The skies roared as it wept fire—the screams of fear and chaos—emanating from each corner of the city of Leran. The skies were blue, yet it rained fire as multiple ships fell from the skies.
Multiple soldiers armed with mechanized armor and energy rifles were seen everywhere—desperately trying to evacuate as many citizens as they could, along with massive cargo ships stationed nearby, ready to board citizens for evacuation.
"Move! Keep moving everyone! Get to the ships!" a soldier screamed as he waved his arms and beckoned the citizens towards the cargo ships.
A mother clutching to what seemed to be her baby, with eyes of fear, approached the soldier "Please sir, I can't seem to find my husband!"
"We don't have time to help you ma'am! If we don't get these citizens out of here, all of us will die—or worse, be enslaved by the Zera—!"
The soldier's words were interrupted—a thunderous explosion erupted from the skies, sending shockwaves to the ground and rattling the nearby buildings. A colossal ship ornate with gold and crimson pierced through the clouds and appeared above the city.
It's looming shadow almost covered everything that was beneath—despair and terror.
"T-They're here!" screamed a civilian pointing towards the sky—arms shaking.
Panic ensued as citizens started rushing towards the cargo ships—the screams of panic and terror filled the surroundings to the point that it was deafening. It was like a sea of chaos, it's waves crashing against each other—a torrent of doom and desperation.
Amidst this chaos, a group of orphaned children stood at the center of it all, led by a boy named Jinn. With no guardian, these children were at the middle of this chaos-driven torrent as the desperate citizens pushed, trampled, and ran towards the ships.
"Everyone! Stay together and do not let go of each other's arms!" shouted Jinn as seven other children nodded in response and followed his order while they continued to walk towards a nearby cargo ship, their arms interlinked while the crowd of desperate citizens pressed around them.
As the crowd surged more intensely, the small bodies were pushed and shoved around as they try to reach the cargo ships before another thunderous and deafening roar came from the Zeraf's colossal ship.
Jinn looked up, his heart started to pound, and saw the massive ship glowing menacingly red. He then sees multiple hatches at the side of the ship opening slowly before it made a terrifying sound that sent chills down his spine.
A panic inducing sound—terrifying, like a horn—It then released multiple drop ships from the open hatches—like a swarm, these dropships descended, almost covering the skies.
"They're making landfall…" whispered Jinn, his voice drowned by the sound of chaos, despair started to drip into his words.
One of the soldiers—terrified—ran inside one of the cargo ship Jinn and the other children were going to.
"C-Close the ship! We must now escape! The Zeraf are upon us—multiple dropships are making landfall!" The soldier's voice stammering as he fumbled while talking on his radio.
With a slow and steady whirring, the massive door of the Cargo ship where Jinn and his group were trying to enter started to close.
"W-Wait! There are still a lot of us outside!" screamed a desperate citizen as they tried to enter the cargo ship before it completely sealed them all off.
"N-No! What are they doing!?"
"Help us!!"
One by one, the doors of every cargo ship started to completely close off, removing any chance for further citizens to board.
Despite this, people still tried to enter the cargo ships—belongings be damned—they pushed and climbed over those who had stumbled just to get inside one of the cargo ships that were not fully closed, panic and fear evident on their faces.
The engines of drop ships roared as they made landfall upon the cities, soldiers with artillery tried to mount a defense but were swiftly dispatched as the soldiers of the Zeraf at the side of the dropships dropped down and swiftly eliminated the soldiers with brutal efficiency.
Their blades shimmered with a hue of blue as the blood of the Rinari soldiers dripped down their blades, staining the ground.
"T-They're here!" exclaimed a citizen.
Civilians scattered and ran for their lives as the cargo ships left one by one. Thunderous sounds of cannons being shot by the Zeraf soldiers caught some of the cargo ships mid-flight causing them to crash into a fiery demise.
Jinn and the seven other children he is accompanying wasted no time and fled the scene to hide inside a nearby ruined building.
"W-What do we do now Jinn!?" asked Kain, fear evident in his voice.
"One thing's for sure… this city is a lost cause," whispered Jinn as he inspected the nearby surroundings by peering unto a broken window—the streets, filled with Rinari soldiers trying to fight the soldiers of the Zeraf.
