Chaos Reigns

Jason had no idea how long he lay awake in the cool night air. He had pulled his arms into his vest in an effort to keep warm, but that had left him uncomfortable and only negligibly warmer. It wasn't until exhaustion overcame him that he finally managed to fall asleep and by then the moon was high in the sky.

Jason held Mina in his arms contentedly, feeling the soft curves of her body against him. She lay behind him, her breaths a constant warmth against the nape of his neck. He wanted to turn around and pull her into his arms, but he couldn't just wake her. He would just have to make do with what he had.

Time passed slowly by, but Jason had no intention of moving. Mina would have to wake up early in the morning and he didn't want to risk waking her. He wasn't comfortable the way he was with one arm pinned beneath him and the other awkwardly slung over the rest of his body, but it was worth it to feel her body move rhythmically with her breathing, one hand limp against his chest.

A sound came from outside, and he considered getting up to shut their bedroom window. It was good for keeping the room ventilated, but not so good if there were going to be people screaming outside their house. He waited, tensed, wondering if it was worth checking out, but the sound didn't come again so he relaxed.

More time passed before he smelled the smoke. Where was it coming from? He reluctantly rolled out of bed, thankfully managing to keep Mina from waking. The living room was empty, but the smell of smoke was growing stronger. Why couldn't he see it? Was it the house next door?

He opened Yoona's room and peaked inside, but his daughter was sleeping uncharacteristically peacefully inside. A scream coming from the bedroom brought Jason dashing back out of the room. The bedroom door was closed and smoke was seeping from underneath. This didn't make any sense. He dashed over and opened the door.

Another scream brought Jason to his senses and he awoke with a start. The sun was just beginning to peak over the mountains but it was still dark outside. "Jason you have to do something!"

He heard the sparrow in his head as he turned his head towards the farmhouse. The entire home was ablaze and the screams had grown louder. There were people running around outside too. Too many for them to be the family that lived inside, and there were horses with them.

There was a crash of breaking glass and another scream, and Jason saw one of the men outside climbing out of the house. Were they bandits? Jason felt himself walking towards the farm despite himself. There wasn't anything he could do was there? He would just get himself killed along with the family if he tried to help them. He began to turn around, but a new voice caused him to freeze in his tracks.

There were children inside! Jason dashed towards the farm trying his best to keep hidden. "Hurry and grab whatever you can before the place burns down!" yelled a voice.

"The man inside won't let anyone through, boss! The guy knows what he's doing with that sword and the fire is getting too intense for us to keep trying!"

"Do whatever you have to," the first man screamed again. "Take this and hurry up." The first man tossed something to the other, though he couldn't make anything out in the darkness. The fire was growing brighter making it difficult to see more than their silhouette.

The second man took whatever he had been given and dashed back towards the house, shouting something at the bandits outside. He tossed it through the window, and an explosion rocked the house, causing the side nearest him to collapse completely. There were screams from inside as four figures dashed out of the house through the newly formed opening. It looked like parents with their two children.

As soon as they forced their way out of the building, the bandits began launching arrows at the fleeing family. Couldn't they just take what they wanted and let the family flee? They obviously weren't even trying to put up a fight. A bandit ran them down on horseback, but was pulled down somehow by what must have been the father. "Run!" he screamed as more men ran out to meet him.

Jason didn't wait for the fight, he ran towards the fleeing woman and children like his life depended on it. It was stupid. In fact, his life probably depended on not running to help them, but he ran anyway.

The bandits must have finished with the father, as they began running after the fleeing family. He wasn't going to make it in time. They weren't running towards him so he had to make up the distance, while catching up to them, but he was much faster than he used to be.

The bandits caught them first anyway, and Jason saw the woman fling herself on their pursuers, screaming for the children to run. They finished her within seconds.

Jason was close enough now that he could make out the children. They looked to be somewhere in their early teens and were tearing through the grass as fast as they could, but they didn't stand a chance.

Some of the bandits pulled out their bows again and started raining arrows on the fleeing children. He could hear laughter from the brutes. They were using the kids as target practice.

One of them struck the boy and he dropped instantly. The girl tugged at her brother's arm trying to pull him along, but he shoved her away. "Run Nora!"

The bandits caught up to the boy in seconds, barely pausing to cut him down as they ran past. Jason still wasn't going to make it, he was too far!

He bellowed in anger, pushing all of his strength into running faster, but he still nearly stumbled at the sound that came out. It was utterly inhuman, like a mix between a bear's growl and a lion's roar. The bandits turned in surprise, and Jason imagined himself becoming a giant bear with massive saber toothed fangs.

The bandits fled in shock, only a few even thinking to shoot at him, but the arrows all went far over his head. He must have made some kind of projection rather than actually shapeshifting. He dashed the rest of the way to the girl, removing the projection and scooping her up into his arms. She tried to squirm and escape at first, but almost instantly calmed down clinging to Jason. The girl gasped in his arms just as something huge tore past him.

It roared in anger, and Jason managed to get a glimpse of it just as more ran by him. They were huge, with bodies easily taller than eight feet with massive muscles to match, and horns coming out of their bodies and heads. They ignored Jason and the girl, and began slaughtering the bandits.