They had barely escaped with their lives.
The night had left scars only the day could heal.
Just outside the town, they had entered a dense forest.
He - Leo's father - turned the wagon to the right, they were now on a path heading eastwards.
This got Leo worked up.
"Dad, why are we heading towards the mountains?
They're coming for us!" He asked with deep concern.
His eyes shook, his body was trembling, it was obvious he hadn't recovered from the night.
"They'll catch up to us!" He screamed while pointing at the horde that was fast approaching.
There was barely any space for slip up.
His father sighed.
"Watch your tone.
We're heading towards the mountains.
There's a route leading through the military's relay camp of the 4th sector.
That's the safest route, the main part is overrun with these critters" His father replied in a mild tone.
"He now raises his voice on me…" He couldn't help but ponder.
"Then sir, even Stallgate, Heirrah?" Moore cut into the conversation.
Leo's father shook his head.
"I doubt there's anywhere in this sector they didn't claw through…"
Moore teared up.
"Then uncle…" Moore said very softly.
Both Leo and Moore's fathers who sat at the front shook their heads softly.
"Such an unfortunate kid" Leo's dad thought, he truly pitied him.
Moore's heart sank.
He used his palms to cover his face.
The tears rolled down; he grieved uncontrollably.
Leo looked at him with downcast eyes, he had words to say but couldn't.
He knew, in times like this words could do more harm than good.
He decided to comfort him in his own way, so did Marcus.
***
The two boys finally put Moore to sleep.
They seemed to have questions to ask their fathers.
Leo went first.
"If these things are everywhere, how did you get here" he asked genuinely.
The shrieking of the critters was of no concern to him right now.
His father sighed once more.
He then began speaking .
"I think it was about 11 hours ago…" he said.
***
{11 hours ago}
A wagon was making it's way south.
A man sat at the front with a lit lamp in hand, guiding horses.
A woman sat at the back, with a child beside her inside the wagon were she was seated.
"Mom, I'm tired" The girl seated there said with a feint voice while looking at the woman.
"Don't worry sweet heart we'll soon be there.
How long till we get there Lorent!" The woman directed the question to the man in front.
"You're as impatient as ever Jennah.
And you take after her Leah" He scoffed.
"Oh don't tell me that Lorent, it's been over 8 hours since we passed through the third wall,
We've been on this journey
Surely we should be getting close now, shouldn't we?" Jennah asked sternly.
Lorent looked ahead.
He clicked his tongue, whipped the lead rope he held on his hand and the horses started galloping faster.
[Few minutes later, we got into the small town of Meere, one of the few towns situated in the main path along with Mjiomire.
The guards on duty let us through quite easily.
Something weird occured.
Water started falling from the sky…]
"Mom what's going on?
What is happening" Leah asked her mother.
The town was in a panic, the residents' murmurs could be heard from the wagon they were riding.
Many came out of their houses to see what was happening, all who did were confused.
That reaction was to be expected, Lorent himself was in immense confusion.
"What in the world…water from the sky?" He thought to himself.
"I remember now" Leah grinned.
"What do you remember?" Her mother asked her.
"We were taught this in history class, well our history teacher told us.
It's an event of the past!" she was still grinning while saying this to her mother.
"Since when did they start teaching this in history class.
So? What is it?" She interrogated her daughter.
"Ah, he did say to keep this secret...
It's it, it's rain!" Leah answered, as extended her tongue out to taste the rain.
Her mother stopped her from doing so due to fear of the unknown.
"Rain?
Never heard of it in my life" Lorent said at the front.
"Well, is it dangerous?" He asked Leah.
"I sure hope it isn't" He thought to himself while waiting for a response.
"Well is there?" Her mother followed up.
"If I'm remembering correctly,
Our instructor never told me anything about it's danger… or…did…he…" Leah held her chin in an effort to recall what he had told her.
"I see…
Well that was informative." quirkily said Lorent.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, she had remembered something.
"What is it?!" Lorent and Jennah said in unison.
"He said it can cause floods" Leah told them.
"Floods? what are those?" Lorent inquired.
"Well it's when…." Leah explained what she remembered.
[The rain came as a shock, that was a big enough problem as it was.
A flood wasn't going to be possible so soon according to Leah.
