Distant cries. Faint screams. Each one soaked in dread and pitiful sorrow.
Is that blood on the ground? Thomas wondered. His blood?
**Cough. Cough.**
Yes—it was his. He lay on his stomach, not on dirt, but on ash—charred remnants of some colossal battle.
He looked up. The sky was red. The town was burning. A town he didn't recognize, with a tower he'd never seen before.
**BOOM.**
Something struck the tower from above.
Startled, Thomas pushed himself upright, still low to the ground. He stared as the tower crumbled into rubble and flame.
"Tommy…" A voice. From behind. It sent a chill down his spine—cold, yet furious. Emotionless, yet burning with passion. Thomas turned. In the fire stood a towering silhouette. A man. A sword in hand. Advancing slowly.
"Tommy…" The voice called again.
———
"ARGH!" Thomas jolted awake. The sky was still dark. He was soaked in cold sweat.
Grunting, he wiped his face with his sleeve. "Motherfucker…"
He tugged at his hair, trying to recall the nightmare. But it slipped from memory, even though it had haunted him just seconds ago.
"Jeez…" He glanced around. The ravine was dimly lit by makeshift torches Alexander had placed before falling asleep.
Natalie was still curled up beside her horse, sound asleep. So was Alexander.
Only Thomas had suffered a restless night. "Fuck me…"
———
Even at the darkest hour before dawn, stars still glimmered in the sky.
Those stars guided Wilhelm. He hadn't stopped riding—through fields and forests—since nightfall. His breath was shallow, his body near its limit. But he wouldn't stop. Saisei was close. His mother was close.
But something else waited ahead. The closer he got, the more visible the town became—its faint firelight, and the black-uniformed guards who had arrived ahead of him.
They were already spreading word of the new government, enforcing new rules. Even in the dead of night, homes were being searched for "prohibited items." The streets were nearly empty, save for a few disturbed citizens watching from shadowed windows, their eyes full of dread.
Wilhelm avoided the town center. He couldn't risk being seen.
He took an obscure route through the trees, crossed a short crumbling bridge over the great lake, and rode through a tunnel carved by nature itself.
Eventually, he reached the outskirts—his home.
But he was too late. Five guards on horseback appeared at the front gate. Wilhelm, approaching from behind, ducked low behind a stack of barrels near their storage shed, quietly arming himself with a fresh pair of bow and arrow.
Nicole stepped out of the house. Early riser as always. "Can I help you?"
The guards kicked down the gate and stormed forward.
"Excuse me?" she exclaimed, snatching the spear she kept by the door and aiming it at them.
The guards didn't even flinch. They barely even reacted. They walked right on forward until the tip of the spear were inches away from one of their faces.
"Nicole Grimmer," he said.
She narrowed her eyes. "How do you know my name? Who are you?"
"Where is your son, Wilhelm Grimmer?"
She didn't lower the spear. "Why would I tell you?"
"We represent the new police force, created by the government elected yesterday. Your son committed a crime. We're here to arrest him."
"What crime?"
"He assaulted a member of the police. That's unacceptable behavior."
"Bullshit, that's not my Will. If he did, that means your officer deserved it."
"There are rules now, miss, no one is familiar with this new system but it's absolute. We don't decide them—we enforce them. And the rules say we take him in."
"No room for debate then?"
"None."
Wilhelm overheard everything. He clenched his jaw, recalling his argument with Thomas. Was it really all Thomas's fault? Or was I just as guilty as an effective accomplice?
Either way, he couldn't let his mother face his problems. He rose to stand, accidentally knocking over a barrel with a loud thud.
They saw him.
**WHOOSH. CRACK.**
A guard flung his hat into the air and sliced the head off Nicole's spear in a blink.
The other four too drew their blades and charged.
"WOAH!"
"MOM!" Wilhelm fired an arrow—but the guard deflected it with his sword.
Nicole fought like a true, experienced hunter. Despite being outnumbered and armed only with a wooden shaft, she dodged and countered with trained precision, landing painful blows on each of them.
Wilhelm struggled to draw another arrow. His hands trembled. The lead guard closed in—and with a heavy swing, shattered Wilhelm's bow.
"Will!" Nicole yelled.
She kicked one guard aside and hurled the broken spear with all her might. Though the metal tip was gone, the splintered end struck true—impaling the guard who was about to cut down her son.
The man collapsed onto Wilhelm, blood splattering across his flabbergasted face.
But Nicole was now unarmed. A guard blindsided her—delivering a vicious kick to her back.
"ARGH!" she screamed, falling to her knees.
"MOM!"
"RUN, WILL! RUN!"
A blade pressed to her neck.
"Shit, we lost Jim," one guard muttered.
"This bitch killed him."
"What now? Orders were just for the boy, right?"
The remaining guards hesitated. One stared long and hard at the body on Wilhelm,
"Jim..."
Wilhelm, crushed beneath the corpse, reached out a hand weakly toward his mother. His voice cracked. Tears spilled.
"Tsk…" The executioner's face twisted in rage. "She might know something anyway!"
And with that, he swung.
Wilhelm screamed, his outstretched hand trembling. He couldn't see her—only a spray of blood from her chest.
Thundering hooves.
A voice came from behind, but for Wilhelm it sounded faint and distant.
"Will! Will!"
Philip galloped in from behind, hauling the body off Wilhelm and lifting him onto the horse.
"He's running!"
"Shit!" The guards gave chase, but on foot, they had no chance.
Philip pulled the reins hard and galloped into the woods, one arm holding Wilhelm steady.
The guards circled back for their horses—but it was already too late. Wilhelm was long gone, but his eyes lingered in that direction, for as long as the journey went.
His face still empty, numb.
They rode across the crumbling bridge on Valentina again—just as the first rays of dawn broke the horizon.
The rising sun bathed them in golden light, refracting through the tears on their faces.
As they crossed, the bridge gave way behind them and collapsed into the lake below.