Book 9: Chapter 38
We still ended up arriving a little too late.
Karana and I looked at the Lord’s palace, where black smoke was twirling into the sky above. When the anthropoids attacked the palace, they threw flammables inside, igniting a big fire. The guards tasked with security were fighting at the city walls, while the people were hiding in their own homes trembling, leaving the palace there to burn until there was nothing left to burn.
“Sorry…”
I didn’t know what to say, but I saw Karana who was next to me in pain, so I felt that I had to say something.
Karana gripped my arm tightly and forced herself to stay on her feet. Her body trembled as her tears coursed down her face. She spoke in a shaky voice, “It’s all gone… It’s all gone… My husband and my things… They’re all gone… all gone… Everything is gone… The snow sculptures… The books… They’re all gone… all gone…”
“It’s all right; it’s all right. You’ll be able to get your notes and whatnot again. I’ll share them with you again whenever you want!”
“But my husband’s and my memories are all gone!!”
Karana shouted toward the ground and wailed loudly. She cried as she looked at the black smoke twirling up into the air. The big fire melted the sculptures and the books had been burnt. Those were the only things Karana had remaining. Those were the only things that she could rely on to reminiscence. She lived here, because there were traces of her husband having once been here, as well as her memories of him.
Now, however, they were no more.