It seeped out of his palms.
Leo was dumbfounded.
He tried everything to quench it, but failed.
"I wonder…" Leo looked at the staff inside the wagon.
He picked it up, looked at it intently and focused the substance on it.
Nothing happened.
He tried again, same result.
***
After countless tries, he acquired the result he desired.
"it worked." He muttered to himself.
The substance flowed into the wooden staff, then something occurred.
The wood was consumed by a black fire.
"What?" He threw it away.
He was bewildered as he watched it float on air.
His expression was all that was needed to show how he felt.
After a short while it - the staff - burnt to a crisp, and the ashes graced the ground.
"Ouch" Leo uttered softly.
He looked at his hands.
The flames, and the substance were gone, but his palms got first degree burns.
He squinted his eyes due to the pain.
"It hurts so much.
And for some reason, I feel so drained" He thought as he held his chest.
He opened his eyes once more.
He looked at the path they were passing through;
The desolate land;
Remnants of human settlements to the right as well as the ground scorched by the fire of the beast.
And the mountain range to the left, he always wondered what was atop it's peak.
"Did the world always look, this…
Beautiful and strange" he muttered, all fifteen years of his life but he felt this was the first time he could truly see.
Like a blind man who miraculously gained sight.
His green pupils were tinted black.
"Woahhh, it's so huge.
How did they manage to do that Marcus?" Moore asked Marcus, with his mouth full of bread.
"Attaboy, that's the reaction." Marcus patted Moore on the head.
"You see Leo that's how you do it" Marcus said quirkily.
Leo's ear twitched, the interaction incited a faint smile.
His pupils became green again.
"Yeah…yeah.
Can one of you please pass me some bandages." Leo said as he stretched his hand backwards.
A while later someone walked beside him with bandages in hand.
"You're…
Leah?" He said as he looked at her.
The faint smile he mustered had turned into a bland face.
"And you're Leo .
You don't seem happy to see me." She looked unbothered by his rude demeanor.
…
He didn't even reply, he just took the bandage from her hand.
This didn't anger her one bit, she just looked at the view.
"You've been staring at this a lot.
Does it englamour you?" She said.
He showed no bother, to her statement.
Just rolling the bandage on his arm, but he sucked at it.
"That's not how you do it." She grabbed his hand and the bandage.
"Lorent, they're having a conversation.
Should I stop them, I'm afraid Leo might do something rash." Jennah said with worried eyes that matched her tone.
"Don't worry too much about it.
They're as smart as each onon other, Leo wouldn't." Lorent assured her.
"And look, we're almost there." He pointed to the reinforced wooden gate in the distance.
It came was installed on a little extension from the wall.
"Finally." Jennah smiled.
-
"How did you get these burns?
They look new." Leah tied up Leo's hands neatly as she questioned.
"It's none of your business" Leo tossed the question aside.
"It seems you don't want to talk to me.
I didn't ask for this either." She was done tying it up.
Leah walked away and went to sit beside her mother.
Moore was petrified by the sight of her, he couldn't take his eyes off her.
He arched his arms over Leo's shoulders.
"Leo, who is she, how do you know her?
You guys looked so close now." Moore questioned Leo.
"Tch…
I don't know her." Leo removed Moore's arms from his shoulders.
"Come on, tell me about her-" Moore pressed even more, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
He turned around.
It was Marcus, he shook his head at Moore.
"More importantly Leo, you never told us that you had a sister." Marcus said.
Moore's eyes widened, Leo turned away.
"What are you talking about Marcus" Moore asked.
They both ignored him.
"Guessing from your reaction, looks like you only just recently found out." Marcus said.
Leo sighed.
"Hit the nail in the head didn't I." The hints were all Marcus needed.
"I guess he isn't also in the mood to talk about it…
Alright, let's change the topic" thought Marcus.
"How did you get that" He was looking at Leo's hands now.
"This?
I want to know that too, to be honest." Leo cupped his bandaged palms forward, as he slyly avoided giving an answer.
"Would they believe-" His worries were interrupted.
[Neighhh!] The horses halted and wagon stopped.
"We're here folks" Lorent announced their arrival, then got down from the wagon.
"Good girls.
I've worked you both to death.
Well you'd have been eaten by the critters either way.
Win-win if you ask me." He patted the horses as he whispered to them, then disconnected them from the wagon whilst the others disembarked from it.
Kenneth, knocked on the wooden gate using the iron rings on its frame.
