His legs ached. His lungs burned. His vision swam.
But the boy didn't stop.
His steps didn't falter.
Due to exhaustion, His cheeks had become hollow, his ribs pressed against paper-thin skin—but his eyes… his eyes still carried a glint of something unnatural. Something else.
But now Yuviel wandered the moors of Aqyski, far from Caspuyl, farther still from safety. He lived only on scraps of knowledge his father had taught him—fragments of wisdom about Aqyski's stubborn flora and skittish fauna.
But the moors offered little more than grass. Endless grass. And now his knees buckled.
He collapsed.
Sprawled across the plain, his sapphire eyes locked onto the sky above.
The blue, powerful sun of Aqyski began to rise, cold and radiant, while the three moons—Nesepir, Ayim, and Hecan—faded into morning's pale veil.
Resting meant dying.
He knew that. Those sky monsters would already be on his trail behind him.
He groaned, hissed through his teeth, and pushed himself upright once more.
The wind danced through his hair. His locket swung freely against his chest.
He caught it—his fingers trembling—and curled it into his palm.
It had belonged to his mother. It was tied around her, her corpse, he left her there, He killed her.
Yuviel dropped to his knees again, the weight of it all crashing through him. Tears slipped down his dirt-streaked cheeks. He sobbed quietly, as if the world might hear. It had become a habit.
He pressed the pendant to his chest like it could hold him together.
"M-Mom, I-I don't want to die, to die," the voice came out fragmented, weak. His bruised lips quivered.
Only a few hours ago, they were celebrating the day of conception. Everyone was thrilled. After 3 years, he could have become a sheep herder like his father. But those monsters of metal who came from the sky destroyed everything in their wake. All that was left was he and this lifeless pendant that dangled from his neck.
After a few moments, He wiped away his tears and inhaled. Again, continuing his journey.
"Water"
His eyes roamed over the mountains that were scattered across this place. If he could find some water, it could only be here. He wandered along the mountain in search of a waterfall. His mind skimmed through all those memories, when that happened, how his whole village was engulfed in flames, and he was safe. But only the fluttering feeling of those sensations came to him; he felt the guilt that he was saved and his mother wasn't, and they also murdered his father. He felt like breaking up again and felt like giving up, but then Tasha's face flashed over his mind, and he realized she was still probably safe and wasn't in the village. But she was also badly injured. Every single person he knew who left Tasha died in the fire.
He wept again, but kept walking. If there was still a chance that Tasha was alive, he must put in the effort.
His ears caught the dripping of water.
Like a lively child, he had forgotten he was; his face lit up, he followed the sound, and saw a small stream of water pouring down the name of a waterfall.
But he was happy with whatever he got; he gobbled up mouthfuls of water, he felt life in his body again, and fuzziness in his mind cleared away. After cleansing his face with water, he felt he could see his situation in a better light. He stretched his legs and took off his shoes. The water felt nice on his aching feet.
Now, he noticed the things he had disregarded amid confusion, and he took off the cloth that Tasha had tied around his hand. He knew it; the pain had gone away way before, and the wound was completely healed.
The skin was intact, his bone was like before, not even a scar; he had thought he would lose that hand when he first saw it, but now it was like he had never been hurt there. Now he caught on, when the guard had kicked him, punched him bloody, he had felt his ribs broken, but he was alright now. The thing puzzled him the more he thought about it.
He gave up on the thought and tried to submerge into the sensation of water kissing his feet. He tried to relax, but an uneasy feeling kept knocking at his conscience to keep alert.
Then he heard it.
The same tunneling roar, the same whirling of balls, he rushed to his feet, didn't care about wearing the shoes, he ran on the grass, he was late, too late. Their flying carrier was already hovering over the ground, they must have landed.
Run
RUN
"Ah!"
A shock touched every part of his being, vibrations all over his organs,he sprawled on the ground, paralysed, his mouth touching the grass, wheezing.
"Ughh," A guttural scream escaped his throat.
"How was it, chimp? Did you like the taste of tranquiliser, oh wait, you wouldn't even know what that is..ahahahah" it laughed maniacally.
Yuviel tried to turn his head, but all he got was pain and a view of his legs; he was wearing a similar white armor to the bulky gold-skinned armor.
"Sir, Admin, I got the chimp, ah yes, I didn't kill him, Trust me, c'mon." He punctuated with his laugh.
It was when the man started dragging him that Yuviel saw his face; this one had a disgusting, weird face. Similar to that of an insect.
Yuviel kept trying to get out of his hold but failed miserably; his body was petrified. The similar sensations that he felt in the town hall started coming over him. The feeling of surreal, the feeling of ascendance.
"Pretty far from the capital, enforcer."
An echoed voice came from the top of that stream. As still as the silent sea, A man stood atop, draped in a black jacket, swaying in the wind. Yuviel wasn't able to figure out the shape. He was wearing some type of headgear. It shone crimson in the sunlight.
"Let the boy be, and be on your way."