The afternoon in Valeris smelled of hot asphalt and bus exhaust. In front of the school, parents waited on the sidewalk with the quiet impatience of every Friday.
Among them stood Aren Nytherion and Elena Nytherion, beside their car.
Elena was watching the school gate.
— There he is.
A boy came running out among the other children.
Kaelion.
— Mom! Dad!
He ran straight to them. Elena crouched down and held him first.
— How was school today?
— Really good!
Aren smiled and ruffled his son's hair lightly.
— All that energy can only mean something happened.
Kaelion held up a piece of paper he'd been carrying carefully.
— Look!
It was a school certificate.
— I won the race today!
Elena smiled with pride.
— I knew you would.
Aren took the certificate for a moment and read it quickly.
— First place… well done, Kael.
He handed it back to his son.
— Ready to go get Lira?
Kaelion's eyes lit up.
— I'm going to show her this!
Elena opened the rear door.
— Come on, champ. Get in.
Kaelion climbed in quickly and sat down, still holding the certificate. Elena leaned inside and pulled the seatbelt across him.
— Hold still a second.
She clicked it into place.
— Always with the seatbelt, right?
Kaelion nodded.
— I know, Mom.
Elena closed the door. Aren got in the driver's seat while she sat beside him. He started the car and adjusted the rearview mirror to see his son in the back.
Kaelion was still looking proudly at the certificate.
— Lira's going to be so impressed when I show her this.
Aren smiled.
— I'm sure she will.
The car pulled away from the school and onto the main road. Valeris was full of life at that hour of the afternoon.
A few blocks ahead, a construction site rose where a new building was going up. Steel rods jutted upward near the road.
In the back seat, Kaelion was still animated.
— I almost lost the race, but then I ran faster than everyone else!
Elena laughed.
— I don't doubt it.
That was when it happened.
A car came out of a side street. Too fast.
Aren had half a second to see the other driver through the glass — unfocused eyes, a heavy head — before he wrenched the wheel hard.
— Watch out!
The impact came like an explosion. Metal against metal.
The Nytherion car was struck with full force and hurled off the road. It spun violently and was thrown into the construction site.
The vehicle hit the steel rods. The bars went through the car like spears. Glass exploded. Metal tore through metal.
Then—
silence.
The ringing still echoed inside Kaelion's head. For a few seconds he couldn't understand what had happened.
Then the pain began to come.
First his head. Something hot and heavy throbbed behind his right ear, as if someone were pressing on his skull from the inside.
Instinctively he tried to raise his hand to touch it. But the moment he lifted his arm, another pain shot through his shoulder and down his back.
— ah…
Even so, he reached up and touched the side of his head. Something warm was running down his forehead. When he pulled his hand away and looked at his fingers… he saw blood.
The seatbelt pressed tight against his chest. Breathing hurt too. Small pieces of glass were scattered across the seat. The smell of metal and construction dust filled the air.
That was when Kaelion noticed something directly in front of his face.
A steel rod had come through the car from the passenger side. The bar had gone through the front seat… through his mother's body… and continued toward the back.
The tip stopped just one centimeter from his head. So close he could see his own eye reflected in the metal. He blinked. The reflection blinked back.
If it had gone even slightly to one side… it would have gone through his skull. But it hadn't.
Kaelion stared at it for a few seconds. Confused. Frightened. He was still holding the school certificate in his hands.
Aren Nytherion was motionless. Another rod had gone through the seat and into his chest. Blood ran slowly down the steering wheel.
Elena Nytherion wasn't moving either. The rod that had passed through her body continued until it stopped just inches from her son. As if, even in that last moment… she had still placed herself between him and death.
— …Mom?
No answer.
— …Dad?
The silence inside the car felt too heavy. The certificate slipped from his hands. Kaelion didn't notice.
— Oh God!
— Someone call an ambulance!
— There's a child in here!
— …Mom?
He blinked several times. The pain in his chest got worse each time he breathed.
— Mom…?
The voice came out weak. Trembling.
— Dad…?
Nothing.
— Mom… answer me…
— Dad, wake up…
The first tear fell. Then another.
— Mom… please… talk to me…
A man forced the rear door open. With effort, it gave way. The cold air from the street came into the car.
— It's okay, son. We're going to get you out of there.
— No… my mom is in there…
— The parents—
— Please… — Kaelion was crying. — help my mom…
The man unclipped the seatbelt and lifted Kaelion into his arms. As soon as he was out of the destroyed car, Kaelion turned his head trying to look back inside.
— Mom…! Dad…!
— Easy… you're safe now.
Sirens appeared in the distance. Red and blue lights began to wash over the street.
The paramedics knelt in front of Kaelion.
— Hey, son… can you hear me?
Kaelion lifted his tear-filled eyes.
— My mom…
The paramedic followed the boy's gaze to the car. Then looked away.