I WON'T JUST LAY DOWN AND DIE

DISASTER IN HIS PATH

In a grand palace hall, a baby lay barely breathing, struggling to inhale amidst the thick smoke that filled the room. The beautiful luxurious palace was now bloody, with thorn limbs and guts decorating the once glamorous hall. Amidst all this, the baby was somehow left unscathed.

The perpetrators fought with each other over who was to sit on the throne unaware of the baby's presence.

Amidst the chaos caused by their babbling, a lone soldier who was barely clinging to life made his way to the baby. One might call it luck, divine intervention, or even fate, but what was, was that the unknown soldier was able to grab the baby and take him out of the palace.

Dark smoke rose, swaying to the tunes sung by the flames from whence it emerged. Outside the palace resembled a descent into hell, with demonic beasts prowling the area, for food whether it being the living or the deceased. Their movements were so natural that one could mistake this place for their abode.

Every great kingdom is a little paranoid and thus always has one or more ways to escape if tragedy were to befall. Such was the kingdom of Almon, which tragedy had befallen.

The soldier, cradling the baby in his arms, walked unnoticed by the monsters that roamed freely. He made use of the kingdom's secret pathways. Slowly and steadily, he managed to escape the palace grounds and depart from the entire kingdom. The kingdom was small, and leaving through the secret teleportation gate made the whole journey quicker.

The unknown soldier found himself in a wheat field, such a site seemed like paradise compared to the hell he came out from.

Feeling a sense of relief, his tensed nerves let out causing the last of his adrenaline to fade away. He placed the baby gently on the ground before his heart finally gave out, he died with a smile on his face.

*******

'Maa!!...Maa!!...Maa!! I have seen something unbelievable", a young boy about the age of thirteen said with huffed sounds, clearly tired from his run.

He wore a straw hat and tattered jeans, held together by what appeared to be a piece of cloth. His open shirt protected his upper body from the scorching sun.

"What is it this time, Kelvin", a middle-aged woman gave the boy an annoyed look.

It was a hot day, and she was trying to take a nap under a tree when, Kelvin, her youngest son interrupted her.

"Maa, I found a man, I... I think he might be dead" Kelvin spoke in a panicked tone. Upon hearing that, the middle-aged woman jolted to her feet.

" Are you sure?" she said with a skeptical expression. Kelvin nodded intensely hoping that would show his sincerity. The middle-aged woman gestured for Kelvin to show her the way. Kelvin moved swiftly causing the middle-aged woman to increase her pace.

" Abigail, take your time or you might fall..hahaha" a man in a similar attire to that of Kelvin shouted, waving his hand mockingly.

The middle-aged woman who is identified as Abigail snickered at the comment passed by the man. They arrived in about a minute or two to the said place.

A young man knelt in front of a baby. The man who seemed completely lifeless had a smile on his face, a smile that the living might envy.

His armor was mostly unrecognizable with holes resembling the print of fangs and claws. The color of his armor had completely faded as he was covered in blood, red, blue, black and some even purple, blood showing his battles.

Abigail understood what had happened, she did not know of the kingdom of Almon for it was a land on the other side of the world. She could see that this soldier had given his all to protect this child with the hope that someone would take that responsibility from him.

She gave a bow and said a quiet prayer for the soldier and proceeded to take the baby off the ground.

"You are truly loved. I will take the responsibility of taking care of you," she said as she approached the deceased soldier.

She drew something on the ground with her left hand as she skilfully held the baby in her right hand showcasing her many years of motherhood.

She drew what seemed to be the Grim Reaper with a halo on its head. The body of the deceased soldier started to disintegrate as the symbol she drew glowed an eerie white light.

" May you find peace in your next life" She spoke solemnly as she stared at the glowing white dust which was but a few moments a part of the deceased soldier.

In this world, the dead are not buried. It is considered taboo to bury a human. Instead, through a ritual whose origins remain unknown, one is sent into the cycle of reincarnation.

