This part of the story directs the spotlight towards Sky for one chapter, so bear with me and read on through the sadness, if you will. I contemplated on whether or not I should have added more, but I think this will suffice.

CHAPTER 6: Eradication

Sky progressed at a much slower pace compared to how he had practically raced out of the village a day ago. He was unusually compelled to do so, taking in his environment as if it were the first sight he had ever witnessed, even though he had already seen it once on his way out. He experimented with more of his newfound abilities, finding out that he could communicate with any creature of the forest by using telepathy to absorb its spoken or body language so that he could proceed to hold simple conversations with them. His sight had changed drastically, giving him a perspective of much higher definition, and so frequently gazed at the interesting sights he came across as if he were taking time to paint a still-life portrait.

All in all, a full week passed peacefully in the wilderness. Over time, Sky had very quickly become accustomed to living away from civilization… He didn't think he was quite ready to go back.

However, one day, he began conversing with a pterolark that casually flew across his direction. When he got its attention, he attempted a simple greeting… but it didn't respond. Silence ensued as the creature perched on a nearby branch for a few seconds before fleeing in panic.

Thoroughly befuddled, Sky tried talking to other animals. Their responses were no different, and their concluding action was exactly the same as that of the earlier pterolark. The forest was noticeably hushed… Not even the atmosphere's gentle breezes could rustle the vegetation into producing a single noise.

Then, the confused lynx felt an unseen wave of giant force pierce through his whole body. The impact had no physical effect, but his stomach felt as though a thousand butterflies were generated out of nowhere, further amplifying an agonizing rush of fear that coursed through his nerves and spread fully from head to toe. He reflexively hunched over and grunted painfully while a thousand sharp cries of despair screamed inside of his mind, reverberating inside both of his ears at full volume.

Argh! What the hell is going on?!

Squinting his eyes tightly and grinding his teeth together, Sky questioned where this had come from while the pain continued to grow within his body. He figured it must have been the spirits, and the horrid suffering he was enduring could possibly have indicated the reason why the forest creatures were so silent. But what was wrong?

He could understand clearly as the sensation disappeared gradually… He realized that he had detected the fear that bubbled within every living creature in a certain radius, and he absorbed everything simultaneously to produce a potent effect on his own body. He frantically looked around, trying to see the cause of the tumult.

In the direction of his village, a pitch black cloud of evil energy colored the atmosphere a sinister violet hue. Both suns could not be seen in any direction he turned.

It's the danger Mudarduh mentioned! I have to get back to the village before things get ugly!

Sky instinctively leaped and ducked through every obstacle that stood in his path as he charged into a full-out sprint along the trail that led back towards his home. He had left his belongings behind, including his mat, his notebook, and his silken long-sleeved shirt, all of which he judged as highly insignificant compared to the currently developing scene. His tired muscles were fueled by cyclical rushes of pure adrenaline while his heart felt as though it would pound out of his chest.

He could hear the screams become louder as well as noticing the blackened atmosphere continue to darken ominously. Sky approached the wilderness line and didn't break his pace, forcing himself to disregard the fact that the vast fields of healthy grass had disappeared completely to leave everything except for a dry, hard soil that looked sickening to the eye. The fearful feeling in Sky's stomach skyrocketed when he saw a red light in the distance where the village was supposedly located.

As soon as he arrived, he paused and stood still while looking directly over the expanse of the Zelenoan parish. A horrid sensation of dread and despair filled his body as he witnessed the unfolding chaos beneath him from the top of a rising hill just on the outskirts… The town was lit brightly in scorching, hellish flames that belched smoke into the air to wilt every patch of vegetation within its confines. Another force was present as well… The real cause of Sky's sudden wave of intense trepidation came from massive hordes of tall, brutish warriors that looked like shadows in their gray armor as they purged every structure they could find to terrorize the once sacred grounds of Sky's homeland.

Villagers were thrown forcefully onto the grown, maimed, flogged, stabbed gruesomely, and beaten brutally without end. Torturously agonizing death was all Sky's friends had in store now… More crystalline architecture was set on fire as well as gathering areas and residencies, and the lynxes were completely defenseless. There was nothing that could be done except watch the parish burn.

