Royal Carnival

Royal Carnival (2017)

              The travelling royal carnival was a sight to behold for the provincial citizens of the Dolmetha kingdom. They gathered in curious droves to witness rare examples of electronica technology as well as devices of miniature atomics, which were used to create wondrous displays of color and sound that adorned the midsummer sky. The old legends said these technologies were commonplace all around the world before the Last Great War. During that war the world shattered. Out of its ruins arose several kingdoms which have been constantly sparring for dominance ever since. Dolmetha was one of the few to successfully maintain its cache of Old World technology. Reginald stood in awe next to his father Edwin as the final array of detonated atomics lit up the night sky like a piercing beam straight from Heaven.

                “Father, look! Father, look! It… it is marvelous!” Reginald could not take his eyes off the glistening purple and blue display.

                “Yes, son. Amazing, isn’t it?”

                They continued watching the exploding lights in silence until the show’s climatic finish ran its course. While the festivities were dying down an unnaturally cold breeze swept across the field of observers. The chill must have come on earlier but the crowd was too preoccupied with the light show in the sky to notice. Edwin tightened his son’s light sweater around his shoulders as they made their way towards the carnival’s exit, but it was not enough protection from the suddenly piercing wind.

                “We better get home,” Edwin said in a worried tone. “The air is sinking fast.”

                “Why?” a curious and slightly confused Reginald asked. They picked up the pace. Tension rose in their extremities. Edwin did his best to press forward while maintaining his composure. Now was not the time to break into a panic. Not around his son. Not after the way last year’s attack took his mother’s life.

                “Can’t say for sure, son. ‘Been lots of rumors swirling around Khamna down south of us. Best not to worry. We’re hundreds of miles north of the border.”

                A murmur of voices from the crowd’s rear began picking up inertia as Edwin and his son continued walking towards the main road. The murmur then turned into a consistent hum until someone let out a deathly scream. The front of the crowd then broke into a run. Edwin scooped his boy off the ground and started running with the others. More screams followed from the back. The town’s analog emergency siren let out a series of bone grinding wails.

                “Hang on to me!” Edwin said in Reginald’s ear as he used his opposite shoulder to break through the crowd. The mass of people kept growing denser until it eventually came to a halt. The carnage in the rear continued to draw closer. Edwin and Reginald had nowhere left to go. The entire throng of people was walled in by a fence that did not exist even ten minutes prior.

                “What is the meaning of this? What is this?” a man yelled from the front of the pack.

                “They’ve got us trapped here on purpose!” shrieked a woman. “This can’t be happening! Not now! No! No!”

                Edwin stayed quiet and observant. He felt a strong sense of danger but did not want to react prematurely. He then tuned his attention toward the crowd’s rear and he heard the sound of his darkest nightmares. War hounds. Specially bred canines which were engineered to be of high intelligence and outfitted with steel implants in the claws and teeth. He heard human bones breaking under their insurmountable might. He heard gargled screams as the attacking dogs slashed the throats of their victims, moving from one target to the next with unparalleled efficiency. Then an electric voice broke through the chaos over what sounded like a public intercom. Seldom used technology, even in Dolmetha.

                “Test protocol thirteen underway. Running new protocol Population Control. Population Control status successful.”

                The message kept repeating over and over again in a maddening loop. The crowd kept trying to break the containment fence to no avail. Edwin braced for death. He held his son tighter and whispered in his ear.

                “Be strong, Reginald. I love you. Stay strong for me now, okay?”

                “Okay, dad,” said Reginald. He did not know what war hounds were. He was not yet jaded enough to develop the fear of a government using destructive weapons against its own people. Edwin knew better. He served in armor for Dolmetha for six years before Reginald was born. He knew of the unspeakable tactics that kingdoms used during conflict, he just never thought he would have to suffer through one as a family man with a dead wife. He tried his best to comfort Reginald during their final moments as the hounds closed in.

                “I want you to close your eyes, Reginald. Think of a happy memory and pretend you’re there. Think of long summer evenings relaxing by the lake or the curious adventure of your first day at school. Then let go, Reginald. Relax and let go. We’re going to be okay.”

                “Okay, dad,” said Reginald. His expression was docile and accepting.

                A hound then leaped from the darkness and knocked Reginald out of Edwin’s arms. The boy let out a yelp but was quickly muted. The hound destroyed his face with several swipes of its enhanced claws. Then it crushed Reginald’s skull and ripped apart his throat and upper chest with its teeth. Edwin let out a primal roar and went to the defense of his boy but he stood no chance as Reginald was already reduced to a pile of bleeding flesh and bone beaten into the soil. Edwin turned around to search for the attacker when a second hound tore into his back. He attempted to fight it off but made no progress as a third hound clawed at the front of his torso and systematically shredded his organs.

                They went down one by one, the members of the curious provincial crowd. The hounds left not a single person standing. The recorded message playing over the public intercom was shut down and the fence was broken down and stowed away. The royal authorities of Dolmetha ordered a thorough cleaning of the field the next morning.