Corrin fell out of bed abruptly. He wiped open his blue eyes and looked out of his cracked window. Outside, it was morning. He could hear the singing birds and the wind in the trees and wheat. He fixed his bed with rough linen and fleece.
He fixed his bright blonde hair and put on his typical everyday outfit: a rough, loose linen shirt, and Sirwal trousers, loose pants that stopped at the shins and wrapped down his shoes. He yawned gently and walked out of his bedroom into the main room, a mix between a dining and living room. There, his father was waiting for him, something clearly on his mind.
"Rosaline made bread. Eat."
Corrin sat down at the small table for two and took bites out of the hard bread. Rosaline crossed his mind. She was a sweet older lady who lived next door; she often made bread for him and his father. He was halfway through his piece of bread when there came a knock at the door.
His father stood and opened the door; outside was an Imperial soldier.
"Can we help you?"
His father was polite and calm.
"There's been a notice, no work is required today in the fields, you may stay at home."
The soldier handed Corrin's father a piece of rough parchment and went on his way. He closed the door and sat down.
"What does it say?"
Corrin leaned over the table to check. His father looked at the paper while he spoke.
"The Queen directly ordered no work to be done here today."
"What for?"
His father set the parchment down, and he looked nervous.
"Probably nothing. Too many grain transports are getting caught up in the caravans to the Capital, most likely."
Corrin looked excited.
"Does that mean I can spend time with Edwin today?"
His father sighed.
"No. No work in the fields doesn't mean no work at all. I need you to go to the markets for potatoes. It'll likely be swamped with customers, but we need them for dinner tonight, Rosaline is coming over."
"But it won't take all day to get... potatoes."
His father gave a serious expression.
"We'll see. Here you go."
He hands Corrin a bag of money
"I'm trusting you with this, Corrin. Only buy potatoes. You shouldn't be gone for too long, understand?"
Corrin nods and stands up, after finishing his meal, and walks out the door. He walks down the familiar dirt path to the market. While walking, Edwin crept behind Corrin. His short brown hair swayed around in the wind.
"Hey, Corrin. What are you up to?"
Corrin was slightly startled by the sudden showing of Edwin. He calms himself down before answering.
"My father wants me to buy potatoes for dinner. Doesn't seem like an important task, but he wanted me to come right home afterwards. I could swear that we already had potatoes..."
Edwin shrugged, and they kept walking. They walked down the path. As they went deeper into town, more and more folk showed their faces. Most of them headed the same direction as Corrin and Edwin: the market.
As they walked, there was a strange silence that filled the air. Despite the number of people, the world was quiet, as though it were expecting something. Corrin turned to Edwin.
"Does it seem a little strange to you today?"
Edwin laughed nervously.
"Strange how?"
Corrin looked around. There was chatter, sure, but there were no sounds of birds in the few trees in town. The wind was stagnant, a sharp contrast from only a few minutes earlier. The people went on about their business; they were the only noise left in the world.
"I don't know. It's like the world is… quiet or something."
"You're freaking me out, Corrin."
Corrin looked to see if anybody seemed to feel the same. All the faces were just regular people, doing regular things. Then he realized something crucial. There were no Imperial guards here. Usually, there were a dozen or so that stood in the marketplace, possibly more on busy days like these, but there were none.
"Yeah? Well, I'm freaked out."
Suddenly, an ear-piercing whistle rang out, far exceeding all chatter. Everybody instinctively covered their ears and looked towards the source of the sound: The sky. In the air, a large glowing, golden boulder flew towards the marketplace. Not half a second after the whistle started, everybody began to run.
Corrin was quickly separated from Edwin in the sea of screaming people. He tried to run with them, but was quickly overpowered and thrown to the ground. People trampled, kicked, and bruised him. Then, a flash of golden light exploded through the scene, and he was thrown away.
He looked around, begging his eyelids to stay open as he scanned to see what had happened. Dead bodies lay, soaked in their own blood. Some people seemed to be unconscious, others were lucky, like him.
