The Coronation

In a far, distant future of another world than yours—

A vast, expansive chasm was filled with thousands of people. Unlike humans, each person was born with more animal-like features, donning horns unique to their own.

Crowds lined the walls of the chasm with children and adults alike, all present to witness the crowning of the next prince:

The son of the king, Runari.

To the average eye, the boy at five—turning six years old on this very important day—maintained those very same features of those in the crowd. Light brown fur covered his body. Scarlet irises stared out beneath horns curved from each side of his head, and claws as large as a bear's completed his appearance.

The young Runari was accompanied by his father, stumbling through the endless grassy isle surrounded by friends and strangers. The king looked down to his son beside him, a smile brightening the king's face.

"It's quite strange to be the focus in front of so many people you don't recognize, isn't it?"

The king's voice was low and grumbling, yet oddly humble. His eyes returned to where he was walking, his head still toward his son.

"You know, your grandmother walked me down this very same isle, once upon a time. Even for myself, it doesn't get much easier." The king paused to nod towards passersby surrounding the isle.

"You can rest well in the thought that your people will treat you the same as you do for them."

Within an instant, the king picked up his son at his arms, his hulking hands the size of Runari's head, and held him up.

Runari's eyes widened and his mouth opened in awe as he could see above the crowd.

To a child as small as him, it looked like millions, the warmth of every soul felt from the distance.

He leaned his head down to the king's ear and muttered, "Father," before pausing to reconsider.

"You're big, but how am I supposed to protect everyone when I'm so small?"

A guttural laugh unleashed from the king's diaphragm, his head thrown upwards in amusement. He took a moment to breathe and think.

"No matter how, we all find our way to protect each other, my son. Even as small as you are now, when the day comes, you will be more mighty than you think."

The family finally arrived at the end of what felt like kilometers. A display of four adults dressed in royal attire awaited them, positioned on a platform. Two were as burly and tall as the king, while the others appeared more like those found in the crowd.

The king placed his son back on his feet on the floor before taking a step back.

One of the royal guards who protected the crown made her way to the center of the platform. The people of the chasm, who had been applauding, had gone silent as the ceremony began.

"It is with great honors that I, Laika, a descendant of the Sommersune family, am graced with the opportunity to bear for the king's future successor the High Crown of our people!"

The woman, only inches shorter than the king, took a knee to meet eyes with the boy. A proud smile formed on the father's face.

Runari did his best to appear presentable, having rehearsed the ceremony to himself countless times. His hands sat at his side, holding back his nervousness best as he could, as the lady in front of him continued.

One of the men in the back of the platform approached the lady, a box in his hands bearing the kingdom's royal colors of emerald and platinum. As he opened it, inside sat the High Crown, one uniquely made for each successor in the royal family.

The lady turned to her right to lift the crown from its carriage, the man closing the box as he returned to his position behind her. Returning her attention to the boy, she continued,

"Do you solemnly swear, Runari of the royal Araume family, that you will protect your people as they will protect you, that you will fight for our kind as they have fought for you, and to love your neighbors as they will love you?"

A deep breath entered Runari's lungs to relieve his anxiety, which his caretakers taught him to do during recital. They told him it would help relieve stuttering, which showed as he spoke.

"I do," he responded quietly yet an amount of confidence present that was impressive for a youngling.

"Do you, Runari Araume, accept your fate as a prince to this great kingdom, and will not withhold protecting its secrets and history?"

"I do."

Her arms lifted above the boy's long-haired head as she gently placed the crown upon it. Though it fit, the crown was just barely the same size as his head. With the density of the metals that form it, his head lowered a bit as he adjusted to the weight.

"Then as of today, young Runari, you are officially crowned as prince to your people." Laika bowed her head to him, her hand placed at her chest.

Like a thunderclap, the people on every inch of the chasm erupt in cheers and applause.

For the first time in over seventy years, a new era for the chasm had dawned. Today marked the rise of new hope.

Runari's face lit up with excitement as he looked behind to his father. Yet, for some odd reason, the king's eyes were elsewhere, looking far off in the distance.

Suddenly, fear fell over the king's face,

and a loud, whirring, jarring rumble began.

Runari, fixated on his father, turned around to follow where his gaze had gone.

There was something in the sky.

An unrecognizable creature. Was it a creature? No, it didn't seem alive. It had long branches of metal coming from a massive chassis, but it was unlike anything Runari himself had seen before.

He looked back to the king, but before a word was said, Runari could tell that his father already knew what it was.

Runari's heart quivers as he looks back and forth between the king and the mysterious machine in the sky, before calling out to him.

"Father?! Father, what is that?!"

Within moments, the attention of every person in the chasm was drawn to whatever that thing was.

"There... No, it can't be," was all that muttered from the king's mouth.

