3 One Hell of A Day

The creature let out a thundering roar, and now that he was closer, rattled Rikkard right into his bones while making his eardrums ripple with pain. After it roared, it pursued right after him. And it was fast. Too fast. He got a good head start but the moment it started to chase it, it had caught up to him in a heartbeat.

He managed to hear it at the last moment and dropped towards the ground like dead weight. As the creature missed its swipe aimed right at his back, it crashed right inside the remains of the house.

The house came crashing down after the remaining pillars were destroyed. The creature let out a final roar before it completely collapsed in a cloud of smoke and ash.

Silence filled the air, but he knew that was not enough to kill the beast. There was no time to lose. Rushing back to his feet, he moved as quickly as he could down the streets, weaving past broken walls, hurdling over chunks of ignited wood.

He came around the corner and ran down the main street. Something exploded in front of him, which sent him flying. Before he could get his bearings, the creature was already on top of him. It opened its mouth, ready to end his existence.

Suddenly, the creature was thrown off him, rolling a few feet away. It started to roar but it was cut off as swiftly as its head. The body went limp and dropped to the floor. Standing right next to the creature, holding a strange sword, was Graves.

He was covered in blood with a ripped shirt, revealing some nasty-looking gnashes. His short grey hair was covered in ash. His head snapped up, listening for something. He swore silently and took off towards Rikkard.

"Graves! I thought y-"

"Save it for later, brat! We've got to go! Right now!" Graves interrupted him. He scooped up Rikkard and was sprinting at top speed. The reason why appeared shortly after. There were more Corrupters, at least 10 of them were giving chase. Killing one of their buddies wasn't helping the situation.

And that's when Graves did the unthinkable: He started leaping through buildings. Rikkard yelped as Graves barreled through doors and out windows. If it looked passable, they went through it. And the worst part of it all? The creatures still followed them. They leaped through the houses, destroying every single one they went through.

Graves leaped through one more house before he was running through the village center towards the farmhouse. All the while, the creatures were hot on their tail. Graves shouted at the top of his lungs as bolted towards the farmhouse.

He didn't stop. Even when they had made it inside, Graves kept running. He took a turn and ran towards the management room. The walls crumbled as their pursuers followed them inside. Once inside the room, Graves throws the desk towards the wall.

With the desk thrown out of the way, a thick metal door was revealed. Graves dropped Rikkard and lifted the handles of the door. The lid opened slightly.

"Get in!" Graves ordered as he strained against the weight of the door. Rikkard didn't ask questions. He scrambled into the opening and was surprised when he fell 20ft. Graves tossed the lid up a bit before leaping down himself. The lid slammed shut with a thud.

Rikkard rolled out of the way as Graves landed right next to him. Silence briefly filled the air, interrupted only by Graves scratching away at something. Then the tunnel illuminated as Graves ignited a torch. He moved over to Rikkard.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" Graves asked, slightly worried.

"I'm fine… I think," Rikkard responded, trailing off. Right in front of him was a long narrow dugout tunnel supported by wooden beams. Even as the torch lightened the area, he couldn't see the end of the tunnel.

Something heavy slammed into something above them, causing them both to look up. There was a scratching noise as the Corrupters tried to claw their way inside. Dust fell slowly fell on Rikkards hair. Graves narrowed his eyes.

"That should hold them off, but we should keep moving." Graves ordered as he headed down the tunnel. The light quickly faded as he got further away. Rikkard leaped to his feet and chased after the old man.

"Whoa whoa, wait a minute Graves! What about the villagers? Are we just going to abandon them?" Rikkard demanded as he caught up. However, Graves wasn't listening. He was too busy mumbling about something.

"...they seemed to just be Category 1. Definitely Beast species. But why are they here?" Graves mumbled and shook his head. "A Solo type I would understand but a whole Pack type? That doesn't make any sense…"

"Graves!" Rikkard shouted.

"They'll be alright. I messed with the leader of those things. They'll be more focused on trying to catch me than attacking the villagers." Graves responded.

"How can you be certain?" Rikkard asked doubtfully.

"Because I do. Stop questioning me and hurry up." Graves barked and picked up his pace. What does that mean? How can he be so sure about that? More importantly, how does he know so much about the Corrupted?

==

They reached the end of the tunnel in record time. There was a old ladder, which they climbed into a cave that Rikkard had never seen before. The entire place was like a small armory, brimming with weapons of all sorts. From swords and lances to cannons and muskets. Graves ignored it all as he motioned Rikkard to follow him deeper inside.

Graves unlocked a door with a key and walked inside. Rikkard paused. Inside this room, books and maps littered the floor and walls. He walked up to one of them. One of the maps was of their village. It was marked up with possible escape routes and fortifications. With this, it was possible to escape from just about anywhere in the village.

"Stop gawking, kid! Get over here already!" he heard Graves shout. With one last look, walked over to Graves, who was ruffling through a huge chest. While he was doing that, Rikkard noticed the wounds on Graves' chest. His whole shirt was soaked, with the edges dripping onto the stone.

"You should really get that check out, old man. It doesn't look very good," Rikkard commented. Graves only glanced at his wounds before continuing his search. Soon, he found whatever he was looking for.

"Here, brat. Put this on," Graves commanded. In his hand was a strange sword, which Rikkard took nervously. He unsheathed it. A jet black blade with the edges made of unknown silver metal. The guard was shaped into a howling wolf and the grip was wrapped in dark purple.

"And this," Graves passed him a silver chain necklace. As he took it, he noticed that the necklace also had a wolf hanging from the end. This wolf had a hexagon-shaped obsidian crystal in its mouth. He put on the necklace and strapped the sword to his waist.

"They belonged to your parents, so don't lose them." Graves casually said before continuing his search. On the other hand, the words felt like a smack in the face when Rikkard heard Graves utter them.

They belonged to his what?!