Invasion

Metas, Ellyn and Yuria quickly ran from off the road towards an alleyway, a space between buildings facing the edge of the town. "It's strange, we worked hard to sneak out of this town, only to run right back." Yuria stated, clutching her hat as she tiredly ran. Then they quickly halted in response to the thumping of metal as soldiers passed by the entrance to the alley. They huddled up against the wall and waited for them to fully pass and the sound of their movement to grow weaker. Yuria had her hands on her knees and breathed heavily as the other two stepped away from the wall.

"Want me to carry you?" Metas said unsarcastically. "No, I'm fine." She straightened her posture and they continued further. "Hmm… All these soldiers, assembled just for us? Seems too much." Ellyn remarked to herself. They stepped through the darkness of the alley, their footsteps impacting on the damp stone ground below.

Metas snapped his fingers to create a small fire to faintly illuminate their surroundings before answering. "That rider who appeared before us. He talked about heirs of flame; I suppose he's referring to the power of the knights to use flame magic. If this rider appeared before every single flame user in the kingdom, it could be a cause for concern for the ruling powers. Calling all knights and their captains back to the capital, it might be away to keep all of them under watch, while preparing for any invader or anyone not under their direct control." Metas stated.

They walked quickly further, passing makeshift dens and tents where on the damp ground. Hoodlums and the unfortunate lived and slept in them, as Metas passed with a miniscule speck of fire they retreated to the shadows and backed away from the light. Some thought he was a knight, passing through their habitat and retreated, humans and rats alike shying away from the flame. "Strange things have been happening more and more lately. Monsters, magic, dragons, witches. It's fantastical. But seeing them right in front of me just proves that they're real, and dangerous. Maybe that's what they're feeling tonight, danger." "It's like I feel something's going to happen, something's in the air." Yuria continued after Metas spoke. "Let's hurry." Said Ellyn, feeling the unease in the air as well.

As they walked through the roof-less tunnels behind the city's surface, no one impeded their approach, and any onlooker watched silently, as if they had a certain aura or presence to them. "Good thing we had 'him' guiding us through these paths before." Yuria exclaimed. "It would have been more difficult in doing so, luckily since we passed, I've memorized these passageways in case we'd have to pass through here again." Metas said plainly. Ellyn brought out a pencil and a sizable piece of parchment from her pack. As she raised the pencil with her wooden hand, she looked at the strings and pieces of the construction, admiring the connection and continuation of its moving parts. As the tip of the pencil reached the paper, it moved like a machine, creating almost perfect straight lines and angles, continuing an illustration on its surface.

"Is that a map?" Yuria asked. "It's a vague illustration of the surrounding roads in pathways, it's too broad to figure out if you don't know what you're looking at." Ellyn answered, pocketing the pencil, and looking at it whilst walking. "Oh…" Yuria answered. Metas walked in front of them silently. Ellyn envisioned the paths in her mind. The interconnectivity of the streets and the possible people who may walk through the passageways. Looking from above, it was like watching a complex organism, a process of movements leading people from one place, and one action to another. She saw that they were walking in a straight path, leading them to their destination ahead. She thought about the multitude of events and actions that led them here and would continue to lead them into an unseen path ahead. Her train of thought was interrupted by Yuria speaking once more.

"What… is he? I mean we don't even know his name yet." Yuria posed a question. "Maybe he doesn't have one." Metas answered. "I feel magic coming from him, like the creatures we fought or that one bandit, although less intense." Yuria responded. "Whatever he his, he's been helpful in setting us along our path." Said Ellyn. A cold breeze flowed through the alleyways and through the main roads and streets. Ellyn was mostly unaffected, Metas gritted his teeth and Yuria held onto her hat.

In the main street, there were various patrolling knights and guards, pairs were located near the entrances into the alleys but none of them were patrolling within them yet, or maybe patrols were ceased due to nighttime nearing. The traffic on the roads were still aplenty despite the lateness of the hour, since knights set up checkpoints inspecting cargo on carriages and carts that passersby and travelers brought. It seemed futile to the townsfolk who grumbled and complained but had no real way to speed up the process. Their torches and lanterns flared up brightly, like bundled up stars amidst the darkness of the night.

