AETHERFORGE
It had taken Elian and Selene about 4 hours to get to Aetherforge from Destitropolis. Selene was after her bounty, while Elian hoped to find one of the people in his dream.
The boy he was after was a forger, his face clearly ingrained in his mind, but he knew nothing else about him.
For some reason, Elian believed he would find the boy even without knowing his name, just like Selene had found him.
After all, they were far from the chaos in Destitropolis. The Beakstorm Reapers wouldn't be in Aetherforge, so there was plenty of time to look for him.
Maybe finding the forger would give him some answers he needed.
At the entrance of Aetherforge, superior officers were usually stationed for identity checks. They stopped intruders and protected forgers from thieves.
The only people permitted to enter any citadel freely were superior officers and bounty hunters. In some cases, a special permit was granted to those from other citadels except those from Destitropolis.
A talentless person must never be found in another citadel.
However, as Elian and Selene arrived, the superior officer's station was vacant.
As they walked into Aetherforge, confused and wondering why the superior officers were missing, Elian realized something terrible had happened.
Odd objects littered the streets: a slipper, a bloody dagger, a child's spoilt toy, a broken axe that looked like it was flung away in a hurry by someone. The city looked abandoned, the wall of the buildings bloodied and severed limbs littered around.
"They were here," Selene said from beside him, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"What?"
Selene jerked her chin towards what must have been a stall, only now it was just a heap of wood and stone. Littering the floor around it were feathers, black ones—huge ones, bigger than any regular bird.
Elian swallowed. The sight sent a chill to his heart.
He knew what creature the feathers belonged to even before Selene said, "You were right. Those birds attacked Aetherforge, too. Whatever is happening is happening in the entire realm."
Her voice shook a little at the last word as though she had trouble imagining this level of destruction on a global scale.
Elian liked being told he was right, but this time, he would have given a lot to be wrong. What was happening to the realm?
"Remember where we are," Selene told him in a low tone. "Let's try not to attract attention before someone finds out we don't belong here."
Elian nodded.
They had barely taken two steps when they heard the screech of a bird in the distance. It was obvious that, like Destitropolis, they were hunting for prey everywhere.
They found a spot to hide.
"I don't think I can collect the bounty on Zephyrion if the entire city is under attack already," Selene admitted, slightly annoyed. "Hell! He could even be dead now."
Elian sighed. Locating the people in his dream was his only chance to figure out the truth. He couldn't give up on it so quickly.
He shared his idea with Selene, and after some deliberations, she agreed to come with him. She was also curious since Elian had also claimed she was in his dream. The plan was simple: they would avoid any open area and travel through Aetherforge in hiding.
For an hour, Elian and Selene tramped across the city. They kept to the less busy sides of the streets they passed, walking with their eyes alert but their heads partly down so they wouldn't attract too much attention. But they needn't have bothered so much. No one was paying anyone else any attention.
Many were in search of their loved ones, and others were hiding. During the search, Elian realized that most of them were defenseless despite being forgers. Lysander's cruel laws had made it impossible for them to forge weapons to protect themselves.
As the search continued, Elian and Selene looked closely at anyone who resembled the boy's description in his dream.
Brown hair, green curved eyes, pointy ears and a mischievous smile. Not more than 5'4 tall, Elian prayed to find him.
After several hours, they still had not found any trace of the boy. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, especially with no photograph or name. Tired, Selene put her hands on her hips and stopped walking.
"We need to take a break," she said, pulling out a small cloth from her boot. Elian shook his head, wondering if she hid the entire realm in her boots.
"Let's rest in the library. We are exposed here." He replied, looking out for the birds. Selene followed him to a large library building, but half of its structure had already collapsed, the roofings torn apart during an attack.
They found a section with many shelves and a roof, one of the few that hadn't caved in. The place was too quiet, but at least it was safe.
"We'll stay between those shelves," Selene said, pointing to two large ones.
"So what will you do when you find the boy you're looking for?" Selene asked after they sat down on the books littering the floor.
"I don't know yet," Elian admitted after some thought. "This is all still very... new and strange to me. I guess I'll figure it out as I go."
"Fair enough."
Elian leaned against the shelf and allowed himself to doze off for a bit. He imagined he was back in Destitropolis with his mother and sister eating dinner, but his happy dreams were interrupted when a loud screech set his heart pounding.
He opened his eyes and jumped to his feet. In front of him, Selene was tense and wide-eyed. The screech came again and even closer.
"Beakstorm Reapers," They said at the same time. And then the air was pierced by a scream of terror. One of them was in the library.
"They're here," Selene hissed, her head whipping around. "Let's run this way."
Elian grabbed her arm. "Didn't you hear the scream?"
"I did, but-"
"Someone is in here. We can help them."
"No, Elian," Selene insisted. "It's too dangerous..."
But Elian was already sprinting towards the direction of the scream. Selene hesitated, torn between saving herself and helping Elian and whoever was out there.
"Dumb fool," She cursed and went off after Elian.
Her heart pounded as she jumped over broken shelves, chairs and desks, hoping to reach him before he did anything stupid like sacrificing himself. Then suddenly, she stopped running.
In the middle of the library's front room stood Elian. He was frozen, his eyes fixed on one of the Beakstone Reapers.
Selene crouched, ready to attack, before she realized the bird's evil eyes were fixed on another boy wearing the forger's uniform: black overalls with gold stripes.
Something moved behind the forger as he stood before the bird. Selene saw it was a girl with white hair squatting and hiding her face. She must have been the one who screamed earlier, and the forger had stepped in to save her.
Selene and Elian remained frozen where they were. There was no need to intervene as the forger seemed to have everything under control.
"Come on, you bastard!" The boy hissed at the creature, who was slowly stalking him.
The creature, moving quickly, suddenly snapped its beak at him, inches from his face. But the boy was even quicker.
The forger dodged the bird's strike in a swift movement, almost too fast to follow with the eyes, causing it to screech out in frustration.
Elian gasped, admiring the forger's smooth and swift movement. But Selene's eyes were drawn to what the forger held in his hand.
A gun.
But not just any gun.
It was long, slender, and unique. She had never seen such a weapon before, and as a bounty hunter, she had seen all sorts of weapons in the realm. She couldn't help but imagine all she could do with a perfect gun like that.
Both Selene and Elian were drawn to this forger for seemingly different reasons.
The forger, moving swiftly on his feet and unaware of the admirations, turned, and for the first time, they saw his face.
Selene and Elian gasped, both momentarily caught in shock.
"That's him!" They blurted at the same time.
Selene turned to Elian to be sure she heard him right, and her eyes widened.
"Is---Is he the boy in your dream?" She asked.
Elian nodded slowly. "Is he your bounty?
Selene nodded, then scoffed, slightly amused.
Zephyrion Luminoth. They were both searching for the same boy.
"What a fucking wild coincidence." Selene exhaled, but deep down, she knew it wasn't a coincidence. Something led her to Elian, and whatever it was had led them to Zephyrion.
As they watched, the bird charged at Zephyrion and Selene reached for her sword, ready to intervene.
Zephyrion ducked and fell to his knees, his gun aimed at the creature. He fired.
BANG!
The first bullet went through the creature's chest.
BANG!
The next bullet went through its eye. The bird reeled wildly and screeched, trashing its wing around in pain.
BANG!
The following three bullets pierced its head.
Spiralling downward, it fell dead at Zephyrion's feet.