Run, Star… run.
The ground shook violently beneath their feet. Dust rained from the ceiling as the stone wall behind them groaned under another massive strike. Cracks crawled across it like living veins.
"Go!" the young woman cried, her voice raw with fear. "Star—go now!"
Star stood frozen, clutching his sister's small hand. His chest burned. His legs refused to move.
"Please," he sobbed, shaking his head. "Mum… I can't leave you."
Another violent thud slammed into the wall. Scratching followed, very sharp and frantic, causing the hairs behind Star's neck to stand on end.
The woman turned toward the sound, then back to her son. Fear carved deep lines into her face, but her hands were steady as she knelt before the little girl and the boy.
"You need to listen to me," the woman cried. "Take her," she whispered. "Protect your sister."
She glanced back at the wall again, alerted, before turning back to them.
"Head east, keep going east. Follow the woods. Never look back."
Tears streamed down the young man's face as he stared at his mother.
"I… I can't leave you… Mum… please… we can't…" he cried, his voice guttural and broken.
He sniffled wildly. "…we need you, Ma… please."
Tears rolled down the woman's face, too, though she tried to remain brave and maintain composure. But she loved her kids.
"Please, Star, you have to go," the woman whispered, doing her best to steady her voice. "You are all I've got…" Her lips trembled. "I love you so much."
Just then, the thud hit again, and pieces of rock started to fall from the wall above them.
"Come on, you need to hurry, Star," the woman urged him.
The little girl sobbed openly now, clinging to Star. "Mom… please come with us."
The woman smiled through tears and brushed dirt from the child's cheek.
"You are so brave," she said softly. "So, so brave." She snuffled. "You protect him, okay? Protect Star for me." She nodded at the little girl, who nodded back, tears streaming from their faces.
Then, she rose, turning to face the crumbling wall.
"I… I will always be with you," she whispered. "Just remember that."
"Mum—" Star stuttered.
"Go!" she shouted.
Star ran.
He dragged his sister toward the narrow crack in the far wall. Guilt tore through him with every step. As he shoved her through and followed.
Just as he crawled out after his sister, another tremendous impact struck. The wall once behind them finally gave way, collapsing inward with a violent roar of stone and dust.
Darkness swallowed everything behind them.
"Mum!" Star screamed.
His world hollowed out.
And in his mind, her voice lingered… weak, fading: "Make my sacrifice count."
A flash of blinding light.
A scream.
Then…
★★★
"Nghhhhhhhhh!"
Star jolted up, almost knocking down the person standing above him who had shaken him awake.
He sucked in air, heart hammering, eyes wild. The cave was quiet. Still. No monsters. No collapsing stone.
He breathed deeply, collecting himself.
Nothing had changed so far. Nothing, except for the dawn now stretching over the horizon.
"Star…" came her little voice, crisp and angelic, filled with innocence and morning peace.
Star turned his gaze to her, forcing a fake, optimistic expression as he examined her.
Her long silver hair, once meticulously cared for, was now dirty and roughly tangled, cascading down to her waist in uneven strands. Yet every strand remained intact and was a fragile harmony against her sharp blue eyes.
Her face, once full of life, was pale now, streaked with brown dirt across her cheeks, forehead, and nose.
The purple royal gown she wore, which was once expensive, elegant, and noble, hung tattered and ruined on her thin frame, a silent testament to how far they had fallen.
"Are you okay?" she asked. Though her voice tried to sound calm, worry seeped through it. "You were talking and acting… all weird while you slept. It…it scared me."
"Hey, hey, hey—Star's okay," he replied quickly, sitting upright. "I'm fine."
It was a lie wrapped in a reassuring smile.
Ava stared at him, unconvinced. She didn't say it aloud, but her eyes made it clear that she didn't believe him.
Star sighed and leaned back against the cold cave wall. "Alright, come here," he said softly, gesturing for her to sit beside him.
She obeyed, settling beside him.
Star draped an arm over her small shoulders, instinctive and protective.
"Don't worry about me, Ava," Star said, this time with a genuine smile.
Ava nodded, returning the smile.
But something inside Star couldn't help but notice her skepticism. He didn't blame her; she was still six years old, and yet she had already witnessed horrors. Horrors that were breaking him apart, eating him away. He was seventeen. A decade older, yet barely holding himself together.
All he could do was imagine what she had been through: the agony of losing a mother at such a tender age, the pain, the hunger, the cave-to-cave survival. As royalty, she was unprepared. She had only known comfort, yet somehow she had survived all this while.
