Year 1014 - Valka Village, Eastern Territories
BOOM.
The explosion tore through the night like the world splitting open.
Nida's eyes snapped open.
The house shook. Dust fell from the ceiling. Her younger sister Yuna screamed.
"What was that?!" Kito cried, scrambling out of bed.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
More explosions. Closer now.
Ruioa was already on her feet, her face pale. "Everyone up! NOW!"
Nida stumbled to the window and looked out.
Her blood turned to ice.
Fire.
The village center was engulfed in flames. Houses collapsed. People ran screaming through the streets.
And above it all, silhouetted against the burning sky, was a dragon.
Massive. Black scales. Wings that stretched across the rooftops. Its eyes glowed like molten gold in the firelight.
It opened its jaws.
FWOOOOOM.
A stream of fire poured from its mouth, consuming an entire row of houses in seconds.
Nida's hands trembled against the window frame.
No. No, this can't be real.
"NIDA!" Her mother's voice cut through her shock. "Get away from the window!"
THE ATTACK
CRASH.
The roof exploded inward.
A massive claw tore through the wooden beams like they were paper. The dragon's head appeared above them, its jaws dripping with flame.
Yuna screamed.
Ruioa grabbed both younger children and dove toward the door. "RUN!"
Nida froze, staring up at the creature.
Dragons are real. The legend is real.
The dragon's eyes locked onto her.
It inhaled.
"NIDA, MOVE!"
Her grandfather slammed into her from the side, knocking her out of the way just as fire engulfed the spot where she'd been standing.
They hit the ground hard. Heat washed over them. The walls ignited.
"GO!" Grandfather shouted, shoving her toward the door. "GET OUT!"
Nida scrambled to her feet and ran.
Behind her, the house collapsed in flames.
THE STREETS
Outside was hell.
Soldiers marched through the burning village, their armor black and silver. The colors of the 6th Empire. They carried rifles that crackled with dark energy and swords that glowed with enchantments.
"Burn everything!" an officer shouted. "Kill anyone who resists! Capture the rest!"
Another soldier laughed, dragging a woman by her hair. "This one's pretty. Think the captain will mind if I—"
"Do what you want. Just make sure she can still work."
Nida wanted to scream. Wanted to fight. But her mother pulled her into the shadows of a collapsed building.
"Stay quiet," Ruioa whispered, her voice shaking. "Don't let them see you."
Yuna and Kito huddled against her, sobbing silently.
Where was Grandfather?
A roar shook the air.
The dragon landed in the center of the village square, crushing a house beneath its weight. Soldiers scattered, then regrouped.
"MAKE WAY FOR THE COMMANDER!" one shouted.
A figure stepped forward from the flames.
Tall. Wrapped in a black cloak. Face hidden behind a steel mask carved to look like a skull.
The dragon lowered its head, submissive.
The commander reached up and placed a hand on the creature's snout. "Good. Now finish it. Leave nothing standing."
The dragon spread its wings and took flight again.
More fire rained from the sky.
More screams.
SEPARATED
"We need to move," Ruioa whispered. "The forest. If we can reach the forest—"
CRACK.
A beam fell from above.
Ruioa shoved her children out of the way, but she wasn't fast enough.
The beam crashed down, pinning her legs.
"MOTHER!" Nida screamed.
Blood pooled beneath Ruioa. Her face went white with pain.
"I'm fine," she gasped. "Just... get the children out..."
"I'm not leaving you!"
"NIDA!" Ruioa grabbed her daughter's hand, her grip weak but desperate. "Listen to me. You need to take Yuna and Kito and run. Right now."
"I can lift it! Just give me—"
"There's no time!" Tears streamed down Ruioa's face. "Please, Nida. Please. Be strong. Take care of them."
Another explosion. The building shuddered.
Yuna and Kito were crying, pulling at their mother's hand.
"No! Mommy, please!"
Ruioa looked at them, her expression breaking. "I love you. All of you. Never forget that."
She turned back to Nida. "Your father died so you could be free. Don't let his death be for nothing. Promise me."
Nida's vision blurred with tears. "I promise."
"Good girl." Ruioa smiled through the pain. "Now go. GO!"
Nida grabbed her siblings and pulled them toward the back exit.
Behind her, the building collapsed completely.
She didn't look back.
She couldn't.
GRANDFATHER
They ran through the chaos, dodging soldiers and flames.
Nida's mind was numb. Her body moved on instinct.
Get to the forest. Just get to the forest.
Then she saw him.
Grandfather.
He was in the square, limping badly, leaning on a broken piece of wood as a crutch. Blood soaked his left leg.
"GRANDFATHER!"
He turned, his eyes widening. "Nida?! What are you—you need to run!"
A soldier appeared behind him, rifle raised.
"NO!"
BANG.
The shot echoed across the square.
Grandfather's body jerked. He collapsed.
"NOOOOO!"
Nida ran to him, falling to her knees in the blood-soaked dirt.
"Grandfather, no, please, wake up!"
His eyes fluttered open, barely. "Nida..."
"I'm here! I'm here, just hold on—"
"Run..." His voice was so faint. "Take them... and run..."
"I won't leave you!"
"You must..." He coughed blood. "Promise me... you'll live... for all of us..."
His hand went limp in hers.
His eyes closed.
He was gone.
Nida knelt there, frozen, her grandfather's blood soaking into her clothes.
Around her, Valka burned.
The dragon roared overhead.
Soldiers laughed and killed and dragged people away in chains.
And something inside Nida shattered.
Then reformed.
Harder. Colder. Sharper.
She stood slowly, picking up a piece of jagged metal from the ground.
The soldier who'd shot her grandfather was reloading his rifle, his back turned.
Nida walked up behind him.
And drove the metal into his throat.
He gurgled, eyes wide with shock, and collapsed.
Nida stood over him, breathing hard, covered in blood.
She felt nothing.
No guilt. No horror.
Just rage.
ESCAPE
"NIDA!"
Yuna's scream snapped her back to reality.
Two soldiers had found her siblings.
"NO!"
Nida ran, tackling the first soldier from behind. They hit the ground hard. She grabbed his knife and stabbed blindly, again and again, until he stopped moving.
The second soldier raised his sword—
An arrow took him in the eye. He dropped.
A villager Nida barely recognized stood in the shadows, lowering a bow. "GO! Get to the forest! NOW!"
Nida grabbed Yuna and Kito and ran.
They burst through the village edge and into the trees.
Behind them, the dragon roared again.
Fire lit up the night.
And Valka, the only home Nida had ever known, died screaming.
THE FOREST
They ran until their legs gave out.
Collapsed in the snow.
Gasping. Crying. Shaking.
Nida held her siblings close, her entire body trembling.
Mother. Grandfather. Everyone.
Gone.
Above them, through the bare trees, she could still see the glow of fire on the horizon.
And circling above it, a dark shape with wings.
The dragon.
Nida stared at it, her hands clenching into fists.
Dragons.
The 6th Empire.
All of them.
Her voice was a broken whisper.
"I'll kill you. Every single one of you. I'll burn your empire to the ground."
She didn't know how.
She didn't know when.
But she meant every word.
END OF CHAPTER 2