Chapter 3 – Crushing Epidemic 

Time seemed to rush by, and before I knew it, three months had passed, and this annoying fairy cat had been of no use and mostly just sleeping all day while Myself, Arlo, and Kya continued to study at the library and train.

I decided to educate myself more on what a "Lord" is and how many there are.

After reviewing some recent history books, I found out there are (5) total Lords that are elected based on Power, Influence, and wealth potential.

I'm not entirely sure what the wealth potential means, but it may be tied to how much income they can assist the kingdom as I met Lord Tooj, and he noted he was in charge of managing the outlands.

Further inspection shows there are five lords in total who answer to the King, who resides in the center of the kingdom.

Another time I will dive further into who they are as it will be good to know and learn about these people in case, I accidentally run into another one.

Arlo and my birthdays come and go as we both turn (6) and before we know it, we come up on the night of the yearly storm.

This will be Kya's first time seeing the light show, and honestly, all I can think about is how excited she will be.

In the morning, I assist Mother more with handling the fields and finishing work for the day earlier so she can begin a special dinner.

Kya has also been mentioned that the Clerics have finished their duty for this sector of the country and will be moving South East to continue their work.

So, after tonight she will probably be heading out before too long. While that makes me sad, I understand she has her own mission to work on and needs to venture more to become stronger.

Kya comes storming into the house, shouting about how the rain Is starting to fall and how exciting it is to see. Even the rain itself is multicolored, and before the wind barrier goes up, it's a rainbow effect of rain that just lightly coats the entire area.

Naps wake up suddenly, asking if she can't yell so loud, "I need to catch up on sleep, silly human."

Kya: "Oh, im sorry. I didn't know an entire day of sleep wasn't enough for you."

Naps: "Well, now you do know, so keep it down, please "Burying its head back into his plush pillow and mini-bed next to the kitchen table.

Kya: Anyways, "Toki, we should get ready to go see the event! Arlo is already eating his sweet snacks and getting a good view before the sun fully sets."

Naps: "I smell blood in the air Toki, Is this normal? Why are you so excited to go out in the rain? It doesn't seem safe at all."

Toki: "Hey, there is nothing to worry about. They've been doing this for generations, and there has never been an issue before. So I don't see why today would be any different.

If you want, you can go ahead and stay inside to avoid being scared anymore Naps."

Naps: "No, I think it would be scarier to sit inside by myself in the dark.

As long as master promises it will be safe, then I can settle for that."

Toki: Thinking to myself, I wish she would stop calling me master. It's just odd and off-putting. But I guess it makes sense. She was used to a perfect lifestyle before, and then she suddenly got set to the same world as myself.

I have so many questions, but the cat just responds with, "I don't know" I just wanna nap more.

So, for now, I will just have to focus on what I can control.

"Hey, Naps. That sounds like a good idea. Just stick to me, and I will make sure you are safe!"

Kya:" Okay, you two, I don't want to miss any more of the rain before the barrier is fully up. "

I rush out the door to see the wind barrier slowly covering the sky. Usually, I would have to guess that the barrier is constructed using at least 50 wind users. The vast area that it is able to cover is truly remarkable.

I Climbed up on top of the roof, watching Arlo scarf down his usual snacks. At the same time, Kya is distracted by the crushing winds slamming into the wind barrier and being launched into the air before exploding into a ray of colors.

Even Nap's eyes glowed brightly in amazement, but these would be the last moments of joy as Naps flew off the top of my head, sniffing the air more.

Naps: "Master! I smell blood again. This time it feels so much closer!"

Toki: "I told you not to—

Before I can finish my sentence, the ground beneath us begins to shake, causing the roof to crack at the edges where Arlo is standing.

Arlo, losing his balance, slips off and is in shock; in my fear, I drop all focus and lunge toward the edge summoning up a rock pillar that Arlo crashes down on, somewhat softening his landing but still knocking him out.

Toki: "Kya, Take Arlo inside; please, I will try to see what's going on!"

Jumping off the house and running towards the town area to hopefully get a good idea of what's happening, I see a row of dead bodies lying on the ground about 20-30 feet from each other just a block or two down the road.

I run over to them to see if they have pulses, but they all have short slices into the next, which appears to have killed them instantly—eight dead in total over a 140-yard area.

All of them were wind users holding up the barrier for this part of the town.

Another strong quack shakes the ground, and as I look up, I can see the wind barrier cracking at a fastening rate. All I can think about is getting back home and trying to protect Mom and the others.

As I run back to the house, my eye starts burning once more, and I'm flooded with an array of images.

As if getting images from the future again, I see the entire wind barrier shattering into a thousand pieces, followed by the town and area being attacked by an array of up-roaring slashes of wind and hail that crashes into the ground, kicking up dirt and ripping flesh apart.

Finally, I see Mother running out to get aid and is slashed into ribbons by the storm, sending me into a frenzy of panic and stress.

Snapping out of the vision, I hurried back to my feet, running towards the house. Screaming for everyone to get out of the house as I saw it in a million pieces.

Surprisingly the house next to Arlos was one of the only things I saw undamaged. I run into the house, telling everyone to get out that the wind barrier is about to fall!

Hear protest from Mother about the safety of just staying inside. I manage to convince her that Arlo's neighbor's house is safer, and she rushes out with all three of us, including Naps.

The events of what I saw slowly changed as I took precautions to avoid them, and as the the wind barrier finally snapped and shattered, thousands of giant wind slices pierced through the sky, slamming into the earth and around us.

In an instant, Arlo and Kya stumble onto the front yard of the neighboring house.

The rumbling of the earth, followed by the uplifting of the earth, flung my self and mother away from each other, sending up about 20-30 feet apart.

Screaming out to Mother as she is dazed, and it appears she had hit her head on a rock. She tries to pick herself up.

I see an incoming wind slash inching away from shredding her apart like in my visions!

I Reach my hand out, screaming towards her to do anything, and in an instant, the air around me kicks up, and Naps, who's been clinging to my head, glows a bright blue, and a strong gust of wind extends from my hand, pushing Mother out of the way in the last seconds as the wind blade crushes past her before being swept up into a wind gust.

Screaming out for her another time as she is carried away by the violent winds, the last thing I see is her constructing a wind barrier before losing sight of her.

I try to stand up and run towards her, but Kya and Arlo grab me and throw me into the house before I pass out from exhaustion.