Smoke filled his lungs. Flashes of orange, red as shouts and screams of his neighbours were all too real. Roan stumbled through the chaos, his eyes stinging and vision blurred. He dropped his basket, fruits and produce rolling out as he ran through the chaos.
"No—!" His scream ripped through his throat but no sound could be heard amidst the flame that engulfed. Roan's heart pounded as he sprinted through the streets, weaving between burning debris and desperate villagers. The fire had spread faster than anyone could have imagined, swallowing homes, and lives in its furious blaze. The thick smoke clung to his skin, searing his lungs with every breath, but he couldn't stop—not now.
His home. His village.
Through the haze, he could barely make out familiar faces distorted in terror. Some were frantically trying to douse the flames with buckets of water, but it was hopeless. The inferno roared, unrelenting, turning everything it touched to ash.
He needs to run. Faster. Faster.
He stumbled over a fallen beam, barely catching himself before he hit the ground. The heat was unbearable now, the flames so close they licked at his skin.
A scream pierced the air, cutting through the cacophony like a knife. It was unmistakable—a child's voice, shrill and terrified. His blood ran cold.
"Lyra!" he cried, his voice raw. He forced his legs to move faster, ignore the steering pain of the heat. Adrenaline surged through his veins, stumbling through the catastrophic scene. His sister was close. She had to be.
He rounded the corner, and there she was—a small figure huddled beneath the remnants of a market stall, her wide eyes reflecting the blaze around her. His father, sickly pale face charred by the flames. Roan's scream ripped through his throat, but no sound came out.
Fire caught onto the awning. Time slowed, the blazing reds falling onto his family. Roan lunged forward, desperate to reach them, but the collapsing structure was faster.
Roan fell to his knees, the force of the blast knocking the wind from his lungs. He gasped for air, his chest heaving as he stared at the spot where his family had been.
The last thing he saw was a hooded figure, a terrifying horned insignia on its hand, before the world faded to black.