『 Nishtar — 26 Everi, 12:02 PM 』
The entire city was in flames. Screams, tears, and corpses blended together in a scene of pure chaos. The capital, once a blend of modernity and tradition, was no more. The marble columns, erected there tens of centuries ago, were nothing but a memory. Nothing remained of the train that had been the country's pride and joy either. Nothing. All you could see was fire and debris.
Dozens of mercenaries executed people without the slightest remorse or emotion. They were, of course, the ones responsible for all the devastation in the city. It was a vision straight out of hell: these mercenaries looted, killed, and raped everything in their path. Was the old man from the tavern right?
One thing was certain: the country probably wouldn't recover anytime soon. In this one-sided war, the people could only scream and beg for help... In vain.
"Help!" a woman screamed.
"My baby is dead!" another cried, sobbing.
"Mom! My sister is dying!" a young boy exclaimed, carrying his sister's body.
"My soooon! My soooon! I'm so sorry!" a man howled, slamming his head against the ground in front of his son's body.
"Come here, you!" a mercenary barked, yanking a young woman toward him. He was about to commit the unthinkable.
A boy who was desperately trying to hide failed. He was about to be killed like everyone else.
Wars weren't uncommon in this world, but a war of such violence, breaking out so unexpectedly, was.
"Hey, buddy! Buddy! Isn't this something?! The Boss was right, as usual: the party is so much fun!" a masked man exclaimed.
"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Hehehe!" the other masked man replied.
The two men seemed to know each other and belong to the same circle.
They did, however, stand out from the other mercenaries. They had branded their skin with a crescent moon design.
As for the other mercenaries, they simply wore light armor adorned with the same symbol.
On each of their backs, a clear message was displayed:
The hand that feeds must never be spurned.
— ✦ —
『 Irvar, Nothran — 26 Everi, 1:53 PM 』
"Come on, Mom, rest a bit. The boys are out in the yard anyway," Kaelle said with a smile.
Noémie turned around while finishing the last of the dishes.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"Yes, Kaelle, I'm coming. Just finishing up," she replied before dropping a plate on the floor. It shattered.
"Shoot!" she cried out.
Kaelle stood up and exclaimed:
"Are you okay, Mom?!"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine..." she said, a bit embarrassed about breaking the plate.
"Let me help, Mom. Go sit on the couch," Kaelle offered, going to grab what she needed to clean up.
"Thank you, sweetheart," Noémie replied as she headed to the living room.
"Could you bring me a towel, Kaelle? I'm exhausted," Noémie said, looking drained.
She was still exhausted from the effort she'd had to muster earlier to save her son Itoî, which made sense. With that many complex spells, even a supreme mage could end up completely drained.
"Yes, Mom, I'll be right there," Kaelle replied eagerly after tossing the plate shards scattered on the floor.
She then headed to the living room with a towel, which she handed to her mother.
"Thanks. Sit down. You've been through just as much as I have in all this," Noémie told her daughter.
"No, Mom, you did the vast majority of the work, if we're talking about Itoî!" Kaelle exclaimed.
Noémie smiled, then asked:
"Can you pass me the remote, please? Let's watch a little TV while the little rascals play in the yard."
Kaelle picked up the remote from a small side table and handed it to her mother.
"Thanks," Noémie said, smiling at Kaelle.
"You're welcome, Mom," Kaelle replied, just as smiling.
Noémie turned on the TV, then sighed when she saw she'd left it on the KingTV channel.
"Ugh, I forgot to change the channel before turning it off," she said, switching directly to another one.
"Wait, Mom, something's off. Put it back, please," her daughter said, looking anxious.
"A-Alright, if you want," her mother replied, switching back.
"Terrible news, ladies and gentlemen! The entire city of Nishtar is on fire! I am broadcasting this emergency message as a top-notch journalist! I, Ferifete, your favorite reporter, am informing you of a grave danger that has already struck Nishtar! We are under attack by an unidentified enemy! I urge all cities near the capital to evacuate!" the journalist screamed at the top of his lungs.
"W-What?" Noémie trembled with fear.
"Mom!" Kaelle cried, pulling her into her arms.
"Silvester! Your father, sweetheart! He went to the capital!" Noémie cried out, her voice broken with grief.
Kaelle sobbed as she retorted:
"No, Mom! Don't worry! Dad is fine! I'm sure of it!"
Kaelle snatched the remote from her mother's trembling hands and turned up the volume.
"I repeat! Any town or village within a one-hundred-and-fifty-five-mile radius of the capital must be evacuated immediately! We do not know the nature of this attack! The guards appear to be overwhelmed and the army doesn't seem to have been alerted by the palace!"
"Hey, you! You filming over here? Hold on, let's see if you can keep going with a dagger in your heart!" a man wearing the crescent moon symbol shouted.
"W-Wait, please, this isn't—"
Then the man stabbed the journalist, Ferifete, repeatedly.
"Argh..." Ferifete gasped as he collapsed, knocking the camera down, under the horrified eyes of Noémie and Kaelle, who were watching the scene unfold on screen.
The camera filmed the ground and the cracked road. For a few seconds that felt like an eternity, screams and cries could be heard.
"Is that it? His piece of shit camera?" a more distant voice asked.
"Yeah, yeah," the journalist's killer replied.
"You wanna play with it?" the voice continued.
"Nah, no time. Ha!"
A violent burst of static rang out. The two women then lost the camera feed, which seemed to have been destroyed by the other mercenary.
The screen displayed nothing but static.
...
Noémie and Kaelle stood up and stared at each other in shock for a few moments, speechless.
Then, all of a sudden, the image returned to the screen.
"Terrible news, ladies and gentlemen! The entire city of Nishtar is on fire! I am broadcasting this emergency message as a top-notch journalist!"
"Wait, w-why do we have the image back? And... why do we have it agai—"
"Mom! L-Look..." Kaelle said, cutting off her mother while pointing at a specific spot on the screen.
"12:15 PM..." she said, paralyzed and out of breath.
She slowly looked at her watch.
"2:17 PM..." Noémie said, her voice trembling.
"Mom... It's a replay from over two hours ago."