The beginning of a disaster

"Don't you feel bad that we will have to kill them, Zemi?"

"I… We shouldn't, anyway, Leva. We aren't here to feel bad! And they are all alive and well right now. As long as we feed them, that is."

With these words, the stone-faced boy threw the remaining grain in his basket to the gathered chickens. The birds clucked as they fought between each other for the food.

The girl next to him huffed and took a handful of grain from her own basket. She kneeled next to the chicken coop and offered the grain to the birds. Some of them immediately moved to grasp the grain from her hand, and she used the moment to pat one on the head.

"Don't listen to my brother. He's an idiot and doesn't know how good you are. I swear, you will live long and peaceful lives!"

"As long as they lay eggs," Zemin pointed out. When Levana threw him a pouting look, he stared stonily back at her.

Eventually, she relented and stood up. The grain in the children's baskets was gone, but there was still a lot of work to do on the farm.

Zemin was only 12 years old, and his sister Levana recently met her 10th year. It would be four more years until Zemin will be old enough to put on the official uniform of a Farmer, but the siblings have been doing lots of work on the farm since they were old enough to carry feed for the animals and pick out weeds.

After feeding the chickens, they went to check on the goats. The morning only just began, and the grass under their feet was still wet with dew, but the sun was already bright.

Levana smiled at a passing butterfly, and Zemin thought her smile was even brighter. He found a smile tugging on his cheeks, too.

Near the goat pen, they met their father, Torger, who was carrying an empty bucket with him. At the sight of the kids, the man smiled and waved.

"There you are! Done with the chickens already?"

"Yeah, Dad!" Levana ran up to their father and jumped in place. "Are we gonna go shepherd goats now? Are we? The grass already grew nice and juicy for them!"

The man's face darkened immediately. "No, not today, Levana. There were demon sightings on the outskirts of our village. Neither of you should step a foot out of it until the soldiers tell us that everything is clear. Got it?"

The stern voice made children straighten and nod. They knew demons were a serious threat, even if they had never seen one in the flesh.

"Now, don't be afraid," Torger said, his face softening. "We have powerful Psionics and an angel guarding us here. They won't let any demons in! And remember—"

"Fear feeds demons," Zemin recited. "As long as we keep calm, angels and Psionics will protect us."

"Yeah! I will become a Psionic too when I grow up!" Levana shouted. "I will protect everyone!"

Torger sighed and patted her head. "Come on… Don't you like growing plants? It will be better if you become a Farmer instead, like myself."

"But—"

"No buts. Come on. Today is the perfect day to plant carrots."

Levana pouted, but obeyed. Zemin patted her on the shoulder and leaned to whisper in her ear.

"Dad is right, Leva… We are better off as Farmers rather than Psionics. That's exactly what angels said—don't you believe them?"

Levana huffed. "They aren't ALWAYS right, Zemi."

Zemin frowned at her, but didn't continue with this argument—it wasn't the first time.

At the age of six, every child had to be evaluated for their Psi-potential—their ability to transform their emotions into Psi-power, used for Psionics.

Psionic was a mystical and incredible force, which many saw as magic—if it wasn't so reliant on science. Psionics could burn demons and heal wounded, transform things, and do many other miraculous things useful in all areas of life.

Their parents had average psi-abilities, but Zemin, and later Levana, showed much more talent.

Zemin's Psi-potential was rated E++, which was the highest a person could be without training for years. It was one-in-a-thousand talent, which promised him an invitation into a school for young Psionics.

Levana's potential was even higher—an anomalous, incredible D.

Both scores amounted to nothing in the end.

Levana's control over her Psi-power was so low that any attempts to use it only ended up harming her, and all training was impossible. Eventually, she was forbidden to use Psi-power at all.

Zemin was a stranger case. He had the power, but no energy to use it. School teachers explained that Psi-energy comes from emotions of the Psionic. One must feel emotions to use Psionics for anything.

Zemin wasn't emotionless, but he couldn't feel any energy all Psionics described within himself. When he was 11, a psychologist said that it was a result of the disconnect between him and his emotions.

It was hard for Zemin to imagine that other people could just KNOW how they felt without relying on their body and actions to tell them.

In less than an hour, Levana forgot all about her argument with Zemin and after their work was done, the kids played together, chasing first butterflies and searching for funny shapes in the clouds. If it was a school day, the kids would've gone to school instead.

By evening, Zemin stopped thinking about demons at all. He was lying in bed, submerged in the story of Robinson Crusoe. In the same room, Levana was sitting at a desk, iterating between drawing and doing homework.

The book Zemin was reading was over 400 years old—something written way before the Cataclysm—but it was reprinted since then, which meant that it was very important. If not for the angels, books like these would've been destroyed and forgotten, and almost every day Zemin wanted to thank them for not letting this happen.

