LegoLad659
Fairy Queen
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<p> <em> (Note: This story takes place in a Fantasy world with magical creatures, half-humans, and... Well, magic. Just in case it's not what you're looking for. This is also a tragic story, in case that's also not your cup of tea. Or coffee. Or... Whatever it is you drink that will completely ruin this analogy. Another thing - Comments in the thread </em><em><strong>are</strong></em><em> allowed. Go ahead and let me know what you think (
))</em> You know that old phrase, 'You never realize how important something is until it's gone'? The worst way to learn that is firsthand, like I did... I still vividly remember that day, when everything was taken away from me... ... But I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I? I guess I should start by introducing myself - Hi, my name is Sky! Kind of a weird name, I know. It's a nickname everyone calls me by because I like to wear a lot of bright clothing, usually light blue. I also like to dye my hair a mint green with magic to match my eye color. Hehe, I'm surprised I didn't get the nickname 'Mint' instead! Hmm, Mint... Does that sound cooler? Maybe... ...Whoops, I'm getting off track again. Anyway, I lived in this little village called Scarfala. It was kind of a farming village, I guess you could call it. But we did more than just that! We grew all kinds of plants! The princess that lived in the nearby castle loved flowers, so there were fields with <em>tons</em> of different kinds of flowers just outside the east border of town. The castle was down a pathway to the south, and while I've never actually been there myself, I can imagine it was just as beautiful as the flower fields. To the north was the Elrua Forest. Apparently named after a Dryad that supposedly lived there, watching over it. Dunno how true that is, though. But at least it's a cool name! Unfortunately it's also filled with monsters; The Dryad apparently doesn't like Humans all that much, so she filled it with Slime people and giant spiders. To the west was all of our other fields. I think it was separated into two different sections. The north section had all the wheat, corn, and other crops that usually ended up shipping to other towns. And the south section had a lot of other plants used in alchemy and medicine. The village itself isn't really much to look at. It's your standard fare, really; Nowhere near as impressive as a major city like Holaria. Most of our houses were made with wood from the Elrua Forest. Usually <em>only</em> the wood, though the more expensive houses were made from stones that were imported from mining towns. We didn't have our own mine, okay?! We would have, but without any mountains or signs of ore after digging for a little while, we gave up on that and just focused on agriculture. Even with the imported stone, we still used wood for the structuring, though. I applaud the lumberjacks and adventurers that dared to enter the forest to collect the wood and protect the workers, respectively. Even if they don't seem so scary now, back then the whole place <em>terrified</em> me. At least the main roads were paved with stone. I couldn't imagine walking on a splintery wooden path or, even worse, dirt roads. Think of all the mud you'd get all over you if you went outside after it rained! That's pretty much all there is to say about Scarfala, really. It wasn't much, but to me, it was home. There's no place better than where you grew up, right? Well, I guess that's not <em>entirely</em> true... If you grew up in any of the crime-ridden areas of the world, I would imagine you would hate going back... But anyway... I guess you're tired of hearing about my home, and want me to start on my story, huh? Alright, if you're that curious about how I ended up the way I am now... I was playing with a group of my friends, who were about the same age as me... Oh, I was 13 at the time. Did I forget to mention that? I think I forgot to mention that... We got into the usual antics young teenagers do. Playing pranks on each other (Never on other people, though), talking about how good or bad our days went, and we even became popular with the food market nearby because we'd always stop by to get a bite to eat. We also got into a lot of really competitive sports, too - We played so many I wouldn't even know where to begin if I were to list them, so for your sake I won't. Anyway, we were up to our usual games. The competitive ones. I think we'd decided to play baseball in the flower field. Was it baseball? I'm pretty sure it was baseball. That was the one where you hit the ball with the stick, right? Or was that something else? Back on topic! We were playing the stick-ball game in the flower field. It was a close game, 3:4 in favor of Dallan's team! I wasn't gonna lose, though. But that didn't stop him from being cocky about it "You ready to get whooped, girls?" He asked as I stepped up in front of the