Sebastian’s transmitter vibrated vigorously in his pocket as if someone was strangling it. Slowly waking up, his hand made its way into his compartment, taking out the pulsating device. His eyes squinted to view on the small frequency indicator that it was his mom calling. The moment he turned the dial to activate it, there was cacophonous screaming from the other end with the sound of a roaring fire with pops in the background.

“Sebastian?! Me escuchas?!” His mom yelled, struggling to make her voice be heard.

Sebastian’s eyes enlarged, “Mom? What happened?!” His heart began beating like a drum.

“A raid arrived at the village after your dad came racing on a horse, alerting everyone that they were coming! They set the village on fire!”

Sebastian sprung up off the floor,“Don’t worry mom, we’re on our way!” The call cut off with a sharp static sound, “Mom?! Mom!”

Suddenly, Nia slammed the door open, working to construct a sentence to alert them of the smoke. Camila woke up at once from the loud crash of the door, confused by all the noise.

“Camila, we need to go, NOW! The village is on fire!” Sebastian firmly instructed her.

“What?!” Camila picked herself quickly off the floor, ran out the door, witnessing the pollution in the distance. “Shit, it looks to be a few miles away!”

The trio gathered their belongings hastily and sprinted into the woods, following the direction they saw the soot rising. As they zipped through the trees while avoiding animals, they began to slow down, getting exhausted from running the distance. They came to stop to catch their breath next to a twisted tree.

“We’ll never make it!” Camila punched the tree angrily, taking heavy breaths.

Sebastian leaned against the tree, short-winded, “We aren’t close enough to even smell the smoke.”

Nia hunched over with her hands on her knees, panting, trying to think of something. Her eyebrows shot up, recalling the berries from before, “Wait, I have an idea!” She reached into her bag and took out a few, then split them for the three of them.

The other two gazed at the small yellow orbs that Nia held as she grinned at them. They took their share of the barriers, eating them as fast as they could, and waited for a moment. In just a few seconds, they felt their energy replenished, once again dashing through the flora of the woods. As time went by, they finally breathed in the polluted air, meaning they were getting nearer.

As soon as they reached the outskirts, they gazed at the dark clouds rising into the sky looking as black as ink. The shouts of the villagers could be heard from a distance, crying out for help while others screamed in pain. They noted there were strangers wearing long black bandanas matched with leather armor, holding various weapons. The guards intended to be guarding the village were nowhere to be seen among the frightened residents.

Camila horrified by the scene, watching everything they have ever known burn to ash. The group glared at each other as they stood, paralyzed by what they were witnessing with their very eyes. Finally having the urge to move, they ran towards the intense flames that created a popped from the bamboo. Reaching the entrance, they were greeted by three unknown outsiders, calmly advanced towards them.

“Would you look at that, more bodies have come.” Upon the intruder’s face, he wore a wicked grin that could be seen through his bandana, “Why don’t you three surrender and we won't gut you like the rest of the people who defied us?” He held a silver rapier in his hand and pointed at them.

“W-Who are you people and what do you want with our village?” Sebastian asked with a wavering voice as he gripped the handle of his katana.

“What we want is your people, but if we find gold… well, we can’t say no to that, can we?” Wielding twin steel axes, another stranger answered rhetorically. “As to who we are, we’ll keep that to ourselves.”

Camila took out her daggers with an infuriated look on her and fire in her eyes, “Well, you’re getting nothing from us!”

“Did we hit a nerve little girl?” The last thief laughed, gripping the handles of two iron sai, “You’ll die like the rest of them then.”

Nia held her bow at the ready stance with two of her arrows in her drawing hand, one already in place, “You’ll pay for what you’ve done...”

The bandit holding the twin axes vaulted towards Sebastian, swinging full force downward. Sebastian swiftly took out his katana from its sheath in one fluid action, blocking the two axes. Camila ducked sideways as the rapier was thrust towards her, scraping her shoulder. She jabbed her dagger forward, trying to stab the thief in the leg, but he hastily withdrew backward. Nia flung her arrow at the last man, missing as he dodged to the left. He kept his distance, taking a defensive position with the sais reversed in his hands and legs apart from each other.

Sebastian forcibly shoved the axes back. While the man stumbled, Sebastian took his stance; his arms close to his sides, one foot in front of the other, and his back straight as he faced him. The thief twirled weapons in his hands, snickering as he flipped the other, then attacking with his right arm from above. Sebastian kept his stare at the man's eyes, then receded diagonally, avoiding the incoming attack. As the axe plunged onto him, Sebastian took the opportunity to thrust forward to go for a stab, stomping to enhance power. With the other axe, the thief grabbed the sword and pushed it out of the way, missing his neck. Sebastian stepped back at once, removing his katana out of the control of the axe to regain his posture, looking for an opening.

