The wind tore at Jaxten Rau as he flew towards the horizon aboard his skyblade-330, the swoop bike's engine roaring as the vehicle propelled its young rider through Concord Dawn's night sky. Tear-rimmed eyes fixed on a plume of dark smoke in the distance, Jaxten's mind remained on the similar smoke cloud that lay behind him. A shallow grave for his parents dug by his own hands. A burned home much like the one he would find ahead.
Slowing the swoop as its engine began to whine in distress, Jaxten's approach to the origin of the smoke pillar was much quieter. Circling the smokestack, he scanned the ground for signs of movement. What kind of animals would do this? Shock coursing through him as he spotted a pile of what could only be corpses below. Descending, helmet filter's kicking in to keep the smoke from his lungs, Jaxten got a firsthand look at the slaughter that the raiders had left behind.
The young survivor could barely recognize the homestead of his neighbor's. The Raxson's held a large homestead, a large family, and some amount of wealth. All of that ripped away and destroyed by offworlders in a single night. The face of the Raxson's patriarch stared out at Jaxten from the pile with blank and empty eyes, the man's face glued in a look of shock and pain. Circling the grounds for signs of survivors, it was clear to the youth that the raiders had been thorough in their extermination.
Returning to the corpse pile, the swoop's repulsors flaring out of their low idle, Jaxten's eyes scanned the pile once more. Bile rose in his throat, and it took everything in him not to rip his helmet off and retch. Instead he found every face in the pile with his eyes, hardening his heart as the dead faces of his neighbors burned over the memory of their living faces.
And then the realization hit him. As he scanned the pile, he couldn't find a single face belonging to the Raxson's young. Throwing the swoop into park, Jaxten hurriedly dismounted, rushing to the pile. Pulling corpses up and letting them fall to the side, he confirmed his fears. "The barkrinr, their taking the kids!" He groaned in distress. Stumbling from the funerary pile, Jaxten's stomach finally had had more than it could take. Ripping his helmet off as he collapsed to the ground, tears streamed down his face as his stomach heaved dry into the parched Concord Dawn dirt.
@Darasuum
Slowing the swoop as its engine began to whine in distress, Jaxten's approach to the origin of the smoke pillar was much quieter. Circling the smokestack, he scanned the ground for signs of movement. What kind of animals would do this? Shock coursing through him as he spotted a pile of what could only be corpses below. Descending, helmet filter's kicking in to keep the smoke from his lungs, Jaxten got a firsthand look at the slaughter that the raiders had left behind.
The young survivor could barely recognize the homestead of his neighbor's. The Raxson's held a large homestead, a large family, and some amount of wealth. All of that ripped away and destroyed by offworlders in a single night. The face of the Raxson's patriarch stared out at Jaxten from the pile with blank and empty eyes, the man's face glued in a look of shock and pain. Circling the grounds for signs of survivors, it was clear to the youth that the raiders had been thorough in their extermination.
Returning to the corpse pile, the swoop's repulsors flaring out of their low idle, Jaxten's eyes scanned the pile once more. Bile rose in his throat, and it took everything in him not to rip his helmet off and retch. Instead he found every face in the pile with his eyes, hardening his heart as the dead faces of his neighbors burned over the memory of their living faces.
And then the realization hit him. As he scanned the pile, he couldn't find a single face belonging to the Raxson's young. Throwing the swoop into park, Jaxten hurriedly dismounted, rushing to the pile. Pulling corpses up and letting them fall to the side, he confirmed his fears. "The barkrinr, their taking the kids!" He groaned in distress. Stumbling from the funerary pile, Jaxten's stomach finally had had more than it could take. Ripping his helmet off as he collapsed to the ground, tears streamed down his face as his stomach heaved dry into the parched Concord Dawn dirt.
@Darasuum