Ambar's family was gone.

  He couldn't find them.

  Either the dragon ate them or they were buried in the rubble too deep for him to find, and too late for him to save.

  The cattle pen was wrecked, nothing remained.

  Just him and his sister.

  He made sure she was comfortable in one of the less destroyed rooms in the helps‘ quarters. Then he took a shovel and a wheelbarrow and set out.

  He couldn't just leave his mother and father to be devoured by scavengers, and he couldn't let Thalia see them

  When he got to his mother, he threw up. Her broken body was stiff as he pulled her up into the wheelbarrow and brought her home and wrapped her in a canvas tarp.

  His father was harder to find.

  He scoured the fields where the dragon attacked, but all he found was Ash and soil.

  Finally he had to accept that his father had become part of the field that he had loved.

  It took him two days to dig a grave for his mother. The packed dirt under the soil resisted him and he had to fight for every inch.

  He wiped the sweat off his head as he dug.

  What would he do next? He couldn't take care of the farm. The livestock had fled, and the remaining stores from the winter wouldn't last him and Thalia long.

  The other farms in the area were deserted. They had probably fled in case the dragon came back, or worse.

  He could probably gather some extra supplies from them, but it didn't feel right to rob his neighbors.

  The biggest problem was water. The canals were only trickling now, as if something had blocked them upstream.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  No canal, meant no water, which meant no farm, which meant death if they stayed.

  He had to fix it, somehow, but he couldn't leave Thalia.

  He pulled himself out of the grave and saw the wheelbarrow holding his mother's wrapped corpse.

  What if he brought Thalia along?

  He lowered his mother's corpse into the grave and began burying her.

  He wished he could find his siblings, but the rubble was too deep and too heavy. He hoped it would work as a cairn for them.

  Why has the dragon attacked? They were supposed to be intelligent, more intelligent than men from the stories he heard. So why would it attack like some wild beast? Why their farm?

  Ambar felt angry, why had everything been taken from him?

  The next day Ambar lined the wheelbarrow with cloth and supplies. He packed a satchel with even more supplies and tied a tarp, some rope and the shovel to the side of the wheelbarrow.

  It wasn't a fancy carriage, but it would do.

  He picked Thalia up.

  “Where are we going?” She asked. Her small frame seemed withered.

  He'd done the best he could to take care of her, but she seemed to be getting weaker. He had released the tourniquets slowly, but what if he did something wrong? Her legs would not work. She couldn't even feel them.

  “We're going up the mountain to get water.” He said.

  “Water? Ok” she said tiredly.

  He put her in the wheelbarrow and started walking.

  The black fields seemed like hell. Nothing moved, nothing grew. His arms ached. He never was good at manual labor. His father taught him of the seasons and the signs so one day he could take over as the farmer of these fields.

  It felt like so long ago.

  He wished he could just go back to how things were, helping his father, drawing at night. His family, alive and laughing.

  He knew it was a false hope.

  He was exhausted.

  Just one foot in front of the other. He told himself.

  His legs wanted to collapse. How long had he been walking?

  The mountains seemed so distant still.

  He slumped down.

  “Thalia? Would you like some food?” He asked.

  She didn't answer.

  “Thalia? Thalia!’ he reached towards her. He couldn't lose her too! Ambar felt his heart racing

  “What?” She said sleepily.

  Ambar sighed in relief.

  “Would you like some food? I was going to take a break.”

  “Soup?” She asked.

  “I can't make soup here, I'm sorry.”

  “Ohh.” She said, disappointed.

  He handed her some bread and salted jerky.

  She frowned in distaste. “Ok” she said softly.

  She was getting quieter, Ambar remembered how she used to talk to everyone, even the birds or the plants if no one was near.

  After they finished their meager meal, he pressed forward again.

  He still felt like collapsing, but he would make it to the mountain!

  His skin started to feel hot, like he was burning, and the wheelbarrow moved just a bit faster, just a bit lighter for his determination.

  He would make it there!

  He made it to the foot of the mountain in record time. Normally it took half a week to cross the distance. Somehow he had made it in just a day.

  Something was weird, but he didn't know what.

  Survivor's strength perhaps?