It was the night of celebration.
The village of Agora was lit up with colorful lights and flags. Paper lanterns swayed from every doorway and window. Music filled the air as people laughed and danced under the open sky. Food had been laid out on long tables, and children darted between legs.
Kael sat on the edge of a table, eating the food that was far better than anything served at the orphanage he lived in. He'd already eaten enough to make his stomach hurt, but he kept going anyway. Who knew when he'd get another chance like this?
"I've never seen the chief spend this much on anything," Raya said, dropping onto the bench beside him. She had a massive slice of chocolate cake on the plate.
"His son got accepted into the academy. He had to show off somehow." Kael said.
Raya rolled her eyes. "It's not that impressive. They take almost anyone who can light a candle with magic."
Kael shot her a look. "Easy for you to say."
She shrugged, but there was a flicker of guilt in her eyes. Raya could make little sparks dance between her fingers when she was annoyed. It wasn't much, but it was enough to get noticed.
Magic used to be everywhere, or so the stories went. The village elder who told stories to the children said that back before the gods disappeared, every other person could do something. Now, it has been replaced with technology, but it has only raised the importance of people with abilities even more. Even those with the weakest abilities were treated like celebrities by society.
Kael had a year left until the next selection exam, where he could try his luck once again. He was still holding out hope that he'd awaken some kind of ability before then. People said it could happen anytime before you turned sixteen. He was fourteen now.
"Where's Marlin?" he asked, mostly to change the subject.
Raya jerked her chin toward the far side of the square. Kael followed her gaze and immediately spotted their friend standing between the village girls with a smile he believed would make any girl fall for him. Kael thought that smile made him look constipated, but as a good friend, he did not have the heart to tell him.
"He's going to get himself killed one day," Raya muttered.
The three of them had grown up together in the village orphanage. Marlin was the youngest of them and had turned thirteen. While Kael and Raya were both fourteen.
"We should go get him before someone's father shows up with a pitchfork." Kael joked.
Raya was about to respond when they heard a scream. It came from the edge of the fields first. Then more screams followed.
"What's happening?" someone asked.
Kael stood up, trying to see over the crowd. People were pushing each other now, trying to get away from something.
"DEMONS!"
By the time people reacted, demons had already entered the village. They were large in size, with skin like charred bark and arms that ended in claws long enough to gut a horse. Some had wings on their backs. Others crawled on six legs like insects.
They were just ordinary human who had only seen demons in pictures. Some who had been lucky to visit the big cities had seen dead ones, preserved in jars at the museum. Now, seeing them in such a large number made them run in panic.
The sound of tearing flesh echoed through the streets, mixing with desperate cries for help. Fire followed soon after. Flames climbed up wooden walls and rooftops, painting the night sky in shades of orange and red.
"RUN!" someone bellowed.
People scattered in every direction, knocking over tables, trampling food into the dirt. Some fled into their homes. Others ran blindly into the night.
"Let's go!" Kael grabbed Raya's arm.
"Where is Marlin?" She shouted.
"I don't know!" Kael's face was pale. "We have to-"
A demon landed in front of them, dropping from the roof of a house. Up close, it was even more terrifying. Its eyes were like hot coals, glowing red in the darkness. It reeked of sulfur and burnt meat.
Raya screamed and yanked Kael sideways. They began to run, not knowing where they were going. Somewhere in the chaos, their hands slipped apart. He tried to stop and look for her, but the crowd pushed him forward, and he almost got knocked down.
"Everyone to the old temple!" someone was shouting.
"Are you insane?" a woman yelled back. "That place is cursed!"
"Would you rather stay here?"
Behind the village, on a lonely hill, stood the ruins of an old temple. Long ago, it had been sacred ground before the gods disappeared. Everyone said it was cursed and something evil slept beneath it. There were stories about people who went up there and never came back. Some people even claimed they had heard strange sounds coming from inside when they passed by it.
But right now, that terrifying place seemed better than here.
By the time Kael reached it, dozens of villagers were already crammed inside the broken walls of the temple.
Inside the temple ruins, moonlight filtered through holes in what remained of the roof, painting everything in silver and shadow. The floor was littered with broken stones and old leaves. Thick vines strangled what was left.
"Kael!"
He spun around and saw Marlin pushing through the crowd. Beside him was Raya, holding an old kitchen knife. Kael didn't know where she'd gotten it.
"You're okay," Kael breathed.
"Barely." Marlin's face was streaked with tears and soot.
"Everyone quiet!" A man near the entrance was trying to organize people. "Block the entrances! Use whatever you can find!"
People scrambled to follow orders, dragging stones and broken pillars to create makeshift barricades. It wouldn't stop the demons, but maybe it would slow them down.
"This is bad," Marlin whispered. "This is really, really bad."
Kael wanted to tell him it would be okay, but he couldn't make himself say the lie.
"We can't stay here. If those things get in, we will be slaughtered like pigs," said an old woman.
"Where else can we go?"
"Let's look for a place to hide."
Together with a few other villagers, they started to look for a way out, while the other stayed behind to guard. From outside, they could still hear the demons and distant screams.
"Over here!" It was one of the village elders.
Kael pushed through the crowd to see. Behind a broken pillar, half-hidden by vines, was a hole in the floor. It looked like the opening to a tunnel and was barely wide enough for one person.
"Where does it go?"
"Could be a way out,"
"What if it is a dead end?"
A roar echoed from outside the temple, close enough to make everyone freeze. Immeditly, people squeezed through the opening, not thinking about the consequences. The only thing on their mind was to get away from those things.
First, two men entered to clear the way. Then, children were sent, followed by women and the elderly. Finally, the rest followed.
Kael was about to follow when he heard someone shout.
"They're here!"
He turned. Through a gap in the temple wall, he could see movement.
"Go!" someone shoved Kael toward the hole. He grabbed the edge and lowered himself down, dropping the last few feet into the tunnel below.