Escaping ll

A mysterious figure emerged from the shadows, holding a sword, and as the clouds dispersed, it revealed the moonlight. The silhouette we see is of a heroic knight with black hair in a shimmering silver-white long jacket.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked.

We looked at him for a few seconds as he stood alert to his surroundings. I see the three-star batch of our kingdom on his chest, with an emblem of Ashura Kingdom.

"You are Royal Capital's lead knight?" I asked him.

"Yes, I am, and you are?"

"My name's Eleanor. I am a resident of this locality." I said.

"I se-" Just as he was about to complete his reply, he saw a chain knife in my hand. And in an instant, his expression changed.

"Wait, isn't that Arno's witchcraft? Why are you holding on to it?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, Dad gave it to me before passing away."

"Dad? What's your full name?"

"Eleanor j'Arc."

"..." He got stunned for a moment, and his eyes got filled with even more worry. "You are his daughter?"

"Y-Yes."

"It means even he is dead now." He slowly murmurs, places his hand on his palm, and looks down fiercely.

"Sir, Is everything okay?" I asked.

"No. It's not. It means the situation has gotten grim. All the elite ones are going down first. At this point, King..." He lets go of his palm from his face. "Well, you should leave this place as fast as possible and go to the safe zone at the centre."

"Centre?"

"Yes, everyone's accumulating there."

"I-I see, and—the town...it's been raided by these creatures. Who are they? Where did they come from?"

"We don't know who they are, but most probably, they came from the Murk."

"Murk? But the gate has been sealed from this side for generations, and no one has ever come or been seen on that side." 

"We don't know how that has happened yet. But the priority right now is to eliminate them all before the kingdom plunges into nothingness."

"Yes! You must hurry; the people in the town are getting killed one by one." I was getting restless with every passing second.

"I know.. Don't worry, we are already on the move."

"We?"

Just then, he raises his index finger, facing it above. In the glow of the moonlight, a squadron of knights soars through the air. They charge straight towards the town to save the people from threat. A gust of wind passed by one by one as they raced past me holding their Infused weapons.

One knight stops in front and bows on his knees to the leading knight.

"Sir."

"How's the situation?"

"Sir..." He is hesitating to say he collected his word, or more like unable to say it.

"We don't have time, Ganthia. What happened? Tell me."

"The seal of the gate has been broken. The kingdom is now an open ground with no certainty about what's coming from where."

As soon as he hears that, the lead knight gets petrified. His eyes widened.

"And the kingdom has been raided completely. We are getting shorthanded."

"What are the remaining Elite knights doing? And saying about this?"

"They are calling in for backup, and King's subordinates have gone to Jangirs to seek their help. They said not to panic; they'll get it under control."

"I see..." Lead knights eyes were hidden under his hair. He seems in distress. "Take Eleanor and the kids to a safe zone. We'll clear this town and follow up."

"Yes Sir." He stands up and looks towards me. "Come."

I look at Ron and Nina, noticing that they are still standing, covered in fear.

"Ron..Nina.. Let's go." I said, holding their hands.

"B-But what about Mom and Dad?" Nina asked with a worried face.

Now, how am I supposed to answer this? It's hard for me to convey, and with what face should I tell them that their parents are dead? Looking at their innocent, worried faces, I didn't feel like making them go any more hopeless towards the situation, at least for now.

"Don't worry, Nina. They'll be in a safe zone too, as the knights have asked everyone to come there." I told them, making my words as comfortable as possible.

Hearing those words, their shoulders relaxed a little bit.

"Okay." Nina said in a dim voice.

"This way." said Knight as he turned to lead the way, and we started to follow him.

We crossed the bridge connecting the towns to the centre of the royal capital. We avoided crowded areas where creatures might've congregated, so we chose to go by the narrow lanes near the lake area. Occasionally, a few of them crossed our path, and we promptly hid ourselves until the path seemed clear. Ron and Nina were cooperating properly. Still, we witnessed many dead bodies and screeching screams, but we were helpless. It was a horrifying scene. I had to ask Ron and Nina not to look at the grim sight. The knight, valiantly defending us using his Infused sword, managed to kill two of the creatures.

As the path here seems slightly safer, I felt like I could ask him something about what my dad said.

"Umm..Hey..." I called him with an anxious feeling in my chest.

"Yes?" he replied.

"What will happen if we go inside the Murk?"

"You'll die. What else can happen?" He answered quickly without turning back. It must be a stupid question for him.

"But I think we should go inside. What if there might be answers to what's happening here?"

He stops on his path. a few seconds, and he **Sighs* out and turns towards me with a frown gaze.

"Are you stupid? Didn't you hear what the leader said?"

"...."

"These creatures came from the Murk, and you want to go inside of it? The place from which no one has ever returned if they went inside. It's suicidal." He said.

I felt embarrassed to speak up because I knew he was right based on the facts and sensible, and I was not.

"You're right. I am sorry." I said.

"Let's not waste anymore time and hurry up."

"Yes.."

But then, why did Dad ask me to go inside? If it's suicidal, this question kept ringing inside my head, filling me with confusion all over. Dad... 

We crossed a narrow stream, pressing through a dense shroud of trees, until, at long last, we emerged at the entrance of the royal capital.

UHH..HUH?

—And my heart stopped at the sight before me. The once-beautiful capital is now in ruins, engulfed by flames that're flowing mercilessly through the structures of houses and markets. There's panic everywhere; people are scattered in every direction, and knights are desperately guiding them towards a safe zone. It was a scene of complete and utter destruction.

I was overwhelmed with anxiety and fear. I held Ron and Nina tightly and gestured towards the knight.

"Let's go."

We ran desperately towards the safe zone compound.