ball-catcher, Locki, who was part bat or part dragon or something, so her wings helped catch the ball if it went off course. We had no actual plates, so we just eyeballed it and hoped it was right. "No, what about you?" I taunted him back as I readied myself for the pitch. "Nah, I'm not feelin' it today." He replied, brushing back his short brown hair as he took his stance "Someone's gotta eat the loser sandwich, though, and it's not gonna be me!" He said before he drew back and threw the ball in my direction. Tensing up for a moment, I focused on the ball and swung at it as hard as I could... I felt the shock of the impact on my bat (Well, it was more of a thick piece of wood, but you know...) and watched the ball fly through the air. Higher, and higher, and higher... "Uh..." I started, staring at the ball fly far into the distance. It flew further and further, until finally it started falling back to Earth. Falling right into the Elrua Forest "...H-... Home run?" I asked sheepishly. "Nyaa... Maybe we shouldn't have set up this close to the forest..." Jessica pointed out, her black cat ears flattening as she did. "How else were we supposed to decide what a home run was?" Jacob countered "Come on, let's go find it." "It's getting kinda dark, are you sure we should be going into the forest this late?" I asked, a bit fearful. "She has a point..." Locki backed me up, standing up from her crouching position "Can't we just look for it tomorrow?" "Fine! Scaredy-cats..." Dallan replied, walking with the others towards the forest "We'll go get the ball and head home. We might as well continue this game tomorrow." "Nuh-uh!" Jessica said, running after them "That was the last round, remember? And with that home run Sky got, that means we won! So nyeh!" Dallan simply grumbled to himself in response as he and the others continued to the forest. I couldn't help but giggle and, hoping that it wasn't loud enough for him to hear, turned to Locki and the others that stayed "Well, I'm gonna go home. See you guys tomorrow!" I told them, waving as I started to jog back to Scarfala. "Bye!" They replied, waving back as I left. When I got back home, my family was waiting for me "Hello, Sky!" They greeted me, as I came in the door. "You came just in time!" My mom told me. She had long blonde hair, and was dressed in her usual mage's robes, being a deep researcher of the magical arts. And a high-ranking one at that, shown by the few emerald gems outlining her outfit "I was just about to send your sister to find you." "Sorry!" I apologized, sitting down at the table "Dallan's game went on for a lot longer than I thought it would. It was a lot of fun, though!" My mother nodded, smiling "Well, I'm glad you had fun. Where did you play?" "Out in the flower field." I told her. I didn't mention the fact that we had set up our game so close to the forest. "You didn't trample any flowers, did you?" "No, we didn't." I said, pausing for a moment "...Well... We didn't <em>try</em> to, anyway." "Honey, you of all people know how dense that field is." My dad spoke up, leaning back in his chair and putting his hands behind his head, which was topped with thick black hair. He was also still in his work clothing, though as he spent most of his day in the west fields they weren't anything special "It'd be impossible to run around in there and not step on at least a few flowers." "Of course." My mom replied, giggling a little as she handed out the plates of food. That night's dinner was soup made from various vegetables from the west fields, and her homemade bread that was absolutely to <em>die</em> for. It's so amazing, I couldn't even put it into words if I tried. "So, how is your project coming along, mom?" My 11-year-old sister, Elise, asked. She had long black hair, and wore a light blue dress just like the one I owned. "It's coming along really well!" My mom answered, beaming "It's been really hard, but I think I'm just about ready to show you what it is!" "Yay!" I cheered "How long have you been working on it, again?" "Three years and counting." My dad answered for her. "Oh, it's not <em>that</em> long..." My mom insisted "<span style="font-size:8px;">...It's more like two and a half...</span>" "Nah, it's definitely three. It's part of my job to count days, remember?" Me and Elise both giggled in response as my mom struggled to come up with a response, giving up after a few moments "Okay, maybe it has been three years. But this is a big project! Frankly I'm surprised it hasn't taken longer..." "Well, I can't wait to see it once it's finished!" I said, beaming. Magic had always been an interest of mine, and while my mom was never allowed to take me to where she worked, she had at least promised to show us her project when it was done. I even started looking at nearby Mage Guilds to enroll in, but the thing was that they were all too expensive for me, and I wasn't old enough to work yet. "I can't wait to show you once it's done, either." My