She made her way out of the field with the baby in her arms, Kelvin who had been quiet the whole time spoke, " Maa, are we going to keep it"

" She nodded solemnly to her son's question seemingly lost in thought. They came out of the field and moved towards a hut that was but a stone's throw from the field.

The sun was stationed in the middle of the sky, brandishing its radiance, the people in the field were not so happy about the sun's radiance and hid themselves from it.

Because of how hot it was, most of the villagers were in their huts, this made the journey to her hut uneventful but just what she wanted. She entered the hut which blocked the rays of the scorching sun.

She had decided to raise this child with her six other children. Trouble it might seem but she enjoyed it, the joy of having children around her overshadowed the troubles that came with it.

There is a saying that goes, three things cannot remain hidden, the sun, the moon, and the truth. And the truth is that Abigail had a child who did not belong in the village. People are quite inquisitive and would like to satisfy such curiosity.

They asked, and she told the truth. The village was situated at the edge of the Kingdom. The total population of the village wouldn't amount to a hundred, yet they were united and shared what they had.

They were surprised, not by the baby, but by the dead soldier. Wars were rare in their part of the world. As for the child, they had received many things that had been discarded. The village belonged to a much larger kingdom, far more extensive than the Kingdom of Almon. This kingdom had cities, slums, residential areas, as well as commercial areas. People who couldn't support their infants often left them to die, hoping someone else would take on that responsibility. Nevertheless, they accepted the baby as a new member of their family.

********

Years passed, three years to be exact. The baby who was found three years ago had grown into a cute young boy, his hair was like that of the radiance of the setting sun and his eyes blue like the sky above. He stood tall, slightly taller than his peers.

He grew up in a home full of love and happiness. His family, neighbors, and friends treated him as their own. If one didn't know better, they might think he belonged here, but his hair and eyes said otherwise. Nevertheless, they treated him the same.

" Kelvin show Max how to thresh the wheat, I will leave for the market tomorrow," Abigail said to Kelvin as she took a flail from under her bed.

Maxwell looked at Kelvin eagerly awaiting his first training. Kelvin giggled remembering the first time, this boy was brought from the wheat field into their home. They busied themselves with work.

The sun disappeared, replaced by the bright moon, as it always did. They went to sleep, hoping to wake the next morning, as they always did, but fate had other plans.

"I have finally found you," Maxwell heard a voice in his head. He was awakened by the voice but decided, in the depths of the night, to answer nature's call.

As the child he was, he ignored the voice heard and went about his business.

The radiance of the moon served as the light of the night but that job was taken by orange flickering lights. The three-year-old boy was alarmed, and he instinctively rushed to his hut.

The wheat field, the livelihood of the village was on fire, he looked at the flames seemingly in a daze.

He was brought out of it by the screams of Kelvin, fearing what might have happened, he rushed into the but and to his surprise his own older brothers, the five who were deemed so insignificant that their names were not captured stood around their mother, taking turns defiling her body, a body that seemed devoid of life.

He was a child but knew that what they were doing was wrong. He heard heavy breathing and turned towards it only to see Kelvin lying in the corner barely hanging on to his life.

" What happened" Maxwell spoke barely making a sound as his voice was muffled by his cries.

" "Run, Max, run!!" Kevin shouted. The boys who were busy with their actions saw Maxwell. Feeling enraged by Kelvin's shout One of them hit him with a stool, killing him instantly.

They then started chasing Maxwell as he ran as fast as his legs could take him, fearing what they might do to him.

He reached a hut and tried asking for help, but what greeted him was, a man, the old man he had always known eating his grandchild alive. He had a limb in his mouth, Maxwell stepped back quietly and ran.

Every hut he passed by had something bizarre going on. His brothers had long given up on the chase and went back to the hut to continue their business.

" What's going on... What's this" Maxwell said as he ran. Tears flooded his eyes as he thought of the many things going on around him.

He ran until the little stamina he had as a three-year-old boy gave out.

Amidst his unconscious state, he heard sounds.

" I think he is the one, let's take him with us..."