Sethan stared out of a massive, tall glass window. He gazed at the lights of the roads and the city below. "Knight Captain Sethan, you are now summoned before the council." A booming voice emanated from a podium above. He turned around and walked to the center of the room, above him were the four seats of the council, only three were occupied. "I apologize for making you wait so long, your report was being verified further, thus you were the last one addressed by the council." The bearded man in armor stated. Sethan looked up at the three of them, the armored general, the thin bearded old man, and he internally grimaced as he saw Helia sat on one of them. "If you are looking for Lady Seruvia, she is preoccupied with other matters…" Helia stated.

Sethan saw that Helia was sitting on Serafion's seat, who suddenly went missing on the council a few months before and was not publicly addressed ever since. He feared what happened to her, happened to Seruvia as well but did not want to ask any further. "Now, going over your report, you were attacked by bandits in the village. You also said that the leader was using powerful blue magic. Between the overwhelming amount of bandits in this village as well as their powerful leader, why would you think to combat them with such a meagre force?" The old man stated. Sethan started to speak but was cut off by the old man raising his hand to gesture him to stop. "I know you might have been thinking about the condition of the villagers, but it is unwise to go headfirst into battle with only a small force. This kind of chivalry will only result casualties." He continued. "Its because of the 'mystery swordsman' they encountered, it's in the report." Helia responded.

The old man turned to her and replied with: "I know, I was simply allowing the boy to speak for himself." Helia frowned but leaned back with a grin. The armored man only remarked. "Hmph." The old man waited expectantly. "Yes, she is correct. We were aided by a swordsman who was off unprecedented skill, he helped us turn the tide to repel much of the bandits." Sethan answered. "But the bandit leader remained alive." The general stated. "Yes, their fight continued into the forest where the swordsman presumably escaped but the leader returned to the main road but then escaped." Sethan continued. "So presumed to have escaped because you were unable to find a body, yes?" The old man exclaimed. "Yes." Sethan answered.

The old general said something to the old man, something that Sethan could not make out. "Now for a matter that was omitted, or simply something that you might have not seen occur." Said the old man. "What matter?" Sethan asked. The general coughed and then continued the old man's statement. "The involvement of one of the kingdom's external forces. Outside of the knights." "The one's under my jurisdiction. The 'shadow' knights." Helia butted in, impatient and made air quotes when she mentioned the word shadow. The old man sighed, and the general put a hand to his head.

"Continue." Said the old man. "Did you see any of them in the area?" Helia asked. "Uh… There were ones who fought the bandit leader." "And?" Helia continued. "One of them used a strange weapon, I think it was a relic." "Did you recognize it?" "It was a golden flower web." "Did you recognize it? What happened to the wielder?" Helia prodded on, leaning forward. Sethan paused and hesitated. "It's fine, this isn't like outside where this information is prohibited." The general said after sighing. "It was Endro. He lost to the bandit leader. That's why you're calling all of us back." Sethan stated. "Yes, after him and Siegmund fell, it was good enough reason to call the knights back to protect the kingdom, as well as the ever-increasing bandit attacks." The old man said. "But you are a special case. That's why we made you the last one we spoke to. We have more things to discuss." "Your brother." Helia stated. Sethan had a confused look on his face.

"Well, before that we need to discuss the weapon of that swordsman." The general butted in, much to the dismay of Helia. One of the shadow knights quickly entered the room and whispered something to the old man. The general grabbed a piece of paper and said: "It says here that it was a small metal short sword which appeared to be segmented. It had markings on it that appeared to be language you didn't recognize." "Well, I couldn't get a close look at it for long." Sethan answered. The man only looked straight at him for a few seconds silently before continuing.