mom replied, just as excited as I was. "Now, now, girls." My dad interjected "Let's be patient and wait at least until we're all done eating, 'kay?" "'Kay!" I replied, slurping down my soup as fast as I could. "Careful, Sky." Elise warned, watching me do this "Don't burn-" "Ooow! Owowowoooooow!" I yelled, quickly setting my bowl down and began fanning my mouth with my hand. "...Yourself." "You shouldn't eat so quickly, sweetie." My mom told me, handing me a cup of water which I eagerly drank "You could hurt yourself, even if the food's not hot." "Sorry..." I apologized, embarrassed. "Sky takes everything at such a fast pace, it's a wonder <em>anyone</em> is able to slow her down..." Elise teased a little bit. "Heeey, I just want to get to the fun stuff!" I insisted, seeing the grin on her face as I did so "What?" "Oh, nothing. You just reminded me of a-" Elise started, interrupted by a noise from outside "...What was that?" "I'm not sure..." My dad replied, standing up "You stay here, I'll go see what's going on." He said as he nearly ran out the door. For the brief moment the door was open, the sounds outside were more clear; It was someone yelling something. I recognized the voice... "Was that Dallan?" I asked, looking concerned at the others. "Perhaps you two should go somewhere safe for now..." My mom suggested, standing and grabbing her staff hung up on the wall "I'll go join your father in case this is anything dangerous. "Okay..." I replied, nodding though I was unsure, myself "Stay safe, okay?" I told her, standing up and giving her a hug, which she returned. "Of course I will." She said, smiling at me "I'm an advanced magician, what could hurt me?" I nodded again, even though I still had a bad feeling in my gut "Okay. See you when you get back." I said, taking Elise's hand and leading her out the back door, and into the cellar underneath the house. It was filled with unused furniture, a rack of wine bottles that we were told we weren't allowed to touch, and a stack of barrels that we decided to hide behind just in case. It was a tight fit between the barrels and the wall, but we managed to fit in it. "What do you think's happening?" Elise asked me, as we huddled together in the small space. "I'm not sure..." I admitted, listening closely for any signs. Through the doors, I could hear more sounds. The sounds of more people yelling. It sounded like things quickly escalated, I was glad we were safely hidden down here "A raid, maybe?" I suggested. It wouldn't have been unheard of, there had been several raids on Scarfala ever since I was born. People usually saw the castle and assumed the village had something valuable to offer as well. "A raid?" Elise asked "The town guards can handle that, right?" I nodded to reassure her "Of course they can. We just have to stay here until it's safe. And besides, Mom's on their side too. Nothing could go wrong." Elise nodded back in response "Okay... Yeah, okay." She replied, looking a bit better now. We waited in the cellar for about an hour, as the voices grew louder and were accompanied by another sound, though we couldn't tell what it was. Just as I was about to suggest we get up and see what was going on, the cellar door opened and someone walked down. Peeking through the gaps between the barrels, I nearly had to stifle a gasp at what I saw. It was a Slime, red in color and humanoid in shape. He walked down into the cellar and looked around at it. I quietly clasped my hands over my and Elise's mouths, to keep him from hearing our breathing. Was he from the forest? Had the monsters attacked us? I had never seen a monster from the forest before... I hoped they weren't powerful enough to defeat the guards at the town. The Slime walked over to a stack of furniture and examined it closely, as if trying to see what was behind it. After doing this for a few moments, his left hand morphed into a blade as he stabbed it into the material, then pulled it out and slashed it across, to make sure no one was hiding inside of it. This motion made the both of us jump a little, though luckily we didn't disturb anything. The Slime surveyed the rest of the room. The shadows cast by the single light source in the room - A lone candle, sitting on the far side - must have hidden us from his sight as he completely glossed over us, assuming our location to just be filled with more barrels. Seemingly satisfied, he turned and left the cellar. Only when the door had shut did we let go of our breaths, our hearts pounding "Wh... What was that...?!" I asked, eyes locked on the door in case he decided to come back. "I-I-I don't know..." Elise replied, visibly terrified "I-I don't like this, what's going on...?" "I-I... I'm... Not sure..." I admitted to her. I knew it wasn't much of a boost to confidence, but it was honestly the only thing I could tell her. My mind was too frazzled to come up with anything else. "Wh-what do we do?" "J-just... Stay here until things calm d-down... This