Chapter Text
Ten warships surrounded the island, their bright white sails taut in the wind and taller than the trees. Someone fired first, and the fleet began a chorus of booming cannon-fire. Black smoke spewed from the lower decks, creating a gunsmoke haze obscuring the island. The island's forests crumbled, ancient trees splintering as if they were made of paper.
The small coastal town fared no better. Each cannonball split through an entire street, toppling houses and leaving craters where they fell. Cobblestone streets transformed into twisted paths of rubble and rock. Panicked townsfolk flooded the docks, whereupon the Buster Call fired on the docks and sunk the mob. People attempted to move carriages through the broken streets, while others abandoned their horses and wagons to run for their lives. Orange gas swept through the city like a virus.
Screams went out, and the bodies of animals and men caught in the crossfire piled in the streets. The cannon fire chorus never slowed. Blood and grime coated the streets, making it impossible to maneuver among the bodies and rubble. A single escaping passenger ship exploded into thousands of wooden splinters.
Trees fell. Houses crumbled. Men died. The cannons didn't stop.
Mothers cried. Horses shrieked. Fires roared. The cannons didn't stop.
Smoke spewed. The island broke. All was silent. The cannons stopped.
Watching from a small boat, Valentine's heart sank through his body. His eyes were glued to the smoldering rock that had been his home. He could only watch, helpless before the raw destruction of the Marines. No structure nor life remained of the place he had known for the first years of his life.
What can be done against such evil? The thought tormented him. Valentine had been warned of the Buster Call, but he'd taken a risk for his freedom. In a way, it was him that had exterminated the island, brought an end to what was once his home.
He felt cold tears on his cheeks. His body was frozen in place. And cold, he felt so very cold. Niramor’s words haunted him, and sang through his mind like a requiem for the island.
If you ever leave me, you’ll destroy everything you’ve ever known, Valentine.
I have the Buster Call, don’t force me to use it, Valentine.
You’ll stay with me, won’t you, Valentine?
Don’t try to escape, Valentine.
Valentine clutched the bow holding himself upright The sweat of his palms felt more like blood. His vision blurred and his stomach retched. His mind phased between painful memories and the painful present.
“Son? Son, are you okay?” He heard a voice ask.
“I’m fine,” Valentine said. He tried to focus on the speaker, but saw only a blur. By the age of his voice, and the authority it spoke with, he was talking to the captain of the small fishing vessel.
“Well, then hold onto something. Whatever the hell just happened, we are getting out of here. Whatever the Marine’s business here is, we want nothing to do with it. Pray they don’t notice us, lad.”