𝙻𝙸𝙵𝙴𝙻𝙴𝚂𝚂 𝙷𝙴𝙸𝚁//𝙿𝙹𝙼 𝙵𝙵

• The Falling •

The Sun finally came out. It hung high up in the sky and its warmth softened the icy water. The cool wind breezed through his rosy cheeks as he gazed out from his room. Leon hated this. He hated the deep itching gut feeling he had for the past days. Venera seemed to be peaceful and eerily quiet even with their rulers gone. But Uncle Tae wanted to keep it that way, to keep the people calm and to prevent an outburst.

But Leon hated it. He's void of tears and emotions after days of crying and starving. Food was the last thing he wanted. It tasted like crap when your stomach turned every time you thought about not being able to see your parents again. He hated how oblivious he was to the tension between his parents. Well, he kinda sensed it.

He saw how mom and dad exchanged glances when they stepped through the door together, how they took deep breaths before entering holding hands, how their goodbye kisses seemed too quick and hurried as if they're late to work, which they always had been but never cared about.

Sometimes, they don't even come home together. Mom would always work overtime and walk into the house like one of the undead. Her dark eye bags and heavy limbs hurt Leon. That's why he's been baking a lot more these days. Trying out new recipes and baking all sorts of goodies but mom would only take a bite before rushing off to work again. Now he understood why. That dreadful feeling in mom's stomach must've been bugging her like his. He only wondered what that bug was for her.

Just as his thoughts wandered off, a thundering crash sounded from outside. Leon startled back to reality and quickly bolted out to see what happened. When he got out of his house and saw a dark cloud of smoke emerging from the far side of Venera, the outer walls.

The alarm in his house flashed red, one that was installed all over Venera and in every household to alert the people of any emergencies. It doesn't make any sound to avoid attracting the undead.

He could hear heavy tyres rolling towards the outbreak, horses galloping through the town and people rushing back into their homes. It was a standard practice. An instinct. But this invasion was larger and seemingly more aggressive. Someone knew of the absence of the rulers and wasted no time to attack.

Leon's instinct nagged him to get back inside but he stood firmly and stared at the growing dark smoke. Someone is trying to bring down what his parents had built. He had to do something.

Without hesitation, Leon got onto his bicycle and paddled towards the chaos. The neighbours were waving him off, trying to get him back in, but he ignored all of them as he raced through the town. Uncle Tae must be in there somewhere. The two other rulers of Venera wouldn't be able to make it in time either.

Sweat dripping down his red cheeks, heart beating too fast, breath getting harder to take. He really shouldn't be pushing this but Leon had enough of being kept in the dark. He has no idea where his parents were, his days were accompanied by sickness and loneliness. He felt lifeless as ever.

As Leon was closing in, an arrow swooped past him, grazing his cheeks. He gasped and lost his balance and tumbled over. He ducked his head again when a sword swung over him. He fell right in the middle of the battlefield.

Arrowing and ballets flying, catapults crashing, horses rearing, men dying. The world around him downed on him, his ears ringing and breath heaved, hands and knees stained with mud and blood. He didn't belong there.

When a loud boom sounded beside him, Leon gasped and covered himself. He saw the walls consumed by fire and crumbled more and more, leaving a massive entry to the empire. Leon stumbled back onto his feet and rushed over to the fires. It was hot even from where he stood as if it was reaching its hot burning arms towards him. His panicked eyes trailed all over the walls, looking for the fire extinguishing systems that were installed in cases of fires but most of them seemed to have burnt and were useless.