Chapter 32: The First Strike

[Cole]

The last time something like this happened was when his parents died.

The cave had exploded and spewed flaming rocks all over the village, crushing everything that stood around it. Fire was everywhere, reducing everything meaningful to useless ashes - houses, trees and people. Those who survived death suffered harsh burns that took days to heal.

Cole's memory of the explosion, before and after, had eroded with time until it became a blur.

Today, it was revived.

Owin was lying on his bed, twisting and grunting in excruciating pain. His entire exterior had been burned, revealing the raw, pink flesh, red veins and yellowish-white blotches underneath. There were no traces of Owin; the squirming body was completely unrecognizable.

The air was thickened with the bitter smell of his burnt limbs and deafened with the dense silence of the audience.

Cole watched silently as Aeson, the village doctor, tended swiftly to the urging wounds. He felt a squeeze in his hand, looked d