Chapter 22

The Attack on Haven PART 6

(that time I was reincarnated into a post-apocalyptic world and demons ruined my life…)

It took several hours for me to pull myself back together. Mori practically carried me back to the surface. The sun was just beginning to rise. I couldn’t stand being in the ruins another minute and we had a long journey across the island home. When we emerged into the light I was shocked to see the bones of an ancient red elder dragon, the red elder dragon. It had been dredged up out of the ground. An abandoned excavation site. Probably only discovered just before the world came to an end. Only half buried in the ground the creature was more enormous than I remembered.

“Give me a minute,” I told Mori. Walking towards the bones.

“What is that?” she asked.

“A dragon,” I answered. She sank backwards. Even dead it was still frightening. Gob jumped from my pocket to my shoulder to Mori’s arms. I couldn’t blame him for being afraid. I wondered if it was possible to bring such a beast back to life. Its soul was probably waiting in the underworld, under Veles care. That or… reincarnated like I was.

I placed my hand along the bones. Running them down the skull. Each tooth was larger than my own hands. I felt so small. There were times I’d forgotten in this world I was nothing more than a child. My mothers, my father, my friends… none of them saw me as a thirty-something year old man. They saw an innocent nine-year old boy.

Well… I wasn’t so innocent anymore. A part of me had been taken. And now, here on the surface, a reminder of what I lost.

I looked towards the monster’s stomach, morbid as it was I was hoping to see myself. Maybe even salvage something from my old life.

There was nothing. I should have known. Not only did I drown but I would have dissolved in the Dragon’s stomach acid. There was nothing left of me. Taking out my sword I etched the name Kaeya, alongside my date of birth and death onto the bones. I felt like I was using the last bit of energy I had left.

Mother-Kalla was the first to find us. Picking both Mori and I up as we fell about a mile outside the gates. They had been searching for hours. She asked me if I had sent the Arachnids to help us. I nodded my head. She was crying. Because of what I did the people were saved. Haven on the other hand was a disaster. It barely resembled a village anymore. The wall built around our home was in ruins. Only a handful of homes remained. Refugees that had fled were already making their way back to assess the damage. The body of the Bukavac lay across several homes, slowly boiling into a mist under the sun. It would be days before it completely disappeared. In the meantime the giant rotting demon corpse was a reminder of what we lost and what we had to fear.

I fell asleep in Moma-Kalla’s arms and woke up to see Moma-Mia waiting by the side of my bed. I was given a room to myself. Our home was one of the few not completely destroyed by the demons rampage. Waking up in my parents bed made it feel like it was some kind of a dream, only when I looked down at my chest I could see several massive scars.

“Is Mori ok?” was the first thing I’d asked. She had helped drag me out of the ruins when I was at my weakest. Carried me through the forests after I carved my name on Dragon bones. I’m pretty sure I even remember her tending to my wounds. We were lucky we weren’t attacked. Alantris kept her word. The Arachnid’s wiped out all the demons from the island and after that she disappeared with her horde to places unknown.

“Mori is fine. She was dehydrated and hadn’t eaten anything in awhile but she’s doing much better now,” Moma-Mia answered.

“Moms? Dad?” I asked. I knew Kalla was alive but I had no idea what cards fate had dealt Cass and Sudra.

She turned away. I could see tears running down her eyes.

“Mom?” I said, reaching my hand out.

“They are alive,” she answered. It wasn’t long before I learned that Sudra had lost part of her right leg and my father had lost part of his left arm.

And Jor… Jor was killed in the battle.

Three more days passed before I was able to see everyone. My father had never looked so angry, defeated. Looking at me he tried to smile. Sudra, beside him, Cass wrapping new bandages around her leg.

We were still a family despite our losses. Nothing would change that but now it felt like everything was different.

“They came for me didn’t they,” I asked.

My father stood up. He seemed taller than I remembered.

“No,” he answered. He was lying.

“I need to get stronger,” I cried.

My father closed his eyes. He knew I was right. He and my moms could no longer protect me. Haven was no longer safe. My childhood, what little of it I had, was over.

My journey through this post-apocalyptic hellscape was just beginning.