"Waaah!! Waaah!! Waaaaaaaahhh!!" A sudden piercing wail filled his ears just as Rudra was about to give in to despair.
Amidst the chaos, his little sister had woken up and had been crying loudly. There was some blood on her face, maybe it was hers or his that dripped down on her, he did not know. But looking at the fragile face filled with pain awakened something inside him.
"No!! I cannot give up! Mother told me to protect her!! I need to move. C'mon, my body, move!! Damnit, I said MOVE!!!" Ignoring the numbness and burning sensation in his legs, Rudra willed his body to stand up and start running.
He looked at all the people on the streets, and all of them were running in random directions. He picked the one that was least crowded and started running blindly. After running a few steps, he fumbled down, hard. But he did not give up. Ignoring the pain in his body, he kept trying to run while shielding his sister. Slowly but surely, he started running faster as his body started to warm up.
"Boom!!" A sudden noise rang out, as a group of people appeared in the air around that giant monstrosity, surrounding and attacking it. From the looks of it, their attacks were barely able to do any damage to that thing, but they were successful in stopping that thing in its tracks.
Rudra cherished this precious time that these people brought with their lives, as he made a mad dash towards the outskirts of the city. It was an area where the fighting had taken place before, but there was virtually no sound coming from that direction now. He only hoped to get away from that monstrosity that was at the centre of the city and hide himself until all of this was over.
He slowly reached the outskirts of the city, it was practically a scene of devastation. There were broken buildings and corpses everywhere in sight. Looking at the broken limbs and half torn corpses everywhere, Rudra was hit by a wave of nausea and felt something coming up his throat, but he forced it back down and navigated through the torn part of the city in search of a place where he could hide.
"Please, don't kill me!!!" A scream rang out at a distance, followed by a lot of other noises, which put him on guard. He quickly changed direction and ran a different way until he wasn't able to hear the noises anymore.
He looked at his baby sister, who had stopped crying, maybe it was due to the fatigue or maybe due to pain. But she was fast asleep or unconscious, breathing softly. But the 4 year old boy did not have the mental capacity to check which one of the two it was.
Looking at his sister's face, Rudra affirmed his determination before finding a quiet and ordinary-looking building and ducking into it. He quickly found an unassuming corner of the building on the second floor and went under the table there, out of sight for everyone.
After making sure he was in a safe place, he took a deep breath and felt all the tension in his body melt away and with it, the adrenaline. Wincing in pain, he examined his body, only to see numerous bruises on his body. His clothes were all torn up, and he felt like someone had injected lead into his arms and legs. He was not able to move them anymore. There was dried blood on the side of his face, forming a layer of crust on his face. His throat felt completely dried and parched, and it demanded water.
Tears appeared in the corner of his eyes due to pain; he willed himself not to cry in the fear of waking his sister up or worse, someone finding them. 'Mom, Dad, where are you guys? I hope you are safe. I feel like I can not keep her safe for much longer. Please, come and save us. I miss you guys.'
He lifted his arms with difficulty, wiped the corner of his eyes and clutched his sister's body closer to him. Before he knew it, darkness claimed him, and he fell asleep.
After what seemed like an instant, Rudra was jolted awake to a faint shouting sound in the distance. His body went tense as he tried to listen to the sound that was coming from outside.
"Search for all those vermin. Find them and kill every last one of them, and be quick about it. I can still smell that human filth in the air." A voice that sounded like something an animal was growling echoed in the air, followed by a bunch of clattering and shouting that sounded Inhumane. Hearing those voices, his body tensed up involuntarily as he started holding his breath.
As the time passed, the commotion and sounds of blasts in the air grew closer and closer to him. Hearing these sounds, Rudra started praying inwardly, but it did nothing to help. 'I'm sorry Maa, I won't be able to keep my promise with you.'
Now the sound was coming practically from right outside the building. They had started to destroy it from downstairs; it was only a matter of time before they found him.
"Bang!!" The sound suddenly rang as someone kicked open the door of the room where he was hidden.
"Therre is someone herre. I can prrrractically smell it." An animalistic growl like sound came from the other side of the room, which made all the hairs on his arms rise. He hoped to get lucky and wished that they would not find them, but the chances were close to zero. He knew he had no way out now. So, he did the next best thing that came to his mind.
He gently placed his sister down in the corner and ran out from under the table. He saw a half-broken window and jumped through it, hoping whatever was following him would take the bait. They did not disappoint.
"There he is!! Go Afterr him. NOW!!!"
Rudra found himself freefalling through the air, quickly approaching the ground. He quickly brought his hands up to his head and hoped that the injury wouldn't be too fatal so he could buy more time for his sister. But the luck wasn't on his side this time as he felt both his hands snap under pressure and unimaginable pain go through his body.
Pretty soon, he found two things holding him down. He wasn't able to describe what he was seeing, for these things were like gaunt, hollow-eyed figures with ashen skin threaded by black, glowing veins. Their movements were stiff and unnatural, and their armour or clothing seemed fused to their flesh, etched with writhing unknown glyphs. Eyes swirl with starless shadows, and their presence seemed to drain all colour and warmth from the air around them. He was not able to feel any sense of humanity or emotions from them, except boundless hunger.
"That's right. Hold him down. I want to play with this rrat." A tall, striking figure draped in a dark, seamless cloak appeared in front of his eyes. His skin was unnaturally smooth and obsidian, faintly streaked with indigo veins that pulsed beneath the surface. Intelligent shadow danced in his eyes, and as he moved, the air seemed to ripple with a cold, magnetic presence. His features were sharp and almost regal, but there was something subtly inhuman about him—like a living shadow with tentacles flowing, appearing and disappearing at his feet, giving a subtle sense of horror to all who saw him.
Looking at the looming figure over him, Rudra felt fear. Boundless fear, which almost seemed like an instinct. Just after a glance, he knew this was his end.