Rise of Yahunyens: Origin

Episode 49: Wrings The Wings: Part 8

A new dawn broke, but instead of bringing light and hope, it carried with it a darkness that seemed to smother the very soul of Gerwanis. The sun's rays barely penetrated the thick, ash-laden clouds that hung low over the land. The sky, once vibrant and alive, was now a muted, mournful gray. For Fheniz, who lay unconscious in the muddy pool of the upside-down mountains, the dawn felt like a cruel reminder of the nightmare that had unfolded the night before.

Slowly, Fheniz began to stir. His eyelids fluttered open, heavy with the weight of exhaustion and fear. His mind was dizzy, swirling with fragmented memories of the horror that had struck. As he pushed himself up with trembling hands, the cool, sticky mud clung to his palms and clothes. He sat in the muck, his legs folded beneath him, trying to piece together what had happened. His breath came in ragged gasps, his chest heaving with the remnants of panic that still gripped his heart.

Then, like a bolt of lightning, the memories returned—flashes of the catastrophic event that had shattered his world. The screams of terror, the blinding light, the earth-shattering explosion that would have turned everything he knew to dust. Fheniz's body tensed as the memories assaulted him, and he let out a small, strangled cry, clutching his chest as if to contain the pain that threatened to burst from within him. He wiped the mud from his face with a trembling hand, smearing the dirt across his skin as he struggled to catch his breath.

As he tried to regain his composure, he noticed something else—his left slipper. The toe post was broken, and his left toe was injured, blood having dried around the wound from where he had fallen. But the physical pain was nothing compared to the emotional agony that gripped his heart. Fheniz wasn't worried about the injury; he was worried about the slipper, the very pair that Burohagikun had made for him by fate. He couldn't believe it was broken. With shaking hands, he removed the slipper from his left foot, bringing it closer to his face as if he could will it back to wholeness through sheer force of will.

"It's broken..." he whispered, his voice barely audible as the weight of those words sank in.

His eyes, wide and filled with sorrow, stared blankly at the broken slipper, his mind unable to process the reality of the situation. It was as if the broken slipper was a symbol of everything he had lost—everything that had been taken from him in an instant. His heart ached with a pain that words could never fully describe, a deep, gnawing agony that seemed to seep into his very soul.

Fheniz didn't speak another word. He didn't need to. The silence spoke volumes, echoing the despair that had taken root in his heart. Slowly, methodically, he removed his other slipper and held it in his right hand, while the broken one hung limply from his left. Barefoot, he began to walk, each step a reminder of the shattered remnants of his life, the broken slipper swinging up and down as he trudged through the desolate landscape of the upside-down mountains.

As Fheniz entered the city of Venlores, the stark contrast to the city he had left that morning was like a punch to the gut. The vibrant, joyous atmosphere of Natsika-Esdoranma had been replaced by an overwhelming sense of grief and despair. The once-lively streets were now filled with rubble and debris, buildings having crumbled from the violent earthquakes that had accompanied the devastating attack. The air was thick with dust and the acrid stench of smoke, choking the life out of the city that had once been so full of light and color.

Fheniz walked through the streets, the small pointy stones pierced his bare feet, but he didn't mind that entirely. His eyes were wide and sad, but his face remained expressionless, a mask that hid the storm of emotions raging inside him. His mind was numb, unable to fully comprehend the destruction around him. He saw people weeping openly, their cries of anguish piercing the air like knives, but it was as if his senses had been dulled, the sounds and sights muted by the overwhelming darkness that clouded his thoughts.