People Lived Here

Chapter Two: Eian. Past.

A/N: The second chapter is out!! Let's go! Don't forget to vote and comment as it helps me out a lot. Have a great day lovelys. 

                    

        He had never made it to the warning bell. Archer had sent him there in a panic after shouting things about an attack or raid upon the small town that they lived in. If Archer was thinking straight his eldest brother would have thought twice about sending him straight into what was essentially a warzone that was being brutally massacred by the opposing side. There was really no point to it anyways as everyone was already running and panicking. Eian felt as if he was a tadpole caught in a hurricane against a raging tsunami, sure he had heard of the war just like any other boy his age but seeing it before him was something he could not explain. It was a horror show of something he wished he never witnessed. 

The swarms of the people he'd known for almost all his life were suffocating and there was so much pain. He had tried to reach the bell just for the sole purpose of getting up higher onto the platform, but he couldn't make it. There was screaming and loud noises, in the chaos he wondered if he heard a brother's cry or was it his imagination? He swiveled around to see if he could spot his brothers but instead locked eyes with one of the soldiers. His instincts screamed to run and At that moment He ran like he had never run before. Safety and survival were the only things on his mind when he reached the other side of town, running into an outcropping of trees. He was scared. The contents of his stomach emptied into the grass as he collapsed onto his knees, the stench which he would later know as death still clogging his nose. 

He never saw Connor or Tanner today, what was the last thing he said to him? What did he say to Archer when they split paths? He can't remember. He needs to. His brothers could be hurt out there and he could fix it. Why wasn't he out there fixing it?

"Kid. You need to breathe." A voice said to the left of him.

Eian opened his eyes realizing he had them scrunched tightly close, gasping for the air that deceived his lungs. There were more people in the forest, huddled together hiding, grieving or in shock.

"Not like that, slow and easy." The man had an accent, not bad nor strange, just different and his white hair was long, like waist-length long with a nasty cut on his forehead. Usually, males in the northeastern part of the continent have their hair like that. So, It was strange for Eian to see hair that long, unless you count Archer's which sat at his shoulders.

"Pretty bad time for a vacation, yeah?" Eian asked through hiccups.

He let out a hearty laugh at his question. "One could say that. I had planned on meeting my children today, but it seems as if the rest of the world thinks my day should go a bit differently."

Eian opened his mouth to say something but abruptly shut it when someone grabbed his shoulder pulling him into a hug. His brother. Eian screamed his name holding onto him with an iron grip pulling him close, tears of relief flooding his features.

"Tanner! Are you okay? Where are Connor and Archer? Have you seen Nia?" Eian fired off one anxious question after the other

"It'll be okay, they're fine. I just needed to know if you were safe." Tanner's voice was pitched higher, he was lying which Eian knew but accepted it anyways. He was the youngest of three brothers, so he learned how to notice their lies as he got older. Archer's nose twitches, Tanner's voice is higher, and Connor fidgets with his nails when he lies.

"I couldn't find you, any of you."

"I'm here now. Have you been healing anyone?" Tanner whispers in his ear gesturing to the people standing against tree trunks or huddled in groups. Eian was not like most kids his age, sure some had powers or animalistic traits but nothing like the youngest Reyes brother has the power to heal. This was unheard of. He and his siblings were unaware of the powers for a long time until a winter a few years ago when Connor had gotten deathly sick and Eian refused to leave his bedside when the community doctor told his brothers he could die at any time. When Tanner and Archer stayed up that entire night eventually falling asleep under the weight of pure exhaustion they were woken by two very wealthy albeit exhausted children the next morning.