There were screams echoing all the way from the entrance, to the back of the wooden wall.
A strange smell came over the air— one that wasn't too unknown but somewhat different from the one Kean was used to. It stung his nose in a way that made him almost nauseous, it seemed as if it was even magical.
The other villagers had already shifted their position toward the direction the scent came from, and even Kean had changed the place where he stood at. He moved from the bushes to the near entrance of the conference hut. He stood so close that— if the two men went outside, they would probably find out that he was listening to their conversation.
But he didn't care about that anymore, at that point Kean sensed something dwelling from deep within his body. He knew that something was off, ever since he spied on that conference.
Clearly, he still hadn't calmed down from before; his breathing still shallow, and his body unresponsive. The only reason he moved from his previous point, was because his body moved by pure instinct, the one of strong curiosity.
He stared at the way Infront of him, his eyes entranced by the thing that stood there. Even if he wanted to look away, he would not be able to, it was as if his gaze was locked to that position in which it stood.
What is that smell? I know I smelled this before.
And then out of nowhere—
The entrance was blown off by an explosion which sent it flying onto the ground, it had such a strong impact on it that any person who stood in front of it would be crushed.
For the people that were standing just a few meters away from it, received the splinters flying head straight into them, the wood so sharp that it pierced right into them and even flew through their flesh.
The ones that were so lucky to survive or not get hit by the explosions aftermath— they were unfortunate enough to see what marched right inside the village.
It was the so called group, the ones that are feared and avoided— the burners. They rode in with crawlers, not only using them as a means to travers; also as to a way of use in battle.
The creatures stood on all fours, they had long slender limbs, their skin was rougher than any normal blade. They had claws that grew out of their body, strong and sharp, able to cut through a lot of things. They had a sharp skull which pointed forward with it's mouth, their eyes were fierce with small cracks on the outline of it. Their bowels always stayed above the ground, creating a large shadow beneath them.
It is known to every human that the crawlers have a strength which allows them to break and cut even the hardest materials.
They were humanity's first enemy when it came to the changed world, feared since the day they started to exist until the day where humans could even defend them against such creatures.
they hunt every weak lifeform that they encounter, their skin was as dark as ashes, which hid them very well in the shadows. The crawlers hid mostly in forests.
The burners slowly rode into the village, sitting atop the crawlers, several of them with one of their arms raised up and a bright striking heat firing from it.
They were most definitely fire wielder's, ones who used that heat; to burn their victims alive.
The armour was a deep dark red of blood, being covered by a dark-toned leather. Masks that covered their whole faces, a black, spiky line strapping right in between their eyes.
There was particularly one riding in the middle of them all with a flag. It contained a sign, or rather it was more like a banner.
There was a scorching flame visible in the middle, layered above it was a skull resembling shape, on both sides it had three spikes that could signify claws or teeth.
Then the two men hurried out of the conference hut, covered in sweat on their cheeks and forehead, it was clear that they were distressed by the situation that unfolded Infront of them.
Just then it became clear to Kean who it was that he couldn't quite see, it was his own father, the man who always treated him with nothing but harsh manners.
As Kean saw it, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
Father? Why? You can't be here.
But why would he have that reaction to seeing his own father come out of such a place, the man was always well respected by everyone. He was not only the smartest but also the strongest amongst the fighters there, nobody stood their chance against him. So why?
He was standing so close to the group of attackers, so close that if either one of them attacked they would certainly die.
As Kean thought about his father, his own mind reminded him of his mother. While all chaos had started around him, he was only thinking about his dear mother.
His father turned to his direction, both their gazes meeting, a spark of realization was shown in the parent. He rushed over to Kean and grabbed him by the shoulders.
" Son. Listen to me now, it's an emergency. Go to your mother and find a way out of here, it is important that you do that, understood?! "
His voice was strict in a worried way, he wasn't angry at all.
"But father, what about you? What will you do? You can't leave us. I can't do this alone, I am not strong enough to fight like you."
Kean had answered, but all it showed was his own weakness, the thing he could not run from.
He started to tear up slowly while looking at his father, and then he directed his gaze to the ground.
"You don't have to be the strongest, or the smartest. As long as you're fast enough you can survive. There is nothing wrong with running away when you're scared."
With those words the father encouraged Kean enough to make his body responsive to his own mind. Before he ran off to his mother, he took one last look and wished him luck.
With that the father went back inside the hut and retrieved a sword with which he could fight and defend.
He put it around his hips, ready to be unsheathed at any second, but before he did that he tried to hold the enemies back.
He spread his legs on the ground and raised his arms as if he was lifting something very heavy. And as he did that a round barrier built itself around the burners, it was made out of the ground that they were walking on.
It may have stopped them for some time, since normal humans wouldn't be able to destroy it in a fast manner or even jump above it. The problem for the father was that his enemies weren't not only humans but also crawlers, they jumped across the barrier and started to swing their claws at every living form that they encountered.
---
Kean was already off and away as those things at the entrance happened, he was finally on the way home.
At that moment he ran faster than he had ever done before, he felt the adrenaline rushing through his whole body.
With only a single thought in his head.
Mother!
As he was on his way back home he found that the way Infront of him was blocked by a strong wall made of fire. The flames had reached to much of the village and had begun to consume everything.
