A Fool's Relic

The city of Ausk was once the shining capital of the planet Juth. The buildings that formed the inner cluster of the city were large, rigged domes. Inside each of the domes were essential work and living spaces for the citizens that called this place home. One dome would be responsible for handling the power management that each of the other domes relied upon, while the other domes handled things such as produce, water treatment and distribution, etc. In total there were five domes. Four of the domes circled around the largest dome that sat in the center of the city. This dome, dubbed the "Conclave of Judgement," was where the planets government, military, and judicial administrations resided. It was the first dome to be destroyed during the Nortabian Invasion.

Over a year had passed since their arrival. In that short amount of time, the Nortabian Invasion Force conquered the planet. They left no stone unturned, no door left shut, and no building left intact. Their fleet orbited the planet, and their warships stayed just outside of the planet's atmosphere. On the surface below, the Nortabian's began to "re-purpose" the citizens of the planet Juth. They set up observation camps, to "observe and monitor" the people they now ruled over. It was in one of these very camps when Torik was ripped from his daughter. It was within the seventh month of their invasion when one of the Nortabian commanders who the people of Juth named "Shimmering Witches" removed the last bit of hope he had left from his life.

They were given this name primarily due to the way their metallic armor shimmered over their skin. The metal hugged their body like a glove but it seemed to be more flexible than any fabric Torik had ever seen. He knew this due to the fact that he watched as one of the witches tore through a squad of Jutherian Special Forces with their bare hands. The metal absorbed the kinetic energy from each rifle shot, the compressed alloy bullets were crushed and flattened like the surface of his favorite cake snacks. It was almost impossible to keep up with her movements. The only thing that proved she was present before them during the battle was the flow of her ethereal metal armor. A swing of her hand meant the loss of a limb. A step forward meant death for another Jutherian soldier.

As they were packed into an extremely uncomfortable confinement space within one of the observation camps, one of the witches stood on a pile of rubble that rose over the crowd of former citizens inside the camp. These former citizens were now just prisoners of war. She looked down over them, as the sounds of the Nortabian troops marched through the remains of the city. They searched for any other stragglers who had been foolish enough to seek shelter from their inescapable grasp. Torik, at that moment, felt as though he gazed upon a celestial being. The kind you would tell your children about, the kind that you would use to scare your children into obedience. As the crowd looked up at one of their conquerers, Torik's daughter held his hand tightly. When he looked down at her he noticed the gash on her left cheek she received when the wall in their living quarters exploded during the second week of the invasion. At this point, the flesh and blood had become mixed with the dust and dirt that was ingrained in her face. They didn't have much time to see to her wounds as they were constantly on the run. He had to keep her on the move after the explosion killed his wife and son. He smiled at her and attempted to give her the most optimistic expression he could conceive in that moment. as he tried to console his daughter, the witch spoke

"It has been over a year since our forces arrived. in that time, we have made great progress in adding your resources to our own. Make no mistake, our invasion may have been brutal, but in time you will see that this was necessary. As a new extension of the Nortabian Empire, you will become a part of something greater. And of course, as one should expect, great change demands great sacrifice." She said, her arms crossed behind her back under her cape as she spoke. Torik was somehow soothed by her voice, despite the circumstances he and his daughter were forced into. It was soft, but stern, almost as if she were a mother who had just informed her children of how the world works. Torik knew better. He saw that monster in action. He saw how merciless and cold she had been in battle. She was a siren he concluded, and her voice was the song of destruction.

"Now, it is time for us to begin your re-education. Some of you may have lived lifetimes already, but now you will learn to put the rest of whatever life you have left to use in service to the Nortabian Empire. We look forward to your contribution to our great society," she said as she turned to step down from the debris. She was escorted by what Torik could only describe as large, heavily armored grunts that had metal plates fused into each side of their head. Their eyes were pure black, their face devoid of emotion. He saw one of those creatures take a grenade to the chest. Its armor was melted into its flesh due to the heat of the explosion, yet it didn't utter a single cry of pain. It simply stood up and continued to run towards the Jutherian soldiers before it was finally gunned down. Those same creatures came and separated the crowd into two groups: males and females. As families and friends were torn apart, the sound of screams and vocalized despair rose into the air. It was as if the planet itself had begun to cry. Torik picked up his daughter and held her tight against his chest as they were bounced around within the sea of disoriented refugees.

"I won't let you go darling, I won't let you go," Torik whispered constantly into his daughter's ear as he held onto her for dear life. Suddenly they were shoved out of the crowd and onto the disheveled and mangled street surface. He landed hard on his back, and he felt a sharp searing pain instantly spread from his lower back. He screamed in agony and the sound mixed with the chorus of anguish that had already enveloped the sky. His daughter looked up at him with eyes filled with tears, but before she could say a word a large armored gauntlet reached her away from him with little effort. He rolled onto his stomach and ignored the pain that crippled him as he crawled towards the monster

"LET HER GO!!!!" Torik screamed with every ounce of energy that he had. His daughter was flung over the creature's shoulder. Both of her arms were stretched out towards him as she was carried away. She was too frightened to scream, but tears poured down her face. In that moment, the heart shaped locket he had gotten her fell from her neck and landed on the ground behind the creature as it carried his daughter away. Hot tears began to snake down Torik's cheeks. He knew, deep down, that he would never see his daughter again. He crawled towards the locket, and just before he could reach it a ghostly ethereal hand picked it up. Torik felt as though his heart sank into his stomach as he looked up into the visor of the Shimmering Witch. In her hand the engraved locket looked as if it were simply a piece of trash. Torik saw her study the inside of the locket. Inside was a picture of his family, one they had taken almost ten years ago. they each had one made, but the only locket that was left after the carnage caused by the Nortabian Invasion was his daughter's locket, which was now in the with's grasp. To Torik's surprise, the witch knelt down before him and looked him in the eyes while he lay on his stomach, unable to the pain of his injury. He couldn't tell if she looked at him or through him because he couldn't see her eyes behind the metallic veil.

"I imagine this means a lot to you, doesn't it? A captured moment memory of happier times. I can tell by the look in your eyes that you would wish for nothing more than to return to this particular moment. To forget the pain and horror that our presence has caused you over the past year, am I right?" She asked. The witch's voice poured into his ears and soothed his body. Torik didn't know how she did it, but he felt relaxed. The sounds of torment and pain faded away as he looked into the metallic abyss of the shimmering witch's face. He didn't speak, he didn't have the strength. He simply nodded his head and hoped that was enough. Immediately after he nodded his response, she crushed the metal locket as if it was a piece of paper. She stood to her full height, and towered over Torik's ravaged and fatigued body.

"Even after all this time, you still think something like that is possible? Wishful thinking is for fools, and a picture of a time long passed is a fool's relic. The only thing that you need to concern yourself with now and for the rest of your pathetic life is how you will serve our Empire." She said those cruel, inhumane words with the same relaxed tone she used earlier. She turned on her heels and walked away from Torik after she dropped the locket, which was no more than a mangled ball of metal. He could only see the flutter of her pure white cape against the grey, dust-covered debris that surrounded them, her ethereal glow washed over the new landscape like moonlight. The sound of screams flooded Troik's ears as he reached out to clutch his foolish, crumpled relic as the massive grunts picked him up and carried him back into the crowd.