The Death of Ira


      The boy walked down the lonely corridor of his house. Walls strewn with the trophies and medals of his father, and a special shrine built for his dead mother lay tucked away in a corner. He stopped to kneel and say a prayer of thanks and blessing at the shrine before continuing onwards into the living room where his father sat in a leather chair. He saw the pictures on screen, of war, riots and violence in the city but did not know why it was happening. His father heard his breathing and turned around “What is it son?”

      He asked as he got up out of his chair, his cape flowing behind him down to the ground, his armor gleaming in the moonlight and his military symbol on his shoulder glowed a pale blue and the warm glow of the enemy’s guns outside lit the room. “I can’t sleep, the explosions sound like there getting closer.” The boy sniffled and turned around when he heard the footsteps of a much older son as he appeared in the room.

      “He’s right; the explosions do sound closer than yesterday. So father what is the rest of the planet doing?” asked the boy, he was fit and slender, he looked like the teens you would see in those computer games or the famous rebellion heroes of old. His hair was a dark red and his eyes a sharp green that had a certain glow about them behind his semi-circular glasses. He was nearly as tall as his father, maybe a few inches shorter but carried practically the same air around him.

      “They’re leaving like you should be… Rufus, I beg of you take Tom and lave! Do not stay here with me. If you stay here it can only lead to your death!” The father was yelling now, his voice raised scared the young boy although the older son had a soldier’s eyes he did not look committed to the task.

      “Father, I want to stay and fight! I know I can make a difference!” he said in a calm tone only raising his voice at the end of his sentence. “I know you want to stay but, I want you to have a future. Please I beg of you, leave Ira and take Tom with you… I know it’s what she would want… not to see you lying dead in a ditch, a soldier of Ira.”

      The older boy looked at this father and then at his younger brother Tom. He looked back and said to the father “Fine, we’ll take the ship and leave then. Father… I hope that someday… we… can see each other again” He spoke in the old language as he said “Aria du Shi’ takara! <Long life to you my friend!>”

      The older boy carried the now asleep sibling in his shoulders to the ship outside their home, he looked out over the hill and saw fires all around, and the city was on fire even the sky seemed to be on fire. Yet, amidst all the destruction it was quite a calming site, it almost looked like the evenings when they still used to live by the shore. He got in the ship and laid his now fast asleep brother on one of the couches, in the living area of the ship. He ignited the engines and watched his father wave goodbye from the window.

      He flew off as fast as he could, as if there was something chasing him. When he breached the atmosphere, the last of the enemy was going back into their abyssal hole to go back home, only a missile zooming past him and couple ships of the fleet were all that remained in orbit. Even the few ships were starting to flee. He flew onwards and looked back once to see the planet being destroyed as the missile impacted into the once great, capital city of the planet of Ira. His home.

      His brother awoke after a while and asked him “Where is Papa?” The older child answered after a while, tears in his eyes “Somewhere…” knowing that he, he alone would now care for them. He alone would have to carry the burden of his brother now that both of his parents were dead. As he flew off into the distance the small boy looked back and saw the planet disappearing in a wave of blue, green and some of it red. Pieces of the planet flew past them, small and miniscule almost like pebbles in a great river.
   
   ADD-ON SHORT STORY
      
      The older child looked on, his future seemed grim but they soon approached another planet with a few capital ships from the fleet that once surrounded Ira, approaching their race’s home planet, Saer’ Erea. After they landed and, they had gone through all the proper measures Rufus scrounged around in his pocket for any money… he found only a couple credits left on his wallet but that was all. It would only be enough to last them a week at most. He looked up at the sky… hope was all he had left.
      
      He and his brother scoured the streets for days picking up what they could after all, you’d be amazed at the amount of generous people in a war torn city. They also sometimes would have to resort to stealing and on one such time…
      
      “Aw come on Rufus at least me get this one!” said an impatient Tom hoping up and down, he looked much older now with his fur a pale brown where as his brother’s was a light tan. “Not yet… as I’ve said before this is something that you can’t pull of.” Said the brother, Rufus to him. He knelt cautiously; waiting for the right moment when she would be distracted just enough to be pick pocketed and not notice. There! She was buying something, a piece of fruit and some bread… strange he thought as he walked towards her, she then said without looking at him “Think fast!” as she flung the bread at him. “Rufus barely managed to avoid getting hit in the face before ducking and grabbing the bread but when he looked up all he saw was the market street everyone going with the hustle and bustle of the city.
      
      “Who was that girl and how did she spot me?” he asked to himself as he went back to Tom. “So how’d it go Mr. Ace?” Tom said jokingly hand stuffed in his pockets as he kicked around a small metal object around the floor. “What the heck is that your kicking? It could be valuable!” Rufus said quickly picking up the ball and then seeing intricate lines over it and turning it around saw a glowing red eye.
      
      
      “Gah!” he shrieked quickly dropping the item as it rolled back to Rufus’s feet.