It was another compromising day in Letic Town. The sky was hazy with the sand breeze. Kakari Vargaryan, his chin nuzzled into his chest in an effort to escape the biting wind, walked through the dead silence. The iron sheets—leftovers from ruined houses—clanged in the wind. One end was buried in the ground, the other, jagged and sharp, rattled in the air like a warning. Kakari didn't care; he already knew the crisis this town faced.
He slipped quietly into his house, though not fast enough to stop a swirl of gritty sand from following him in—and certainly not quick enough to silence the door's creak. It was an old, stubborn wooden door. Every time he came home, it was like a warning siren for his mother.
Sure enough—thud, thud—her footsteps came fast, echoing through the hallway.
A trace of fear pricked his chest. Last time, he'd promised not to set a single foot outside again.
What excuse should I give this time?
Kakari lowered his head, tugging his ears as he bowed—his usual play.
"Sorry, Mother…"
Two soft words. But they always worked. Even the harshest woman would melt. His mother gasped.
"Aha… You're not gonna stop going out, are you, Kakari?"
He stayed bowed.
She should've scolded him. But she didn't.
Maybe she was beginning to understand—he was growing up, and the world outside, danger and all, would eventually be his.
Still, a part of her blamed herself—for trying to hide him from it all.
"Just be safe, my son," she said gently as she turned back to the kitchen. "And eat your food while it's warm!"
Kakari blinked. A little surprised. A little worried. But he didn't think too hard. He was young. Still clueless about how people really worked.
He kicked off his boots at the door and ran toward the kitchen.
"Mother! Mother! I saw a sand mantis today! It was big—no, it was huge!"
His mother smiled, washing dishes at the sink, her back turned. It was a real smile. Her son was happy. That was all she needed. But behind it, she hid her fear.
The town was dying.
Every day, people vanished. Sand mantis attacks grew bolder. Only five or six families were left.
And that terrified her.
—
Far beyond the sand mountain—the only route to the capital—five figures moved toward Letic Town. They wore white robes. An organization.
One held a scanner. A red light pulsed from the device, barely illuminating more than a foot of ground.
"Hey…" one of them whispered. "Think we'll catch it today?"
The one holding the scanner muttered, "If the sand mantis doesn't interfere… we might."
The rest walked in silence.
—
Kakari sat at the table, shoveling food into his mouth. He was starving from tracking the sand mantis. Fourteen was too young for this—but he didn't care.
He wore a black, half-sleeved leather jacket, drenched in sweat. He tossed it over the back of the chair.
The town once was a beautiful and harmonious place that's what Lagartha told Kakari from his childhood but he always saw it as dead and cold, he never met many people in the town.
!!Lagartha and Kakari!!
For them, They were each other's whole world.
!!SHATTER!!
A loud thud struck the door.
"Mother! Someone's at the door!"
"I hear it too," Lagartha replied from the hallway, already walking.
She opened the door—
"Grandma Leona?" she gasped.
From the kitchen, Kakari groaned, mouth full. "Ugh… that old hag again?"
Leona was their neighbor. She lived with her grandson—Kakari's age. She was gentle. The last friend Lagartha had.
Lagartha smiled faintly, but also yelled, "Kakari! You're getting your butt spanked today!"
But then—Leona stepped forward.
Tap. Tap.
Blood dripped to the ground from her back.
Lagartha saw it—too late.
Leona collapsed.
"Kakari!" Lagartha screamed. "Don't open the door for anyone!"
"Okay, Mother! But hurry! I still have stories about the sand mantis!"
Lagartha rushed out, locking the door behind her. She cradled Leona's dying body. She didn't panic. She had seen death before.
But it still hurt.
Leona was more than a neighbor. She was family.
Leona's breath was faint. She whispered, "Run, Lagartha… with Kakari… and if you can… save Regis…"
And then—silence.
Lagartha knew it was too late. No doctors. No medicine. Even if she tried to bind the wound—those bones showing through torn flesh—it wouldn't matter. She had no breath left.
Kakari and Regis. That's who mattered now.
Whatever had killed Leona—it wasn't a sand mantis.
Sand mantises were beasts. They swallowed humans whole.
This… this was the work of a person.
There was only one thing left to do.
She laid Leona's body gently beside the gate and, with trembling hands, turned to run—toward Leona's house.
The beginning is a curse
Yet The end is distant.