"Remember, my liege. You are the Scion of The Moon. They will search for you. If you are ever lost, find brethren of mine. We are the guardians of your royal blood. And don't forget the final story." A bluefly perched on Jin's hand says.
Jin nods, his eyes red from past tears shed. The bluefly sits in his dark hands for a moment, as if trying to keep a part of Jin with it. Then it flutters off, going back to the darkness of the cave walls.
"So, this flower is going to bloom, and I just need to paint it on my skin?" Jin asks one final time, just wanting to hear his friends.
"Yes, my liege. You are to crush it and paint the paste along the center of your chest. It is the finest gift we can leave with you. We pray you will never learn what it does." A big says.
Jin gently lowers to his knees in the soft sand of the cavern's island. The ray of moonlight shining down overhead. He watches as the flower slowly opens into a beautiful glowing purple. Each leaf radiating from the center in perfect harmony.
Jin reaches down and grasps the stem. A rush overwhelms him, causing a quick retreat. But determined, Jin carefully grasps it again. The power flows into his hands, flooding his veins. Momentarily, his curly hair shifts from its usual dirty brown to a majestic glowing bluish white, straightening out in the process. But as quickly as it came, it left, returning to normal.
Jin plucked the flower from the ground. Even once it had left the ground, the flower never lost its glowing purple hue. As he raised it high, chitters and chirps sounded off. Blueflies glowed in cheer at Jin's success. Blue dots sparkled all around him as he stood up and looked at the flower in his hand. The child had no idea, but this moment held great importance to the wise blueflies.
After the buzzing died down, the blueflies sent Jin off. They cheered and wished him luck as he left the cave.
"Good luck, my liege!"
"Luck be with you, my liege!"
Jin waved to them as he left the cave. He hopped down the large rocks, the dark forest greeting him with an eerie feeling.
A few eyes were watching him, as he left the cave, the chittering and chirping still echoing behind him. As Jin left towards the village, a simple nod sent several men out to the mouth of the cave.
They looked with scrunched brows and disgusted eyes. A couple of them lit torches, casting flickering shadows to their metal armor. The men entered with one man in a robe.
The rest of the figures went back into the shadows of the forest preparing their next step.
The ones in the cave stepped carefully until a few blueflies came flutter out, attempting to escape towards the exit of the cave. The armored men all flinched, but the man in the robe held a finger up and, in an instant, ropes of fire shot out, hitting the fluttering bugs and burning them to a crisp as they fell to the ground, already ash.
"Be on your guard. We have no room for mistakes." The old man grumbled from under his robes. The guards all nodded as they continued into the cave. Evil grins slotting on their faces.
"The other squads are all going to Uyera Village, but we got left with a couple of bugs." One guard scoffs as they creep. The other guard grumbles in response.
"At least you don't have to worry about fucking it up." He says in a deep grumble. The old man in robes shushes the two of them as they come up to a massive, cavernous space, seemingly empty.
The soldiers all lower their torches.
"There's nothing here! They sent us on a pity mission." One guard says. The others all silently agree with him.
"You useless fools, those bugs dwell in the dark." The old man in robes says as he holds his hand up and an orb of blazing fire appears to light out of nothing. He flicks his hand, and the orb goes shooting off in the dark. Nearly every surface is covered in a metallic black sheen of bug carapace. The men all stiffen up as the bugs all start to stir.
The bugs swarm in the air, buzzing and chittering as they nip at the armor of the soldiers. The men hold their torches up and start to swat at the bugs, sending a few down in fiery graves.
The old man starts chanting almost instantly, he clasps his hands together, holding them together as if he was trying to coddle a small chick. But then he opens them with a massive fire bursting forth. It stuck the swarm, the fire jumping between blueflies as it seemed to never die out.
After the chitters and buzzing all die out, the soldiers all look on in disbelief at the flaming remains of the cave. Everything inside had been reduced to ash.
"Go. Search for anything that might be valuable. We are here for a reason." The old man says to all of the dumbfounded men. They scramble out, searching the burning and singed remains.
"Nothing here, sir." A soldier comes up to report. The old man waves his hand off.
"Just get ready to leave. We must rendezvous with the other squads." The soldier nods and returns to all the men, shouting orders at them as they all regather.
"Let's hope the other squad had more fun." The robed old man says with a roll of his eyes.
###
Jin fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face silently as he looked on at the burning fields. Crackling before him stood everything he had ever known, lit ablaze. Blood pooled at the wide-eyed body of his once loving adoptive mother. Her figure was splayed in the dirt, a dagger sunk in her stomach. Her dress was torn in places where a man could seek his own pleasure.
Further out, was Jin's adoptive father, hung on a wooden pole. The man's body was beaten and caved in, blood dripped from his beard and his feet. He was stripped of his clothes, left in only rags as the flames licked up the wooden pole. Soon they encompassed the dead man completely, devouring him in their unending hunger. The pole fell as its integrity gave way.
Jin could do nothing but sit there in front of the massive fires. Off in the distance, he could see the village under the same scrutiny.
People were dragged out of their houses by their hair as they thrashed and screamed and cried. Men were killed and women were raped. Plenty of the higher quality women and children were thrown onto a wagon that rode through the village.
Each house was gutted of valuables and people then set ablaze. The soldiers marched through the village with no remorse. Even the Lord and Lady were dragged out of their house.
The Lady screamed and thrashed about, spouting out nonsense about being a noble, but her fate was the same. They ripped her silken gown apart and had their fun, tossing her into the cart full of children and half-naked women.
The Lord was brought out into the square where he was beheaded in front of the soldiers. They all barked and cheered as the body fell. A savage bloodlust filled the entire village.
And suddenly all that remained was Jin, watching the world he had known burn away. The purple flower still clutched to his heart.