Was it over?
"Emory!"
Flicking his hand rapidly, Darian stumbled on the ground before crawling towards the silent child. "Emory!" He gently wrapped his hand around the back of Emory's head, checking for any wounds or bruises.
"I-I'm so sorry, Emory!" Choking out his apology, he brought Emory's head to his chest and exhaled. For the next few minutes, Darian stayed silent as he gently embraced his son, oblivious to what just happened.
Behind him, a couple of meters away, the carriage driver stood frozen. His eyes darted from the father and son on the ground to the pool of blood that slowly seeped into the ground, tainting it a shade of red. Horror etched itself across his face, a slow and meticulous feeling.
The timid eyes located on his head widened with disbelief. What did I just witness...? He looked down at his hands that trembled uncontrollably. H-His hands… gone! Then he shifted his gaze to his feet. His feet... exploded! Finally, he ran his hand around his chest, rubbing occasionally, H-His chest… His body!
Jerking his head to the side, he vomited a putrid green liquid onto the dirt.
After staying still with Emory, Darian's ears and head pricked up. It seems as though he has finally processed what he just witnessed. "What... Happened?"
Mere moments ago, the soldier stood tall before the wailing Emory, his sword hovering in the air. Then, boom. First his arms, then his legs, and finally the rest of his body. An invisible, wretched force that toyed with his life. The soldiers' cries were drowned out and rendered fuzzy.
Meanwhile, the little crimson-eyed baby had returned to sucking on his dead fish, occasionally yawning. Adjusting the hold on Emory, Darian carefully stood up, massaging his temple during the process.
What can I remember… After we left the carriage, Emory's fish fell on the floor, and then a man stepped on my foot. After not removing it even when I asked, he lifted his foot and kicked me. A couple of his soldiers came up and held me while he went to go and hurt Emory. Then, what happened? Why did he stop? Did he not want to hurt Emory anymore? That doesn't make sense...
He furrowed his brows and scratched his bruised face. A sickening squelch was heard to his right. Turning his head, Darian finally noticed the driver, who had continued vomiting.
"H-Hey... Are you okay?" He reflexively reached his hand out and stumbled toward the driver, whose face was contorted and eyes were slowly losing the little luster they once had.
He was a mess.
After vomiting, the driver rubbed his eyes fiercely before staggering around and finally falling to the ground with a thud. However, he did not look in pain, no. Staring blankly ahead, it was like he tried to make sense of the impossible.
Then, he laughed.
"Heh... Heheheheh... Haahahahahahahah!" A wicked cackle surfaced, one that didn't fit his previous demeanor at all. The laughter turned manic. "Did my very eyes deceive me?!" He called out. Not to Darian, but to the sky itself.
"Have you not witnessed it? A calamity!" His expression twisted with madness. Seizing the grey hair follicles that rested atop his head, he pulled on them in an act of paranoia.
"I'm just a lowly carriage driver!" Exclaimed in a proud tone, a smile spread across his face. "What is this world? Who are these people?!" Pausing, it looked like he was thinking about his question. Then he continued, "The Elevated? They're not real... They can't be!"
He slammed his hand onto the ground, but a slight grimace escaped from his face. "Supernatural abilities?! Haha! You have gone mad!"
Even though Darian stayed silent and watched with a still expression, on the inside he was sweating profusely. W-W-What's wrong with him…? Why is he screaming? Who is he screaming to? I've never seen someone who speaks like that act the way he did before! He shuddered before getting interrupted by the carriage driver.
He put his hand on his chest and shouted, "Well then, where are my powers?! Why wasn't I blessed?! Is this prejudice?" His cackling didn't stop; instead, it was redirected towards the pair sitting on the ground a couple of meters away from him.
The driver focused in on Emory before parting his lips and crying out, "A child?! No older than a month, killing a grown man? Preposterous! Crazy! Mental!" He looked back up at the sky, "He's just a baby! A filthy, fish-sucking baby!"
Pausing, his tone suddenly shifted to something else—a plea.
"Oh Lord, if you even are out there… it's about time I received some abilities, right? I've never asked much; instead, I've wanted to be left alone! Funny, isn't it? That I chose to be a carriage driver, of all things? Haha!"
The pleas turned demented.
"Give me! Give me! Give me!" He screamed, pulling his hair violently, the sides of his eyes reddened as veins began surfacing across his neck. "I need power! I need to kill her! That wretched woman... She took my son!" His eyes seethed with rage. Whatever timid man had once existed, he was gone.
He slammed his feet into the ground, kicking and crying like a little child. "Powers! Powers!" His blue and white suit was soiled with dirt.
Darian watched silently while the baby beside him remained oblivious to the situation at hand.
It was then, a compressing, life-sucking aura ruled over the air. Darian and the driver trembled, spewing blood from their eyes, ears, and mouths.
They cried out, but their calls were drowned out by the skull-crushing, suppressive air. The two were forced onto the ground as if a weight had been placed just above them. Emory fell out of Darian's grasp and landed on the ground with a small thud. However, no cries surfaced from his calm, still expression, only slight curiosity.
"Silence."
A command, ringing from everywhere and nowhere. It resounded in the area, freezing the concept of time itself.