(17 years ago)

The boy looked on as his village burned. He clutched his carved wooden toy to his chest, holding tight.

'Where are they?'

His eyes burned, smoke and dust suffocating him as the mud beneath his feet ran slick with blood.

The fire raged brighter. Unnaturally so.

'All of this... Because of magic.'

The soldiers tried their best. Steel against elements. The outcome was bleak.

The child collapsed to his knees, dropping the wooden figure. The unseeing eyes of a toy warrior stared back at him.

'Save me. Please.'

A shadow loomed over him, shattering its head to pieces before he had a chance to look up.

Instead, he closed his eyes.

'I'm sorry.'

The corpse fell, one among many, life snuffed out of the once peaceful village.

The soldiers had won the battle but they watched it burn, cheeks streaked with grime and tears.

They lost so many. So many lives and for what? Power? Control?

They knelt, one by one, pledging upon soil that as long as the kingdom stood, the Arts would have no place in it.

And they prayed.

For the fallen.

The king.

Their comrades.

The children.

They prayed.