The Mark of Aether

The Lost Years~Part II

Night had settled, drowning everything in sheens of silver casted by a full majestic moon. Nothing but a blanket of silence washed the lands, occasionally interrupted by the few nickering of horses.

Leon's memories blurred and I could feel the rising of dread. Whatever was coming, it hurt him to remember. To admit that past. Something in the way he felt made my guts twist, a cold shiver lining my arms despite the hotness of the weather.

The scene flickered, showing to my mind's eye a bedroom where all of the three of them were sleeping on a bed, tucked underneath a duvetyn comforter.

Mealin still roamed, missing.

Sandman seemed to have casted his spell across the room, silence humming a lullaby that drifted the soul to a new world of peace.

And in the midst of that silence, a thunder resonated. It was so loud, so terrifying it was as thought the sky was screaming and raging. As lightening exploded in the dark sky, a shadow gallivanted around.

All three startled by the wrath of the heavens sat in their bed, feeling a threat seeping underneath their skins. Estelle mentioned for her kids to stay still. Bringing her finger to her full lips, she hushed them both and descended from her bed. Putting on her robe, she removed a knife from one of the inner drawers, and ever so silently, vanished out of the room.

Leon's chest heaved as the memory played further more and I could feel darkness lurking in his mind. I felt the pain that was washing him from the inside like a silent storm and it tore me in halves. Whatever what was waiting for them was not pleaseful, that was for sure.

Rhia grabbed her brother's hand tightly as fear surged in their small hearts. From the opposite room came the sound of a sharp scream and glass shattering against metal clinking. Something was thrown against one wall, sounding as thought the sofa was heaved and had crashed and cracked. Phobia clawed through the young couple's piths like a wolf tearing and barging in the safety of their souls.

Rhia's breaths strangled in her throat as she followed Leon who guided her out of bed. Careful not to make any sound, he let his sister slip underneath the bed first before he joined her. His fingers intertwined securely with hers, warming her freezing hand all the time. Another crashing sound reverberated in the emptiness before the house shook entirely. The door was forcefully swung open, revealing the distressed mother.

Her robe was halfway torn while her hands were bleeding, shards of glass wounding her angelic face.

In haste, she came to her kids and pulled them in her arms as she dodged between the long corridors.

''M-mother, what is going on?''

"Listen to me. We will run away from here. No matter what, do not come back. I love you both so much, my little angels,'' she whispered to both of them in a hurry, pressing a kiss on each of their foreheads.

As she reached for the back door opening on the back garden, a blast came and made her stop short. The impact was strong enough to make her halt and forced her to stumble on the floor, her children still in her arms. From the edges of a shadow emerged a tall silhouette, his blue eyes shining and gleaming like the pale glow of moonrays. Blood was trickling from the side of his mouth that curved in a mischievous snarl.

A bolt of thunder-strike swirled in Mealin's hands before he shot it at his wife and children. Estelle's shield merely maintained the intensity of the bolt, hitting her in the right arm, earning a tangled cry of pain. Mealin strode with confidence towards a lost Leon, his fire at hand.

I heard Leon strangling a muffled cry next to me, his hands firmly gripping his hair. The memory was dark, I knew it. I could feel it in my every being.