Chapter 5 - 4 - Time to Loot
The evening sky burned crimson, casting a gloomy golden light over the half-dead city. It had been an hour since the last explosion echoed from the battlefield. Since then, only silence remained—a silence like a giant tombstone marking the end of a massacre.
Riven sat on the floor near the window, staring blankly outside. Beside him, Mira slept soundly under a thin blanket that covered her small frame. Her breathing was calm, a stark contrast to the storm raging in Riven’s mind.
He knew it was dangerous.
He knew he should stay.
But guilt gnawed at his chest like a starving rat. He had come all this way, risked his life, only to return empty-handed? No. That was too pathetic. Too pointless.
Slowly, he stood up. He took the worn black cloak hanging from a nail near the door and wrapped it around himself. He glanced once more at Mira, making sure she was still deep asleep. Without a sound, he opened the kitchen window and slipped out like a shadow reluctant to leave the night.
The evening breeze carried the smell of smoke, soil, and blood. The scent of war not yet fully extinguished.
Riven walked quickly, past the deserted dirt road, down the hill, skirting the edge of a field now abandoned. Along the way, his mind kept calculating worst-case scenarios: patrol soldiers, enemy survivors, or even beasts drawn to the scent of corpses. But he pressed his fear down with resolve. He’d lived too long in fear. It was time to risk a little more for something tangible.
He arrived at a small hill ideal for scouting—a grassy mound overgrown with thorny shrubs. From there, he had a clear view of the battlefield below.
And what he saw struck like a blow to the gut.
Corpses.