The youngest of the group, Ophelia brought up an idea, placing her hand on Jinn's shoulder.
"Jinn… I think we should head towards one of the gates so we can escape to the forest of Vezina, what do you think?"
"F-Forest of Vezina? Are you serious? That's literally a death sentence!" replied Kain.
"Or we could all die here, that's great too," Verhedyn shrugging sarcastically.
Vox adjusted his glasses—despite being already broken—before speaking.
"The question is…what gate?" he paused for a brief moment before continuing, "The north gate is where most of our city's soldiers are, the south …is where th—"
"Little Rats!"
Vox unable to complete what he was trying to say before a soldier of Zeraf caught them and stormed through the ruined building, the wooden door crashing down.
"Shit!" exclaimed Jinn, "Run!"
The group ran almost instantaneously as soon as they heard Jinn, yet one member got caught by the soldier.
Nevi was caught, the soldier yanking her back before she could take a step forward.
"Nevi!!" exclaimed Kain as he looked back while he was running
"Go! We'll catch up afterwards!" Exclaimed Jinn as he rushed back to retrieve Nevi, grabbing a metal pile that was on the ground.
"L-Let me go!" screamed Nevi as she repeatedly hits the soldier's armor with all her strength—desperation evident on her face.
"Why even bother…" the soldier sighed before raising his energy pistol and aiming it at Nevi's head, "The battlemaster won't notice a little squirt like you disappearing"
Nevi—still hitting the soldier, screamed, "HELP ME!!!"
"Duck!" shouted Jinn, which made Nevi to duck just in time before a metal pipe hit the soldier's hand which was holding the energy pistol.
The metal pipe wasn't enough to disarm the soldier but was sufficient enough to be a distraction that allowed Jinn to close in the gap.
"Damned brat!" exclaimed the soldier as he aims his pistol towards Jinn—the pistol already whirring.
Unbeknownst to the soldier, his grip on Nevi loosened allowing her to shove the arm holding the gun, upwards. The shot fired—but due to Nevi's actions, it completely missed Jinn.
Using this opportunity, Jinn snatched one of the soldier's pocket knives attached to the soldier's leg.
"Take this, bastard!"
With a quick and swift motion, he stabbed it into the soldier's thigh to which hardly made the soldier flinch.
The soldiers of Zerafhon are known to be battle hardened soldiers so it was no surprise to Jinn that his stab created almost no reaction to the soldier.
Despite this, it had bought enough time for Nevi to grab and fuse one of her home-made bombs.
Its mechanical clicks echoed before suddenly stopping to release a loud and instantaneous bang while also blanketed the area with a thick green mist.
"Shit!" exclaimed the soldier as he fired his energy pistol blindly into the smoke—all shots missed, allowing Nevi and Jinn to escape the area.
"Nice one Nevi!" remarked Jinn as he raises his arm and beckoned Nevi to ran away from the area
"Thanks Jinn! I thought I was dead for sure!" Nevi grinned, flashing a thumbs-up as they both ran and head towards the direction where they last saw the other children.
They continued to run until Jinn noticed something estranged. The air felt strange—too quiet.
No shouting, no screaming, and no chaos which was evident earlier. The suffocating and ominous silence crawled creepily on Jinn's senses—still, they moved on.
They finally reached the location where they last saw the children. But instead of finding their comrades, a grim scene unfolded before them. Citizens were rounded up in a circle-like formation with multiple soldiers surrounding them.
"S-Shit…!" muttered Jinn as the sight shocked him to his core. Among the citizens were his friends—his family—trapped and left to the faith of the soldiers
Jinn's face sank. He turned to Nevi, his voice tightened "Nevi, we sh—"
But before he could finish his words, he faltered as the sight unfolded upon his very eyes. A sight that sent chills down his spine and froze the blood which coursed through him. Nevi—his childhood friend— laid in the middle of the street, her small body drenched as the pool of her blood continued to drown her.
The sight shattered Jinn. Despair, Anger, and Sadness coursed through his body, threatening to consume him.
He stumbles backwards
"H-How…?" Jinn muttered confusedly while gazing upon the body of Nevi. Before he could process as to how it happened, the soldier which he faced earlier on arrived with a rifle in hand, no doubt searching for him.