Nia put another arrow into place, not pulling back, trying to determine what the man’s motions were. She has never dealt with these kinds of weapons, so she had to study his movements quickly. From what she saw, they were more for short-distance defense, so shooting her arrow right now could mean her winning or losing if she missed again. The bandit twirled the sais in their hands as he laughed, trying to intimidate her.

The bow in Nia’s hand trembled, thinking this might be it for her. Her parents taught her so much in her lessons, however, there appeared to be a barrier constructed from her fear, not allowing her to remember. Acknowledging her right arm numbed built out of angst, she began to lose hope. A warm breeze pressed on her face, recalling one night when she was with her family hunting, telling her about a technique she might find helpful one day. With that, Nia grinned, feeling her shuddering paused.

Camila parried the rapier to the side, jumped astern, then flipped the dagger that was reversed to the upright position. Seeing as the weapon is more for stabbing, all she had to do is stay clear of the tip. Her daggers had small handguards so any wrong move and she could manage to lose a hand. Camila observed the man’s technique, trying to decide her next action. He thrusted his weapon suddenly, not giving her much time to react, but could parry in time. She went in for a jab to his leg, though had no luck as he withdrew too fast, herself retreating too. As much as she wanted to end this fast, she had to play it safe for her own sake and the others.

Nia held her breath as she propelled the bow apace as her other hand pulled on the string back, then let go, giving the arrow an increase in velocity. The man attempted eluding the projectile but wasn’t fast enough as the tip penetrated his shoulder. He howled in pain whilst grabbing his arm, giving Nia enough time to run to his side, pushing him into a burning house, his stumbling causing a wall to fall on him. Nia’s body tensed up, knowing she just killed someone for the first time.

As the scream started, the ax-wielding thief looked in the direction of the fire. At that very second, Sebastian saw his opening, cutting the man’s stomach horizontally. The bandit holding the rapier noticed his companion fall to the ground with blood making a shallow pool. He cursed, again turning his head to Camila who was on the verge to stab him in the neck. Camila’s dagger missed as he evaded rearwards, but the moment he did, she was able to use her other dagger to shank him in the stomach. The sharp pain quickly turned to paralyzation, then into numbness. Sebastian looked at the corpse, feeling numbed by the fact he caused the death of someone. The sensation of lightheadedness took him over as he asked himself, “What have I done?”

Camila saw Sebastian freeze up and slapped his face, snapping him out of it, “We need to get to our houses. You go to yours and help your parents while Nia and I will run to our own family’s.” She looked at Sebastian's eyes as his face turned pale white.

“Y-Yeah, my mom is probably hurt.” Sebastian stuttered, still sensing faintness. He looked at Nia who was standing there, frozen just as he had been. “Nia, get a hold of yourself! You need to go to your house!”

Nia glanced at him, “Y-You’re right!” She shook her head to compose herself, then bolted to the direction where she lived.

Sebastian raced to his home, passing all the homes set ablaze, the heat hitting him like opening an oven. This wasn’t making any sense though; how could clay burn while the bamboo produced so much black smoke? Finally reaching his home, the flames had too engulfed it. He put the question aside for now, seeing that his mom or sister weren’t in the area, making him imagine the worst. The fire burned hot in front of him, causing him to step behind, his foot crushing an object underneath it. He looked down to spot his mom’s transmitter in pieces. Sebastian picked it up, causing metal pieces to fall along with the Obliriumite shards that were in it. A thought came to mind, “If that’s my mom’s, what means she wasn’t in the house when she called me. My dad or sister aren’t here as well, so this only means that everyone has been kidnapped.” He was fuming as he squeezed the dull shards in his hand.

On the other side of the village, Nia arrived at her house to see her mom’s leg had a laceration while her dad’s arm had been cut clean, dripping blood onto the floor. She thought quickly about what she had to do, dashing into a burning small store in front of her house. Keeping her head low from the flames, she searched through the kitchen liquids. A piece of the ceiling abruptly fell in her path, causing Nia to jump backward as she coughed from the cloud of dust mixed with smoke enveloped her. Laying on the floor, she peered through the haze and spotted what she was searching for. She grabbed the clay bottle and ran out as her arms protected her from the intense heat. The fires had caused light burns on her skin, but that didn’t stop her from making her way to her parents who were on the floor. Nia took off the cork from the jar, releasing the odor of vinegar into the air.

“Ok dad, this is going to hurt.” She said nervously, trying to keep her hand from shaking so much so she didn’t spill everywhere.

“Wait, wait! Nia, is my face still handsome? I can’t live with being ugly.” Mr. Aquino stammered, trying to smile as his body trembled in fear.