is w-way out of our league..." And stay we did. For another couple of hours, we waited in silence for any sort of sign that the fighting was over. Eventually, the screams had died down, and I slowly built up the courage to so much as stand up. Looking down at Elise, I was about to speak before I noticed that she had somehow managed to fall asleep. I guess I couldn't really blame her, what with all of the stress this must've caused tiring her out mentally. Deciding that I would only be a moment, I climbed out of our hiding spot and slowly walked to the doors, still hearing something on the other side... I took a deep breath and opened the door, and as I did I realized what the noise was. Flames. All over, covering every building. Everything was on fire. My eyes widened as I dashed out of the cellar, looking around at the burning buildings all around "O-...Oh no...!" I said, before I ran around and in front of the house. It wasn't just the buildings around our house, it was the whole village. Everything was burning. The only exception was the stone roads that made their way through the village. I ran. And I yelled. And I ran even more "M-Mom!" I called out "Dad! Are you there?!" But there was no answer. "Mom, Dad!" I called again. Still nothing. Maybe they were in another part of the village... I continued running. I continued calling out to my parents, to my friends... To <em>anyone</em> that may have heard me. But all I could find were corpses. If they weren't burning in the fires, they were bloody and horribly mauled in the middle of the street. I couldn't believe it. I even spotted the bodies of a few of my friends, who also suffered the same fate. "N-... No..." I said, trying not to cry at this sight. I turned away, looked at anything else. I... I needed to find them. Find someone. Anyone who might still be alive. I resumed running, leaving Dallan's body behind. Even if I knew how to perform a funeral for him, I definitely wouldn't have the strength or the energy to dig up six feet of dirt to put him in. Besides, I had fully intended on finding someone else. Someone who could help me. Help <em>us</em>. I kept searching. And searching. And searching. The only things I could find were burning buildings in various states of collapse, and at least two dead bodies for each one. As I neared the town's borders, I could even find the bodies of people wearing armor - The town's guards, who looked like they never even stood a chance against the monsters. What horrified me the most, however, was that I couldn't find where my parents were. Maybe one of the many burning bodies I had passed were them, but they were so unrecognizable that it was hard to be sure... So I held out hope. Unfortunately, that hope was in vain... I combed through the whole village, every single detail of it, and couldn't find so much as a sign of them. Except for one. My mother's staff. It was lying in the middle of the road, battered and looking like it was about to snap in half. It was originally pink, with a white quarter-circle at the top, protruding from the staff's red gem. Of course, now it was all battered and broken, and only recognizable to one who knew its original shape. I picked it up anyway, hoping it would at least provide some kind of defense in case those monsters came back. With that, I sadly made my way back to our house. It had been largely untouched by the flames, like a few other buildings scattered throughout the village. I stepped back inside the cellar "E-Elise..." I called quietly, looking behind the stack of barrels. My whole world shattered even further as I realized that she wasn't there. She had disappeared. I quickly made my way back outside to see if I could catch her, but there was no sign of her. She was gone. I slowly fell to my knees as I couldn't stop my tears anymore. In an instant, everything had been taken away from me... My family, my friends, my home... I fell forward and buried my face in my hands, letting all of my sadness go. My sobs were only met by the sound of roaring flames. Everything had changed so quickly, I couldn't cope with it all... I stayed where I was, crying openly for what felt like an eternity. Even after I literally couldn't cry anymore, I still didn't feel better. I slowly stood up and, looking around one more time at the dwindling fires, made my way away from this place. I didn't know where to go, I had never been outside the village before... But I knew I just had to leave. Staying there wasn't safe. And the only thing I could do now was try to move on, find another life... And try my best not to let this drastic change in my life haunt me... ...Of course, that would never happen. ... I think that's enough for now. I'll... I'll get back to you later. <em>(Click the next button to see the next chapter!)</em> </p>
