He wakes up to an intense burning sensation all around him. Swords clashed, and a flame swallowed his home.
In a panic, he scrambles to get out of bed—only for him to grab onto the searing-hot metal of the bed frame.
"Gh—! W-What's happening out there?"
As he wanders through the main hallway, coughing violently—breathing in and out the smoke—he looks out the window.
"—! It can't be…"
He goes silent in fear as he watches hundreds of knights slaughtering the village people. Everywhere he looked, bodies lay covered in blood; flames spanned across every house.
"Mother… Father… W-Where are they..?"
He begins advancing again through the hallway, but before reaching the end, he stops.
"No… There's no way…" he utters softly beneath his breath.
He covers his mouth with his hands in a panic, trying to stay calm.
A severed leg is what the boy saw. As he stands there, watching the blood drip from its end, he hears a scream.
"No! Please spare us! We'll give you anything. W-We have money.."
He tries to get a better look, but the smoke blocks his vision.
"No, "Lucian! Stay over there!" he hears from the other side of the smoke.
As he attempts to process the situation, he makes out footsteps, each step vibrating against his home's flaming walls and floors.
Suddenly, a hand reaches out to him, grabbing Lucian by his shirt and throwing him into his mother.
"Lucian! Are you okay?!" his mother sobs.
Holding him in her arms closely, she shields Lucian from the unknown man.
Lucian slowly opens his eyes, still shocked at what just occurred.
"M-Mother..?" he asks. "Yes, it's me, Luci-."
Then suddenly, they're both kicked into the wall behind them.
"Hhk—!" his mother cries out, agonizing from the pain she received.
Lucian glared at the man through the smoke.
The man, clad in dented and blackened armor, held a sword in his right hand.
After seeing this, Lucian knew a knight had also invaded their home.
"Where's father..?" he asks while his mother, panting from the lingering pain, is unable to answer.
"Mother! W-What's happening..?"
Lucian's eyes meet his mother's, and he regrets it.
He saw a face twisted in misery and, worse… someone who knew she was going to die.
She says teary-eyed, "Lucian, I want you to.. run. Run as far as you can."
Still confused, Lucian begins to sob and whine.
"Please… Lucian," his mother pleads, hoping to at least save her only son.
Lucian holds her tightly, never wanting to let go. It felt as if someone had sucked away his whole life in one moment.
With a sadistic smile, finally, the knight opens his mouth, "This always gets me riled up. A family in tears while I stand above them, laughing at their despair."
Lucian couldn't help but feel rage at those words, but he was powerless to do anything about it. It was hopeless.
There was nothing he could do.
"Oh… What's this?" The knight says with a lustful expression while looking at Lucian's mother.
Again, he comments, "Nice chest you have there, mother," mocking Lucian.
Lucian, filled with hatred, glares at the knight before suddenly, a figure walks out of the smoke.
The knight attempts to grab at his mother's chest, giving her an indecent smile as his arm reaches closer.
All of a sudden, he's grabbed by his waist and pushed.
"Shit—!" the knight yelps as he falls to the floor.
"Father!" Lucian yells, overjoyed and shocked at his father's survival.
He watches as his father slowly picks himself up—his arms shaking in agony.
Lucian's mother, slowly falling in and out of consciousness, unable to do anything but protect Lucian, watches.
Finally, Lucian has an ounce of hope of surviving this.
Until he remembers it.
The leg he saw previously—it must've been his father's. As Lucian inspects his father, he is indeed correct.
With a sword in hand and balancing on one leg, he exerts himself to protect his family.
"Honey… Lucian… Are you okay?" his father asks them.
Lucian replies, still sobbing, "W-We're okay, father, but-." The knight cuts off Lucian.
"Bitch.." He says, grunting while getting up from the floor.
"You dare attack the loyal knights of King William Dain!?" the knight yells while running, readying his sword to swing at Lucian's father.
"Watch out, father!" Lucian screams out.
His mother, still weakened, tries her best to cover Lucian's eyes.
However, it is too late.
In a heartbeat, Lucian watches as the sword pierces right through his father's heart, the blood quickly running down his chest and seeping into his dirtied shirt.
"—!"
Wide-eyed, Lucian watches his father fall on his hands and knees; all he can hear is the thump of his father hitting the floor.
