Shynerai who began looking pale was trying to process the scale of what was happening but Sarah reminded him that there was no time and simply grabbed his arm and proceeded to rush off with him to the gates of the school.
When they arrived, Shadow was waiting with kid's bags and told them that they couldn't waste any time since whatever was happening to Glynnfoldt might end up happening here so he needs to get them home where they can be safe, but with the mention of home, sudden flashes begin to bombard Shynerai's mind and they all demonstrate his family being in danger.
But Shadow managed to calm him down saying that his dad is a lot tougher than he is and will be able to protect the people at home so all he has to do is stay safe and make it back home.
With the sight of Shynerai gaining his senses, they all set off on their trip.
After two days of traveling, they finally made it back to the village but with the clear sight of what had happened, Shadow begins to question whether bringing the kids here might have been the worst mistake he has ever made.
Glynnfoldt had been reduced to a crumbling wake of blood and ash with most of the homes and buildings being reduced to piles of rubble and ash.
But the worst was yet to come, as they moved to the heart of the village, more and more bodies began appearing with each one either having their throat ripped out, being torn in half or cut down, each indicating that they died in agony.
By the time they reached the village square, everything was made apparent.
The scene resembled that of a mass execution where some of the dead were trying to escape only to meet a worse end.
As the death and destruction seeped the venom of insanity into Shadow's head, remembering that the children were still witnessing the horrors helped him to firmly grasp his sanity and prevent Sarah from continuing to see everything. But when he turned to do the same with Shynerai, the boy was nowhere to be seen.
With every deep breath that Shynerai took, the scent of smoke and blood filled his lungs and an uncontrolled pain began to ache in his chest but ignoring everything he raced home running faster and faster with each step until he ended up slipping and landing in a pool of blood.
Trying to spit out as much of the blood that he'd swallowed, his eyes began to well up tears of agony.
As he stumbled back into his feet and while brushing off the tears, he continued straight to his house.
By the time he got to the porch of his house, he noticed that most of the houses in the area were still intact or suffered only minor damage which brought a calm to the storm raging in his heart as he kept reassuring himself that whatever calamity entered the village didn't make it this far.
So trying to further convince himself that everything was still okay, as he leapt for the door, he shouted as hard as he could that he was finally home and opened the door.
The horror that met his eyes was far from what any child should ever have to witness...as the disgusting sight filled his mind he began to scream and scream with such force that he started choking on the blood from his vocal cords being torn apart.
With the blood filling his throat, he fell to the floor and started coughing it out.
Trying to catch his breath, his eyes were met with another sight of despair: his parent's severed heads and their flayed bodies hung from the rafters of the ceiling...a sight which sent him into such a shock that he threw up everything in his bowels before falling unconscious beside his parents.
Having heard the shrewd screams, Shadow and Sarah were able to find Shynerai at his home only to end up with pale faces.
A bright and warm glow hovered above him.
As he woke up the first image to greet his eyes was that of bright lights shining above himself and a woman in uniform walking through the door towards him.
As she came into focus he realized that she was a nurse and that he was in some sort of hospital.
While he was figuring out how he ended up there, Shadow walked in with Sarah running past him and jumping on Shynerai's bed to hug him as she was welling up with tears, but these tears were of joy after all...he was still alive.
Sarah told him that they found him after he fell unconscious. Shynerai quickly asked about what happened at Glynnfoldt as he was hoping that he might have fainted whilst they were at the University, but Shadow quickly shut his hopes down by telling him everything that happened was real.
"Glynnfoldt was destroyed and everyone there…is dead. A few days after we arrived, the capital dispatched an investigation team and when they arrived, they told us to leave the area as once they finished the investigation the victims would be buried in the nearby memorial site, the village would be closed off and be declared as ruins".
Hearing what Shadow said, what little hope he had become evanescent.
Soon after, the doctor walked into the ward and handed Shadow the discharge papers for him which meant that he could go home.
Since they were told to leave the area, Shadow had brought the kids to the trade city of Sprite Fontiss where they would be living in a homestead that belonged to him.
As soon as they walked in, Shadow had the helper take their things to each of their own rooms while he gave them a tour of the house.
When Shadow was finished with the tour he told them to wait by the dining room because dinner was ready but Shynerai simply ran to his room and locked the door.
An entire week went on without him ever leaving the room and during that time let alone having made a single sound. It was as if he wasn't even alive or rather something inside him had died. At this time Shadow felt that he had given him enough time to cry so he wanted to check on him.
When he opened the door a heavy chill descended upon within the darkened room, as he looked around the room he couldn't see any sign of him until he decided to enter the room, inside he managed to find the boy. A gray-skinned and sunken eyes with blisters on his mouth met his gaze as he searched the room.
The child was curled up by a corner in his room and was staring at the floor of the room as if he was trying to look into the abyss for any sort of answer. Shadow lifted the boy and told him:
"I can tell, ever since we got back you haven't cried a tear. You've just been sitting and asking yourself 'why did everything have to happen the way it did'. Well sometimes things do happen and all we can do is watch…I think this is one of those times. So cry and cry until you can let go of it all or else it will eat away at you."
And as Shadow embraced him, Shynerai fell apart and finally began to cry for the first time since he saw his parent's corpse.