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<p> <em> (Note: This story takes place in a Fantasy world with magical creatures, half-humans, and... Well, magic. Just in case it's not what you're looking for. This is also a tragic story, in case that's also not your cup of tea. Or coffee. Or... Whatever it is you drink that will completely ruin this analogy. Another thing - Comments in the thread </em><em><strong>are</strong></em><em> allowed. Go ahead and let me know what you think (
))</em> You know that old phrase, 'You never realize how important something is until it's gone'? The worst way to learn that is firsthand, like I did... I still vividly remember that day, when everything was taken away from me... ... But I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I? I guess I should start by introducing myself - Hi, my name is Sky! Kind of a weird name, I know. It's a nickname everyone calls me by because I like to wear a lot of bright clothing, usually light blue. I also like to dye my hair a mint green with magic to match my eye color. Hehe, I'm surprised I didn't get the nickname 'Mint' instead! Hmm, Mint... Does that sound cooler? Maybe... ...Whoops, I'm getting off track again. Anyway, I lived in this little village called Scarfala. It was kind of a farming village, I guess you could call it. But we did more than just that! We grew all kinds of plants! The princess that lived in the nearby castle loved flowers, so there were fields with <em>tons</em> of different kinds of flowers just outside the east border of town. The castle was down a pathway to the south, and while I've never actually been there myself, I can imagine it was just as beautiful as the flower fields. To the north was the Elrua Forest. Apparently named after a Dryad that supposedly lived there, watching over it. Dunno how true that is, though. But at least it's a cool name! Unfortunately it's also filled with monsters; The Dryad apparently doesn't like Humans all that much, so she filled it with Slime people and giant spiders. To the west was all of our other fields. I think it was separated into two different sections. The north section had all the wheat, corn, and other crops that usually ended up shipping to other towns. And the south section had a lot of other plants used in alchemy and medicine. The village itself isn't really much to look at. It's your standard fare, really; Nowhere near as impressive as a major city like Holaria. Most of our houses were made with wood from the Elrua Forest. Usually <em>only</em> the wood, though the more expensive houses were made from stones that were imported from mining towns. We didn't have our own mine, okay?! We would have, but without any mountains or signs of ore after digging for a little while, we gave up on that and just focused on agriculture. Even with the imported stone, we still used wood for the structuring, though. I applaud the lumberjacks and adventurers that dared to enter the forest to collect the wood and protect the workers, respectively. Even if they don't seem so scary now, back then the whole place <em>terrified</em> me. At least the main roads were paved with stone. I couldn't imagine walking on a splintery wooden path or, even worse, dirt roads. Think of all the mud you'd get all over you if you went outside after it rained! That's pretty much all there is to say about Scarfala, really. It wasn't much, but to me, it was home. There's no place better than where you grew up, right? Well, I guess that's not <em>entirely</em> true... If you grew up in any of the crime-ridden areas of the world, I would imagine you would hate going back... But anyway... I guess you're tired of hearing about my home, and want me to start on my story, huh? Alright, if you're that curious about how I ended up the way I am now... I was playing with a group of my friends, who were about the same age as me... Oh, I was 13 at the time. Did I forget to mention that? I think I forgot to mention that... We got into the usual antics young teenagers do. Playing pranks on each other (Never on other people, though), talking about how good or bad our days went, and we even became popular with the food market nearby because we'd always stop by to get a bite to eat. We also got into a lot of really competitive sports, too - We played so many I wouldn't even know where to begin if I were to list them, so for your sake I won't. Anyway, we were up to our usual games. The competitive ones. I think we'd decided to play baseball in the flower field. Was it baseball? I'm pretty sure it was baseball. That was the one where you hit the ball with the stick, right? Or was that something else? Back on topic! We were playing the stick-ball game in the flower field. It was a close game, 3:4 in favor of Dallan's team! I wasn't gonna lose, though. But that didn't stop him from being cocky about it "You ready to get whooped, girls?" He asked as I stepped up in front of the ball-catcher, Locki, who was part bat or part dragon or something, so her wings helped catch the ball if it went off course. We had no actual plates, so we just eyeballed it and hoped it was