Sky's body went numb with shock. He felt as though he would gag, but his focus was kept on every member of his species that he could see suffer because of the unknown fighters. Even though he was a relatively long distance away, the smoke from the billowing flames made his eyes water painfully and seeped into his lungs, causing him to choke and almost fall over in anguish.

Luckily, Sky had inherited healing capabilities from the spirits, so he semi-successfully attempted to cleanse his lungs and expel the foul gas from his body. He knew he had to check and see if the soldiers had purged his own house yet, so he began to sprint down the hill towards that direction, avoiding the attention of the shadowed warriors and weaving his way around piles of dead bodies and weapons lodged into the ground.

Inside of his family hut, he saw something that made his heart sink into hopelessness… Both of his parents were stretched out with their backs against the far wall by two huge brutes. They displayed bruises around their torn garments as blood trickled down both of their faces from rather large cuts… Sky was frozen in place while sweat poured out of his trembling body, and his heartbeat was close to its maximum. As the two adults finally turned their gaze towards their child, smiles cracked weakly between their cheeks.

His mother was the first to speak, weakly coughing out, "Poljska… Y-Your time has now come to be free. You must l… m-must leave this place… for your own safety, and b… begin a new chapter."

Sky remained silent, his mouth wide open as his breathing rate increasingly hastened. His father croaked out while the two oppressors seemingly allowed for them to have their final words spoken, "M-My son… Millennia Sky… You will d-do so many g… great things. Keep us… in your h-heart… and g-go forth."

As the command escaped the wretched male lynx's lips, a large portion of the hut's dirt ceiling caved in and crashed to the ground in violent flames right next to the petrified young lad who was dismayingly listening to the last few spoken syllables of his lifelong guardians. His father continued, "There… is not m-much time left… Please, h… hurry. A-And don't forget… that we love you."

His mother shed a small tear as she joined in softly, "We love you… w-with all our he-"

All of a sudden, her attempts to breathe were viciously cut short as a katana pierced through her chest, causing her to utter a sharp wail of misery before shutting her eyes permanently. Following the death of Sky's mother after not even a split second had passed, the same reddened blade was impaled through the stomach of his father, who squinted his eyes shut and grit his teeth, bellowing out a cry of terror from the excruciating amount of pain he was receiving.

Unable to watch anymore, Sky sprinted out of the doorway, restricting his gagging reflex to the best of his ability while rushing as fast as his legs could carry him back to the wilderness. He kept his pace over the hill where he stood earlier, closing his eyes to block any other gory scene which could have triggered his succumb to a grieving madness.

He stumbled over a stray sword blunt that protruded from the cracked earth and ran his head into something solid. As he fell to the ground with a panicked grunt, a shady figure turned around and glared at whatever had just plowed straight into his backside. Unlike the other warriors, he had no armor on and only sported a pair of training pants while his gray and muscular upper body was covered with large scars. He was a cougar with long hair like Sky, except it was slightly more unkempt as his serious countenance displayed a huge laceration-like scar diagonally across his left eye and his nose. A sneer was expressed as he observed the pitiful, cowering Zelenoan.

He spoke in a smoky tone full of disgust, "Humph. A survivor in the midst of all the rest? How inconvenient."

Sky, who was now hyperventilating, crawled away frantically in the opposite direction but stumbled once again and fell face first into the heavy dust. He turned around and stared up at the frightening soldier as he advanced towards him at a very eased pace, wearing the same the same ruthless expression. The hysterically distraught lynx noticed he was being surrounded by more dark-plated brutes.

The cougar leaned down and effortlessly lifted Sky up in the air by his neck as though he would strangle the young boy, but instead he gave a powerful glare and displayed a sharp-toothed grin as he spoke in a low tone over Sky's panicked breathing.

"You are nothing but a worthless coward… and your species is a disgrace to your galaxy and nothing more than a mere burden. You shall expire soon with the rest of your pathetic and sickly family members. As you die, my name will echo forever within your ears on your trip to hell… You shall remember me as Siva."

As he spoke the last word slowly with a faint hiss, the last thing Sky could remember as his body shook violently while his breathing became more rapid was dropping to the hard, dusty earth as his vision became black with nothing.