"i-isoma." Czar winced.
In his vision, the surroundings whirled and contorted, twisted images flashed in his head like a broken mirage. He clutched to Aliya whilst a sour, metallic taste flooded his mouth — his brain dizzying with every fleeting moment.
"Czar." Elira's voice broke the tangy silence, making Czar quiver as he dragged himself up, staggering.
He looked around him, chaos spiralled like dark waters. Houses tore apart like papers and mangled corpses littered the neighbourhood.
"W-what's happening. "
"Is this… is this an earthquake."
"That's impossible, that only happened in the past when humans lived on the wastelands."
"So what -"
The clamour rose to its peak. Everyone broke into confusion, caught on the web of cluttering disaster. And yet — a dangerous silence permeated the entire city. Czar took slow, uncalculated steps backwards, his back dripping with warm blood, he also turned. And what he saw…
"U-un-"
"Un…dead."
Cracked lips trembled, sighting a towering figure at the distant horizon. His back hit a wall, and that seemed to be the trigger for everything that followed. Hell broke out.
Another tremor ran across the earth, this one more intense than the last, sweeping Czar and Aliyah off their feet. His head banged the wall, his vision turning white, momentarily losing his hearing.
Gasping for breath, he struggled to his feet, pulling himself and Aliya back to their house. He saw his mother and Elira scrabbled, albeit sluggish and disoriented, which made his heart throb. Ava had a deep gash on her forehead, and Elira's left arm seemed to have fractured.
"Mum, Elira. "
"Are you okay? " Czar asked, rushing to meet their haggard figures.
"How's Aliyah. " Elira groaned, leaning on the piling debris to support herself.
"Got her. " Czar tucked his mum's arm over his neck, gently walking her away from the bricks and sharp bars just by the corner.
"Mum, we need to run. "
"The… the undead, I saw it. "
"What? Undead?" Ava's eyes widened. A suffocating silence coursed through her bones, leaving her transfixed.
"What about the military?" Elira asked, her eyes gleaming with the last shred of hope.
"I don't know. " Czar said amidst walking out of what remained of their old home.
"How's this even possible, aren't sky cities the ultimate creation of humanity. " Czar sputtered.
"The undead should still be in the-"
"Ahh!"
A thundering scream rang from the outside and Czar lost his footing, his mum falling face flat on the ground.
"Mum. " Panicking, he grabbed her.
The terrain was shaking even more and a soul-shattering wind struck the city, as it lay ruins in it wake.
Wisps of terror crawled on Czar's skin, seeing a rusty rod lacerate a pregnant mother, ripping her protruding belly apart. An agonizing scream gushed out of her throat, and an exposed bloodied blob twitched with life. Before she could see what she had been nesting for the past months though, the unforgiving wind came, slamming her on a rock. Her neck snapped in an unnatural position.
In another direction, space distorted as the gravitational force holding Ebonspire went amok. It mangled children like wet boots treading through deep mud. Men and women dashed for their lives, but they broke free not from the claws of the plaguing unmaking. And the undead? It remained motionless in the distant horizon. The colossal monstrosity blocked the crimson sun, painting the city in an inky nightmare.
"Ga-gather our forces." A burly man stammered, his legs trembling from the gyring horror.
"Contact the headquarters. " He followed with another command, blowing into his thumbs.
A sonorous whistle sliced through the air, and the atmosphere grew thicker like a quagmire. The man was clad in a grey military uniform, but beneath them, a tattoo on his chest slithered out of his body, transforming midair.
It was a wyvern.
Two metres long, a wingspan that stretched over a few feet. Its fiery scales glowed like embers, and its muscular limbs caved inward as it hovered above its rider.
"The military is here. " Czar sighed in relief, everyone did. The military was humanity's final hope after all.
Like a cascade, nine other military officers mirrored their lead. Wyverns of different attributes rose into the air, and the battered onlookers watched the soldiers mount their steeds with a leap.
"Do not engage, attend to those who need urgent help. Guard officers with healing prowess, prioritize women and babies. " The officer shrieked in one breath.
"Roger." His team saluted as they charged into different directions.
"Sir, there's a situation" The man brought out a radio.
" A sky city is collapsing. Ebonspire, Ebonspire-"
The officer tasked with contacting the base finished not; the radio transmission broke. Yet, before he could initiate another connection, the wind slammed into him. However, he manoeuvred midair regaining his balance. His hands clasped on the wyvern's rein.
"We need to use this moment to run." Ava gripped Czar. Elira nodded, peering at the comatose Aliya in her arms with a heavy heart.
The tremor went berserk, and they all felt it when the Sky City broke free from its cage, obeying the pull from the wastelands.
"Th-this." The leading officer stammered, watching Ebonspire plummet into the abyss.
"Brace yourself." He roared, his knuckles turning white from gripping his rein with all he got
The officers reacted, steering their wyverns on course. The civilians reacted as well, embracing chaos in its entirety. Anything from succumbing into the inevitable — anything. The short relief brought by seeing the military take action fell apart like wet parchment.
"Bastard, where do you think you're going."
"I don't want to die. "
"Please, someone please save my son"
Common sense lost its colours, desperation darkened, and so was despair.
"These lunatics. " An officer twisted his face, irritated. He dived, picking an unconscious woman before bolting towards one of the officers with healing prowess.
Too bad, just as he reached midway, he felt everything flashed before him and time came to an ultimate stop. Glancing downwards, he saw his separated lower limbs still clutched to his wyvern. His torso hanged midair, and then he plunged.
"H-how?" His thoughts faded. As he took his final breath, the last thing he saw was the beak of his wyvern splitting his head apart.
From the distance, Czar watched the officer — his mouth agape, lips unmoving. An eerie cold tore through his bones, and a warm liquid trickled down his wobbling legs.
"The undead. "
"He just made his first move."