text: I stood there with anger in my eyes, pain in my heart. My brave soldiers lay lifeless across the ground, pools of blood littered across the ground like rose petals. The people who were able to get to safety were brought underground, mainly elderly and children. Any able bodied man was ordered to help fight. We outnumbered them two to one, but we still stood no chance. I have no idea who they are, where they came from, but I know why. I had been having this dream off and on for a long time now. I remember walking through this field of grass, sun high in the sky, breeze dancing across my face. Such a serene moment. I ask myself, is this what life on the ground was like? Then the sun high in the sky starts getting closer and larger. The closer it gets, the more the field around me starts to evaporate and burn alive. Eventually the light gets too bright to look at and I look away. The white light surrounds me until all around me is white, and the next thing I know I’m in a hallway, a long pristine white hallway, and at the end is a door. I make my way all the way down the hallway to the door. I open it, walk through the door and step out onto a charred, burnt ground. It is so unbelievably hot here.The sky is a permanent orange color. As far as my eyes can see is a broken and destroyed city, people lay dead all over the ground. To my right is my family, to my left are my closest friends and associates. This immense feeling of dread and hopelessness is overwhelming. I look down, in my hand is the relic given to me by my father, and his father before him, and his father before him going back to the time of the grounders. The relic starts to glow and the same white light from before erupts from it, encompassing everything like before. The light surrounds me, next thing I know i'm awake and laying in the same bed I sleep in every night, relic hanging around my neck. I think to myself, reflecting on what I just saw, Is this a warning? A flashback of what happened to the grounders? Seeing my city in ruins before my eyes, the dream starts to make sense, I know what I must do. I ordered the rest of my staff and any person I could find along the way to go underground with the rest of them and stay there until it was safe to come out. There weren't many of us left. I head down stairs towards a secret tunnel that leads out of the palace, in case of a situation like this. Based on the report I received from commander Dahlk, right before I told him and the others to head down stairs, I have about 15 minutes before they break through the wall and storm the palace. Just enough time to get into position. I ran the fastest I’ve ever ran in my life, through the old, damp, abandoned tunnel. Eventually after about ten minutes I make my way out of the tunnel, and come out behind an old, abandoned Bakery. As a boy I would always sneak out after dark, through this same tunnel. Running around the city after dark, not a soul in sight. Something about walking around the city at night when no one was around. I remember feeling like I was able to escape my life of royalty, even if it were for only an hour. I felt like a normal person, someone who didn’t have to keep up with his studies, someone who didn’t have to do training exercises everyday before pointless diplomatic meetings between people who would never know what it was like to sympathize with normal people. I remember this place I used to go to when I would sneak out. The top of the memorial for the grounders, right in the heart of the city. It’s the perfect place to lure the demons to, and away from the palace. I make my way to the top of the memorial, with seconds to spare. I sprint up to the edge of the building, looking down I’m about 100 feet up in the air. I inhale, taking the biggest breath I’ve ever taken in my life and scream, HEY, YOU DEMON ASSHOLES. I HAVE THE RELIC. COME GET ME. By the time the last word came out of my mouth, I heard this guttural screech, followed by the sound of a stampede of wild animals, based on the historical videos we watched in school from the time of the grounders. A few seconds later I see the first few demons making their way towards the memorial where I stand. As soon as I see this I look down at the relic in my hand, close my eyes tight for a few seconds. I open them, and the first thing I see is the city my family worked so hard to build over time, the city that gave humanity a second chance at survival. I mutter under my breath, goodbye, friends. It has been an honor to serve you. And I start to chant the phrase my father told me NEVER under any circumstance repeat, unless humanities destruction is imminent, in the ancient language from a time before the grounders ruined the planet, Orbitalis percutiens me locus. As soon as I finish the phrase, this burst of energy erupts out from the relic, and the once ancient piece of history I held in my hand, cracked into tens of pieces. I look up to the sky and see a familiar blindingly bright, white light, which looks to be getting bigger and bigger, closer and closer. I look away because of the sheer brightness, the demons once flooding the street begin to turn to ash and get swept away in the wind. I look up again and the same white light as my dream swallows me. The next thing I know I’m in the same pristine, white hallway as I saw once before. Utterly confused, I make my way down the hallway once again. I reach the door, scared and nervous to see what's behind it, hoping it's not the same as the dream. I turn the knob and open the door. It’s another pristine, white room, with a white chair, and a man who looks to be in his 70’s standing there, cane in hand, He looks distinguished, like someone who knows what to do. I take two steps into the room and he says “Valdour, it’s good to see you made the right choice” What do you mean “right” choice? “In the dream I’ve been showing you, the destroyed city, your city, that would have been your reality if you had used the relic for selfish, greedy reasons, much like the grounders” I’m having a hard time understanding what’s going on. Where am I? “Well, we are inside of the relic, theoretically. For I am the creator of the relic and someone who has the capabilities to bend space and time. I have been waiting a very, very long time for someone to use it. It seems you used it for the right reasons. I created the relic back in the early years of the grounders, seeing how humanity struggled to accept people of the same kind as themselves, abuse the power of deadly weapons. I knew humans would destroy the very essence of their own livelihood one day, so I created this device to give humans a second chance, for one day, if in the face of existence, there was a second chance for whoever held the relic, and those around him or her. I knew there was a chance that whoever had the relic could use it for selfish, evil intentions, so I created two possible outcomes. Both I’ve already shown you, without you knowing it.” What happens now? What happens to my people at home? “Well nothing changes. Life moves on as usual, same as it always has. The beauty of humanity, Valdour, is that humans always overcome, always find a way to rebuild, and come back bigger and stronger than before.” What does that mean?! Please, don’t leave me here. At that moment the figure started to fade away, into nothingness, as if he never existed. “Goodbye Valdour, I’m very tired and would like to finally rest.” And right before he completely faded away, he snapped his fingers and that all too familiar white light surrounds me again. I regain consciousness, opening my eyes to a familiar ceiling as I remember in my bedroom. I look to my right and my wife lay next to me, beautiful as the first day I met her. I sit up in bed, rub my eyes and think to myself, Wow, what a dream. I stand up and head to the bathroom. I approach the sink and turn on the cold water, hoping to shock me awake a bit so I can understand what’s going on. I cup my hands and fill them with cold water, splashing my face right before the water spills out the sides of my hands. I wipe off my face with the towel and look up into the mirror. Normally the relic lay draped across my neck, as a reminder of the power and responsibility I hold. It’s not there. It not being there sends me into this state of overwhelming panic and nervousness. I start to think what if it got into the hands of someone who does not know the power it holds, this is not good. I run into the room and leap into the bed. I immediately shake my wife awake, Kahlia, have you seen the relic?! She looks at me with her normally, big & beautiful, green eyes, but these eyes are the ones of someone who's half asleep still, but more than that, someone who looks utterly confused and puzzled by the question I asked her.