The shadow knight then proceeded to step down the steps and out of the large room. "You said it could lengthen and shorten at will, stretching into a great length, further than what you thought was possible for a blade its size to conceal." "Yes." Sethan simply responded. The old man said something to the general, Sethan could make out the words "still there" from his mouth. "Are you sure it was a sword?" The old man asked. "Yes, I'm certain." "It was also the weapon that was reported to be used by one of Metas' companions back in that village, but this swordsman was obviously separated from them because he was not present when I battled with Metas' group." Helia chimed in impatiently. Sethan stepped back and was taken aback by the information he just received. The old man sighed. "We will table this discussion later and allow Helia to continue." Even in full armor, she crossed her legs as she sat as she smiled with a mad glint in her eye.

Back in the alleyways, Ellyn was still surveying her map as the three of them pressed on. "I think we're almost there." Said Metas. "Yep, we're just going to divulge our path. We're going to turn right here." Ellyn continued. "Wait." Said Yuria spotting something ahead. Unsavory folk wielding knives and twisted grins, few of those who fled when the knights were put into the intense rigor of security they were in now. "Hmm?" They reacted as Metas, and his light neared.

"Are you knights? Believe me we don't want any trouble." The middle one raised his hands as the others were startled. "Boss, judging from their clothes I don't think they are." The left one made a nervous but bold assertion. "If you're not knights then… We gotta deal with you." The right one proclaimed, tense. Ellyn put away her map as she readied her crossbow, Metas and Yuria readied themselves as well. Suddenly, the three of them could hear a repeated cluster of explosions going on at once and before he could react, he heard a sudden swift shuffling, like footsteps rapidly approaching from the street. He looked quickly at his right side, the one facing a building next to the road and felt a rush of fear within him. "Get down!" He yelled before a blast shattered through the structure beside him, throwing rocks, dust and debris towards all directions and completely covering them and the area with an unearthly blue light.

"Argh!" Metas remarked, his ears ringing, and his eyes closed due to the bright flash of the light. "Everybody alive?" He asked loudly, opening his eyes. He had his bony, fleshy wing outstretched but damaged and charred due to the explosion. Blue flames sputtered and danced on its tips. "Yes!" Ellyn yelled. "What? My ears are still ringing, I can't hear you!" Yuria asked loudly. Metas raised his wing and looked to their surroundings. The three men that they encountered were now little more than piles of burnt flesh. The stone building beside them was in rubble and ruin, the crowd was in a mad scramble and the knights were in a panic, at the sudden unprecedented and overwhelming force that impacted them.

Metas looked up and saw that the giant stone castle was in view, if they directed their course towards it, it would be a straightforward path towards it. And with all the chaos, the knights would be too busy with the destruction to impede their path. It was as if time had slowed, while he stood there thinking. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something running towards him. He quickly turned around and was faced with a morbid sight.

It was a bandit, or what Metas could make out from them resembled someone in a bandit's makeshift clothing. Their face was burned, any features could no longer be seen except their screaming mouth. There were similar 'burns' all over their body, and bright blue energy pulsing through their body, shining brightly from their open mouth. Metas quickly sent out his chain-spear, puncturing through the 'bandit's' neck. He pulled the spear out quickly and jumped backwards from the body, disturbed, a bead of sweat rolling down his face. He waited for a few seconds, for a possible and imminent explosion. But then the blue light faded and its screams went silent, the body became motionless and a blast did not occur.

Yuria and Ellyn were standing at the street, dreading, and aweing at the chaos. Ellyn raised her arm and unfolded her crossbow. "Metas, what are we going to do? Are we going to go to the castle?" Yuria asked, cautiously looking around and readying her pack. Metas looked up at the castle, thought of his siblings, and what he heard Sethan had done, gritted his teeth and then said: "We need to protect the people! We're going to repel the bandits." Ellyn and Yuria nodded, and they ran onwards to the street.

