House in Flames

The purpose of the king had been fulfilled, his gaze turned away from us as swiftly as it had come. Yet, in the wake of his triumph, we bore the brunt of his enemies' wrath. Sarya, the vanquished foe of King Rama, harbored no forgiveness in his heart. Unable to challenge the might of our monarch directly, he sought retribution through us, the unsuspecting pawns in his game of vengeance.

As I rode swiftly towards my home, dread clawed at my heart, tightening its grip with each passing moment. The landscape that greeted me was a stark departure from the familiar scenes of serenity and warmth. Where once stood the comforting embrace of home now lay a desolate emptiness, an eerie silence pervading the air like a shroud of mourning.

My horse's hooves thundered against the earth, mirroring the frantic cadence of my own heartbeat as I approached the threshold of my abode. But as I dismounted and reached for the door, a cold realization swept over me like a chilling gust of wind—the entrance was locked, a barrier erected between me and the truth that lay within.

With trembling hands, I called out to my family, my voice ricocheting off the walls in a haunting echo of unanswered pleas. Panic surged through my veins, driving me to desperate measures as I scaled the walls in a desperate bid to breach the fortress of solitude that had engulfed my once vibrant home.

Inside, the emptiness was palpable, a stark reminder of the void that now pervaded my existence. Every corner I turned, every room I entered, held no solace, no respite from the gnawing fear that gripped my soul. My eyes searched frantically for any sign, any clue that might offer insight into the fate that had befallen my loved ones.

But there was nothing—no traces of fire, no stains of blood to mar the pristine facade of my home. It was as though they had simply vanished into thin air, leaving behind only the echoes of their absence to torment me in their wake.

Outside once more, I scoured the surroundings for any semblance of hope, any fragment of evidence that might lead me to them. Yet all I found amidst the debris were shattered fragments of glass, glinting mockingly in the harsh light of day.

With a heavy heart and a mind weighed down by uncertainty, I mounted my horse once more, the specter of loss riding alongside me as I set forth into the unknown. For now, the flames of uncertainty engulfed my home, casting shadows of doubt upon the path ahead. But as long as breath remained in my body, I vowed to pursue the truth, to unravel the mystery that shrouded my family's fate, and to reclaim the shattered fragments of my shattered life.