An End

Ray was ecstatic to see his mother standing in front of the door of their house, most likely waiting for him to arrive. 

The moment he saw her alive and well, it was like a huge rock of anxiety suddenly disappeared from his shoulders but that was only for a second, until he saw blue flames falling from the sky towards his home.

Without hesitation, Ray dashed forward as fast as he humanly could, without any other thought but saving his mother floating in his mind, watching her also rush towards him with joy, ignorant of the imminent danger that was about to befall her.

Seconds for him felt like minutes, yet the time, in reality, seemed to speed up even faster than it should. In no time, the flames arrived burning everything in their path, including their house, Ray's mother, and Ray who was only a step away from her, about to hug and hold her in his arms.

The loud boom and the burning of cement in the background were little, compared to his mother's scream in his ears as she was flung towards him. Easily, he felt how badly burnt her back was, her blood soaking his hands, having already burnt away every strip of cloth she wore.

She shook in terrifying pain, as Ray began to scream.

"Help...Somebody help. My mother's been hit," He yelled almost like he was the one at death's door, as he watched her blood stream to the ground on which he laid her and held her there, not wanting her to see how badly she was truly injured.

"Help me!" he cried at the peak of his voice until his voice cracked as he struggled to hold back tears and became hoarse from his shouting especially when he realized that no one was coming, or coming as fast as he needed them to.

"Ray...," his mother lightly croaked out, using the little strength she had to pull him closer to her so that she could hear him, 

"Shush mother, you'll be fine. Don't waste your energy. Your back is pretty burnt but apart from that you're fine..." Ray lied, wiping the tears in his eyes as he spoke, resisting the urge to burst into another round of tears when he noticed how pale his mother looked.

"Why then are you crying? I can always tell when you're lying Ray," His mother whispered to him as she stared straight into her son's eyes, as they both ignored the rest of the chaotic world around them, even as their home crumbled to ashes and a battle continued above them, 

"Mother, please...I can carry you but I don't think I should," Ray said seeing how much blood she was losing even though she wasn't moving around, 

"I already alerted them on my phone. They'll be here any minute from now," he reassured his mother as he touched her face, smiling down at her while trying to remain calm for her sake, 

"Yeah...they'll be here soon," his mother whispered right back before her eyes suddenly brightened up, looking straight at her son with a knowing look.

"So...you got your powers right?" His mother asked with an aura of confidence beaming out of her as she spoke.

Ray nodded in affirmation, right before stamping a huge smile on his face as he did so.

"I'll tell you all about it when we get out of here," Ray said with a calm smile, even as his heart wouldn't stop thumping in fear as he wondered how long the healers were going to take to get to them.

"Hmmm...," his mother lightly replied, her eyes fluttering close, before popping them back open, 

"Okay. I'm sure it's as wonderful as your father's powers even though he found them quite burdensome. He could see the future you see or at least glimpses of it. We used to joke about it all the time," His mother said, as she reminisced about past events.

"Ray?" She suddenly said calling Ray's attention back to her, since he had been looking around, and signaling for people to come closer to help them, especially as not even the citizens had enough confidence to move closer in case of another attack.

"Mother?" Ray said shaking her awake the moment he noticed that she seemed to be dozing off, regardless of how much it might heighten the pain she was trying to hide from him.

"Please stay awake for just a while longer," he persuaded pulling her closer to his chest, not noticing or caring about how much blood got on his clothes, since he himself was unaware that he was also bleeding from his arms.

"Ray?" His mother called again and he immediately answered, intent on doing everything he could to keep her awake and talking to him.

"Yes, Mother,"

"Just in case... I want you to know that I love you very much and I want you to live a happy life surrounded by people that you love. When your father died he laughed and said " My son will be a powerful man, powerful enough to stand on top of the world" and I believe him," his mother said lifting her hands weakly to cup her son's face with a smile.

"He…he, just make sure you don't, Kurgh…" she coughed unable to finish her sentence as blood began to drip out from the corner of her mouth.

"Of course Mother," he replied with a bitter smile on his face, exasperated as he watched her continue to do her best to speak to him while he did everything he could to stop her.

"And you'll be right beside me watching over me when that happens," he continued staring into her eyes as he looked down at his mother after placing her lovingly in his arms.

In a split second that was completely unexpected, both of their faces were illuminated by another falling blue flame, and while Ray instantly panicked already drawing his mother closer to him to shield her, his mum didn't as she did the only thing a mother could do for her child.

Using all the strength she could summon, Malory, Ray's mother pushed him down using her body as a shield from the burning flame that fell directly towards them from the sky.

At first, Ray felt everything, the searing heat against his skin, his mother's body weighing on him as it got lighter by the second. 

Then he felt everything.

The screams, the smell of burning flesh, the silent unending noise in his ears, his consciousness slowly collapsing under the heavy burden of his burnt body.