It began with slow thumping noises, like something knocking against the mountain, “What is this horrible noise?” an old guy complained.

“Probably another fight near the gates,” Theos grumbled, fighting that headache.

It wasn’t weird after a couple of days of being trapped in this place, not being allowed to leave. The festive mood began to die down and was replaced by annoyance, by both those who wanted to leave and, most surprisingly, by those that are living in the city.

“It wouldn’t be that weird,” the tender nodded.

The thumping continued, though, and this time it was followed by a crack and a crash.

“Did those bastards finally kill someone?” A man who looked like a merchant said.

“I hope they get one of those temple guards,” Theos replied, “I have a specific large oaf in mind.”

“That guy?” the old man shouted, “he is the worst, nothing like his father was. Just an angry man with-”

The thumping stopped. It was replaced by one last explosion that made Theos’ ears tight. Shortly after, rocks rained on the roof above them and the streets outside.

“What in the-”

Theos was fully alert now, ears listening to all the different noises, such as the wails that followed and the shouts that reverberated through the city, coming from outside, distant yet loud. They were far enough that they could only be from the area around the gate.

“Is the city under attack or something?” Theos said as he stood, grabbing his cloak and weapons. Other people were already moving outside, trying to see what was going on the outside of the Blue Crescent.

Theos left to see dust rising from the gate’s direction, moving by the wind as it rose, lit by the dull and pale light of the waxing moon. People were running away from the gate, moving towards the temple, and more and more joined them.

“The hells is going on?” a Greenbelt’s traveler grabbed a woman who was trying to get away. “What is going on?” he repeated to the wide eyed woman.

“Monsters!” she shouted and pulled her arm away from the man’s hand. “Monsters!” she shouted as she continued to run.

“Has the city gone mad?” the man said and walked to the main street, only to vanish into a cloud of sanguine mist. A large claw replaced the man, its sharp claws carving their marks into the stones.

Theos did not wait to make sure that the sphinx was indeed a sphinx, he bolted, taking the corner of the Blue Crescent and jumping into the stables. The citars were awake and panicking, so he had to avoid the maddened animals as he crashed through the sticks that made an exit door out of the place. There was more stomping behind him, shouts and screams.

“Where are you?” the alluring voice said, trying to entice people to come out of their homes, or hiding places. “Little humans, sweet and fun… where are you, if not in front of me and seeking pleasures,” it continued. If Theos had not seen what happened to people who answered the sultry call of the sphinx he would’ve probably answered, but he did, and fear made for a great antidote to that magnetic attraction. “Oh my humans, tiny and slow… appetizing and delicious morsels!” the creature roared its final words, and the sounds of people getting ripped apart made Theos seek another path, away from the sphinx.

But he did not know where he was heading, or where he was.

He climbed a crate and then the roof of a stall before he hopped on a building’s roof. He crouched behind the raised edges and watched the carved stone head, a fair distance away, but he could recognize the womanly voice that was looking to the ground with a vicious grin. It stomped and stomped, dust rising with its bloody paws. “Ah, humans, it has been so long since I played with you, come, come and play with me,” it said as it jumped away from him, chasing some people that tried to run between the buildings like he did.

Theos huffed and cursed under his breath. Why would a sphinx be here, their kind never left the Black Dunes. It wasn’t the only thing that was in the city either, he could see the ghouls that were sprinting through the place. The guards were trying to keep off the worst of the wave, but some managed to sneak around their heavily armored foes since there was no hope of a bite there.

He noticed the shadow that approached him just a moment before his head was clipped off his shoulders, he dropped to the ground and heard the bat crash into one of the stalls, getting caught in the cloth. Bats, fucking bats were here too, this one looked like the one he and Moswen fought inside the mine, but faster, more healthy. He jumped off the roof after he decided his next destination. The bat struggled in the stall and he managed to take the path past it safely.

He would need to move to the market and make use of the chaos in the main street and the crowded stalls and shops, the bats were fast, but their large wings would prevent them from snatching him from the air in that place, then he would have to make his way to the temple, where Lapis was.

And… and then what? Protect her?

She was the next Astral, she did not need his protection, he thought. And if there was a creature that was strong enough to take an Astral down… what would he do against such a thing? Just go and die? But he did not want to see her get hurt, did not wish to witness harm upon her in any way.

Not the time for such thoughts, he shook his head and took the turn as he felt something rush from behind him. He chanced a glance and saw a hellhound – A canine that had large front legs and shorter back ones and a long snout that housed rows of sharp teeth. