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.