"Look at them, it's almost like they're not human." Ellyn exclaimed. "Strike them down, they won't cause more damage if they're dead." Said Metas, with a grim expression. The smell of burnt flesh was prevalent in the air, the streets were covered in flames and smoke, and buildings lie in ruins. From the road, there was a wave of these 'bandits'. Three of them came running, blindly screaming, and running as fast as their legs could take them. As soon as they were within sight, Ellyn loosed a volley of bolts from her crossbow, impacting them with a few bolts on their torsos each.

They appeared to stagger and trip, falling to the ground. Ellyn remained with her arm raised, as they cautiously stopped and watched. But the bandits quickly rose from the ground, injured and blood dripped from their mouths but they resumed shrieking and ran straight towards them. Ellyn grimaced and stepped back, she primed the crossbow and shot another volley, at the one who was leading the runners, embedding bolts in their neck and face, finally halting their scream and approach. She stepped back in disgust as they fell to the ground in front of her. Yuria dragged and filled up the enchanted chalice across the ground, and threw it on the runner, momentarily encasing them in solid earth.

Metas then swung his spear towards the last one, swinging the chain and slashing through, leaving them in two pieces. Pain stung and dug through Metas' shoulder, like tendrils digging through his flesh. His wing retracted and then disappeared from his shoulder, then he noticed the runner struggle and emerge through the soil barrier. He snapped his fingers swiftly and then shot a swift bullet of fire towards the burnt runner. The projectile struck them, but then they erupted a blue blaze, a giant fireball which stretched above the roofs of the buildings on the street. The three covered their eyes from the ensuing light of the explosion, before Yuria remarked: "Fire does that to them, got it."

After the blast dissipated, they continued down the streets. Hearing the cries of trapped civilians Metas looked to its source and pointed. "There's somebody trapped under there, we have to get them out." More of the runners emerged from ahead of them, and Metas and Ellyn quickly ran forward leaving Yuria behind. "Wait!" She yelled out, before turning to the house on the side of the road and running towards it. She came across a somewhat tall wooden building; the cries of people could still be heard inside.

A burning door stood in her path to the inside, she frantically looked around and saw a nearby puddle filled with water and wet mud. She quickly ran over to it, and scooped water in the chalice. She threw it onto the door of the building, extinguishing the flames that covered it. She came face to face with a charred and slightly crumbled down door and after a second of thinking slammed it open using the chalice. As she entered the building the family inside was frightened at her appearance, between her being wanted as a fugitive and the shock of the situation they cried out and cowered away in fear. They looked at her in fear and revulsion, she almost returned their expression in kind.

She was looked down upon and disgust once as a beggar, and now as a heretic and a witch to be burned at the stake in her village. There was fear in their eyes, in her mind they were the people that looked down upon her, she was the one who was in fear of all else, cowering on the ground as others stood over her. She had to live in the streets, in the mud and in the rain, roaming and walking while they stood beneath a roof, living comfortably in a home. Why should she- "Please don't hurt us." Her rapid train of thought was instantly broken by the faint whimpering words of a mother that covered her children under her arms.

"It's fine, I'm not here to hurt you." She said stretching her hand forward towards them. 'This is what they would have done. At least what they did for me.' She told herself. The mother looked at her briefly and looked at Yuria cautiously. With no other choice she slowly reached her arm towards Yuria. The roof above them was crumbling and the walls were beginning to give way, small pieces of wood and debris were falling to the ground, and with a loud creaking, Yuria looked up to see that the entire ceiling was giving way and was about to fall directly on top of them. Thinking quickly, she scooped up a cupful of dirt and threw it above them, creating a temporary shield that blocked the falling debris.

As the dome of earth quickly crumbled, Yuria saw that the house around them was mostly fully collapsed, leaving only an open doorway to the rest of the street. "Go, let's go, to the street!" Yuria ordered them as she led the family to the road and stared back at the street. Ellyn readied and blasted a precision shot straight through where the eyes used to be on a runner's face. Metas sent out his chain-spear and punctured through the throat of another one. "They've been reduced to simple minded beings, that means they're dangerous but easy to take advantage of." Metas remarked.

