"Aleo! Aleo! Can you hear me?! Aleo!"
The shouts of my brother echo around me, mixing with the roaring flames. My vision blurs, tears filling my eyes, stinging from the smoke. I can feel the pain on my right leg again, the chunk of stone wall flattening my bones. My body screams, heat rising from the inside. I reach my arm out to him, desperate to be saved.
"Dev!," I call out, my voice all raspy. I can feel my consciousness fade. My body weakening. The last thing I'm able to remember is something picking me up. A warm embrace flooding over my body, and a whisper in my mind.
---
The clanking of large metal chains echo off the stone walls, opening the kingdom's gate and announcing a new day for the people living in the Mosse — an area of town closest to the gate. The rumbling of horses and wagons moving out to trade with the world shook the houses along the road. The old wood in the ceiling creaked as my favorite breakfast of dust mixed with cobwebs floated down onto my face as I leaned up in bed to look out my little window. Outside was still dark, but not from how early it was, but because of the mountain behind the kingdom, covering our morning with it's shadow.
Staring down at the people walking by, I found myself lost in thought. Like every morning for the past eight years, my dreams have only been about that day. I was only ten, and one of the most horrendous events our kingdom had ever known had occurred on my birthday. The town, along with my house, was destroyed from the attack of a dragon. An ancient creature that was only talked about in legends, and yet it had appeared in the evening sky unannounced. Our kingdom wasn't prepared. All they could do was send out the army to shoot out attempts to take it down.
Some of the best warriors, the royal knights, had wounded it, one being my brother. However, the dragon still found its way deeper into town, firing hell across every building and alley in the southern sector. My brother, Devonte, abandoned the army on the front lines after realizing our house was destroyed. I was trapped inside the building, of course he would try to rescue me. But it came at a cost. He never should have called his weapon back, for the dragon had suddenly decided to target him. The royal knights did their best to defend him, each of them releasing their strongest attacks towards the dragon's head. But it didn't matter. The massive beast took every blow, flying straight through and closing its massive jaw around my brother.
But then, something unexplainable happened. The dragon froze, like it's body had decided to disobey the laws of time. Every knight swarmed from behind the dragon, ready to strike their weapons again, but just a second before anyone's attack would land, the beast wrinkled up. It's body turning into bones and dust. The army quickly searched for any remains of Devonte, but his body must have disintegrated alongside the beast. To this day the entire kingdom remains confused as to why it had died so suddenly.
I was lucky. One of my brother's comrades in the royal knights, Thesia, found me unconscious laying besides where the dragon's head had just eaten my brother. She took me to the medical center within the castle and explained what had happened when I woke up. My mother and sister had been in midtown shopping so they had the time to evacuate, but none of us were ready for Devonte's death.
A raven flew by, the flap of its wings pulling me out of my trance. With a quick shake of my head, I erased the dream from my mind and willed myself to focus on the day ahead. I slipped out from under the blanket and crouched down to open the trapdoor down to the living room. Grabbing the ladder that laid against the wall, I slowly lowered it to the floor below before climbing down to prepare myself for another day of muscle-tearing work.
Because our old house had been destroyed, along with many others in the southern sector, we were forced to move, left with no belongings. Queen Lorelei did her best to rebuild our kingdom. However, without any generosity from our neighboring kingdoms we didn't have enough money to give proper reparations to the people most damaged from the incident. My mother, Adelle, had believed that our family would be alright since my brother had been apart of the royal knights. Sadly, our family still got lumped in with the rest, having to take refuge in the shoddy-made Mosse while we wait for the southern sector to be built back up to its former glory.
"Morning Ma," I croak, as my eyes land on a tired thin woman sitting by a wooden table. Her dark hair almost seemed to respond by itself, greeting me with a wave. "Cart should be here soon, is Raya still not up?"
"She's already left remember? First day of the season is recruitment day."
I scratch my forehead, bringing the memory back to me. "Ah, right. I just didn't believe she would actually go through with that idiotic dream."
My mother quietly walked over and smacked the top of my head. Her bony hand landing back on top to shuffle my hair. "Don't talk bad about your family Aleo." I lifted my head to see her soft eyes and weak smile. A small sigh escaping from her lips. "She wants to do what she thinks is right. Plus, her soul is strong. We might have another royal knight next year."
My brows furrow. "That's why it's idiotic."
I move my torso out from under her hand and step back, ready to head out the door. As I reach out to put my peeling shoes on, I look back with my face hanging upside down. "You should eat more, Ma. Especially if Raya is actually accepted."
Before I hear another word, I stand back up while pushing open the door, and step out to the small wooden balcony that awaits me. Turning left to the ladder, I jump down, ignoring half the steps and wake myself up by jogging up the cobblestone road to where I find a large open wagon, or "the cart", slowing itself down for the many waiting passengers who will be taken to work in rebuilding the southern sector.
I hop on the back and squeeze my way through the mass of dull lives, making my way to the front to look up at the driver. One of my few friends, Carlo, had worked as a driver of the cart alongside his dad, but today it seemed he was missing.
All the energy I had just built up drained away as I called out to Carlo's father. "Hey! What happened to Carlo?"
The old man turned around, a crooked smile forming as he saw me. "Ah, Aleo, morning. I didn't tell you? I thought it best for him if he joined the army. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll see him around."
"Seriously?"
"Hmm? What'd you say?"
"Nevermind," I responded, speaking up louder than before.
I turned around, ready to sit down. Seems like work is going to be a lot less enjoyable now. As I began to bend my legs I hear what I thought was a response. It was too quiet, like he was hissing at me. I turned my head back to look at him, slightly annoyed. "Did you say something?"
"Huh? No."
Seems the old man doesn't like me as much as I believed. Whatever, I'm not necessarily close with him. I finally sat down, resting my hand on my forehead, feeling my head jump up and down in sync with the bumpy ride.
Why are so many of the people I know deciding to join the army? Do they really care for attention and strength that much? All the army ever does is get killed. Even the royal knights. Ever since that day the kingdom had urgently pressed its people to join the army to rebuild its strength. The training became more harsh thanks to the Queen's fear that there are now possible dragon attacks. I thought many would be scared, but most bowed their heads to the royal family and found untapped courage within their soul. Maybe it was because the dragon had actually died, people thought our strength was unmatched. No. They just don't care about their own lives.
The cart rolled through the town, passing by the opening shops and obnoxious people. Loud clanging could be heard from workshops and small groups would sing their praises to the gods. The minutes passed and eventually I found myself hopping out of the cart, already lining up for my work orders in the southern sector.
Break away...
What? I sluggishly look behind me, staring at another man in line for his work orders. I thought I heard a voice, but the man had his eyes glued to his shoes. He didn't address me so I opted to ignore him. I took a step forward, now at the front of the line, facing a knight stuck with reading from a small notebook.
"Name?"
"Fire!" A couple nearby pointed their arms out. The lady seemed desperate, frantically scanning around her for any nearby authority figure as the man continued to draw attention to the smoke rising up from outside the walls. "There's a fire in the woods!"