That day he cried all day and night and on the next day, he finally left his room and was able to see Sarah, but something even more sinister was revealed during that emotional exchange as Shynerai was crying so was Shadow as he murmured:
"If I succeeded, then they may never forgive me"
But with the sound of his daughter's laughter echoing through the room Shadow simply shrugged off the doubt.
A month after Shynerai and his foster family began living in Sprite Fontiss, Shadow decided to enroll them into school since it would give the kids a chance to feel normal by interacting with children their own age in a safe environment. Both Shynerai and Sarah started to attend Cloudwell Elementary School.
Since Sarah was only seven years old, not much administrative hassle was present when placing her in the 1st grade, as for Shinerai since he had no grade school record or 1st-grade record, he would have to either take an aptitude test or start school from the first grade but Shadow has already witnessed his intelligence first hand and was confident that he would do well.
True to Shadow's faith, Shynerai took the test and manage to score a grade consistent with one achieved by a 5th grader although his actual score was of 7th-grade quality but since the school felt that he would need a certain level of maturity to succeed at that level so they decided to instead place him in the 4th grade.
Several months pass.
And the children managed to find a place within Sprite Fontiss although there were a few people who made it their personal mission to bully them by reminding them of the horrors they would rather forget.
Shynerai didn't pay them any mind since he always kept his distance from the rest of his classmates but Sarah was different as her personality didn't allow her to isolate herself which meant that she developed a fairly large circle of friends that would obviously catch the attention of a jealous few or boys who found her easy on the eyes.
Luckily Shynerai was always there to take care of any boys that thought they could take advantage of her kindness or to scare any girls that thought that she made for an easy target with his harsh and dark appearance.
In his time living in Sprite Fontiss, he'd not only fallen into his role as the 'son' of Shadow and older brother to Sarah but he was starting to love being a part of a family once more. This familial bond had become something of such value that it not only gave him something to protect but something he could cherish, unfortunately, joy is rarely everlasting in the prologue of Erai's story with the advent of an intrusive force that seeks to take Erai's only treasure.
During a pretty routine and overall uneventful day, the appearance of a single individual would act as the first brush-stroke that rewrites his entire destiny. Shynerai arrived home with Sarah to find that Shadow was having a heated talk with a strange but oddly regal man in the living room.
The visitor was draped in a fancy silk garb, trimmed with black and gold thread and embossed with an emblem reminiscent of a kingdom native to Lynheare.
When Shadow noticed that they had arrived from school, he quickly asked the aid to escort them to their room but the children were far too concerned to simply leave their father so they instead entered the room to find out what had their father so flustered.
Since the children were already here Shadow had no choice but to introduce them to the strange man. Shadow stated that the man was a Duke from the Lynhearian Kingdom who had come to employ Shadow as a Hero for his lands. Since the man was a duke or a knight (Guardian) given the status of nobility by his king, Shadow was compelled to heed his request for him, much to the surprise of his children was a retired S-class Hero.
Sarah's shock came from the fact that her father had lived such a dangerous life but Erai's came from the thought that this man is going to be responsible for destroying his new family.
With that fear enveloping his very being, Shynerai rushed the duke and served him a single threat:
"If you try to take my uncle from Sarah and me, then be prepared to do so with your life".
The duke found Erai's threat to be humorous and simply bore a grin. This act further angered Erai but Shadow intervened and managed to calm him.
Shadow then told his kids that he would return home to be with them once every six months, but hearing this, Erai quickly discarded his hate and pleaded with the duke if there was another option...surprisingly enough seeing how determined Erai was, Sarah also joined his plea.
The duke decided to humor them and suggested if the boy is willing to take his father's place then he would still be satisfied but since he was just a simple Daumier and his father was a rare S-rank Hero, he would have to offer something else of equal value.
But Erai didn't know how he was going to make the trade seem fairer so all he could do was hope that he would simply accept.
The duke then came up with an idea of his own, his son is about the same age as Erai so they will make a deal, he will give the boy until his son's 19th birthday if by that time he has managed to become a Hero of equal or greater value than his father, he will then take the place of his father and if he fails in his endeavor then his sister will be wed to his son.
Hearing the final statements of his offer, Shadow was prepared to crush the duke's skull below his foot at the mention of such trade but before he could act, Sarah without any hesitation accepted the terms which brought an even larger grin to the duke's face as well as curiosity as he asked her if she wasn't making the decision a bit too rash but she simply stated that:
"My brother is always protecting me so this time won't be any different, I believe in him".
Seeing the faith that Sarah had in Erai, Shadow could do nothing but accept his child's decisions and with that, the duke made his departure.
That night Shadow asked Shynerai if he was truly committed to the idea of becoming a Guardian, and becoming a Hero for that matter. He replied by saying,
"Even if it meant becoming a demon, he would do it to protect his family."
Hearing exactly what he wanted for Shynerai brought a strange sense of joy to Shadow...as if the boy had finally found something to live for and to ensure that he wouldn't lose it, he would also do all he can.
"Erai starting tomorrow, you will be training with me sixteen hours a day, every day, until you're old enough to take the Guardian Entrance Exams which should be about seven years from now."
"As such you won't be going to school anymore and there is a good chance that you could lose your life but if you can get through this then I guarantee you that no one will be more equipped to become a Guardian than you."
Is what Shadow said to the boy at that moment and despite this, Shynerai simply smiled and told him.
"Just don't go easy on me."
And with just those words, he had started his epic journey on a road that would lead him to inspire the myth of the Greatest Champion of the First World.