As Yuria led the family to the center of the road, she could see a runner approaching from the opposite far side of the road. She looked at Ellyn and Metas who was in the opposite direction in the distance and then looked back at the rapidly approaching screeching madman. She quickly ran towards a nearby burning building and readied her chalice. She was preparing to scoop up some material to throw at the attacker but then when she looked down at it and at its brightly gleaming gem, she noticed that the gem had now become cracked. Either by overuse of its magic, or the force it endured when she used the chalice to bash the door open. She was averse to the idea of further use of her collection of animal parts as they were limited, while trying to make a decision she looked back, and the mother and her children were frozen still in fear.

"Get away from here, go towards them!" She yelled, pointing towards Ellyn and Metas. But as she turned around, she saw that the runner leaped across the air, clearing a far length of distance and left her with milliseconds before her attacker landed atop her and would vaporize her in a cloud of blue flame. In a desperate act, she quickly put her hand into the grab bag of items she collected and retrieved one. She heard the imminent blast and closed her eyes. There was a profound ringing once more, but after a few seconds a new set of sounds came into her mind, and she opened her eyes slowly and cautiously.

Clop-clop. Clop, clop, clop. She heard the sound of a horse stepping across the mud as she opened her eyes, she saw that she was riding on one, only that it was partially unformed. "Ah!" She yelled as she saw the thing beneath her. She sat on a patch of horse leather, but from it sprouted three bony legs with hooves attached to them, violently and uncoordinatedly shuffling forward, thin strands of nerves and sinew were attached from the legs to the 'seat'. She looked around quickly, trying to get ahold of her bearings. "Ahh!" She yelled once more, as she came face to face with the woman and her small children right behind her.

The creature under her began dissipating, leaving them to fall abruptly to the muddy ground. Ellyn ran quickly towards where they were. "Are you okay?" She asked. Yuria was face first on the road, she raised her head and tried to brush off dirt from it. "Yeah." She stood up. "The things, they're coming from both sides of the road. We're cornered every place we go." Yuria remarked. Ellyn then nodded and walked past Yuria. Yuria turned to the woman who was confused and wary of everything, even Yuria herself. She held her hand out towards them. The woman looked at her cautiously, and then grabbed her hand, Yuria pulling the woman upwards to her feet. "Thanks…" The woman said to the girl before her, almost hesitantly. The two children stood up as well, one remarking: "Was that magic?" And the other said: "Cool." Their mother corralled them and tried to hold them close and make them face away from the destruction.

Yuria smiled wistfully, and then ran towards Metas. Ellyn ran along the road and then retrieved something from her person. She held in her wooden hand two small metal caltrops; both were tied to each other with a long thin steel wire. She curled her finger preparing to flick, looked at a burning building at the side of the road, the pulleys and gears within her arm whirred and locked, preparing to release force. She flicked her finger sending one of the caltrops through a stone wall in a house she was looking at. She then turned to another house at the opposite side of the road and flicked with her middle finger, creating a thin line of wire across the road. "I put down a tripwire here, everybody stay away from this area." She called out to the others.

She had found the materials in the scholar's lair, the caltrops were something she thought she would see in an armory or wielded by a brigand. She thought about what uses it could have been needed for and then dismissed it. She searched for the thinnest and sturdiest wire, and found one within a cabinet. She had admired the preparedness and the extensive collection of items Serafion had but now she had her attention solely towards combat.

Yuria reached Metas who pulled his spear out of a fanatic runner he most recently dispatched. "Where are the people, the knights?" She asked him. "Look around." Said Metas. There were remains scattered all throughout the area, it was possible that the fighting had started shortly before, there were burnt and broken armor pieces in the area. More and more bodies and broken pieces of metal were lying and clustered at an increased amount from where they were to around the corner.

"Can you hear that?" Asked Yuria. Amidst the roaring fires she could hear the clashing of steel and the screams of men. "There's more people past this street." Said Metas, trying to listen more intently. "We're moving to the next street! It sounds like there's people there!" Metas yelled to Ellyn. She was standing a distance away from the tripwire she set up, waiting as one of the runners ran and fell to the ground. She shot them once in the head, bringing them down on the spot. She used this technique and simply waited for one of them to trip and fall, and shot them dead, trying to preserve as much ammunition as she could. "Yes, I'll follow you to the end of street, I'll try to make use of that as best I can!" She responded to them.

