In the Blade's Hilt |A tale from Triterra|

Chapter 34 - The Attack

Blue didn't want to see what happened next.  He wanted to stay, to be with his parents.  His vision cleared once again.  He was huddled up in a wardrobe.  It was dark.  The sounds of battle floated in from outside.  There was smoke in the air and it was unbearably hot.  Suddenly, the doors flew open and his mother appeared.  Her hair was hung over her face and her coat was stained.  In her hand she held a mage's staff.  It had a large pair of brass wings at the top.  A small blue gem floated between them.  Behind her, sections of the wall were smoldering.  She handed him the gem.

"Blue, take this and hide it" she said urgently, "And whatever you do, don't give it to anyone!"

Blue tried to speak, but no words escaped his mouth.  She smiled weakly.

"Don't come out until I come back, and don't worry, Mama's going to be alright"

She closed the door, and Blue was engulfed in darkness once more.  The haze returned.  Please let her be alright, pleaded Blue in his mind.   His vision cleared again.  He appeared to be lying on his back.  He slowly pushed the wardrobe's doors open.  His house was burned.  Chunks of blackened wood lay in smoking heaps.  Ruined books were scattered all over the floors.  As he walked over to what was once a door, the acrid stench of smoke and rain filled his nostrils.  Light drops of rain splashed down upon the scene that lay before Blue.  They town was ruined.  Entire buildings had been razed to the ground.  Dead bodies littered the streets.  There were small piles of what looked like black armour on the ground.

As Blue wandered the streets, he wondered what had happened.  he arrived at a partially destroyed fountain.  Lying still on the ground, were his parents. 

"No, no this can't... no..."

He turned them over.  Their faces were frozen in states of shock.  Tears began to stream from his eyes.  After weeping over their bodies, he dried his eyes and looked up.  His mother held her staff closely, while his fathers mace lay a few feet from his body.  With his eyes still moist, he picked up them up.  If his parents were dead, then he wanted something to remember them by.  He walked back to the ruins of his house.