The Rise

On the first day of May, the era of the reign of peace, the stars fall on the night sky while amid the celebration. The people watched the stars that were burning in the atmosphere and some disappeared while burning half-way through. They watched attentively when suddenly, an upcoming meteor flew just above their heads.

Bang!

The meteor's sound echoed to the forest, some screamed after they heard the impact of the meteor. Some of them run to watch the crash site in the distance. Zak had a sudden premonition that something bad will happen. He sensed evil entities from the meteor's direction. With his warrior's intuition, he warned his wife and son.

"Son, go with your mom and go home now! Leave this place immediately and we will meet there" Zak said to them hurriedly.

"Zak be careful!" said Elma to her beloved.

She kissed him then she grabbed Kelvin's hands. Without any further, she went to their house's direction.

"Dad!" shouted Kelvin as he looked back to his father.

Zak went hurriedly to the crash site with his sword still sheathed in his waist. He sensed evil entities from the meteors' direction. The people were sprinting in the direction of the crash and Zak was also going in their direction. He managed to move through the crowd like a fish in the water. With all he could, he warned the people of the impending danger, but sadly no one gave an ear to his warnings.

The crowd was still gathering at the crash site and some were carrying torches and lanterns to illuminate the crowd. They were chit-chatting when they were interrupted with a roar, it was the voice of a man that was combined with horror and terror.

From there, emerges a robed man from the embers of the crash. He has tattered robes that were burning from the embers of the meteor but he was still unharmed. Without a trace of goodness, it let out an evil aura that dominates the surrounding and chanted an unknown spell that gathers his mana.

"Without a doubt, this is a gate!" Zak shouted for everyone to hear.

Zak warned them but it was too late. There appeared a large gate from the robed man's back and the minions from the underworld crawled out from the portal. From ogres, trolls, goblins, to imps and demons. All came out from the portal. They were watching here to witness the crash site but in their dismay, they only saw monsters crawling out of the portal. It only made them struck with fear and chaos followed when the monsters came slaughtering them.

Meanwhile, Kelvin was currently dragged by his mom towards their home. They managed to arrive on the street where they live. The street lamps still lit the road towards their home when suddenly, Kelvin was in a slight panic when he saw winged creatures like gargoyles in the sky hovering towards them. They came from who-knows-where and they appeared suddenly as they let out a shrieking sound that makes your skin hairs stand up just by hearing them.

They were creatures from another world that has come to Lumia recently. With their claws, they can tear apart the skin without effort. Well, the bad news was they were eating live people to satisfy their hunger. You will choose to die instantly than to be eaten alive while screaming or what the books say about them.

Elma and Mael hid in the corner of the street where there were walls. They managed to hide in time when there was a gargoyle that flies overhead from where they hid.

"Mom we have to get to our house and pick some weapons so at least we can defend ourselves," said Kelvin as he formulates a plan.

"Son, how about we take safer routes towards home, we just have to go around the streets away from enemies sight." his mom suggested to him.

"Okay, we'll go with that plan," said Kelvin to her.

They went roundabout to the streets to have a cover from the flying monsters while traveling towards their home. Kelvin estimated that they will arrive in a few minutes. They sneaked cautiously while taking cover to cover. The gargoyles were busy diving for the crowds to have their victims. So that means that they were temporarily safe for now.

They arrived home without trouble but has full of worries. This place will not be safe anymore. For it will be overrun by monsters anytime soon. Zak promised to meet them at their home and will make a plan after that happens.

His mother went to the cabin together with him. That place was where they stockpiled their heirlooms and weapons, as well as armors. She lits the lamp that was placed on the table that his father owns. His mother has a key in her necklace but Mael didn't know yet where it will be used. He observed his mother which was currently kneeling on the wooden floor and was looking for something.

"Kelvin, I will tell you now the secret we've kept until now in the cabin. This cabin has a basement that has secrets. We will open it now for the time is ripe. Your father entrusted me this key and it will be yours when the time comes." his mother said while opening the wooden floor.

