Zolli stared, frozen.. her legs no longer trembling, her body no longer shaking. She just... stood there. Silent. Still. Her emerald eyes stared at nothing and everything at once, filled with tears but not blinking. The violent wind passed over her, harsh and untamed like a force from something large and unseen.
She wasn't breathing.
Not properly, not fully.
Her chest rose slowly, hesitantly, as if afraid that taking in too much air would make the nightmare feel real.
She had stopped running just for a moment, just to catch her thoughts. But now.. her thoughts were a whirlwind.
Is this truly happening...?
Her lips parted, but no words came.
Her fists clenched at her sides.
Is this real...? Is this what they call a nightmare...?
No. No… if it's a nightmare, why does my chest hurt so much? Why is Yai Lu shaking in my arms like he's about to disappear...?
Her eyes, wide with disbelief, stared ahead.. into the trees, into the void, into the blood-soaked night where the moon hung too low, too red, too silent. She wanted to scream, curse the moon itself for shining. For watching. For laughing.
But as of that moment
Growl…
A low, dragging sound rumbled from the shadows between the trees.
Growl… Growl...
It echoed from all sides, as if the woods themselves were breathing. The air around them shifted.. no wind this time, just the scent of copper, rot, and something wet, something alive.
Yai Lu trembled in her arms. His tiny fingers grasped her robe, knuckles pale and stiff.
"E-Elder Sister Zolli…" he whispered in a voice that cracked like a twig beneath a boot. "I'm sc… scared… I want to see Mom and... d.. Dad!"
Zolli blinked, snapped from her daze. She looked down at him.. at his teary, dirt-smudged face, his cheeks streaked with blood that wasn't his, and those big brown eyes that mirrored their father's warmth now smeared with fear.
She pressed him tightly against her chest, cradling his head gently with one hand and placing her palm over his eyes with the other. Her hand trembled as she stroked the back of his head.
"I know, I know... It's okay, Yai Lu. I'm here. I'm right here, we'll see them soon, very soon.." she whispered, her voice barely holding together, like cracked glass. "Don't look. Just don't look, okay? Everything will be alright. I'll protect you, always… before we meet them.. Alright"
Her legs moved again.
She began to run.. again.
Her feet, bare and bruised from earlier stumbles, slapped against the wet soil and crushed the withered leaves beneath them. Her breath was shallow. Her heart? It thundered louder than the growls behind her.
Everywhere she turned.. there was blood.
Scarlet trails slashed across trees. Limbs lay half-buried in grass. Flesh stuck to bark like wet paper. Clumps of hair, torn cloth, bits of bone, and something... something that looked like part of a face… they were all scattered like discarded toys from a cruel child's playtime.
The stench was unbearable.
Zolli's body quivered, but she kept running. One arm clutching her brother, the other shielding his eyes. He whimpered against her shoulder.
I can't stop here, she told herself. I can't stop or they'll catch us too.
But her legs were growing weaker.
Each breath she took scraped against her lungs. The forest seemed endless.. each tree twisted in shape, each shadow darker than the last. Her mind raced.
There has to be somewhere. There has to be..
Then she saw it.
A wooden structure, its door sunken into the ground like the entrance to an old root cellar. It was small, partially hidden behind a dying bush and half-covered by dirt. The old wooden frame was weathered and cracked, but still intact.. untouched by the horrors above.
Without thinking, Zolli ran to it.
She leaned close and placed Yai Lu carefully against the grass, just for a second. Her fingers reached for the handle.. testing it gently. The door creaked open. Dust puffed out, dry and bitter. She squinted inside. Pitch black. But it was quiet. Still.
Zolli quickly picked her brother back up and stepped down the wooden stairs into the underground small structure. She closed the door above them with a soft click. Darkness swallowed everything.
Everything was... silent.
No, not silent.
Yai Lu was crying.. softly, but constantly. Each hiccup a small tremor against her chest.
The space was small, barely enough for the two of them. The walls were made of rough, uneven planks. The air was thick, like it hadn't been breathed in years. Dust danced through the faint gaps in the wood. Her back rested against a wall, her arms coiled protectively around her brother.
"It's okay now," she whispered again, over and over. "It's okay. Everything will be alright... I promise…"
Outside, the nightmare did not rest.
Above them came the wails.. long, drawn-out screams of men, women, and children. The kind of screams that clawed into your bones and refused to leave. Then howls, guttural and sharp. Shrieks.. inhuman and filled with madness. The land was a stage of horror, and chaos its cruel orchestra.
The creatures laughed and roared.
Bodies were torn apart, homes crushed, dreams shattered.
And inside the underground room, Zolli's breath hitched as something dripped.
Plop.
A wet sound landed on her shoulder.
She didn't move at first. Her eyes widened.
Plop.
Again. On her hair.
Slowly, she reached up with shaking fingers. Her hand touched something warm and sticky.
Red..
Blood....
The blood seeped through the cracks above them, leaking through the wooden ceiling like the earth itself was bleeding.
Zolli closed her eyes.
The world above was collapsing.
And even the night itself could no longer bear witness to the carnage.
****
A single blade of light sliced through the darkness.
