They went off the next morning through the grass. Eien made sure to check his equipment again, assess what they had, and looked himself over for any irregularities such as wounds or marks.

Hell, he wanted a shower. He smelled as bad as the troll tasted. Complete with the ash and smoke smell.

Aino had not moved as far as he could tell. She was still staring at the top of the hill they had slid down when he woke up.

“What was that creature last night? The one with the eyes?”

“Grass giant.”

“Oh. Could it hurt us?”

“Yes.”

“Should I worry about it?”

“Yes.” Damn it, Aino!

“Can I have…you know…a longer explanation than that?” She inclined her head towards him, looking at him following up behind her. She turned forward again.

“Grass giants can be anywhere in the grass. Don’t step on one when it is sleeping. It can eat you.”

“Do the Antmen know that?”

“No.”

What? They don’t know about grass giants? How does she know then? He thought a bit about the creatures they had seen so far. The troll, the water chimera, the grass giant…

“What creature are you?” he asked suddenly, remembering her confession.

Her feet stopped.

He intuitively grabbed at the straps on his bag, gripping them tightly with his hands.

The world fell silent. It was oppressively silent. Even the distant sound of bugs fell asleep as if they were watching and waiting in anticipation.

Then he heard her speak.

It was soft, a whisper, and it floated around his ears like a song. He felt air move across his face. Something shimmered at his left, and he turned his eyes to the refracted light like that on broken glass, shimmering a deep blue.

He tried to speak, but then realized none of his words were reaching his ears. He made his voice louder.

A barrier broke.

“What are you doing?” he asked loudly, feeling the sound hit his ears. Wind tossed his hair back, casting a cool sensation across his sweaty skin. He saw the wind toss her dirty braid back, touching the wisps of her hair.

Then there was no air. And he choked a bit, grabbing at his throat.

His lungs weren’t working! What?

He fell to his knees

What?

Panic set in until…

A barrier broke again, and he sucked in warmed air.

“Ai, stop, stop…I see now, I see,” he said, coughing. Wind. Air. She was not human, but she controlled the air. Maybe...an air chimera?

She grabbed his arm as he stood up, and she looked him in the eye.

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“Tell no one,” she said, and he felt a pull at the back of his head. It wasn’t a command, but it was something serious.

“Okay, I won’t say anything. How…How did you…How did I not know? I mean, you must have been doing stuff for ages. All throughout our time when we worked together!” She inclined her head a bit.

“You’re stupid,” she replied simply. She released his arm.

“Just like the rest of them,” she added.

Suddenly every memory of her was colored in wind and air, and Eien felt numb, his feet not even registering the ground on which they trod. The air seemed scarce, and his head felt overwhelmed with intrusive recollections of his time with her in the military.

Shit. What was he doing?

“Sho, you’re with me,” Bair, Aino’s second, said, “Just watch for now. No big action. We tend to let Aino do most of the work unless she needs us.”

What kind of mission took place in broad daylight? The sun was burning his exposed skin. No one else was around them. The other squad members had cleared out the immediate area just about ten minutes ago. What were they waiting for?

Eien’s fingers trembled as he held onto his rifle. It was his first mission, his first time outside of the base, and his first time back in the city of Beldam. It was a large enough city that he was nowhere near his family’s home, and he had never been to this neighborhood before. It was mostly buildings built of black metal and brick. Some went high in the sky, but most were only a few stories tall. He heard the sound of machinery clanking over and over and smelled something burning.

Bair stood with him at the front of the building they were supposed to storm, just a few yards behind Aino. The other five members of the squad were assigned to different exits of the building. Some kind of rebel force was inside making trouble, and their squad was there to eradicate the threat.

Eien nervously watched her standing so still, for the past ten minutes. And she stood there longer. He wanted to ask, but he also didn’t want to attract Bair’s attention more than he had to.

“Honestly, this will be an easy cake job for the most part. The problem comes…well, you’ll see, Eien,” Bair said, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

Then…

She moved.

Eien watched as she kicked open the door and ran inside, her club swinging at her hip.

He peeked over at Bair with his left eye.

Bair had the strangest grin on his face, full teeth with ends reaching near to his ears, causing his cheeks to crinkle and his crow feet deepen. His eyebrows arched thickly over his wide eyes as he stared at the empty space where Aino stood.

Eien focused on the door instead, trying to avoid the creeping feeling that told him to run as far away as he could.

Minutes passed.

Bair touched his ear where the speaker was on his radio.”

“Alright, Jar’s got sight on her. Follow me. Don’t shoot unless I order.”

“Yes, sir,” Eien said, and he followed Bair, rifle at the ready, through the door into a dark hallway. The smell of blood hit his nostrils.

Left and right were bodies. They were mostly headless. Some had been bludgeoned with their skull fragments sticking up like upside-down icicles, brains spilling out in a cornucopia of gore. Others had a plastered look of horror on their pale faces as blood pooled out of a single knife wound. Some had knives still stuck in them.

Eien stepped carefully, avoiding the bodies.

“Aw, shit,” Bair cursed as he crushed someone’s hand with the heel of his boot.

The hallway itself was concrete and wood. It seemed like some kind of living complex as the doors down the hallway were ajar, allowing Eien to see the destruction of beds, couches, toys, dishes, and other household goods. Every door was bashed open, but there didn’t seem to be any bodies beyond the frames. Eien hoped not.

As they made it down the hallway, Bair led him up the side stairs going to the other floors. There were no bodies, but blood stained the side of the walls in handprint shaped desperation.

Eien heard noises and struggling as they reached the third floor. A gunshot. Bair ignored the danger, leading him up to the top floor, the final floor. The scuffle was louder.

Bair led the way into the hallway of the fourth floor.

There were more bodies, even more brutally destroyed. Some didn’t even have limbs, dismembered like moths by children, their orifices slowly bleeding with fresh blood. Excrement and urine seeped into the building, marking it with fear.

Up ahead was an open door at the end of the hallway. Eien heard yelling, screams, primal grunts, and bangs. A flash of white glinted off dim lighting through the crack in the ajar door. His heart pounded, and he nearly dropped his gun, his fingers had become numb from gripping it so tightly.

On the other hand, Bair seemed fairly composed, not losing his pace or hesitating. His face was still grinning, though not as wildly as outside. He entered the room with the tussling, gun aimed high.

“Oh, fuck. Ai, stop!” Bair said, dropping his gun to his side.

Eien peered around him and saw her standing there, holding a man’s throat with her gloved hands as she straddled him. Tears were streaming down his face as blood leached from his mouth, dribbling like a line of yarn was caught in his teeth.

Her eyes were cold, lifeless, as if she were not aware that she was killing him. She barely registered Bair.

She tightened her grip, and Eien saw the man convulse, emitting strangled cries.

Bair tried to pull her off of him, but it was too late. The man had died.