She opened it and the trap door opened with a sound. She lighted the underlying door with the lamp she holds and grabbed Kelvin's hands. There were a few steps underground that lead to a wooden door which has a keyhole located at the corner just below the door's handle. She grabbed the key and inserted it into the keyhole then twist it to produce a sound.

Clunk!

The door opened up the moment it was opened by the key. The room was dark from the inside and the only light was the lamp that Elma holds.

"We will now enter it, don't even tell this to anyone whatever happens, okay?" his mom said to him as she pushed the door that was containing the secrets of their family.

Kelvin gulps his saliva and held his mother's hands while his heart raced like an excited child that will receive its plaything. He followed his mom that was holding the lamp to light up the room.

When they entered, his mom lights the lamps which were located in the walls and the room was now like a brightly lit room which has the ambiance of a well-designed room for a library. That's right, it's a library of books and a weapon and armor shack that has been passed down to Kelvin's family and later on, to Kelvin. The room has a teleportation array in the middle, an alchemy table, an enchanting table, a library of books, and a room full of chests of golds.

"We don't have much time Kelvin, this library has to be passed down to you and your family. As long as you live, this heirloom lives also together with you. Now, I give you this ring to access this heirloom as a gift from me and your dad. You can always teleport to this room as long as you apply mana to the ring, whenever and wherever you are. This ring can store anything from this room and as well as anything that you own. Now let's equip ourselves, for the danger is at hand!" Elma said to his son while inserting the ring into his finger.

The ring glowed as a sign of recognizing its new owner. And without delays, they equipped themselves with armors and weapons. Kelvin chooses a short sword that has lighter and faster swings, he equipped light armor that was just in his right size and came out of the cabin prepared. His mother equipped a long sword and heavy armor with a shield that was commonly used by knights. They locked the doorway of their cabin and hurriedly went outside.

They arrived outside and just in time, his father appeared and was bloody all over his body.

"The fallen is so strong! we have to evacuate immediately to the capital!" he said as he gasped air.

"We have to take safer routes if we want to avoid enemy encounters," Elma said to her husband.

"Dad, what happened? where did they come from?" Mael asked worriedly.

"I will explain while we escape from this place." his father replied to him.

He and his father, as well as his mother, escaped to the backdoor to the forest and to go through the road to the capital. He managed to be calm because he was with his father and mother. They will have hope when they will arrive at the capital. He never imagined that this tragedy will fall to their village. They were happily gathering at the festival when all this happened to them.

They were running to the forest and their stamina was slowly depleting. His father was still in great vigor after all the slaughtering he made to the monsters, while his mother was coping up.

They didn't meet enemies so far but the gargoyles were still in the air, scouting for enemies to devour. They were going around the village to the road to the capital which was located to the north and they were still on the west side of the village.

They were still running when they sighted gargoyles in the sky. It was not a problem to his father but what he worries about was the reinforcement on the enemy side, which will lead them to be surrounded. His father can not protect them when he was occupied by the enemy. Well, their priority now was to escape and to take refuge in the capital so they evaded the enemy sights and hid in the bushes while recuperating their stamina.

Zak grabbed Elma's map and pinpointed their location and they were close to the road. He was still gasping for air and he drank a handful of water. He estimates that they will arrive in the daytime and by the cover of the night, they will be hidden from the enemy sight. When they arrive at the roads, they will be guided by the street lamps of the road towards the kingdom.

They encompassed the night and was running like there was no tomorrow. By the distance, they were hearing shrieking sounds produced by the unknown. Mael started to shiver while his sweat was constantly dropping from his head. While they were running, they start to have a glimmer of hope when they were starting to saw the faint lights of the street lights. They were not far from their destination when they heard louder shrieking noise from the distance. They were running and arrived on time when they saw the robed man that was on the road standing silently like an embodiment of horror.

"Elma! take Kelvin and run!" Zak shouted to Elma.

Without delays, she grabbed him and run in the opposite direction. Zak confronted the enemy using his sword but it was only banging sounds that they can hear because they run without looking back.