- Blood Rivers Run Like Fallen Rain

Lia rushed out of the Post, a dozen or so Hunters tailing her, as they marched down the small hill the Post was situated on. The stone path echoed their footsteps, and accompanying their assault came the sounds of valiant roars from those beside her.

They were Hunters, monster killers, beings of pure respect and destruction. They were prepared to kill these creatures or die trying.

She eyed Randolph leading the charge, herself somewhat a ways behind the leading group. Though, she didn't think they needed her.

As they came down the hill and reached the first of the houses, a large horned beast, similar to the one in the Post but with different styled horns appeared, bursting from the inside of a wooden building.

The passersby screamed and ran for cover, several getting tossed around by its horns as it marched in a circle, destroying carts, shops, and the front sides of buildings.

"Mal!"

Randolph looked back into the horde of Hunters and cried, signaling a woman who was farther up than Lia to ready an attack.

As their feet came into contact with the hard stone of the main town roadways, Mal - an archer - strung an arrow and fired, her accuracy untamed.

The arrow found its mark, digging deep in the beast's right eye, as it howled in pain.

"Roooaaarrr!"

The monster turned and reared its large head, slowly due to the weight of the horns. But Randolph wasn't willing to let it rest, as he and a large portion of the group broke off, heading towards its direction, while the rest split up to sweep the city.

Randolph ran ahead of his group, wielding his large ax, he pushed off against a nearby wall, and leapt into the air, raising the ax high.

The beast had little time to react, as Mal was quick to deal with its other eye, the arrow digging in deep.

"Goooarrr!"

As Randolph came down, his ax raised above his head, the head of the blade crushed deep into the beast's neck, slicing through blood and flesh, and eventually coming out on the other end.

Blood poured and splattered against his face, as the beast's roars were cut off, its head flying through the air, landing against a nearby wooden cart, splitting it in pieces.

"Let's go!"

Randolph signaled to the other Hunters in his group, and they all split off, rising down each individual street in groups of two, three, some even going in alone like Randolph.

Lia however, had a different plan in mind.

As she rushed past another pair of three Hunters doing battle against a smaller horned monster, she rolled over the plan in her mind.

'Cain!'

She called out, her mind echoing her voice.

'I'm here.'

And that echo was answered.

Since Cain had gone silent in her mind, and since the incident in the Fortress, Lia didn't bother trying to reach back out to him, knowing now he was dealing in the shadows.

Whatever his goal was, she knew it was important, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered with it, especially if it didn't present a threat to her or their contract.

However, she would be lying if she said this didn't somewhat frighten her. The idea that there was something out there, something that could harm them, something that Cain had to deal with personally without her, meant that it was truly dangerous.

'Not that dangerous.'

Cain said, his voice echoing her thoughts.

'I certainly didn't miss this talk.'

'Oh, calm down. It's not like I read too much. Just the general idea of what you were thinking about.'

'Good, then you know I'm not mad at you.'

'I knew that before you thought of it.'

'Right. Listen, I need to borrow Kal for a moment. He could do well here helping me here.'

However, the plan Lia had in mind, was fruitless the moment Cain spoke his next words.

'Can't. He's busy with something else.'

'Like what?'

'Reinforcements. People who know these creatures, they're coming to deal with them.'

Originally Lia was planning on having Kal and her use their speed to deal small amounts of damage against the monsters. Large enough that it would weaken them, but small enough that it wouldn't go noticed.

While Lia knew Kara hadn't outright spoken against her using her summons, she didn't want to risk the possibility of this being something in the rules she missed.

However, now that Kal was out of the picture at the moment, she knew they were dealing with a much bigger problem than she had thought.

'So what now? I can't do much against these creatures - they're too strong!'

Cain's voice was calm and steady, keeping Lia hindering on the edge of losing her emotions rather than letting them run wild.

'Think Lia. The people around you have grouped up, archer and spearman with heavy hitters. Those who can deal with these creatures themselves have split up alone.'

Lia's eyes were drawn to the groups of Hunters she was passing, finding Cain's words to be truthful.

Spearmen and archers were almost always with a Hunter wielding a sword or ax, someone who could take a hit or deal heavy damage.

'Alright then, what should I do?'

'Come to me. I'm in the town square on top of a nearby building. The square is crawling with these creatures and it's large enough to where you don't' need to hold back, against the risk of hitting someone or something.'

Lia was somewhat skeptical. The idea of several of these monsters seems a bit too much for her to handle.

'Are you sure? I doubt I could deal with them alone.'

'Oh you won't be alone.'

'What?'

At first she thought Cain was offering to help, but she quickly wrote that off. If Cain was willing to help, it meant that she didn't need to do anything. All she had to do was sit back and keep out of his way.

'Are you-'

However, his next words squeezed at her heart.

'Rian and Lukali are here.'

[Drifting Winds]!

Lia instantly activated her skill, though the cool down was still active, she didn't care about the side effects.

Rain and Lukali.

Her friends.

They're fighting alone

However, as her mind was racing, her body flying past the fighting the destruction, as well as several horned beasts rushing past her, a voice stuck her mind, interrupting her thoughts.

'Give me control.'

'...what?'

Lia nearly missed her turn, her mind distracted by Cain's words.

'Give me control. Let me deal with this. You won't survive if you rush in there alone, but they won't live if you don't do something.'

