Rayfe’s village always had the beautiful scenery of white lilies growing on the hillside, the wheat in the fields swaying in the wind, and the various small houses that made up the village.

  But today, all of that was replaced by smoke, fire, and the keening sound of death. The screams of dying men, women, children, and elderly alike rang out alongside the laughs and cheers of the bandits. They wore white bandannas around their heads - which were now mostly stained red.

  “Rayfe! Selene! Hide, now!”

  Rayfe flinched. He had never heard his father - a man of few words - sound so fragile.

  “Rayfe, wait.”

  His father pulled him by the shoulder, as Selene, his younger sister by two years, ran back into the house to hide.

  “Rayfe, when this is over… I want you to open the little box under your parents’ bed. You’re not old enough yet, but… but I might not find another opportunity to give it to you.”

  Rayfe gave a simple nod, and before he could say anything, his father pushed him back into the house just as a bandit in a blue bandanna sauntered through the burning street towards his father.

  “Rayfe… it’ll turn out okay for you in the end. I promise.”

  The bandit in the blue bandanna, flanked by two other bandits, walked up to the doorstep just as Rayfe ducked behind a corner.

  “So… Evra. I heard that ya got a Rift-stone recently. And a pretty good one, at that! Well, I bet it would fetch a good load of coin. So, how bout a deal, eh? Give me that Rift-stone, and I’ll spare you and your family.”

  A brief pause.

  “Oh.. ya wife’s already dead, ain’t she? Ar... Well, I’ll spare ya and ya children, I guess. Sound good?”

  Rayfe’s father did not give a response.

  In the next second, blood splattered on the floor and walls like a flower in full bloom. The bandit, without batting an eye, calmly sheathed his stained blade as the strongest man Rayfe ever knew in his life collapsed on the floor, never to get up again.

  The coppery stench of blood filled his nostrils, a ghost of his father’s strong frame standing in the doorway still lingering in his mind.

  Dad… Why? Was there no other way?

  Well, it’s because I’m your dad, kiddo. I promised I would keep you safe and teach you everything I knew, didn’t I?

  His father still talked to him in his head. Like this day was just like any other. Calm. Peaceful. Full of cheers and laughter. Like his father was going to come back from hunting any second now, and the family would enjoy a dinner of roast deer together. Rayfe, Selene, Mom and Dad.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Unblinking, Rayfe stared at the still corpse as the bandit stepped over it, heading in his direction.

  “You broke your promise… dad.”

  A single tear rolled down his cheek.

  “Oh… What’s this? Evra’s lil’ kid. How old are ya, maybe ten? Tell ya what, kiddo. Ya’ dad tell ya anything about a magic stone recently? Ya’ know where it is?”

  Rayfe did not bother to look up at him, staring at the corpse and the expanding bloodstain on the floor, as if death was reaching out its bony arm to take him in as well.

  “Ah… useless kid.”

  The bandit’s expression fell.

  “R-R-R-Rayfe…? I-is everything okay?”

  Selene stuttered in her small timid voice. She padded out of the bedroom, coming to a stop beside Rayfe.

  “Ah… Another kiddo, eh? Maybe you’ll be more useful than your brother.”

  Selene looked up at the bandit, then at her father’s body, then spontaneously burst into tears.

  “Dad… Dad…. What have you done to him?…” She gasped out.

  “Dad! Wake up! Dad, we have to run, dad! Wake up!”

  Selene dashed past the bandit, the blade still dripping with her father’s fresh blood, and shook her father.

  The bandit, now visibly irritated at being ignored by two children, picked up Selene like a ragdoll.

  “I’ve been askin’ nicely, ya kids. Now, I’ve run out o’ patience.”

  “Rayfe! Rayfe! Help me! HELP ME! Please…”

  “Selene…”

  Rayfe watched his sister get taken away, incapable of processing the loss.

  The bandit turned around and strode out of the house.

  “Fellas! Burn this house down. Kill all the useless people, and kidnap anyone who can work. As for this kid here…”

  He paused in his steps to take one final glance at Rayfe. “Let him burn with the house. Things like him ain’t worth the effort to kill. We can make do without the Rift-stone.”

  The bandit’s footsteps faded into the crunch of burning wood as he stepped out of the house. All was silent except for the jarring sound of Rayfe’s world burning down around him.

  Rayfe remained unmoving in his spot, his tears finally falling in streams as his home crumbled in the flames, Selene and the other villagers’ cries for help fading in the wind.

  Humm….

  Rayfe heard a faint pulsing of something. At first, he thought it was his dying heartbeat - but it was too loud, too ambient. He looked up from the crimson pool of blood.

  Rayfe looked up after what seemed like forever. A deep blue gemstone rose in the air from the skeletal remains of his parents’ bed. It was large and beautiful - Rayfe would have been amazed had it not been against the hellish landscape of flames.

  “What… What is that?”

  Genesis Gate. The name didn't come from his ears. It echoed in his bones.

  “Genesis… Gate?”

  “Is this… the Rift-stone?”

  “Dad… is this what you wanted me to have?”

  Rayfe studied the gem as it slowly floated closer. From some angles, it looked almost crystal-clear, yet from others it looked completely opaque. It gave off a faint blue glow and a soft hum which got louder the closer the gem got to him.

  Rayfe extended his trembling fingers to touch the gem. A flash of cold blue light. Pain shot through his finger, instantly spreading through his whole body. He felt himself fading in and out of consciousness.

  This is it… I’m going to die right here. Dad… I’m coming to join you…

  And then it was gone. The pain, the light, even the sound of fire crackling in his ears. Rayfe slowly concentrated his gaze, seeing the gem slowly fading into small blue sparks.

  Taking the gem’s place was a small wooden door floating mid-air. Reaching out a hesitant arm, Rayfe gave it the gentlest of pushes. The door creaked open, revealing a small rectangular space, about enough to fit a small sword.

  “Huh…”

  Rayfe tentatively reached out with his trembling hands and grasped the doorknob, his hands shaking as if the knob would slip from his grasp at any moment. He slowly pulled the door closed, and it faded into non-existence.

  CRACK!

  Suddenly, a burning pillar collapsed, missing him by inches. Rayfe jolted back to reality, scrambling to escape the collapsing house, the home he once knew and loved. The home that was his everything.

  The world is cruel, so especially cruel when it takes everything away from you, forcing you to step into an entirely different world.

  Thus begins the destiny of Rayfe Evra.