The clashing of swords and the flames are still alive, yet that one sound drowns everything out.
"F-Father… Get up, Mother! Help Father!" he yells out, but his mother has fallen to the floor, unconscious.
The knight, with a sadistic glee on his face, aligns his sword above his father's neck.
"Take your mother.. and run, son.. please.. survive and live on.." his father mutters, but...
Lucian is too afraid.
Lucian is so afraid that he can't understand any word said to him by his father.
Blurry-eyed, Lucian witnesses his father's death before his own eyes.
With one fell swoop, the knight strikes his sword against his father's neck, and the Lucian watches as his father's head swiftly disconnects from his body.
His head plops to the floor, its thud becoming the loudest sound to Lucian.
Blood spills out tremendously, and the knight's sword becomes stained.
His father's dead body falls to the floor while the blood seeps below the cracks of the floor.
Meanwhile, Lucian's mother slowly wakes up and realizes what happened.
Lucian, still frozen in fear, is suddenly shaken.
"Lucian, we have to run! Get up!" his mother's voice yells raw and panicked.
He couldn't understand what she was saying. No words made sense to him.
His mind became overwhelmed by thoughts.
He's not dead… He can't be.
My father was strong. He wouldn't die…
He can't…
However, Lucian knew the truth deep down.
His father was gone.
All that lay before him was the empty husk of the man he admired the most.
In a panic, he's grabbed by his mother, yanking his hand so roughly he thought his arm would tear off.
The knight notices this and rushes towards them in a hurry, accidentally tripping over the sword Lucian's father had dropped.
"Get back here, you vermin!" the knight yells at them.
Lucian is brought back to reality when his mother suddenly slaps him across his right cheek.
Lucian felt its lingering sting.
"I love you, Luci… so run. Run to the forest and hide. I'll catch up later, okay?" his mother whispers lovingly.
Lucian knew it was a lie. Yet, all he could do was listen.
Before he has a chance to speak, he's quickly pushed outside the front door and locked outside.
"Wait, no!" Lucian screams out as he bangs non-stop on the door.
"Please open it, mother! Please! Don't… don't leave me alone.."
The banging stops.
It goes silent.
Not a scream, nor the clashing of swords.
A drop of rain falls upon his cheek, acting as a tear. But no tears were leaking from his eyes.
Lucian couldn't feel anything.
He looks down at his hands.
Lucian felt the warmth of his mother's blood, and the rain began to fall harder until all he could hear was its drumming.
Lucian knew it was over.
The happy life he once lived came to a sudden end, and whose fault was it?
"Who is to blame for this..?" he asked himself repeatedly.
Almost ritualistically.
"Hey, who is that!?"
Lucian quickly looks to his right and is startled by the sudden appearance of knights.
"Shit—!" Lucian mumbles.
Taking a deep breath, he quickly approaches the forest to escape the knights.
Thoughts were still running rampant in his head.
Who he had to blame for this was still unknown to him.
"Are they still following..?" he mutters as he slows down his walking, wanting to ensure it is safe.
Lucian stumbles on a rock, showing just how exhausted he came to be.
The adrenaline wore off, and all he could think was…
"I want to sleep.." he murmurs as he falls face-first onto the floor.
The earth was cold and hard. The exact opposite of where he was previously.
Just ahead was the forest, where his mother told him to run to and hide.
His mother wasn't coming, and he knew that deep down.
Yet, he still wanted to hope. Hope was all he had left.
He grabs at his aching stomach, and with a burning sensation piercing his core, he curls up into a ball.
"I'm so hungry.." he whispers to himself.
The bushes suddenly rustle up ahead.
He quickly opens his eyes and lifts his head, only to see a silhouette of armor contrasting against the darkness.
Lucian writhes to get up in anguish, but it is useless…
He can no longer stand.
With every second feeling an eternity, he watches as this person approaches him.
Lucian's eyes slowly blur as exhaustion finally drags him under.
As he feels the cold earth seep into his bones, he recalls the trauma he experienced earlier.
William Dain.
He screams the name into his soul.
With a face full of revenge and his vision fading, Lucian gives his last thought.
No matter where they are… no matter who they are…
I'll erase every trace of your existence.
My flames will consume everyone you love—just as you did with mine.