16 016 - Leftovers and Ash - Part 1 -
The sun climbed up, its majestic rays of golden light bringing light back to the realms for the new day.
In many places, many things occurred and the first rays of light quickly made the occurrences of the past night clear.
The golden rays struck the little village of Old Meadow to reveal a burned ruin that engulfed the land.
Ash and soot covered the traces of the cobbled roads, and the only buildings with any form remaining were the few houses of stone that dotted the main square of the former village.
A mare of white and black trudged through the ash-ridden ruins, sniffing the air as she sought her way to her home.
The mare's hooves kicked up soot with every step as she klip-klopped with her head held low.
She gradually made it out of the village and found a road or the remnants of one, she was a smart mare, but there was something different about the land that gave her a brief moment of pause, it did not appear as it should have.
The land was covered in fissures and cracks there were places where land had been risen unnaturally and there were thousands of earthen spikes jutting out of the ground many of which had found their way through the bodies of soldiers wearing armour.
The mare blinked in fright at the sight having never seen such a scene before.
"Nghhhh," and the smell caused the mare to let out a loud complaint.
She trod along the edge of the scene trying to keep to the remnants of the road, she was certain that she was heading in the right direction to get back home where she could find the small boy and nuzzle some of her favourite treats from his hand.
Zeresha was creeping along when she spotted someone familiar in the bad place, as much as she wanted to run back home she knew that she had to go there, after all, she was looking at one of her owners.
The mare trudged through the earth which was like a thick mud due to the blood, it stuck to her hooves as she moved to the kindly woman who sometimes spent time with her.
She walked to the body of Casey and saw the arrow sticking through her lifeless head and quickly gave her head a nuzzle with her muzzle, but upon contact, she felt the coldness of her owner and knew that she was dead.
The mare blinked out little droplets of water and stepped away only to find another figure, this time she broke out into a full run when she saw the youth who always played with her and fed her extra treats, he was lying down flat on the earth.
The mare's breathing was heavy when she reached the body and gave it a hesitant nuzzle, the mare blinked out a few more tears when she discovered that he was still warm.
She started to nudge his head and licked his face several times with worry and concern, then suddenly her ears perked up as she heard a light groan come out of the youth's mouth.
Zeresha fell to her knees and pressed her belly against the youth, giving him the occasional nuzzle as she waited for him to stir.
Uriel groaned feeling like every part of his body was in pain, on his side, he could hear Zeresha and feel her occasional playful jesters.
'Did I fall asleep in the barn?' he wondered in confusion it happened many times before, "Why is my body so sore?" he softly muttered.
He placed his hand on the mare and gently stroked her fur he enjoyed the soft and silky feeling against his hand, "That was one hack of a nightmare," he said softly as images started to flutter across his mind of the soldiers attacking.
As the seconds passed by he recalled the scene of seeing his mother get struck through her head with an arrow and he jolted up straight opening his eyes.
But the view that greeted his eyes did nothing to alleviate his worries instead it confirmed them.
"No, no, no!!!" Uriel started to cry as he looked around seeing the numerous dead, and the morphed earth all around him.
He climbed to his feet in a rush ignoring the pain wrecking his body from every direction.
"Mom, Dad!" he shouted while shaking his head, not wanting to believe what was before him, there was no way that any of this was real.
It was all just a nightmare, it had to be a nightmare.
He rushed around the field and only a few moments later he stumbled upon the body of his father, lying buckled over in the mud.
"Dad, get up!!!" Uriel shouted and ran to the side of his gigantic father, he turned his father over onto his back and was met with the sight of the gapping hole in his neck, it was as wide as a gold crown with dry blood decorating the exterior.
Uriel fell against the body crying and snivelling into his chest, for what he knew was the last time.
His heart pounded with a pain he couldn't describe as all he wanted to know was why was it that he was alive, why was it that he survived while everyone else was dead.
It was then that his eyes narrowed as he remembered that he had been hit, by all means, he should have been dead, he climbed up from his dad's body with great effort and looked down at his stomach.
His white tunic had a gapping hole in it and was dyed red from his blood, yet when he touched his stomach there was no wound, he pulled up his up tunic and looked down with disbelieving eyes when there wasn't even a trace of the wound on his body.
Every inch of his stomach was the same creamy colour it had always been, with just a red crust of blood that easily peeled away.
Uriel sunk down after a while and contemplated what to do, looking at the swords of one of the fallen soldiers he had the desire to collapse on top of it but as he looked down at his dad he knew that it wasn't what he would want.
He sat with a sunken expression as Zeresha trotted up to him and gave him a gentle nudge with her head lowered as she looked at the body of Zek.
Uriel sunk back against her as he tried to think of what to do, it was difficult to think when 9 out 10 thoughts all suggested that he kill himself, he had nothing left to live for.
"What should I do Dad?" he asked wishing that he would receive an answer, right after he remembered something else, someone important whom his dad had entrusted to him.
"CASS!!!" Uriel shouted and jumped to his feet, his eyes turned to the column of earth extending over a dozen feet into the air, he vaguely remembered controlling the earth to push her up to safety.
He ran with a sense of hope but also fear, not knowing what he would do if she was dead, as it is almost all of his thoughts were suicidal, but if he found her dead he didn't think he would be able to last another second.
He reached the column with a pained expression and touched it, "Come down," he muttered trying to command it, but it remained as still and stubborn as all the earth he had ever touched before.
"I command you to come down," he said pressing his hand against the pillar, but nothing happened.
After a dozen failed attempts at trying to control the earth he decided to go up the old-fashioned way.
Uriel started to climb the pillar, though his entire body cried in complaint of the exertion as he slowly made his way to the top, with one hand after the other.
"Cass," he called out hopefully as he reached the top, but upon reaching the top he was startled to discover that it was empty, there wasn't a sign of her.
The only good news was that there wasn't any blood on the pillar.
'Where is she?' Uriel cried to himself.
"Maybe, maybe she went home," he muttered and started to climb down.
He ran to Zeresha and climbed onto her back, "We need to get home girl," he said with urgency.
Zeresha didn't need to be told twice, she was glad to be able to leave this place of death, it was not a place meant for the living, not anymore.
As the mare trudged through the ground Uriel looked back at all the dead with sorrow, 'Mom, Dad, I'll find Cass and protect her no matter what,' he promised.
'And once I find her I'll come back to give everyone a proper burial,' he thought feeling guilty for leaving the villager's bodies strewn on the ground, but he had no choice Cassandra's life could be in danger at that very moment, he was sure that they would all understand.
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