Dust, ash, and smoke hung over the ruins of Warforge, curling into the dark sky filled with shining stars in the distance. The citadel had once been the pinnacle of technology and combat by training it's armies in a unique combat style that utilized magic weaponry. Warforge always had bustling streets lined with merchants' stalls, towers that touched the clouds, and its walls had never known defeat. The soldiers of Warforge were respected and feared throughout the empire for their strength and discipline. Now, silence reigned where life had thrived.
No walls stood unscarred; towers that had once clawed at the heavens were twisted into jagged spires, leaning like wounded giants. Streets that had thrummed with life now were empty, strewn with the blackened remains of a world that had vanished. The once heavily guarded gates now lay fallen, gaped like the jaws of some colossal beast.
Through the fallen gates, a group of four soldiers with a dark yellow sun banner raised could be seen off in the distance. The horses hooves could be heard faint at first, then gradually becoming closer as each second passed. As they approached the fallen citadel, the horses slowed and the riders got off.
As they entered the main square, halting at the center, no one spoke. Their eyes were scanning the damage done and observing the now destroyed citadel.
"Captain, what do we do now?" asked the young soldier holding the banner.
"Check for survivors and scout out the damage for clues." said the Captain.
"Do you really think there would be any survivors? Warforge is practically unrecognizable. They must've been ambushed by one of the Five Evil Armies if not more." said the burly soldier.
"It doesn't matter. We must do our duty given to us by the Emperor himself." replied the Captain.
"For crying out loud, can you just listen to the Captain without saying something you meathead? I'm going on ahead first. I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to. This place gives me the creeps." said the Vice-Captain.
As the Vice-Captain starts going off onto his own, the young soldier follows as a pair.
"Captain Orin, remind me again why you chose that annoying brat as your Vice? HOW DARE HE CALL ME A MEATHEAD. I'LL SHOW HIM ONCE WE FINISH THIS MISSION THAT RANK DOESN'T EQUAL STRENGTH." said the burly soldier.
"Gareth calm yourself. The mission comes first. Come and let us explore while looking for survivors." said Orin.
The two pairs split up and begin to explore the ruins of Warforge. The eeriness of the empty city left over kept everyone on edge, increasing the tension in the air.
After exploring for a bit, the young soldier noticed an explicit statue that remained intact throughout all of the destruction in underneath the center of the town hall. The statue towered over the plaza, carved from pale stone that had endured the wrath of destruction, yet retained an imposing grace. She stood poised in mid-stride, a long flowing cloak whipping around her as if caught in an eternal storm, a sword in one hand and pitch black shield made of obsidian in the other. Her expression was fierce, serene, and commanding all at once with her eyes gazing forward as though daring any who approached to challenge her. Even in stillness, the stone seemed alive, radiating a silent authority and the weight of countless battles fought in her name.
But what the young soldier's eyes couldn't help but notice was that there was a small rectangular piece of stone out of place at the base of the statue. The rectangular piece of stone looked like it was carved after the statue had been carved and was slightly tilted, as if someone had rushed to hide something in the base of the statue.
"Guys, come over here!" shouted the young soldier.
The others followed the sound of his voice and arrived at the base of the statue.
"Did you find something? Why did you call us over here Collin?" asked the Vice-Captain.
"I think I found something hidden underneath the base of the statue. But the stone piece is too heavy to pull out by myself so I called you guys over here to help." said Collin.
"Good thing you called me over here. If you didn't, you'd be stuck with Fenric's puny muscles wasting your time." said the burly soldier.
"If you put half the effort you put into strength training towards intelligence or charisma, maybe you would be the Vice-Captain instead of me, Baelin." retorted Fenric.
"Both of you be quiet now. We don't know what's hidden beneath the statue so we need to be careful and pull the stone out. Baelin and I will pull the stone. Fenric and Collin, be prepared in case a monster comes out and tries to attack us." ordered Orin.
Fenric unsheathed his longsword while Collin set up his crossbow aimed directly at the rock.
"Three, two, one, PULL" exclaimed Orin.
As Orin and Baelin pulled the stone out, the noise of scraping echoed throughout the empty hall.
Suddenly, a small noise could be heard in the base of the statue despite the loud scraping echoing. Fenric and Collin glanced at each other bewildered and in disbelief. Inside the small gap left behind by the stone beneath the statue, was a crying baby boy wrapped in makeshift leaves and wool. Unlike the rest of the citadel, the baby looked clean and healthy.
While the three others were still coming to their senses from the shock that a baby was the lone survivor of the tragedy left behind by some unknown evil, Orin calmly picked up the crying baby and started to walk back upstairs. Still in shock, the others followed him up the stairs, back to where their horses were. When they arrived back at their horses, Orin ripped a small piece of cloth from his cloak and tied it along his shoulder to place the baby in it. When he did this, the baby stopped crying and the citadel was back at it's original state that they found it in.
"How is this possible? What kind of baby could survive the terror that brought ruin to the fearsome Warforge?" asked Collin.
Nobody answered, as they were all deep in thought about what had just transpired.
As they climbed their horses, Orin answered "The last survivor of Warforge will be kept a secret. Only the Emperor shall know of the events that occurred today so do not spread any information. This child's life depends on it. We do not know who the enemy of Warforge is but rest assured, they did not purposefully leave this child alive."
With that, they rode off into the distance back towards where they came from, leaving the Warforge citadel in it's ruins.