The family followed Metas and Yuria to the end of the street, Ellyn soon did the same but stood at the end of it without going to the next streets in order to continue to cover them. Metas stood in front, the civilians in the middle and Yuria in the rear, and Ellyn further back from them. "Metas, the gem on this chalice is broken, I don't think I can use it for long." "Use your other magic, the one using animal parts." "Yes, but its limited. I need you to-" "What do you need me to do?" He was breathing out of his mouth slowly as if drained but trying to stabilize himself. "My magic uses parts from living things that are dead. It's limited right now but… There's um… 'Parts' everywhere." She pointed towards the corpse of a fanatic that Metas most recently felled.

They both looked at it, repulsed. Metas swiftly sliced off a hand. Yuria picked off the dripping piece. She felt disgust and almost dropped it but then she quickly closed her eyes. She envisioned the running and screaming creatures were beasts and then envisioned it as a dripping claw of the lycanthrope. She opened her eyes and held the hand fingers facing upwards and blood dripping towards the floor. They then swiftly ran towards the next street. As they travelled Metas remarked: "Everything is burning…" Yuria and Ellyn also looked around as well. For them it was just another place they travelled to but for Metas it was his home.

Ellyn stopped at the edge of the street and shot another runner far away who tripped on the wire. Metas and Yuria proceeded to the next street to see a formation of soldiers trying to repel a force of the fanatics. "Push them back! Drive them away! Do not let them get any closer!" A commander yelled to his troops, a line of them carried large rectangular shields and spears poking through, a defensive line against the fanatics. "Arghh!!!" One of the runners screeched and groaned as they ran headfirst, halted by a long spear through their torso by one of the knights.

From behind the shield wall, a few archers were standing, one of them shot an arrow through the skull of the impaled fanatic. There were two rows of knights with shields and spears, both facing opposite directions with civilians, archers and the commander in the center. As Metas and Yuria came into the road they were positioned on, the knight commander called out to his soldiers once more. "Archers, draw. We have more incoming!" "Wait, don't shoot. We aren't one of them!" Metas called out. "More survivors? Stay there, my troops will approach you." The commander responded.

The Knights were clad in tough steel armor. The commander stood tall among the others, he was of middle age, younger than most of the knights he commanded. The line of spearmen slowly walked towards them in an ordered formation. The archers remained with their boss ready, prepared to draw and fire at a moment's notice. "Sorry about this, it's as much as for your safety as it is for ours!" The commander exclaimed. In the crowd near the commander were citizens from young to old, some were injured lightly and others heavily. Some of the adults and partially injured knights tended to the worried and sounded. The line of knights marched forward until they got close to Metas, Yuria and the small family.

"Take them first, they're civilians but still uninjured." Said Metas. "Wait." One of the spearmen exclaimed. "What is it?" The commander asked. Murmurs began spreading along the line of men. "Is she carrying a hand?" "I know them from somewhere." "Are these the ones from the posters?" "Commander! They appear to be the fugitives we were on the guard for. Are we to engage?" "At least take them in, they're uninvolved with us!" Yuria called out to the knights.

"Archers, prepare to draw!" The commander yelled. "Wait, I know them. They're my next-door neighbor!" One of the people from the crowd called. "They could be an illusion or bewitched. Our reports say that they used strange witchcraft. That girl is carrying a human hand." The commander stated. "We've fought these things too. They attacked us and their corpses litter the next street here." Said Metas. "I suppose I would have to take your word for that?' Said the commander. They all stood in an uneasy and quiet standstill. Metas stood in front of the family and the mother covered her children. The archers and Knights remained ready to attack.