But with the rain, came no floods; only hordes]
The horses started panicking, and came to a halt.
[Neigh!!] They screamed.
"What's going on Lorent?" Jennah asked.
She held on to her daughter tightly due to the rigorous shaking.
"I'd be damned if I knew.
All of a sudden they just-
It's never happened before" Lorent replied.
The shake was so intense, nearly causing the lamp fall of from Lorent's hand.
He got down from the wagon.
("What's going on girls...
There, there…") Lorent whispered to the horses to soothe them.
[Soon enough we could see the cause.
Right ahead the path it stood.
It manifested out of thin air.
A giant beast much like these ones, only that it was way larger.
Just its existence was hard to believe, even more so what occurred next...]
[Shriek!!!] The beast shrieked.
[After the cry that could burst one's ears, they appeared out of thin air behind it;
these critters.
They stood there bloodthirsty, but didn't move an inch.]
At the sight of this creature all the hairs on Lorent's body stood erect.
Shivers went down his spine as he froze at first.
Recovering almost nearly immediately, he commandeered the wagon, turning it around.
They were headed straight for the entrance.
"Jennah, Leah, lay low!" He said.
They followed his instruction and lied inside the wagon.
"This day is going to shit" He thought.
Looking behind now, the beast was now facing the south.
"Would be nice if it went away" He hoped.
It roared once again, but this time something was different.
The beast began glowing red.
A bright light erupted from it's throat, emerging as a projectile.
It couldn't be stopped by anything, tearing through every building in it's path.
Buildings that were hit crumbled, the screams of people could be heard.
The beast started turning clockwise while still firing the projectile.
"What's that thing?" Jennah asked with an anxious tone.
Leah now held her mother tightly.
"Hell if I know,
If I know one thing is we need to get out of here"
Slowly but surely the beast was turning, it was a matter of time before it faced their direction.
They got through the towns boundaries, and diverted from the main path.
[ I headed east just like we are now.
Then we turned southwards, fleeing from the beam of light, we weren't going fast enough]
"Jennah, we need to lose some weight!" Lorent screamed.
The rain, wind, and sound of the screams from the town made it hard to communicate otherwise.
"What do we do!?" She queried.
"Throw away some cargo!" Lorent replied.
…
She was silent and frozen.
The beam was closing in, they were on uneven ground on an undefined path.
They weren't able to travel as fast as when they were on paved road.
The beam was now edging in on them.
"What are you waiting for!
Do it!" Lorent screamed in desperation.
Leah shook her mother snapping her out of it.
Jennah and Leah threw away multiple bags that were in the back, leaving only a few.
They were now beside the town, near the exit.
On passing it, Lorent was having an internal conflict.
"Can we outrun it's reach if we keep heading straight" He looked behind to check its reach.
"Guess that isn't a choice.
I'll place my bets on this...
I say choice, but it's our only option" Lorent took the gamble.
[ I decided to take another right, into to main path and out of it again.
The bet I took was that it would stop shooting the beam after one rotation, and it did.
After that the horde ravaged through the town, killing any survivors paying us no heed.
As for the he giant creature, it vanished into thin air.
After a while we were back on the main path, there was a town to the right at a far distance behind Meere- it was Heumreth.
A similar event happened.
Next it was the town behind that one, Jahil.
Then a small village to the right.
Flattening them made it easier to see what was going on.
That's when I realised, it was occurring in order of placement, from the last to the first.
This meant the coast was clear, but I couldn't risk it, so I went to the far east, taking the military route.
I met Kenneth on that same path, he was going to the empire, After explaining what was going on he joined us on the journey back.]
***
…"When we got to Mjiormire it was already…"
Leo's eyes reddened.
"So you mean…Mom, Hermes…" Leo whined, Tears rolled down his cheeks.
He grieved.
"I'm sorry Leo, I failed you all" Lorent's voice sounded hoarse.
"I promised you I'd never cry in front of the kids.
But I couldn't even protect you or the kids.
Forgive me…Claire" Lorent thought.
For the first time that day, he finally turned and looked at Leo.
Leo was startled.
His eyes were swollen and red.
He had cried from the moment he realised to the moment he confirmed.
"I'm sorry, I truly am" He cried in front of his son.