Chapter Text
This was what was supposed to happen.
He sat on a worn cobblestone path, his loose hair flowing around his shoulders. The night air was heavy with the smell of smoke as flecks of ash danced on his skin. Before him, he could see the glow of fire illuminating the otherwise dark night sky. The wind carried the sound of screaming as the flames greedily enveloped everything they touched. Windmills that once stood like giants were being brought to their knees by the abstract beast, and people ran wildly through the now-blackened streets, desperate to escape the growing inferno.
The boy felt strangely hollow staring at the scene playing out around him. His apathetic demeanor almost startled him; he knew he should be feeling something, but he wasn’t. He couldn’t.
His thoughts were broken when something placed a hand on his back. He turned, expectant, to see a tall humanoid creature looming over him. Its facial features were covered by armor, but the boy could feel its gaze boring into his own.
“You’ve done well.”
The boy said nothing, turning his attention to the devastation once more, his skin beginning to itch as it burned in the heat.
“It’s late. I should be bringing you back home.”
Home.
Slowly, the boy stood, allowing the creature to gently take hold of his shoulders and usher him away from the agonized cries and the stench of the fumes.
This was an inevitability.
This was what was supposed to happen.