Through the heat in the air, he was able to see his mother standing with her both hands hold to her chest. She looked around for someone or something, her expression showed the worry she had, weak and sad ones.
Then she finally found what she was looking for, his son standing on the other side of the flamming wall.
She then hurriedly searched for a way around it, until she saw something that left her in a horrified state. Behind her beloved son was a monster, a creature standing so tall that it could climb the highest cliffs.
There was no time to look for another way, no time to think of something other than the safety of one another. She rushed over to him, completely ignoring the fire that was Infront of her, as it etched itself onto her skin and burned her severely, she had still not lost her speed or even her concentration.
Then when she reached and grabbed him, he was overthrown with an immense force, maybe more like a strong push.
Huh? What?
Kean fell on the ground, confused by what had just happened, he didn't understand why his mother would do that. And as he looked behind him he did understand.
Claws larger and taller than probably any humans, thicker than any steel known to him. A swing went right through his mother who was standing in the place where he once did. Her legs completely cut in pieces by the attack, she fell to the ground in an instant.
She was completely defenseless, there no longer existed an option to run.
With all her might, she looked at her son and told him one last thing:
"...Run!"
Her voice completely exhausted and silent, she had gone dizzy because of the blood loss, all that blood that was flowing out of her lower torso.
The crawler turned her around with its mouth bitten on her left arm, that way she was faced to it.
It then started ripping both her arms off, after it had managed that, it went directly to feast on her body.
As he saw his mother being devoured bit by bit, he just stood still and never closed his eyes on the scene before him.
He wished that even then, if he went ahead and saved her, regarding of the state she was currently in. That she would survive even with all those injuries— Missing limbs and an opened stomach, with her intestines mostly eaten and what was left of it just lying on the ground around her.
She had lost her life some time ago, it was when the crawler had first bitten into her lower body. Her eyes lost all the spark they had and went completely hollow, the last thing she was able to perceive was Kean running off into the distance.
---
He had managed to find a way out of the village by following the other children that he found on his way, they were all going to the small, hidden passage.
When they were on the outside, it became unknown territory for Kean. He had never left the village before like the other children did, they never included him in anything.
The path ahead of them was a forest, with trees so close to each other that they would have to squeeze between them.
As they all ran ahead into the forest, the people inside of the village weren't so fortunate to find a way out. It was most likely that they were all slaughtered or devoured, and the only way to know that, would be by going back.
It was then and there , that the people showed who they really were, they're own life was in danger, and that made them all go into a distressed panic.
They pushed and shoved other just to be the fastest, the ones that were so unfortunate to fall, never stood up again.
Something had followed them, it tore everything down that stood in its way. In one strike it cut through the children on the ground.
It was a crawler that had been following them from inside of the village to the outside of it, it was only out for blood.
Luckily Kean and the other had an advantage when they were between the trees, the creatures could move amazingly fast if they had more space, but due to the narrow forest it had to break every single tree Infront of it, slowing itself down in the procces.
"Get out of my wayyy!"
A male could be heard shouting, it caught the attention of Kean who already managed to pass by multiple people.
The one who screamed was Gaulmer, he ran behind some children which made him slower than he intended to be, and out of fear for his own life, he pushed them all to the ground in hopes that it would make the crawler focus on devouring them.
The screams of the unfortunate were heard by everyone that was fleeing, the crawler let out a screech and swinged his claw at a silhouette. The force of the blow was so strong that the person flew several meters ahead until they hit a tree. It was right Infront of Gaulmer, the person was one of his friends, someone very trusted by him. He was missing both his legs and the right arm had been broken to thousands of pieces, the face was crushed and both eyes had popped out of the skull when he had the impact with the tree.
That sight shook the brute weight to his core, making him fall to the ground and vomit until he had no strength left to even stand up. Before Gaulmer knew it, the crawler had already been behind him— and he was eaten alive.
Kean who saw most of that go down, was terrified so much that he tripped on a root that sticked out of the ground.
He had no time for mistakes, no time to think about something unimportant, all he had to do was run, run to a place of safety.
A safe haven perhaps.
He ran through the dark forest with no regard of looking behind him, the sound of the other people behind him dying by being ripped apart, was a gruesome and unsettling one.
Where is Amisa? I don't see her... Maybe she was just faster than us and is waiting somewhere.
He hadn't seen her for some time, not even in the village or outside of it, so that must probably mean that she was able to save herself.
---
After some time Kean had reached the outside of the forest, he stood on a field of flowers.
Completely exhausted and with a sore throat, he fell to the ground with his back turned to it. There was no more energy for him to do anything other than breath.
Then it all catched up to him, the adrenaline had vanished and fear overtook him, anger and sorrow. He hadn't even realized that it had already become night.
He didn't have time before to concentrate on his feelings, his survival was far more important.
The realisation of his mother being dead made him tear up in an instant, his voice weakly screaming out for her.
His bandages were covered in tears and blood, they became wet and sticky, the smell of iron on his own face– it wasnt his own blood, but the ones of the people that had been killed Infront of him.
If it were to come now and attack, then I would most definitely die. I can't move, my whole body hurts, my face feels like it will explode. I want this all to stop, please let it be over . I don't want to... I don't want to die. I want to live, live, live, live..., live..., ive.
He fell asleep out in the open field of flowers, with his gaze directed to the starry sky.