006: Aftermath

The brothers had prior knowledge of the Ghadovara mountains, after all, dangerous as it was, the mountains themselves have been what raised them both into the young men that they were today. So finding the first hill to put between themselves and the falling Meteor was not too hard. Nivgyat used his hands to shovel snow to the side, creating a small alcove that he promptly shoved his brother into, doing his best to quickly cover him up with the snow, which should better be able to protect Divyat, or at the very least that was the hope, but it was much too late by this point.

*BOOM!*

The earth shook, it was like an earthquake of massive proportions. The consequences of the shockwave caused by the crashing of the meteor was felt long before it even reached them, as thick baked of snow was dislodged from the top of the hill they were behind, it dropped on top of both brothers indiscriminately carrying with it sediments of rocks that caused damage just as much as it offered protection. Divyat did not need to act out too much as soon enough both of them were buried under pounds of snow, air becoming a rare commodity in those few seconds. And then finally the shockwave hit, and with it came destruction.

It was like a punch to the gut, the very earth itself seemed to rage and fight against them as the snow that covered them rapidly melted under the onslaught of heat. The air got hotter, and soon enough, both brothers were covered with more rocks than snow, as the phenomenon of the meteor reducing the only home they have ever known to cinders devastated the surrounding landscape. But in the end they had no choice but to persevere, to hang on with the pain and the anguish as they desperately clung to a chance at life. Ultimately It all came to an end soon enough, but even with just their bodies, they could feel the sheer destruction that was left behind.

It took Nivgyat another hour to dig himself out, and then 20 more minutes to drag a half dead Divyat from underneath the rubble they had been buried under. There was a cold wind being blown from the top of the mountain, mitigating much of the heat in the air, but even at that it was not enough to protect the areas of the Ghadovara mountains closest to the sect. Many trees were still on fire, stripped of the branches and their greenery, ash and soot clung to every surface as flame baked earth was exposed underneath their feet instead of the snow they have come to attribute to the Ghadovara mountains.

"God!" Divyat called out, holding on to a now noticeably pale Nivgyat. He was no longer bleeding, but the two inch piece of wood stabbed through his body was still there, and that was enough call for concern in and out of itself. But even at that laid out in front of them was destruction, smoke obscured the area where the sect used to be, and everything else around them was just an ugly scar of black and grey, it made no sense, why they were attacked. The only thing happening in the news outlet lately was that the Empire had finally finalized the formation of what should be the most advanced piece of technology in their fleet. They made no mention of a military campaign, and even if they had not mentioned it, how was it possible that an attack on the scale on the sect was not even heard off until the very moment it happened, it made absolutely no sense.

"We have to keep moving Divyat, if the Empire decided to obliterate the Divine Sky Dao Sect, then you can be sure they would want to do it as thoroughly as possible." For once Divyat did not answer, understanding the gravity of the situation, but even if he chose not to answer, someone else chose to do for him.

"Well you've got that right young man." A man leading a group of disciples with very powerful fluctuations of Qi had shown up behind both brothers. The fact that he was wearing Imperial Armor bearing the Sigil of the Rizal Sect Empire. The enemies had found them, and from the look of things it was enemies with way more power than either brother would be able to handle. Flames danced around the hands of the man who had just spoken, a middle aged looking man who could have been 500 years for all they knew considering he was right in the elemental manifestation realm. The people behind him had varying degrees of power with two others also being in the elemental manifestation realm, showing control over fire while the others were at least in the Core formation if not Qi condensation realm.

Nivgyat moved Divyat behind him, counting and noticing they were facing a dozen individuals, all of them with power levels way above him and his brother. And in light of how unmatched they were, Divyat began to feel a little bit of fear, with the amount of destruction that was just visited on the sect that has always been their home, there was no telling just what they were about to face. But even at that, injured and almost bled dry, Nivgyat would stop at nothing to protect his baby brother, come what may.

"I'd ask you to make this easier on yourselves, there are few survivors and most of them have already been caught and readied from transport to Imperial mines where you all will spend the rest of your days slaving away for the glory of the Imperial Rizal Sect. It doesn't matter what state we deliver you in, but seeing as you both are already banged up, I'd like to deliver you as you are, the spitted one would cost me some spirit stones for the drop in quality, but we can make do." The man with fire elemental manifestation said, eliciting chuckles from his team members.

Nivgyat responded by pushing his brother further behind him, handing him the bow and Quiver, before pulling his longsword out. With all of the ups and down they've experienced so far, Divyat had not noticed that his brother still had his favorite weapon on him. Even with the threat of death and slavery in front of them, Divyat could not help but remember the struggle and effort his brother had put into gaining that sword, a treasured sword that had gone up for auction within the sect. Nivgyat had used 2 years of secret and very personal savings to get the sword, much to the annoyance of their father. Yet in all of that, all his brother had said was that he was planning to only use it for a few years before passing it on to Divyat when he was ready to cultivate.

After his stepfather had just grown weary and ignored Nivgyat. Even though they didn't share the same father, it was obvious how much love Nivgyat had for his baby brother. He was just as much a father to Divyat as he was a brother, and right now Divyat was so scared that even as his brother pushed him backwards, he held on to his sleeves, his tear filled eyes looking up at his brother and pleading with him not to carry on with his current course of action.

"It is one thing to fight for you life little brother, it is another thing to run away to survive, ready to fight another day should it call for it. But no matter what, never betray your honor and pride, never betray your bloodline and your right to live. You can do it to others, but you are alive, a person with hopes and dreams, not cattle, nor prey. It doesn't matter how strong the person in front of you calling you such is, even if it means to die little brother, no matter what never be prey, now run!" With that said Nivgyat turned around and charged, his sword held high above his head in open rage, ready to die as a man and not Prey.