right. "No, what about you?" I taunted him back as I readied myself for the pitch. "Nah, I'm not feelin' it today." He replied, brushing back his short brown hair as he took his stance "Someone's gotta eat the loser sandwich, though, and it's not gonna be me!" He said before he drew back and threw the ball in my direction. Tensing up for a moment, I focused on the ball and swung at it as hard as I could... I felt the shock of the impact on my bat (Well, it was more of a thick piece of wood, but you know...) and watched the ball fly through the air. Higher, and higher, and higher... "Uh..." I started, staring at the ball fly far into the distance. It flew further and further, until finally it started falling back to Earth. Falling right into the Elrua Forest "...H-... Home run?" I asked sheepishly. "Nyaa... Maybe we shouldn't have set up this close to the forest..." Jessica pointed out, her black cat ears flattening as she did. "How else were we supposed to decide what a home run was?" Jacob countered "Come on, let's go find it." "It's getting kinda dark, are you sure we should be going into the forest this late?" I asked, a bit fearful. "She has a point..." Locki backed me up, standing up from her crouching position "Can't we just look for it tomorrow?" "Fine! Scaredy-cats..." Dallan replied, walking with the others towards the forest "We'll go get the ball and head home. We might as well continue this game tomorrow." "Nuh-uh!" Jessica said, running after them "That was the last round, remember? And with that home run Sky got, that means we won! So nyeh!" Dallan simply grumbled to himself in response as he and the others continued to the forest. I couldn't help but giggle and, hoping that it wasn't loud enough for him to hear, turned to Locki and the others that stayed "Well, I'm gonna go home. See you guys tomorrow!" I told them, waving as I started to jog back to Scarfala. "Bye!" They replied, waving back as I left. When I got back home, my family was waiting for me "Hello, Sky!" They greeted me, as I came in the door. "You came just in time!" My mom told me. She had long blonde hair, and was dressed in her usual mage's robes, being a deep researcher of the magical arts. And a high-ranking one at that, shown by the few emerald gems outlining her outfit "I was just about to send your sister to find you." "Sorry!" I apologized, sitting down at the table "Dallan's game went on for a lot longer than I thought it would. It was a lot of fun, though!" My mother nodded, smiling "Well, I'm glad you had fun. Where did you play?" "Out in the flower field." I told her. I didn't mention the fact that we had set up our game so close to the forest. "You didn't trample any flowers, did you?" "No, we didn't." I said, pausing for a moment "...Well... We didn't <em>try</em> to, anyway." "Honey, you of all people know how dense that field is." My dad spoke up, leaning back in his chair and putting his hands behind his head, which was topped with thick black hair. He was also still in his work clothing, though as he spent most of his day in the west fields they weren't anything special "It'd be impossible to run around in there and not step on at least a few flowers." "Of course." My mom replied, giggling a little as she handed out the plates of food. That night's dinner was soup made from various vegetables from the west fields, and her homemade bread that was absolutely to <em>die</em> for. It's so amazing, I couldn't even put it into words if I tried. "So, how is your project coming along, mom?" My 11-year-old sister, Elise, asked. She had long black hair, and wore a light blue dress just like the one I owned. "It's coming along really well!" My mom answered, beaming "It's been really hard, but I think I'm just about ready to show you what it is!" "Yay!" I cheered "How long have you been working on it, again?" "Three years and counting." My dad answered for her. "Oh, it's not <em>that</em> long..." My mom insisted "<span style="font-size:8px;">...It's more like two and a half...</span>" "Nah, it's definitely three. It's part of my job to count days, remember?" Me and Elise both giggled in response as my mom struggled to come up with a response, giving up after a few moments "Okay, maybe it has been three years. But this is a big project! Frankly I'm surprised it hasn't taken longer..." "Well, I can't wait to see it once it's finished!" I said, beaming. Magic had always been an interest of mine, and while my mom was never allowed to take me to where she worked, she had at least promised to show us her project when it was done. I even started looking at nearby Mage Guilds to enroll in, but the thing was that they were all too expensive for me, and I wasn't old enough to work yet. "I can't wait to show you once it's done, either." My mom replied, just as excited as I was. "Now, now, girls." My dad interjected "Let's be patient and wait at least until we're all done eating, 'kay?" "'Kay!" I replied, slurping down my