Nia smirked as her body shook in fear. “Here it goes..”

As she poured the vinegar on his arm’s stump, he grit his teeth trying not to yell in agony from the stinging sensation. Nia made sure to only pour half of it so she could have enough for her mom, whose leg cut seemed to be a flesh wound. When she finished pouring it on her dad, she moved to her mom’s injury to spill the rest of the liquid. Her mother was more audible, weeping as she squirmed.

“I-It’s okay mom, you’re going to be okay.” Nia bit her bottom lip, unable to stop herself from crying as a few tears streamed down her cheeks.

“I know... G-Good thing you are so smart, huh?” Mrs. Aquino’s eyes filled with tears, looking at her daughter who wore a worried face.

Nia looked around, then noticed a piece of metal sticking out of one of the house’s windows. The piece of metal must have been from the wall itself, but she didn’t understand something, “Why were the clay houses this damaged from only fire?” She went up to it and pulled it out, seeing the end of it burning red from the fire. Nia walked to where her dad lay, holding the metal rod in her hand. Neither he nor she wanted to do this, but under these circumstances, it had to be done. He moved his arm away from his side so she wouldn't accidentally burn his torso, then nodded at her. Nia mouthed, “I’m sorry dad,” now letting herself cry. After a few seconds of hesitation, she placed the burning tip on the stump of the arm.

A few minutes passed as fires started dying out while the remaining houses were being set off with the help of the surviving villagers. Sebastian arrived where Nia sat next to her parents, having stitched up her mom’s leg while her dad’s arm bandaged heavily. He gasped at what happened to Mr. Aquino, who he had figured out was missing an arm.

Sebastian ran the short distance to reach them, “Nia, are they okay?!” He looked at her, out of breath.

Nia anxiously sighed while nodding, “Yeah, but they need antibiotics, plus my dad still needs that plant we were looking for.”

“Hey, we are going to be okay, got it? Besides-” Mr. Aquino smiled softly. “- I need to keep you out of hARMs way.”

Nia facepalmed, laughing a little, “Oh dad, your jokes are so bad. You’ll need a HAND to get around from here on out.”

“Nia, settle down, there’s no need to get upset. He’s just pulling your LEG.” Mrs. Aquino added as she chuckled.

Sebastian stood there cringing, though glad the three of them were going to push through this. His heart still hurt from finding out his family had been taken, but relieved that they aren't dead. As he watched the Aquino family trying to lighten the mood, he noticed that Camila was nowhere to be found.

“Hey Nia, have you seen Camila?” Sebastian asked as he kept looking around them.

Nia stopped laughing to scan the area, “Um, no, I thought she would arrive with you.”

Sebastian realized she must still be at her house, in danger. “I need to go, something could’ve happened.”

Nia nodded, “I’ll stay here with my family. Be careful, alright?”

“Got it.” He quickly said, taking off to find her.

It didn’t take too long to reach Camila’s house. As he turned the corner to where her home was, he found Camila on her knees, crying in front of her destroyed house. Sebastian reached her, seeing she was covered in soot.

“Camila? Are you…” Before being able to end his sentence, she jumped up and hugged him tightly while her face buried into his shoulder.

“T-They’re gone! I went in to look for them and only saw-” Camila held onto him, “- I wasn’t able to get here on time!

Sebastian felt her tears drench his shoulder, “Camila, it’s not your fault. You did your best to arrive as fast as you could.” He hugged her back softly, letting her cry all she needed on him as his tears began to fall too.

“I shouldn’t have left the village!” She gripped onto him angrily as she sobbed between her words, pounding her fist on his arm.

“If you were here, you would’ve gotten hurt. I don’t think your parents would have wanted to see their daughter get hurt, right?”

“B-But…” Camila’s sobbing was now too much not allowing her to speak.

“Shh, I know… “Sebastian kept holding for what seemed like an eternity, but he would not move an inch if it was for her.

Time crawled from morning to evening, the remaining houses that had been on fire were put out with water. People helped one another to clean up their village, treat the injured, and bury the dead. Like Sebastian’s family, many people had been kidnapped as well, meaning that this wasn’t just any normal raid.

Camila, Sebastian, and Nia gathered with the remaining residents at the destroyed village center where everyone shared what food they had amongst themselves. The once beautiful fountain that stood in the middle was in ruins with water gushing from its basin. The injured stayed at a nearby tent, fortunately people scavenged medicine along with antibiotics. Both of Nia’s parents were being treated well, but Mr. Aquino desperately needed that plant. The doctors found dark spots under his shirt, causing him pain, which signaled the disease worsening. They only had medication to slow it down, which was limited from the destruction.