[Knock! Knock!!]
"Identify yourselves!" A voice roared from behind the Gate.
Kenneth took a piece of paper from inside his pocket; an identification card of sorts.
He then walked over to the right of the gate and slid the peep hole, then placed the card in front of it.
The eyes from behind the gate trembled as they saw the information on the card.
"Of course… of course.
Come in sir." The voice's tone had shifted to that of subserviency.
"Even I wouldn't be treated like that" Jennah thought.
The expressions on the faces of the others were that of suprise at the way he was treated.
All but Lorent and Leah, but to each their different reasons.
"Kenneth always flaunts that around." Lorent chuckled at the thought of it.
"He looks familiar…" Leah thought, it was the first time that day she had gotten a look at Kenneth's face.
Mechanical noises could be heard, most especially the turning of gears.
The gate started raising up slowly but consistently.
After a short while, the gates were now opened revealing the space between the gigantic wall.
Doors to the right and a huge tunnel to the left that went through the wall.
Two soldiers at each entrance, and another one that was an informant, while there were multiple in the tunnel to left.
Torches on the walls lit the insides up, the multiple circular holes on the top of the gates served as ventilation.
The path in-between was about 14 metres in length, much longer than the width of the wall.
This was due to the fact that it protruded a bit to the 4th sector and more to the 3rd sector.
This was the relay camp in the walls 4th sector.
Kenneth went in first.
Lorent rested the horses outside then walked into the tunnel, and the others followed suit.
"Sir!" A soldier fully clad in amour saluted Kenneth, he was the voice that could be heard earlier.
Another came out from a door to the right, he was fairly overweight with the same mark on the right cheek as Jennah and Leah.
He welcomed Kenneth.
"Corporal Curth? didn't fancy seeing you here" Kenneth said as he tapped the man on the shoulder.
"Everyone please wait here, I'll be back soon" Kenneth and the man entered the room and shut the door.
Behind the door was an office, documents piled on the desk alongside a lamp for vision.
"Seems you don't have a lot of work.
Hold this for me won't you." Kenneth placed his rifle on the man's chest, then sat on the chair behind the desk.
Curth frowned slightly.
"Sure thing sir." Curth's frown turned to an awkward smile.
"Is your camp aware of the situation" Kenneth questioned Curth.
"We sure are.
Them watchers on the top of the wall alarmed us in the thick of the night.
We're assumin' they swept through the 4th secto-" Curth told Kenneth.
"Yes they did, devastating sight it was...
I'm assuming you've already informed HQ" Kenneth didn't even let the man finish his sentence.
He took a document on the table and skimmed through it.
"We sent letters to HQ not too long after they appeared.
Though we're unsure when they will be arriving." The man told Kenneth.
"Good then.
They should be here soon." Kenneth told Curth.
Not up to 30 minutes after entering the room, Kenneth had exited.
"All clear?" Lorent asked.
"We're all clear.
Just need to wait for someone to clear us.
We can sit on the benches in the meantime." Kenneth informed them.
They all sat and waited, Kenneth called Lorent over to have a conversation.
***
Two distinct knocks could be heard from the gate on the other end.
"Identify yourselves!" The soldier seated by the gate at that end said.
They slid the peep hole and one after the other showed their identification.
After confirming the identity, he signalled the other soldier beside him with a slight nod to the right.
The soldier in turn went to knock on the door of the man that had welcomed Kenneth earlier.
The soldier rolled a device with both hands, and the gate raised up with each rotation.
The door raised to reveal the figure of the two men.
One was putting on a uniform while the other was armoured.
"Wait here and wait for his orders." The man at the gate said.
The door opened, Curth nodded at Kenneth.
"Tell them to come together." He ordered the soldier that stood by the door.
The soldier went to inform them — the men at the gate, they walked to Curth.
"Sir!" They both saluted in near unison.
"Come in." He told them
Kenneth entered the door after them.
-
[Argh! Argh!!] After a while, screams could be heard from inside the room.
This went on for minutes.
The others that were waiting outside were terrified.
After a short while the door opened, A body was thrown outside the door.
It was bloodied so it was hard to identify.
It didn't take too long to identify, as the two other soldiers that had gone in came out.
Curth was the last to step out.
The body that laid there, barely alive was Kenneth's.
"Daaaaad!!!" Marcus screamed at the top of his voice as he rushed to his father.
[Baaam!] He was hit on the head with something, it was the back of his father's rifle.
His vision blurred, he passed out.