Suddenly, one of the knights from the other row of spearmen called out. "Commander, incoming!" The spearmen readied their spears and shields as a fanatic came running in from the other side of the road. They ran swiftly towards the men and impaled itself on the tip of one of the spears. "Commander, the archers!" One of the men exclaimed. The commander gritted his teeth and hesitated for a moment. "You two, face the madman. Shoot him down, the rest stay on the current target!" Two archers turned around, aimed, and fired at the wailing thing. From the commander and the other archer's perspective they heard two shots loosed and two sounds of impact and yet the wailing of the fanatic continued.

The families and the injured in the crowd began to worry, some backed away. One of the archers beside the commander was concerned and said: "Commander, should we turn around? ""No. Do not turn a-" Before the commander could finish speaking, the chain from Metas' spear whizzed past him, it sped through the air quicker than any of the knights could react and straight into the fanatic's skull. The length of the metal spear attached to the chain was more akin to a broadsword but could hit enemies further than the spears of the knights because of the chain fastened onto it. He quickly pulled it back, pulling it upwards and catching it, almost as fast as he threw it.

The knights that saw it gasped and could barely muster words. "Whoa." "Im… Impressive…" Murmurs and remarks spread as the gaze of the people followed Metas' chain spear. The commander was speechless as well. "You- You could have slain one of your own to convince us. They appear to be mindless things, pawns. One of them is nothing to the trust of the proud knights." The lead spearman in front of them exclaimed. Ellyn waited for any sign of the attackers when suddenly she heard and saw a small horde of the fanatics wailing and running. She aimed her crossbow towards them, only for the approaching mob to push the wire from its attachment to the roadside building, rendering it useless and only momentarily slowing them. She shot one bolt and struck down one of them, but they were quickly approaching and catching up towards her.

Ellyn ran and quickly turned the corner. "Guys, incoming! There's a horde of them coming this way!" She saw the row of soldiers with their spears pointed towards them, and quickly pointed her arm towards them, primed to fire. "Wait!" Metas raised his arm towards Ellyn. "Just get them behind you." He gestured towards the confused and cowering Mother and children. The commander studied his face and his expression very carefully. "Part the way, let the woman and her children through." The commander ordered to his men. "But-" The leader of the men in the defensive line began to plead. "Do it." The commander commanded.

On orders, the men parted to create a space for them to allow them to walk through. After a few seconds of hesitation, they heard the approaching scramble and shuffling of footsteps and then rushed within the crowd, and then the knights quickly closed the gap, forming a line once more. As they reached the others, the mother breathed heavily and shakily in relief, clutching, and hugging her children tightly. Metas and the commander looked at each other, each still having animosity but respect towards each other. "Behind me!" Metas called out to Yuria and Ellyn. They quickly ran behind him and waited, as the sounds of running and wailing grew louder and louder. "Don't use fire against these things, they explode, might cause more damage to the area." "I know." Metas remarked.

He gritted his teeth and held his arm with his other hand, sticking his spear into the ground. He breathed sharply through his teeth and sucked in air as his wing sprouted from his right shoulder. It was now better formed than before, instead of the exposed bones and nerves held together with red energy, a thin film or translucent mucus covered the once exposed internals of the growth. "That's a… wing!" It stretched to about half of his body's worth above him. "Is he a demon?" "More like a bird!" One of the children in the crowd called exclaimed amongst the knights' and the people's mutterings. "Or a dragon." The commander whispered to himself.

Metas then picked up his chain spear with his left hand and wrapped the chain around his wing, he winced when he did so. "So, what's the plan?" Ellyn asked. "Just be ready, take care of any stragglers or survivors." Metas answered. "Okay." Yuria responded. The three readied themselves and Metas' wing stretched backwards. "You should stay back." He said to the line of spear knights. They glanced towards the commander who was curious but cautious, he nodded, and they slowly marched backwards, still pointing their spear and shield towards them. As the fanatics emerged from the corner, wailing, and bounding, he abruptly swung his wing towards them, with his chain spear attached to it.

