Riven stared at the town, jaw tight, eyes restless. The others watched him, ready to go after him if he left. His horse shifted beneath him, uneasy—mirroring its rider. He kept one hand on his sword while the other shook from time to time.
Nothing had happened yet. The world was still whole. But something in the air—it felt like a breath being held. Like the earth itself was waiting to scream.
Riven knew that he couldn't risk disobeying orders, as that could lead to being sentenced to death—but with each second that passed, he cared less and less whether he would live or not.
Sir Gareth didn't discourage them, because he himself wanted to save each and every citizen. He hated being on the sidelines the most, yet he was the one who gave the order. He knew the danger and made a rational decision—one that he might regret, but not as much as losing another unit.
Then it happened, the ground shook violently.
Riven looked as if he was woken up from a trance. His gaze turned sharp and focused. Before the others even realized what was happening, Riven had already left.
Percival was the second to leave. Roger and Nicolaus went soon after. Sir Gareth watched as their horses distanced themselves further and further from him. He shook his head as if disapproving of their actions—but beneath his helm, he was smiling, his grin stretching from ear to ear.
His new unit didn't disappoint.
Now all he had to do was protect them.
The ground shook again. This time, the tremors almost knocked Riven off his horse. He tightened his grip on the reins before bidding his horse to speed up. He couldn't stop—not now. He had to get there as soon as possible, and nothing would stop him.
"Riven, watch out!"
A shout came from behind him. He noticed the house in front of him collapsing—its stone wall heading straight for him. Pulling hard on the reins, Riven made his horse rapidly change direction, almost causing him to fall off again.
More and more houses were starting to fall apart around him. He evaded each and every one of them, mostly with the help of Percival, who was just a few paces behind him. His voice wasn't the usual calm that Riven was used to—but Riven had no time to even notice.
All he could think about was his parents.
He sped up once more, pushing the horse to its limits. Its breathing was uneven and heavy—it seemed that it would collapse any second, but it didn't. It couldn't.
He was still too far away.
What if something happened because he couldn't get there fast enough?
Then the ground shook again.
And again.
The earthquakes were getting more frequent as time went by. Whatever was coming was getting close. He had even less time than he thought.
"To your right!"
Riven heard the voice and looked to his right. A large chimney was making its way through the air toward him.
Percival was not too far behind. He made his way through the rubble toward Riven. People were screaming all around him—some were already dead, crushed under their own homes. The sight of death made Percival's stomach turn. He wished he didn't have to leave these people to their fates, but he had already made up his mind to help Riven.
In the state he was in, Riven would die sooner rather than later without help.
Just as he thought that, he noticed something flying toward Riven from his right. He called out to him, trying to warn him. His words left his mouth. Sweat dripped down his face. His eyebrows were raised, his eyes about to pop out of his head.
He was too late.
He watched as Riven turned his head, noticed the object, pulled on his reins—
But it was all too late.
The object flew straight through him.
Smoke and debris covered both him and his horse, obstructing Percival's vision.
He froze. The scene flashed before his eyes. His friend and companion had been crushed right in front of him.
He couldn't believe what he saw.
He shivered.
The air was suddenly much colder.
He jumped off his horse and ran toward Riven. The ground shook again. The debris covering Riven shifted, revealing his horse. The beautiful steed was just a mangled body, crushed by rubble. Blood was flowing everywhere, covering the rocks around it.
The view made Percival almost puke. He held it back and walked closer.
He dug through the rubble, looking for Riven. Then he heard the hooves of other horses behind him.
Roger and Nicolaus jumped off their horses simultaneously. They rushed toward Percival, not knowing what happened. When they got close enough, they noticed Riven's horse—crushed, mangled, almost unrecognizable. They slowed their steps, eventually turning into a slow walk before stopping, trying to comprehend what had happened.
Percival didn't stop digging. He screamed, "Riven! Please be alive… Your parents are still out there, they need help… We need help… Whatever's coming is too much to handle for us—we need you."