Star's heart grew bitter and heavier.
"Look," he muttered with an apologetic nod, "don't mind the way I sleep…" He chuckled lightly. "I'm a notorious sleeper. And. You are not going to lose me. I promise" He rubbed her cheek.
"The new world shouldn't be so far from here," he murmured hopefully. "Very soon, no more hiding. No more hunger."
His stomach growled loudly.
Ava giggled.
Star chuckled too. "Don't mind my tummy," he whispered teasingly to her ear, "it's just a little bit angry, you know?"
Ava laughed lightly again.
"Yeah," Star chimed, "Well, as I was saying" he breathed, as he continued, "soon, all the running, hiding… it will be over. You'll do whatever you want."
A bright smile lingered on Ava's lips, warming Star's heart more than the rising sun.
"Whatever I want?" Ava jeered jovially, eyes wide with excitement as she turned to her brother.
Star chuckled. "Whatever, sis," he replied grandly, as though he were the king of this new world.
Her gasp was immediate.
"So I can own as many swords as I wish?" she sneered, eyes blazing warmly at him.
Star let out a low snigger.
It was lovely and brave how she had always wanted to be a warrior, but Mum wouldn't allow it, and neither would his father, the king, because she was still too young and a lady.
But in the meantime. "Yesss," Star replied, drawn into her fantasy, forgetting his throbbing nightmares.
"Yay!" she gasped gleefully in a low tone.
Normally, any girl would rejoice noisily, but Ava had learned not to make much noise.
"Okay… and so I can also choose not to get married," she chimed, innocently and confidently. Her eyes glowing.
Star couldn't help it; he laughed, marveling at how oblivious she was to the depth of her wishes.
"Why?" Star asked, steadying himself through laughter.
"I don't want to," came her angelic and somehow oddly annoying voice. "Mom didn't want me to be a warrior. She wanted me to be a wife… to give birth," she exhaled, shaking her head. "If I were a warrior, I would have saved her."
A heavy wave of emotion and regret swept over them.
"And Star," she continued, "giving birth is… eww!" She made a disgusted, funny face.
Star laughed, a sound mingling irony, love, and warmth. He would give her time to grow, knowing her little misconceptions would change with age. By then, she would forget she had ever said such things.
He chuckled, one that came from his now settling laughter.
"Bright and loving soul," he thought.
She was the best person he had ever met—highly ambitious, kind, selfless, genuine, and loving. Her beauty was more than physical; it radiated through her character.
"It's okay, Ava," he said with courage, stroking her cheek absentmindedly. "You can have all the swords in the world if you like," he chuckled, then shrugged. "I can even teach you how to wield it. Oh, sorry… how to wield them."
A gasp of joy tore through Ava's lips as she spun almost involuntarily toward Star. "You will?"
"Yes, of course I will," Star replied casually. "It's me and you against the world, remember?"
She stared at him, smiled, and rested her head on his shoulder. "You're the best brother." She murmured, feeling comfortable, safe, and secure with him. "I love you so much, Star."
Star held her close. Her presence alone was enough. Her words were his hope, his comfort.
"Love you too, Ava, and it's going to be all right," he said with a nod.
But that smile on his face vanished just as he was sure Ava wasn't looking at him anymore. And the weight of reality returned once more.
'Is it really going to be all right?' He pondered.
Taking a clear look at things, he wasn't anything close to "a best brother." He lied about the New World. There was nothing like a New World that was devoid of monsters, corrupt systems, threats, or family scrutiny.
Maybe he didn't lie so much about there being a series of grasses and flowers, and butterflies. But the parts where there were no monsters, or the parts where he said that it was filled with everlasting joy and everlasting sunshine, were just a myth.
In truth, they were headed to another kingdom, just like theirs. And the kingdom also is named New World, but New World is simply a name.
However, what choice does he have? He needed to lie to protect her, at least to keep her innocent heart warm, to give her joy and hope, and to keep her mind away from the horrors she saw, the horrors she felt, the horrors of seeing her kingdom stumped to the ground by monsters and demons of different calibers.
Horrors of seeing people die—kids, mothers, adults, warriors. Seeing bloodshed like it was a water fountain, and the worst of them all, seeing their mother killed right in front of them.
Which kid deserved that? Not to mention the hell they've been through these past three days. Sincerely, she was strong and brave, with a golden heart, and as much as he protects and keeps her safe, she too protects him.
Because she's the little thread holding his sanity together, the only tether he has to caring about this frustrating world, should anything happen to her.
Anything at all.
He would never forgive himself.