The abyssal appendage possessed great strength and moved quicker than Metas even could, instantly cleaving through the wave of enemies, slicing some from the chest or the neck up. There were about a dozen of them, and his slash cleared three quarters, Ellyn aimed and shot two, and Yuria dissolved the hand in her grasp, and two small spikes emerged from the air glowing with a bright blue light and blasted through the other two. The small projectiles of flesh and bone shot through like arrows but and blew holes through them. Ellyn ran forward and retrieved her bolts, before rushing back behind Metas. The three of them stood by and readied themselves for a few seconds, before Metas sighed and they turned back around to the commander.

"Are there any other survivors?" He asked. "Yes. Even though they're destructive their numbers aren't many. There must be many more of the knights clashing with the madmen and rescuing survivors, its just that with the injured here we won't be able to move much to assist them or go street to street looking for more survivors." The commander stated. "Hey, Metas?" Yuria asked, with a shaky voice. "Hmph." Metas clutched his shoulder as his wing retracted and disappeared, then turning around and walking to Yuria. "What is it?" He asked. He walked to Yuria who was clutching a severed hand, it was cut up to the forearm. "Is that?" He asked. Yuria dropped it, it was clad in a metal gauntlet. She looked all around the corpses of the horde. They had burnt faces and flesh like the other bandit fanatics but she looked at the one she had struck with her magic.

At first she suspected nothing when she saw their faces, and was preoccupied with attacking but now she saw that the one she struck down was of a shorter statue. "They're not bandits…" Yuria remarked, horrified. Metas stepped backwards, looking at those he cut down, fellow knights, civilian individuals, innocents. Metas turned around and spoke to the commander. "Those people, what happened to them was done by someone, someone who might be around here leading the attack. If you knights are going to stay here, we need to leave to search the other parts of the town." Said Metas.

"Wait. Other commanders are definitely going to be hostile to you. If we're going to prevent another misunderstanding, I'd better send some of my knights along with you to relay that you are here for assistance." The commander responded. He looked towards his knights and his archers. "You two, and you, go with them." He gestured towards two of his spearmen, and one of his archers. He moved his head to gesture "go". They looked at him for a few seconds, until his serious expression made them leave their formation and walk towards the three. "Are you sure about this? You're going to have lesser numbers to protect these people." Said Metas. "Go. Since you've cleared up the area, there's less for us to worry about. If you're going to catch up to this person you need to go now." The commander stated. The two knights clad in iron armor and helmets, as well as the archer in lighter chain mail armor, looking somewhat unsure. Metas looked towards them and to his companions and then began to walk away.

Yuria was still looking at the burned faces of the bodies and decided not to take any parts from them. As they ran to the next street, Ellyn purposely lagged further behind to observe the knights and then ran next to Metas. "Do you trust them? A few minutes ago, they were almost trying to kill us." She whispered to him. "I… Trust them to relate to our intentions." "How about the other guys, they're probably going to suspect us as well." Yuria whispered towards him. "Well, that's what they're for. If that doesn't work, we'll decide then." He responded.

"Hey commander, why did you trust them? Aren't they fugitives?" Asked one of the knights to the commander. "I never knew much about the boy. But I heard more than enough from his brother. No doubt this kingdom has a far darker side to it. And although I believe that they have our best interests in mind, there are some things, immoral things that they do. When I looked at him earlier, I saw the eyes of a knight." "Hmm…" The knight responded.

As the three rushed through the ruined and burned roads and streets, Grisham watched them. He stood on a building's roof, looking down on them beside a church's high steeple. "Small flies fled from my grasp, now flying back towards the web." Then he felt a tingling sensation from his left hand. He held it out and watched the projection. Even as the events are showed in a blue light, flames that burned the town flared and danced, its reflection visible in his eyes. It showed him jumping from above the town's rooftops, and before the ones he had just recently set his sights on. He breathed in, there was an almost contemplative expression on his face. The vision he saw, all the details were in his mind, he seared every feature of every figure and the chronology of every event to the specifics of his every movement. Then he grinned. "I got it." He remarked.