'Phew'
It's hot. The sun was at it's peak of hotness. It was the afternoon phase of the day and I was resting under a tree, drinking some water.
Only one left. I delivered all the other five letters addressed inside the town. The last one is addressed to the next town and I have almost reached there. The town is visible from here. 'Swui Town'. It's a small town, smaller than mine which is already on the smaller scale. It's kind of isolated though. Except for the front side all the other three directions around the town were occupied by forests.
I looked at my watch. The current time was 2:14 p.m. It almost took 3 hours to reach here. All thanks to my superfast vehicle.
'Sigh'
I need to arrive back before sunset or a long lecture will be ready. Let's go.
I sat on the vehicle and started paddling. It's good that the rest of the way is downhill.
Returning back to your homes before sunset became a rule amongst people a few years ago.
The empire has been at war with the demons for many years now. No one knows how it started. The initiators of the war were demons or the officials say so. But why they attacked first? There was no answer to it, only theories made by people.
The war was always fought at the borders of the Empire so citizens felt safe but 3 years ago that feeling changed.
Many cases of people being attacked came out. At first people didn't pay much attention to it, but soon the victims increased massively and the officials had to interfere. On investigation, it was found that most of them were attacked by dark magic and all the victims were those who were out at night, which led to the result that they were killed by demons as they were the only creatures who could use dark magic and hate sunlight. The news spread wildly and this created a panic situation amongst the citizens. Even though the war has been going on for a long time, this was the first time that the demons penetrated the borders and were able to enter the empire.
The people protested in front of the royal palace to guarantee their safety. Seeing the extreme situation, emperor had to launch a decree. Except for the military, other official and unofficial work places were banned from operating at night. He also tightened the security around the towns and cities to ensure the safety of citizens.
From that day onwards, rarely anyone except for the military soldiers could be seen out at night. After taking all the measures the situation improved a lot.
"Huh?" There is no guard here.
I was at the main gate of the town but there were no guards. Before entering any town or city, you have to verify your identity at the main gate. But..
I passed by the gate and entered the town.
I shouldn't have. My eyes widened and my heartbeat became intense. I felt like throwing up.
I need to run, run. I moved my vehicle out of the town as fast as possible.
How?
'hah' 'hah' 'hah' I was breathing heavily but I didn't care. The sight I saw was too gruesome. 'hah' 'hah'. Blood was flowing everywhere, barely recognisable bodies were scattered around here and there, adults, children. Many dead bodies were lying on the ground. 'hah'. Who? 'hah' 'hah'. My mind was replaying the same scene again and again. Was everyone killed? Demons? 'hah' 'hah' I must have come far from the town by now but my feet didn't stop paddling.
***
- March 2, 1619 -
Swui town, night time.
"- Due to people's support the fifth princess ascended the throne and became the queen. All her older brothers and sisters realised their mistakes of ignoring the citizens but it was too late by then. The kingdom prospered thereafter under the current queen's rule."
'Zzz' 'Zzz'
"Hehe"
The mother looked at her daughter and chuckled. She fell asleep while listening to the story.
The mother closed the book and kept it on a nearby table, then covered the child with a blanket.
"Good night, Luce." After giving a kiss on the forehead, she left the room.
She lost her husband during the war and Luce was her only reason to live. Luce was just a year old when her husband died and he barely came home due to war, so his death didn't affect Luce much. She was now 4 years old and barely knew about the outside world.
Maybe when she gets older she will ask about her father, but that's a future problem.
'Shrrrrr' 'cluk-cluk'
She was currently washing dishes left after the dinner. Her daughter sleeps early, so she always washes them after putting her to sleep.
'shatter' Sound of shattering glass came from Luce's room.
"Hmm?" She moved towards the room.
"Aah!!!-"
"Luce!!"
Scream of Luce came after. She ran and opened the door.
"Huh?" Her mind became blank. A creature with two wings on his back was there, eating something. 'Crunch' 'Crack' Blood was continuously flowing out of his mouth. Two small human legs were visible and rest of the body was already inside his mouth. She knew whose body it was but still she glanced towards the bed in hopes that her speculation was wrong.
Luce was not there.
She fell on her knees with eyes wide open. The demon after swallowing the whole body looked towards her. The red eyes were shining brightly. She knew what would happen next, she should try to run at least or scream for help, but only one question comes to her mind. Why?
"Help!!!" "Aahhhhh-" "Save me!!!!"....
That night screams of people echoed throughout the town.
A lively town with many voices became silent forever.