Prologue

"Come on, we have to keep going!" A young woman whispered amongst the children as they all ran through the forest. None of the younger kids knew why they were running; they just assumed it was a game of hide-and-seek and kept giggling to each other.

The older ones knew though. They knew it was only a matter of time before this would have happened to them. They knew, but none of were truly prepared when it happened. All of them had been resting peacefully before a scream was heard outside their homes, and within a matter of seconds they were all running off into the trees to hide from them.

Them, no one really knew what "them" was, just that they weren't human nor animal. They were savage creatures, killing all who stand in their way, and cursing those whom they deem worthy. To see one only meant one of the two, neither of which anyone wanted.

"Hey, big bro!" A little girl whispered beside an elder boy, a big smile stuck on her face. "How long are we going to keep hiding? Are mommy and daddy still counting?"

"Yes now keep quiet," He picked her up and smiled softly, glad she did not know the truth just yet. "We can't let them find us so soon, now can we, Bree?"

Bree shook her small head and clamped her mouth shut, giggling quietly. "Can I hold the crossbow this time?"

"No." He booped her nose and looked forward again. No, this was better, to keep her oblivious to what truly lies in their village. The children kept running before they reached a small clearing in the forest, stopping to catch their breath.

"How long are we gonna keep running?" One of the kids piped up.

"Yeah, mommy says we shouldn't run too far or they won't find us." Another one remarked.

"I'm tired, can we go back and sleep?" A few words of agreement popped up from the small crowd.

"We're going to keep running until we can't see or hear the village anymore." The same woman from before looked at them all coldly. "Your parents will find us, don't worry. The whole village will help them. As for sleep, we'll do that after we've been found. Now let's go."

"But-"

"Let's. Go." She raised her voice.

"Sarah, keep it down." The elder boy whispered. "We can't-"

"Well excuse me for not being able to keep these children's mouth's shut!" Sarah glared at him. "Honestly Ender, you should know better than the rest of them."

"Well yes but-"

"Then there's nothing else to say. Now let's go or we leave you behind." She started walking again, leaving the children in shock.

"Sarah wait-!" Ender began.

He couldn't even finish his sentence after a high- pitched scream arose into the air, followed quickly by the sound of bones crunching. All the children screamed and hid behind the teenagers of the group as the sound of heavy footsteps thudded through the woods.

"Sarah-?" The boy whispered, curious if this was her doing.

Instead, a creature half the size of the trees emerged in front of the kids, staring at them with it's beady white eyes. Moss covered it's shoulder's, with branches poking out from it's back. In one of it's bloody hands was Sarah's head, her shocked and scared expression stuck on her face.

"Big bro . . . ?" Bree whispered, gripping onto her brother's shirt. "Where's it's mouth . . . ?"

Ender placed his sister down amongst the children, while he and the other teenagers grabbed their crossbows and raised it at the monster. For a moment, it was quiet; nothing could be heard from the beast, the children, the village from afar. Even the animals in the forest stopped their soft chatter.

Both the teenagers and creature just stared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move. One of the children gasped and yelled. "Mama-!"

The beast's face twisted into a mouth and screeched, charging at them while raising it bloody claws in blind rage. Ender aimed his weapon at the area between the beasts eyes and fired the arrow. It only screeched more, and two other monsters appeared in response. The teenagers kept fighting against these titans, failing terribly as they were either torn to pieces or thrown across the forest, painting the dirt a murky red as the blood of children spread into the soil.

"Big bro!" Ender turned around and watched in fear as a beast charged towards his little sister while she sat there crying. He ran and skidded in front of her, hugging the girl tightly.

He screamed when he felt the beast slash his claws onto his back, before being picked up and thrown across the forest, similar to his friends. He felt his body make contact with the ground, but could barely do anything before the back of his head hit a rock.

He could hear his sister screaming for him before he finally passed out from blood loss.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

When Ender awoke, he was surrounded by ashes and dried blood. He winced and got up, looking around at the grey area. He trudged slowly to the clearing, now a dark area, pieces and limbs of what belonged to the children they had to protect. What he had to protect.

He saw something glitter in the dirt and picked it up. It was a necklace, nothing too fancy, but it made him cry. He recognized the chain well; after all, he had given this to his sister for her fourth birthday.

He fell to his knees and felt the tears pour out like a waterfall. "I'm sorry . . . " He whispered. He stood up and realized that his back didn't hurt, nor his head. He immediately placed his hand on where the wound was supposed to be on his back, but felt nothing. He felt no throbbing in his head either.

Without a second thought, he ran deep into the forest, reaching a nearby river and looking in it. There, he saw two eyes with white irises stare back at him with shock. "H-how on . . ." He was cursed. He looked up at the sun, and realized something else.

"It's too quiet."