soup as fast as I could. "Careful, Sky." Elise warned, watching me do this "Don't burn-" "Ooow! Owowowoooooow!" I yelled, quickly setting my bowl down and began fanning my mouth with my hand. "...Yourself." "You shouldn't eat so quickly, sweetie." My mom told me, handing me a cup of water which I eagerly drank "You could hurt yourself, even if the food's not hot." "Sorry..." I apologized, embarrassed. "Sky takes everything at such a fast pace, it's a wonder <em>anyone</em> is able to slow her down..." Elise teased a little bit. "Heeey, I just want to get to the fun stuff!" I insisted, seeing the grin on her face as I did so "What?" "Oh, nothing. You just reminded me of a-" Elise started, interrupted by a noise from outside "...What was that?" "I'm not sure..." My dad replied, standing up "You stay here, I'll go see what's going on." He said as he nearly ran out the door. For the brief moment the door was open, the sounds outside were more clear; It was someone yelling something. I recognized the voice... "Was that Dallan?" I asked, looking concerned at the others. "Perhaps you two should go somewhere safe for now..." My mom suggested, standing and grabbing her staff hung up on the wall "I'll go join your father in case this is anything dangerous. "Okay..." I replied, nodding though I was unsure, myself "Stay safe, okay?" I told her, standing up and giving her a hug, which she returned. "Of course I will." She said, smiling at me "I'm an advanced magician, what could hurt me?" I nodded again, even though I still had a bad feeling in my gut "Okay. See you when you get back." I said, taking Elise's hand and leading her out the back door, and into the cellar underneath the house. It was filled with unused furniture, a rack of wine bottles that we were told we weren't allowed to touch, and a stack of barrels that we decided to hide behind just in case. It was a tight fit between the barrels and the wall, but we managed to fit in it. "What do you think's happening?" Elise asked me, as we huddled together in the small space. "I'm not sure..." I admitted, listening closely for any signs. Through the doors, I could hear more sounds. The sounds of more people yelling. It sounded like things quickly escalated, I was glad we were safely hidden down here "A raid, maybe?" I suggested. It wouldn't have been unheard of, there had been several raids on Scarfala ever since I was born. People usually saw the castle and assumed the village had something valuable to offer as well. "A raid?" Elise asked "The town guards can handle that, right?" I nodded to reassure her "Of course they can. We just have to stay here until it's safe. And besides, Mom's on their side too. Nothing could go wrong." Elise nodded back in response "Okay... Yeah, okay." She replied, looking a bit better now. We waited in the cellar for about an hour, as the voices grew louder and were accompanied by another sound, though we couldn't tell what it was. Just as I was about to suggest we get up and see what was going on, the cellar door opened and someone walked down. Peeking through the gaps between the barrels, I nearly had to stifle a gasp at what I saw. It was a Slime, red in color and humanoid in shape. He walked down into the cellar and looked around at it. I quietly clasped my hands over my and Elise's mouths, to keep him from hearing our breathing. Was he from the forest? Had the monsters attacked us? I had never seen a monster from the forest before... I hoped they weren't powerful enough to defeat the guards at the town. The Slime walked over to a stack of furniture and examined it closely, as if trying to see what was behind it. After doing this for a few moments, his left hand morphed into a blade as he stabbed it into the material, then pulled it out and slashed it across, to make sure no one was hiding inside of it. This motion made the both of us jump a little, though luckily we didn't disturb anything. The Slime surveyed the rest of the room. The shadows cast by the single light source in the room - A lone candle, sitting on the far side - must have hidden us from his sight as he completely glossed over us, assuming our location to just be filled with more barrels. Seemingly satisfied, he turned and left the cellar. Only when the door had shut did we let go of our breaths, our hearts pounding "Wh... What was that...?!" I asked, eyes locked on the door in case he decided to come back. "I-I-I don't know..." Elise replied, visibly terrified "I-I don't like this, what's going on...?" "I-I... I'm... Not sure..." I admitted to her. I knew it wasn't much of a boost to confidence, but it was honestly the only thing I could tell her. My mind was too frazzled to come up with anything else. "Wh-what do we do?" "J-just... Stay here until things calm d-down... This is w-way out of our league..." And stay we did. For another couple of hours, we waited in silence for any sort of sign that the fighting was over. Eventually, the screams had died down, and