Corrin sat up, and the moment he moved, he could feel all the places he was hurt. He could feel bruises forming on his body, and he could feel the blood dripping down his face. Then he thought of Edwin.
He looked around quickly for Edwin, but he wasn't anywhere in sight. He tried to stand up, but his legs were too weak. More whistles rang out, and more boulders flew towards the village. He looked towards where they were coming from. Dozens of Imperial soldiers ran from that direction. In their hands were torches and swords.
"Oh- Gods…"
Corrin started crawling along the ground, helpless, away from the mass of Imperial soldiers. He watched as families exited their houses, only to be caught in the mob of people or crushed by the glowing boulders. Houses toppled and erupted in flames. Children clung to their dead parents. Limbs lay separated from their bodies.
He quickly felt somebody grab him and sling him over their shoulder; it was his father. His father ran faster than Corrin knew that he could. In only a few minutes, they were back at their house. Corrin's father brought him in and closed the door. He set Corrin on a chair at the table.
"Father, what's happening?"
His father was panting. He opened a chest in his room and grabbed a Katana.
"It's what I feared. I'm sorry, Corrin. I promise there was a good reason for you being sent to that market, more important than what you believe."
He attached the Katana to his waist and began to pull apart the floorboards. Corrin looked out the window; he saw the flames reaching closer and Imperial soldiers burning houses. Soon, however, Corrin's attention was turned back to his father as a glowing, bright light outshone the lights of the flames outside: a small golden gemstone. A string pierced its top, and it was connected like a necklace. He slid the piece in his pocket and grabbed Corrin, throwing him over his shoulder with one hand.
"What is that? Why is your scar glowing?"
His father didn't answer. He looked out the window and abruptly left the house through the door.
"That question will be answered in time, Corrin. I promise."
He turned and began to run away from the flames. He suddenly stopped. Corrin looked over to see why. In the middle of the road, a black man with long scars all over his body stood, blocking the way. The man grabbed hold of two daggers that were attached to his waist. He wore clothing foreign to Corrin: baggy striped pants and a thin striped tank top.
"You're Anees, aren't you? We have to kill all the Anees."
The man had a sinister grin and took his daggers, pointing one at them.
"You two are my kills…"
Corrin was quickly dropped to the ground, the landing hurting his left side. He looked up to watch what was happening. He tried to understand it, but the movements were too fast for him to comprehend.
The two of them traded screeching blow after screeching blow. Sparks flew off the edges, dying just before reaching the ground. The man flew down and kicked Corrin's father in the legs, twisting him around. Corrin's father used the momentum gained from falling to slash the man vertically through the face.
The man screamed and took a step backwards. Corrin's father flicked the blood off his sword.
"That'll fit right in with the others…"
"Your scar- It's glowing, you have it! You have the shard!"
The man held his wound and ran off in the direction of the Imperial guard. Corrin's father's breathing was quickening, faster than he should have been, even in this situation. His scar glowed a dim golden color. Corrin began to tear up, and all of the pain in his body started to throb and sting with pain as the adrenaline of the initial blast began to wear off.
Corrin wanted to ask questions, but his lips hurt. He looked around. In the near distance, houses were smoking and on fire, and ahead of them were the fields of wheat. Further out, the Cerelu Forest, a forest made almost entirely of oak trees. Corrin's eyesight was blurry from the flames, and the smoke made Corrin's eyes sting.
Suddenly, Corrin was sent flying to the right. He hit the ground and rolled into the basement window of a house not yet set aflame, the window cracked with Corrin's body slamming into it. Dust rose everywhere. He looked up and saw his father's face with blood dripping from his mouth. He slips the glowing shard from his pocket around Corrin's neck.
"Keep it safe, Corrin…"
He pushes Corrin through the window, which opened upwards, into the basement of that house. Corrin hit the table and fell to the brick ground in a whirl of pain. Outside, he hears the clinking of metal as blades clash. Corrin's body was in more pain than he had ever felt.
He tried to stand, but the jabbing in his side and legs hurt too badly. He crawled under the table he fell onto, hoping for it all to end.
As he sat under the table, his body weakened, and he soon drifted into a deep sleep.