The world was fear, the world was pain. Darrian didn't want to feel, to remember, to wake...better that he knew only darkness, only the soothing embrace of oblivion. But consciousness tugged at him, manifesting as the shuddering of the very earth beneath him, dull aching pain that flared into agony over his chest, his head, his limbs.
With the pain came a heightened awareness of his surroundings. Noise, so much noise, so much screaming...he didn't want to open his eyes, he didn't want to know, to hear, to feel, to see, but his eyes opened of their own volition, terrified but needing to know what was happening.
The sight that greeted him was painful, overloading his senses, blurring everything into a swirl of colour. He stared, bewildered, until the different shades seemed to solidify into distinguishable forms and shapes. Fire...there was far too much fire everywhere, the sky itself on fire forming a backdrop against which dark shapes loomed, once steady buildings, now empty ruins. And blood, so much blood...Darrian felt his stomach heave, the stench of death overwhelming every breath he took, but swallowed the bile back down.
The elven boy struggled to get up, to escape from the puddle of blood he was lying in. His limbs were sluggish, his movements jerky, his body not moving as he wanted it to. With every motion his sight blurred, the world spinning confusingly.
Dolain started when he looked back to see the boy moving. The boy was moving slowly and with difficulty. Dolain felt a panic run through him. There was no rationality to the feeling, but Dolain suddenly felt the need to escape, to avoid the confrontation with whoever this boy would be. He darted away, sneaking behind a pile of broken crates. His breathing was quick and he peered from the side over at the boy, watching as the other began to awaken and stand up.
With blind determination Darrian struggled to his feet, leaning against the wall until the world steadied itself once again. He looked down at himself, shuddering at the blood that covered him freely. Where had it all gone wrong? There had been no warning, nothing to give him an inkling of the sudden savage brutality that had exploded over the entire city. Or perhaps he simply had been blind to its coming.
He ached all over, but he didn't seem to be too badly hurt. Apart from his problems focusing, that was. He glanced around, feeling lost, and horribly, horribly scared. Had the monsters all been killed? There were too many wounded, too many people twisted over the bodies of their friends or lovers, and he was alone. People ran by without even giving him a second glance.
As the boy looked around, Dolain calmed the panic beating in his chest and took a few steps away from the crates back towards the boy.
Darrian attempted to push away from the wall, although he had no idea where to go. He paused as he finally saw a boy, a familiar kid from the alienage standing a few paces away, looking back at him. He didn't know his name, although he was certain that he'd seen him before. He wanted to reach out, to reassure himself that he was still alive with contact with another living being, but the terror was far too fresh, too recent, and an agonised stare was the best he could manage, his eyes a pool of dark unfathomable waters.