I slowly built up the courage to so much as stand up. Looking down at Elise, I was about to speak before I noticed that she had somehow managed to fall asleep. I guess I couldn't really blame her, what with all of the stress this must've caused tiring her out mentally. Deciding that I would only be a moment, I climbed out of our hiding spot and slowly walked to the doors, still hearing something on the other side... I took a deep breath and opened the door, and as I did I realized what the noise was. Flames. All over, covering every building. Everything was on fire. My eyes widened as I dashed out of the cellar, looking around at the burning buildings all around "O-...Oh no...!" I said, before I ran around and in front of the house. It wasn't just the buildings around our house, it was the whole village. Everything was burning. The only exception was the stone roads that made their way through the village. I ran. And I yelled. And I ran even more "M-Mom!" I called out "Dad! Are you there?!" But there was no answer. "Mom, Dad!" I called again. Still nothing. Maybe they were in another part of the village... I continued running. I continued calling out to my parents, to my friends... To <em>anyone</em> that may have heard me. But all I could find were corpses. If they weren't burning in the fires, they were bloody and horribly mauled in the middle of the street. I couldn't believe it. I even spotted the bodies of a few of my friends, who also suffered the same fate. "N-... No..." I said, trying not to cry at this sight. I turned away, looked at anything else. I... I needed to find them. Find someone. Anyone who might still be alive. I resumed running, leaving Dallan's body behind. Even if I knew how to perform a funeral for him, I definitely wouldn't have the strength or the energy to dig up six feet of dirt to put him in. Besides, I had fully intended on finding someone else. Someone who could help me. Help <em>us</em>. I kept searching. And searching. And searching. The only things I could find were burning buildings in various states of collapse, and at least two dead bodies for each one. As I neared the town's borders, I could even find the bodies of people wearing armor - The town's guards, who looked like they never even stood a chance against the monsters. What horrified me the most, however, was that I couldn't find where my parents were. Maybe one of the many burning bodies I had passed were them, but they were so unrecognizable that it was hard to be sure... So I held out hope. Unfortunately, that hope was in vain... I combed through the whole village, every single detail of it, and couldn't find so much as a sign of them. Except for one. My mother's staff. It was lying in the middle of the road, battered and looking like it was about to snap in half. It was originally pink, with a white quarter-circle at the top, protruding from the staff's red gem. Of course, now it was all battered and broken, and only recognizable to one who knew its original shape. I picked it up anyway, hoping it would at least provide some kind of defense in case those monsters came back. With that, I sadly made my way back to our house. It had been largely untouched by the flames, like a few other buildings scattered throughout the village. I stepped back inside the cellar "E-Elise..." I called quietly, looking behind the stack of barrels. My whole world shattered even further as I realized that she wasn't there. She had disappeared. I quickly made my way back outside to see if I could catch her, but there was no sign of her. She was gone. I slowly fell to my knees as I couldn't stop my tears anymore. In an instant, everything had been taken away from me... My family, my friends, my home... I fell forward and buried my face in my hands, letting all of my sadness go. My sobs were only met by the sound of roaring flames. Everything had changed so quickly, I couldn't cope with it all... I stayed where I was, crying openly for what felt like an eternity. Even after I literally couldn't cry anymore, I still didn't feel better. I slowly stood up and, looking around one more time at the dwindling fires, made my way away from this place. I didn't know where to go, I had never been outside the village before... But I knew I just had to leave. Staying there wasn't safe. And the only thing I could do now was try to move on, find another life... And try my best not to let this drastic change in my life haunt me... ...Of course, that would never happen. ... I think that's enough for now. I'll... I'll get back to you later. <em>(Click the next button to see the next chapter!)</em> </p><div style="text-align:right;"><p><a href="<___base_url___>/threads/the-road-to-ikari.228047/" rel=""><img src="<___base_url___>/media/next.10776/full?d=1463364424" class="ipsImage" alt="full?d=1463364424" /></a><a href="<___base_url___>/threads/the-road-to-ikari.228047/" rel=""> </a></p></div>
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