As the three of them sat on the edge of the fountain, they ate chicken stew that helpers handed out near the broken market. Conversation was limited after what happened as they reflected on what had occurred already. Camila sat expressionless, completely broken, having not spoken a word since Sebastian had consoled her. He himself was wondering if his parents were okay while Nia felt like a failure for not having found what she sought out to find.

While they sat in silence, a lady ran down the main street, screaming something which wasn’t audible. Sebastian placed the stew next to him as he stood up, watching the lady yelling. Everyone became silent as they tried to distinguish what she was saying. A few seconds later, the words that came out of her mouth could be understood, which made Sebastian’s eyes widen in fear...

“THEY’RE COMING BACK!” She shouted as loud as she was able to so everybody heard, “THEY’RE COMING BACK!”

Camila and Nia dropped their bowls, horrified by the alert. Everyone started panicking, unable to understand why they would return to an already destroyed town. How much time did they have before they arrived? Was there something that they could do to stop them? All of these questions surrounded them as people feared, running to find somewhere to hide.

Nia got up without a second to spare, pushing her way through the crowd as she headed towards where her family was. Sebastian took Camila by the hand to chase after her in the flock of residents. When they caught up to her, Nia was talking to her parents in a hurry.

“But mom, I can’t just leave you two! You could be killed like others have already been.” Nia tried to argue as a frown became noticeable.

“We aren't asking you, we are telling you to go. The only people that died are the ones who tried to oppose them. Either way, we as your parents don’t want to see you hurt or captured.” Mrs. Aquino grabbed Nia’s hand and held it in hers. She then turned to Sebastian, noticing he just arrived, “Sebastian, please, take my daughter away from here so she isn’t hurt.”

He stood there, looking at Nia’s parents who looked hesitant about the decision, but seeing as they had been hurt, this was their only choice. He sighed, “Okay…”

Nia spun around to face him standing next to her, wearing a sadden betrayed look, “You’re siding with them? Why?”

“Because if we don’t leave, we will either get captured or die like your mom said.”

After hours of not speaking, Camila blurted out, “That’s right, we need to get out of here.” She looked at Nia’s dad, “Sir, do you know where we could find some horses?”

Mr. Aquino put his remaining hand on his chin to think, “Well, I suppose you could take ours, but with the fires, they might have gotten frightened and ran off somewhere. My best guess would be near the entrance of the woods where there are wheat farms owned by the town.”

“Okay, we’ll take them. What direction is the nearest town or village?” Sebastian asked.

“It should be south-east following the main road, though I’d suggest staying off of it since that’s most likely where the thieves would be.” Mrs. Aquino answered, then looked at Nia, “Nia, I know you don’t want to leave us behind, but please understand that it is for your own good. Don’t blame Sebastian, he only wants you to be safe like we do.”

Nia looked into her mother’s teary eyes, “Okay… I’ll go but please stay as safe as you can, understand?” She hugged both her parents, saying their goodbyes.

Sebastian looked at Camila who seemed agitated, “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah… never been better.” Camila coldly replied as she stared at Nia for a few seconds then turned around, heading out of the tent.

The three of them passed through the rushed crowd, bumping into people from all directions as they sought a way to escape or hide. Looking around, Sebastian could see terror in everyone, making him wish he were able to help them. He had already given his word to Nia’s parents, so he had to honor what he promised. “Maybe they will find a way out of this.” He thought as pushed through people.

When they arrived at the farms Mr. Aquino mentioned, they spotted the horses like he said they’d be. They had gone away from where the fires were and food waited for them here, so it was an ideal place for them to run for safety. Nia walked up first to the horses to calm them down so the other two could approach them without getting scared.

“Okay, so here are our horses; Standout, Masskara, and Smoking Saturday, or just Saturday for short.” Nia introduced them as she petted their sides. Standout was a beautiful bay color, Masskara was soft gray, and Saturday had a champagne coat.

Sebastian pointed to the horse Nia was closest to as he asked, “Why is that one called Smoking Saturday?”

“The Saturday she was born was like someone turned the sun to max... scorching.”

“Uh, okay…” Sebastian just took the answer as it was, seeing it was still weird to name a horse after the name of a day.

“Alright; Sebastian, you take Standout, Camila rides Masskara, while I get on Saturday.” Nia hopped on her horse, “Luckily they still have their saddle. My mom was probably going to lend them to her friends to practice.”

“We must go around the village so if the bandits arrive, we can steer clear of them.” Camila instructed as she mounted Masskara.

Sebastian agreed as he stumbled a little getting on Standout, “She has a point, otherwise doing this would be a wasted effort.”

“Alright then, let’s get moving.” Nia tied her ponytail into a knot and rode off as others followed.