah... thank you for saving us," kaen replied.
"Why are you holding the books in your hands?"
"These are the only thing I could save," Draxion replied.
Tears rolled from his eyes.
The way Draxion said it made all of them feel sad for him.
All of them had lost everything they loved and cared about.
Their houses.
Their families.
Even their childhood
Before any of them could speak, a huge roar came from the sky.
BOOOOOM.
A thunderous sound spread across the village.
The ground shook as the beast landed in front of them.
They cleared the dust around them, and as they looked up, they saw a huge dinosaur standing in front of them.
They couldn't believe their eyes.
They had heard about them only in stories.
It was larger than the previous beast.
It had sharp spikes on his back, scars on his body, it's body was massive. Water dripping from his mouth. Jaws and claws as sharp as blade that could tear apart anything that come in its way.
Riku grabbed Kaen's hand
"It… it is coming toward us…"
Darren eyes wide open as he looked at the beast.
" I will fight him"
He picked a broken metal pole held it tightly in his hand as a weapon.
Kaen shouted, "No! You will die if you fight that thing!"
The beast roared and charged toward them.
They had no chance of espacing.
But then
A flash of silver strikes through the smoke.
Ryn.
It was captain Ryn. He landed in front of them with lighting speed.
His sword glowed with bright yellow light as he cut through the dinosaur's leg.
The dinosaur roared in pain,swinging his arm
Ryn rolled aside as dust rose around him.
Kaen watched carefully.
Something was wrong.
He noticed Ryn's hands glowing. Marks had spread across them since the last time he saw it.
Ryn legs trembled, he breathed heavily,
Hardly able to move but still standing fighting the beast.
"Ryn!" Kaen shouted. "Are you okay!?"
Ryn didn't answer.
He forced himself forward. He tightened the grip on his sword.
The beast charged at him, claws raised.
Ryn jumped barely espacing from its claws that would have been a fatal wound if I got hit with it. He landed a deep cut across the monster's neck. Flames burst out of the wound.
The monster screamed.
Still standing.
Ryn let out a weak breath, then pushed himself forward one last time. With a loud cry, he drove his sword straight into the beast's chest.
The blade pierced through the beast's heart.
The beast fell, shaking the ground with its weight.
Kaen, Riku, Darren, and Draxion stared at the fallen beast in fear.
Ryn pulled his sword out and stepped back.
Then he collapsed to one knee.
"Ryn!" Kaen ran toward him.
The golden veins under Ryn's skin glowed brighter. His hands shook. Sweat dripped down his face.
His breath slowed.
A village healer, one of the few survivors rushed toward him to help.
She placed her hand on his shoulder.
The moment she touched him, she gasped.
"Solar contamination…" she whispered.
"The fracture's cursed energy is inside him.
He is contaminated.
He won't last long.
He won't survive."
Kaen froze.
"No!" Kaen dropped beside Ryn.
"He saved us! He saved everyone!"
Ryn looked at Kaen
And tried to smile, but it looked weak and painful.
"I'm not done yet," he breathed. "I can still fight. I have to protect… what's left."
He tried to move his body
But his body shook.
"Ryn, please… stop. You're hurt." Kaen whispered
Ryn placed his trembling hand on Kaen's head.
"You're alive," he whispered. "That's what matters."
Suddenly, Kaen felt pain in his chest.
He screamed.
"Ah !, it hurts"
He fell back, holding his shirt
The mark on his body glowed. Light leaked from his fingers.
The same golden cracks spread across his skin.
Ryn stared at it in shock.
"You…" his breath slowed. "You have the same mark…"
Kaen, in pain, unable to speak.
"What are you…?" Ryn whispered.
Kaen vision blurred.
He heard screams of people.
Saw more shadows falling from the sky.
He still felt the warm heat around him.
Then he heard
A voice.
Soft.
Warm.
Live, Kaen…
His mother's voice.
Her last words
And then
Darkness spread across him.