'But…but-'

'I understand your fears, but control them. You're worried about a lot of things, but not all of them can be guaranteed. And for that matter, not all of them can be prevented.'

She listened intensively as she eyed the town square a few streets ahead of her.

'It is better to accept that some fears will become true, and work towards preventing the ones you don't want to happen, then to try and prevent them all. Guarantee some, not all, and work towards a solution.'

Lia thought about his words, knowing that they were true she didn't bother to argue. She was afraid for Lukali, for Rian, for the effects this could have on her, as well as the possibility of being caught.

If Kara knew she was doing this, and saw her defeating a number of these monsters alone, she'd have even more reason to suspect her.

But…

'...so what do you have in mind?'

…she didn't have time to worry.

Inadvertently, she felt Cain smile at her words.

He picked well.

'I will disguise you, so that no one will know who you are. But I can only take control for a few moments, to half an hour. Since this is the first time, you'll have to deal with the after effects.'

'After effects?'

'Never mind that now. You'll deal with that when the time comes. The main thing you need to focus on is taking notes of what I do and how I do it. Afterwards there will be some left over. Repeat what I do and you'll succeed. No one will get hurt.'

Lia was still afraid, her heart was racing but her mind was slowing down. The world around her seems to slow down as well, as she watched people young and old run past her, eyes filled with fear and pain.

Her mind felt…

'...peace.'

'There is peace in knowing things are out of your control Lia. Breathe. Let me in.'

She closed her eyes, as the world grew dark, and her vision blurred.

Her mind blanked out, and when she awoke, she was staring at herself in the window of a nearby shop, broken and torn to shreds.

Her eyes were no longer a dull gray with hits and tints of red inside, but instead glowing in crimson color.

Her face was serious, but she was surprised. She felt herself make the facial expression of being surprised, but her face in the window never changed.

She could feel her body, but not move it. She could feel the mind and heart calming down, but inside she felt they were racing.

"Do you understand now?"

Her mouth moved, and her own voice filled her ears.

"This is power. This is the woman I will shape you to become."

Lia didn't have anytime to respond or to think, as her body began to move off into the direction of the town square.

She walked slowly, taking notice of the different destroyed buildings and their patterns. Most had toppled over because the bottoms were blown out or destroyed by the horned creatures.

As she neared the edge of the square, her eyes became drawn to a nearby pile of rubble, where a large horned beast was howling in pain. It was buried deep within the rubble, metal poles and wound protruding from its side, gushing blood out onto the streets.

Though she saw it, she made no move to deal with it. Instead, Cain raised her hand, and instantly she felt her skin growing warmer and warmer, the feeling of a burning fire at the tips of her fingers.

[Flames]

The beast, howling in pain, became engulfed in flames, a raging fire burning aways its fur and flesh, killing it in mere moments from the loss of blood and the amount of pain.

"Are you ready?"

Cain asked her, using her own voice.

Lia couldn't move her head to nod, but she felt herself doing it, even though her head did not move.

"Good. This will feel somewhat weird, but you'll get the hang of it. I'm going to let loose my control over you, so you'll be able to move, but try not to. This way, when the time comes, and my control over you is gone, the feeling will be the same."

Suddenly, Lia felt a piercing pain from her face envelope her. The feeling of bugs crawling against her skin, moving down her arms and feet were like little needles piercing her skin.

Inside she shivered.

When the feeling left her, Lia found her body feeling somewhat different.

Her face felt hard and like stone, as if she was wearing a mask. Her arms were covered in leather, the smooth and fluffy cloth brushing against her skin. Her legs felt heavy, blocky, and tough.

He looked down to see heavy dark steel books that reached up to her knees covering her shins. Her arms were covered in dark leather clothes, while their head was covered by a black hood.

"Keep to the shadows. Not everyone wants to venture in looking for the unknown."

She heard her voice speak, as Cain dropped her arms to her sides, letting a dark gray cloak cover her entire body, like a cape that circled around her.

She looked like an assassin that was on the hunt to kill a target she didn't know.

Jokingly, to lighten the mood, she asked Cain a question.

'Why do you like dark clothes so much?'

"Normally don't, but considering I'm not one to care about fashion and the fact that I have limited options in my wardrobe for something like this, it's the best you're getting."

'You could get me some armor, you know? I certainly wouldn't mind that.'

"No, you little leech. The armor I have saved for you is too strong for you right now. Especially considering your weak and frail body."

'Hey! I am not weak, nor frail! How would you know anyways -'

"I'm controlling your body Lia. It feels like I'm lifting a stuffed bear on my shoulders."

Though Cain couldn't see it nor did her outward appearance change, Lia felt her cheeks growing warm on the inside, embarrassed.

'W-Well…it's rude to talk about a girl like that.'

"I dont' care."

'Ugh…F-Fine!'

Seeing she wasn't going to win, Lia inwardly pouted, her cheeks puffed and her face red from embarrassment.

However, Cain had no time for that, as the roars from the monsters drew both their attention to the square.

"Are you ready?"

Lia looked over the square - over at least five of the monstrous beasts from the Post circling it. In the center, barely holding off one of these creatures was Rian and Lukali, the latter dealing several arrow shots to the monster, while Rian dealt most of the heavy damage.

She felt her heart tighten up while looking at them, and she couldn't help but feel angry.

With one word, she laid out that anger, and focused it to a point of battle.

'Go.'