Jinn's instincts kicked in quickly, he hid under a pile of dead bodies of the Soldiers of Rinari, their bloodied flesh created a disgusting sound as Jinn dug deeper to hide himself—his eyes still in shock as he had trouble processing what happened to Nevi.
As he continued to hide from the soldier, he watched the scene happening in front of his eyes. The citizens of Leran being rounded up like cattle, and his friends among them—their fate rests upon the decision of a mysterious figure seemingly being hailed by the soldiers.
A woman emanating an aura of authority appeared in front of these citizens, her voice was powerful and commanded authority.
"Citizens of Leran, I Battlemaster Venedix of House Sorellia stand before you," Her voice powerful, "As of this moment, you are no longer free."
Murmurs mixed with cries began to ensue, yet Battlemaster Venedix continued.
"Your lives now belong to the dominion of House Sorellia—of the Empire of Zerafhon. You will serve. You will obey. Those who comply will be used and those who don't will be discarded," Her piercing gaze swept over the citizens.
"You may resist, you may struggle or you may fight," She unsheathes one of her swords and pierces it to the ground, "But know this, you're death will be swift"
One of the citizens screamed, "We'd rather die than become one of your slaves!" as he throws a rock towards Venedix—which she easily dodged.
"We all know what the Zerafhon do to slaves!" screamed another citizen, "We'd rather die than to be treated as toys and tools!" the citizen's expression mixed with fear and anger.
"Not everyone wants to die, you know! What an idiot!" muttered Verhedyn to himself, fear and anxiousness evident on his face.
Yet majority of the citizens were vocal on the choice of rather dying than to serve as slaves to the Zerafhon.
"Very well," Venedix sighed as she raised her hands—prompting the Zeraf soldiers to aim their rifles on the citizens. The mechanical sounds of the rifles hissed as they were ready to be shot.
"A-Are you serious!?" Ophelia exclaimed.
"Fire at Wi—" Before Venedix could give out the command, a sudden movement at the corner of her eye, caught her attention. Jinn with fury on his eyes, ran towards her with an energy sword in hand—to which he grabbed from the dead Rinari soldiers.
"YAAARGH!!" Jinn let out a battle cry, as he wielded an energy sword too heavy for him—dragging it and scraping it upon the ground whilst charging at Venedix with reckless abandon.
"J-Jinn!" Ophelia gasped as she watched Jinn in fear as he charged towards Vendix. She stepped forward, visibly shaking with tears upon her eyes, "N-No!"
"How Peculiar…" murmured Venedix as her eyes narrowed with a cold gaze.
With a fluid and practiced motion, she unsheathes her swords.
Jinn's grip on the sword tightened as he grew closer to Venedix. Each step was heavy as he dragged the heavy sword until he reached striking range.
"Hup!" catching his breath, Jinn swung the heavy sword towards Venedix with all the might he could muster. The force and momentum of his swing made him off-balance, causing him to stumble.
Venedix turns her body slightly and effortlessly dodges the incredibly slow swing—at least by her standards.
"Mhm." In response, Venedix then turns her body and swiftly kicks Jinn on his stomach—the force strong enough to send Jinn flying towards the citizens.
"Argh!"
With a loud thud, Jinn crashed towards the frightened citizens, his body tumbling across the ground.
"J-Jinn!" a collective gasp as the several children to which knew him, ran towards him and helped him up.
Kain, with tears running down his eyes, held Jinn's shoulders "J-Jinn, are you okay!?"
Jinn coughed and struggled to breathe momentarily before he caught his breath and stood up. His voice was rough as he wiped the blood off from his mouth "What do you think?"
"Kid, what are you doing!?" shouted a citizen, fear and confusion evident on their voice.
Jinn faced the citizen with a piercing gaze, "Just trying to save my friends"
"Save…you say?" Venedix cross her arms, Her tone mixed with curiosity "And how would you do that exactly?"
Multiple soldiers laughed at the idea of Jinn even trying to save a single soul—unbeknownst to them, Jinn had an Idea.
He looked at his friends briefly before standing up to walk towards the Battlemaster—his small frame standing between the citizens behind him and Venedix.
"For Nevi…" Jinn muttered as he closed his eyes momentarily—He then steeled himself before shouting.
"I request a duel!"