Chapter 5: Into A New World
A Forsaken Landscape, Under the Setting Sun
"Igor, wake up! Wake up!"
"What happened to you, my son? Please, open your eyes!"
"Mom... those bad people—they tried to hurt me. But Brother Igor stepped in. He protected me... but they... they beat him so badly. They hit him on the head—right there." A little girl of 6-7 years old, pointed with trembling fingers, tears streaming down her face.
"After that, he was acting strange... and now... now he won't wake up."
Her voice cracked with grief.
"Will he never wake up, Mom? Did I... did I cause this?"
In front of their makeshift wooden cottage, a mother and daughter clung desperately to the still body of a young man.
His black hair, like the little girl's, was painted with blood, and his skin injured with deep bruises. His chest, once rising and falling with steady breath, now lay unmoving.
His body was warm, but there was no sign of life.
The mother's hands trembled as she cradled her son's lifeless form.