The boy, who had now locked his eyes back on to the machine, saw ropes drape down from the chassis and what appeared like silhouettes of people began to slide down them to the ground. Despite his confusion, the boy continued to try and return his father's attention to himself.

Laika drew her sword and planted her feet into the ground, commanding the other royal guards positioned for the ceremony to do so as well. Even if the fear was holding their legs from budging, they still had a kingdom they swore to protect.

Laika turns to the boy and his father, and with all her might, yells,

"KING A'KHEI!! PRINCE RUNARI!! YOU MUST FLEE!!"

As his attention was drawn to her instead, he could hear a timbre of fear trembling in her voice. Even if the royal guard did not know what, or who, was coming, their primary directive was to protect the royal family.

Before the king even made so much as a flinch, fire and smoke erupt from the caverns in the chasm. Booms followed seconds after.

It started as two, then became five. Every chasm continued to spew flames as every second passed.

What was once Runari's kingdom was being reduced to fire and ash.

Those who survived continued to run. There wasn't a single soul in this kingdom that understood what this threat was but the king himself.

But he remained frozen.

The royal guard, positioned at the platform, finally shot their feet away from the stone and ran forward to meet the threat. All the while, Runari only received mere mutters from his father.

"This day wasn't supposed to come,"
"Why were we not prepared?"

The mutters continued.

It was pointless. Runari knew his father wouldn't be of any help now.

His first instinct, knowing he himself could not amount to much, looked back to the crowd to try and find any familiar face. His caretakers weren't present, and the crowd had already dwindled in numbers as they pushed through each other to flee into the caverns behind.

His saving grace, however, was his friend's mother making her way through from the back of the crowd.

Runari forced his feet to move, and though he could hardly grab her attention, he was able to grip her hand.

"Miss!"

The woman looks down at him. "Prince Runari?! Why are you still here?! We need to find shelter, now!"

The boy points over to where he left his father.

"My father isn't moving! I need you to help him, I'm too small to do anything! Please!!" Runari yelled out with quivers, anxiety forcing its way into his head.

The woman looked in the direction he pointed. "What's wrong with him?! Shouldn't he be ready to fight?!"

She was present for the oath given to the royal descendants given mere minutes ago. The woman looked back to the crowd, indecisiveness on her face.

"Okay, okay, I'll try something...!"

Before she was even able to get in front of the prince, a shadow whipped past Runari and the mother.

He looked over behind her to see a black object rolling on the grass, before it slowed down.

It was Laika's head.

Just as fast as he could process it, another object flew over his head.

A scream came from in front of him.

His head shot up as he sees the woman, a rapier impaled through her heart.

Screams come from the cavern the crowd fled to as flashes of light accompany gunshots. The number of voices trickled down to shells hitting the stone floor.

The boy, like his father, became frozen in place. His feet would not shake.

His eyes remained locked on her as she collapsed backwards, choking on her own blood.

In his mere six years alive, all he knew was peace and love.

Why? Why on the day dedicated to celebrating his coronation was he witnessing such a horrifying massacre for the first time?

The boy had not even noticed his father had vanished from where he was left.

But, with what little mental strength he had left, Runari was finally able to drag his head over. His eyes jittered in fear, only to find a trio of silhouettes standing upon the platform where the ceremony took place.

Three adults. They didn't look even close to the adults he knew.

No fur, no horns, and smaller in profile than anything that made him believe they were the same species.

From beyond them, an undistinguished, distorted voice spoke out from the machine.

Walking forward from the platform, one of the silhouettes approached the boy.

Fear completely took over his body as he dropped to his knees, his claws dug into the grass. He was quivering in absolute paranoia.

The silhouette became illuminated from behind with what little sunlight threaded through the suffocating smoke. It was a woman with nothing less than a smile on her noticeably pale face.

"Are you okay, little one?"

She spoke with a soft timbre like a mother.

The woman looked him up and down, but her eyes drew attention to the gleaming crown sat atop his head.

"Are you alone? Where are your parents?" she asked. "Are you scared?"

His eyes looked up to the woman, desperation instilled in them. He nodded.

"Come with me then. I can take you to safety."

She pressed her hands to her knees to press herself upwards, throwing her hands out toward him. "Let's be on our way, then."

Runari, without a second thought, got up and hugged her by the legs.

She lets out an "Oh!" in surprise, before gently letting down her hand to caress the boy's long hair, without another word said. She raised the other hand with her finger in a twirling motion to those who stood behind her, and the fire stopped.

It had been ten minutes too late. What had once been thousands became a handful.

"You shall be alone no more, young boy. Can you tell me your name?"

The boy couldn't let out another word.

Her hand slowly stops caressing his hair.

"That's okay, we will figure that out with time. How about a warm bath and lunch?"

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