Talons of Epsilon

Chapter 2 - Infernal Eclipse

 "We can no longer fight fire with fire, can we?"

 The children had stepped outside, and almost instantly they were locked in a heatwave, for the city was covered in an aura of fire.

 "What do we do now?" Maranda asked, gazing out into the groups of wrecked buildings and homes. When Israel didn't respond for a few moments, she looked to her left at him. He stood tall, but stiff in a deep feeling of fright. He didn't blink or speak as he watched flames rise up onto the buildings and broken roads. No screams, no sirens, nothing could be heard for miles.

 "We're doomed." Israel finally said, a quivering voice. "We're gonna die. We're gonna die." His words made Maranda even more afraid, however she wasn't breaking down like him. Before Israel knew it, he was struck on his cheek and the hit was as swift as a lightning bolt bursting on the ground. The tears welling in his eyes were slapped out and he was left in a state of surprise.

 "Get ahold of yourself!" Maranda demanded loudly. "We'll survive. We always do."

 "In a dream, yeah, but in reality, there's no chance!" Israel remarked, clenching his fist angrily. "We'll burn like everyone else, Maranda. There's no escaping this." From that, Maranda was silent with nothing to say. All she could possibly do was contemplate the inevitable -- death by fire, death by the real world. No longer were the children in a dream that kept them safe at all costs, they were in a true nightmare they never could have predicted happening. 

 Eventually they were well on their way to the center of the city to find any other citizen they could, but the walk wasn't pleasant at all. They could feel their skin bubbling all the while, their feet burning like they walked upon solid magma. It was hell in its weakest form and they couldn't imagine the heat amount multiplying. 

 "Are we almost there?" Maranda asked, limping as she walked beside Israel. He nodded curtly, mute and focused. "Do you think whoever we find will be willing to help?"

 "I doubt it." He responded quickly. "At a time like this, no one will help anyone. They'll just fight for--" He stopped dead in his tracks and in his sentence, making sure to hold Maranda back as well. He heard a shriek and another noise that just didn't sound normal, so he thought the best option was to stop moving and listen.

 "Huh? What are you-"

 "Shh." Israel carefully scanned the area, looking for the source of the abnormal sound, but to no avail. He was looking at the only thing he saw when first coming here: debris and shattered glass peppering the ground. But--

 --there it was again. The bloodcurdling shriek and the other noise, which was starting to sound like something familiar -- a crackling inferno. 

 "I-Israel?" Maranda asked, staring straight up at the gray skies. "What's that..?"

 He took a look up, too, and again he was scared, but more-so confused as to what he was gazing up at. It was the sun, shadows cast around it creating an umbra; an eclipse, but this one was different. It was purple in-place of orange, and constantly swaying from side to side. Its size rivaled seeing the actual sun clear in a blue sky as it created the feel of staring at the moon while being right beside it.

 What made it even more intimidating was the fact that it seemed to absorb and create small floating bolts of fire. The flames entered the sun and were spit back out onto Earth, creating an explosion equivalent to an asteroid crash.

 The children couldn't look away. This eclipse was beautiful yet terrifying. But the childrens' curiosity was no help at all. Israel was suddenly knocked out and unconscious and before Maranda could yell or even see the culprit fully, she was knocked out as well.

 Everything just went black.