He moved rocks both big and small, hoping to see his friend's face. His tears slowly fell and hit the stones below him.
When Roger and Nicolaus heard Percival's cry, they snapped out of their daze and ran toward him, helping him dig. They all shouted and pleaded for Riven to be alive.
But as the rocks parted, they revealed nothing.
Riven was nowhere to be found. There was only the grey-green grass below the pile of debris.
Sir Gareth finally caught up to them and shouted, "What are you all doing?! Move! Riven's out there looking for his parents—we can't waste time!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he noticed the dead horse. Fear clawed its way around his heart, clenching his soul and spirit. For a moment, he couldn't breathe.
The deaths of his previous units flashed before his eyes.
He lowered his head and said in a low voice, "Come. His parents are probably still out there. The least we can do is try to save them. Let's also hope that Unit 48 is somewhere out there as well."
Riven was covered in bruises, his body bloodied. He had already let go of most of his armor. He was on foot, making his way toward his old house. His feet were almost crushed by the flying chimney.
In a split life-or-death moment before impact, he decided to leave his horse and be the one to survive. He swung one of his legs to the other side, combining the movement with a spin to turn his body around. He pressed both of his feet against his horse's body and pushed himself off as strongly as possible.
The oncoming chimney grazed his feet before crushing his horse and raising a cloud of smoke.
Riven landed against a half-destroyed wall. The impact knocked the air out of him. He stood up as fast as he could and started walking. Noticing that his foot was hurt and his strength fading, he loosened his armor and threw away a few heavy pieces.
He continued his journey before finally making it to his house. His steps were varied—sometimes he looked as if he were limping—but he reached his front door anyway.
The ground shook beneath him again—and with it, the house. It wouldn't last much longer.
He kicked open the door and shouted, "Mom! Dad! Please tell me that you're here!"
Not getting a response, he walked through the kitchen. Memories flooded his mind—some of which felt... different. Like they weren't his. The people weren't his parents.
He shook these weird memories off, along with the odd, gut-wrenching feeling, and continued walking through the house.
The ground shook again.
He reached the door to his room, as another wave of feelings and memories reached him. Once again, the alien thought that seemed to belong to someone else assaulted his mind...
'Astel.'
His ears rang. The pain overwhelmed him as he fell to his knees, putting his hands over his ears. He lowered his head to the ground, squirming in the pain.
And then—it disappeared.
The alien feelings were gone, along with the high-pitched ringing.
Shaking his head, he walked out of his room and continued down the short hall. Opening the door to his parents' room, he hoped to see them—but there was no one. The house was empty.
Then another wave of memories assaulted his mind. They weren't his—he was sure of it. But why did they feel so familiar?
His mind strained itself to keep him from collapsing. The pain was building.
Then the ground shook again—and an unfamiliar pressure assaulted him out of nowhere, easily overpowering the pain in his head.
He screamed while holding his head. It felt as if his entire existence was being unwrapped from the outside, while his mind was still being assaulted from the inside.
Tears involuntarily streamed from his eyes. His body was both burning and freezing. He was in torturous pain and yet in numb indifference to it.
But one thing remained—
Until it didn't.
His mind was finally free of pain. In a moment of desperation, he managed to take control of his mind and remove anything that wasn't vitally important to him. He felt as if he had done this before, even though he never had.
The unexpected clarity allowed him to finally focus on his surroundings.
He walked to the window amidst the pressure, stumbling along the way. When he looked out, he couldn't believe his eyes.
The sky was split open.
No—cracked open.
It looked like Verdglas. Shards of ethereal glass fell from the sky, disappearing before they reached the ground. Some fell slowly. Some didn't fall at all. Some even floated up.
The bright sunlight reflected off each shard, creating a beautiful spectacle.
He couldn't help but be enamored by it.
But the most beautiful was inside the crack.
It looked like a gate—crossing out into the universe. Simply gazing at it caused him agonizing pain.
Yet he couldn't stop.
It was simply too mesmerizing.