When the Cataclysm happened and demons and natural disasters devastated Earth, angels stood between them and complete destruction of mankind. When humans squabbled among each other, angels took over, creating the glorious Holy Dominion, where people could not just survive, but be happy.

Zemin turned another page and thought that Robinson would've been much better off if there were angels on his island to teach him the holy ways.

A loud, shrill sound of an alarm pierced the air, startling Zemin. He jolted and almost fell from the bed.

"Zemi! Zemi, that's the demon alarm!" Levana shouted, scrambling from her chair. "Is this another training call?"

"I-I… That doesn't matter! Training or not, we are supposed to act like it's the real thing! We—"

The door to their bedroom opened with a bang.

"Children!" Zemin's mother, Marina, barked over the alarm's howling. She looked stern and calm, but pale. "This was a demon alarm. Hurry, we must get to the shelter!"

The kids obeyed without contemplation. On her way to the exit, Levana grabbed Zemin's palm in a tight grip.

Their father was already at the exit with the emergency supplies. When Zemin moved to put on his street shoes, he stopped the boy with a gesture.

"Forget about your shoes! Hurry, hurry!"

He opened the door and ushered his family outside. Tugging Levana along, Zemin made two steps and stopped in his tracks.

His gaze was chained to the sight in the sky.

A monstrous black dragon with blood-red eyes was breathing fire on the village's streets. Four smaller demons with goat horns and red skin were flying nearby, fighting against the Psionics defending the village and the angel leading them.

Just when Zemin raised his eyes to the sky, the angel Elkanah—a beautiful being with six wings and six arms, each of which held a sword of brilliant light—swung all his swords at once.

A blast of light flew at the black dragon, throwing him back and sending smaller demons flying on the ground, out of Zemin's sight. The shockwave threw dust in Zemin's face, making him cover his eyes with a free hand.

"Children! Don't stand here with your mouths open like it's mealtime!" Marina grabbed his hand and tugged him along. "Move!"

She moved so fast that Zemin could barely keep up. Levana had even more trouble, and soon Torger just picked her up.

All around them was utter upheaval. Other villagers, just as confused and troubled as Zemin's family, ran out of their homes towards the shelter under the village head's house. A village mechanic was trying to extinguish a fire on his roof with a garden hose.

In the skies, the fight still continued.

Just when the village head's house got in Zemin's sight, a red demon threw himself at Elkanah. While the angel was distracted, the black dragon flew past it and spat a ball of flame right on the village head's house.

The building caught fire with unnatural speed. A moment later, the demon alarm went off, leaving behind only the roaring of fire and the demons above.

"Fucking hell," Torger said. If he was using bad words, this meant things were terrible.

And if Marina didn't scold him for that, it meant that things were even worse.

Zemin felt himself shaking. Was he afraid? He wasn't supposed to feel afraid. Fear fed demons.

"Dad, Daddy, why are you saying bad words?" Levana asked. "Mister Elkanah is going to win soon, so there's nothing to worry about!"

Above them, Elkanah turned towards the dragon, throwing another massive wave of light, but his aim was off, and he only hit another house, turning it into rubble.

Behind him, blasts of lightning from the ground hit the red demons—that was the work of Psionics fighting for the village.

"R-right, dearest," their father said. "But we can't go to the shelter now. Let's get back home instead… we will wait for the good news in the cellar!"

They ran back in haste, and Zemin was too busy looking under his feet to turn back and see the swords of light clash against the black dragon's claws and fire.

***

The cellar was small and smelled strongly of pickles. Marina gave him and Levana one each as a distraction, but both weren't in the mood to eat.

They all waited anxiously, listening to the muffled noises coming from above. Zemin didn't know how much time passed until the noises stopped, but it felt like hours.

"It's quiet now… Can we go up, Mom, Dad?" Levana asked, clutching Zemin's arm.

"No. Stay here, Leva," Torger said. "We will wait until someone comes to tell us that it's safe outside."

So they waited. And waited some more.

A loud crash pierced the silence. The ceiling shook, and bits of plaster fell on Zemin's head.

"What's that?" he asked, frantically turning his head left and right. "It came from right above us!"

Another crash made Marina huddle herself closer to her children and husband. In the next second, the cellar's hatch flew off its hinges, hitting the floor with a bang.

A massive dragon head on a long neck slithered inside like a nightmarish snake. Blood-red eyes zeroed on the family frozen in terror.

"Oh, so those are the auras I felt? And here for a moment I worried that there were more Psionics hiding from me, but there are only children." The demon laughed. "I'm going to enjoy tormenting you. Kids have the most clean, the most delicious emotions of all."