It pierced in from the top corner of the wooden underground structure hatch... narrow, faint, but enough to mark the coming of morning. The underground structure remained cloaked in shadow, dense and musty, with the scent of old timber, damp earth, and the lingering metallic trace of dried blood hovering in the air.
Zolli didn't move.
She sat still, knees drawn slightly up to her chest, her arms carefully wrapped around the fragile body of her little brother, Xu Yai Lu, who slept with his head tucked under her chin. His breath was soft, uneven, occasionally trembling, as though his body still remembered the horrors that had echoed outside through the night.
She had not slept.
Not even once.
Her eyes were sore and burning, lashes heavy as lead, but she hadn't let them shut. Each time they began to droop, she'd slap her own cheek, pinch the tender skin of her thigh, even bite her own wrist.. anything to stay awake. She couldn't afford to let her guard down. Not now. Not here. One sound, one mistake, one small cry could mean the end. And Yai Lu had cried for hours before exhaustion finally won over terror.
Zolli whispered down to him earlier, repeatedly, the same soft words like a chant, like a prayer, her voice trembling and dry: "It's alright, Yai Lu... It's alright... Elder Sister is here... I won't let anything happen... I swear..."
Her crimson robe was wrinkled, speckled with dried spots.. blood? Dirt? She couldn't even tell anymore. Her long jet-black hair, streaked with that faint silver on the right side, now clung to her face and shoulders with sweat. The underground air was thick, stale, almost suffocating. The small space made every breath feel like it was borrowed.
Above, the world had not quieted.
Though the night had passed, silence had not returned. And Zolli knew better. Just because the sun peeked over the horizon didn't mean safety had returned. The beasts, the twisted echoes of once-humans, might roam long after dawn. And others.. human or not, might be worse.
So she didn't move. She didn't trust the light.
But then.
Crunch.
A sound, soft yet sharp, like gravel shifting under boot.
Zolli froze. Her back tensed instantly, fingers tightening slightly over her brother's shoulder. Her emerald eyes widened. The sound wasn't from within. It was faint, distant... above them... someone was outside.
Another step. Then another.
Slow. Measured. Too careful to be a beast. It was the sound of discipline. Of weapons shifting. Of humans.
And still.. Zolli didn't move.
Not an inch.
She pressed Yai Lu closer, her hand slowly moving to cover his mouth in case he stirred or whimpered in his sleep.
Then, aboveground...
The mountainside was hushed in the bitter aftermath of destruction. The wind blew low and mournful, brushing over torn roofs and cracked stones. The air held a scent of smoke and rot, mingled with that unmistakable iron tang of spilled blood. Corpses had long cooled. The massacre left behind more than death... it left a stillness too unnatural, too stiff, as if even nature dared not touch this cursed place.
Footsteps approached. Boots crunched over broken structures and scattered bones.
Fourteen men stood in view.. soldiers. But not from this land. Their robes were dyed a dull grey-blue, the pattern on their sleeves marked them as warriors from the southern border provinces. Steel pauldrons gleamed beneath the soft sunlight. But the man at their center stood out the most... taller, broader, his posture too upright, his steps too steady.
A badge hung from the left of his chest.. etched with a sharp crest: a serpent curled around like broken wheel but it bite it's tail..
The captain.
His dark grey eyes scanned the wasteland before him without flinching. They took in the mangled limbs, the dried trails of blood, and the collapsed homes with cold, emotionless gaze.
"Tch," he scoffed under his breath, arms folding behind him. "This mountainside wasn't spared either. Still reeking of the plague. What a damnable streak of misfortune."
The younger soldier beside him adjusted his belt and gave a nod, his face paler. "Yes, Captain. It seems their luck wasn't as good as the other clans we passed. No one here escaped the rot."
The captain turned his head slightly.
"Wu Pang," he said, voice calm but weighty.
The soldier beside him stiffened immediately and bowed, "Yes, Captain."
"Gather the remaining men. Search every home, every hole. Burn the bodies. Kill any surviving adults. Take the children, if any remain. Just as the Prophet ordered."
"Yes, Captain."
Wu Pang straightened and called out to the others, his voice echoing down the quiet ruins. The soldiers fanned out, moving with practiced motions.. swords drawn, boots crunching against gravel and debris. The method was clinical, rehearsed, like they had done this before. Too many times.
Time passed. The sky brightened to a muted afternoon hue, yet none of the soldiers returned with survivors.
Eventually, Wu Pang came back, breath short but steady, his face grim. He cupped his fist and bowed once more.
"Captain. We searched every home. Every shelter we could find... there are no survivors."
The captain's brows twitched only slightly. He gazed toward the town's edge, where smoke still whispered from the charred remnants of a house. His jaw clenched once.
"You're sure?"
Wu Pang nodded firmly. "Not even a cry, sir."
Silence.
The captain looked down at the blood-soaked soil. His voice, when it came, was quiet. Detached.
"Hmph... Then maybe fate never wanted this clan's existence."
He turned away, his cloak fluttering softly as he walked.
"Gather the men," he called behind him. "We leave before evening. You all know how hard the night gets in these cursed lands."
And with that, they began to vanish, like ghosts swallowing the light with them.
Unknowing.
Just beneath their feet, under broken boards and forgotten dirt.. two breaths remained.
Fragile.
And alive.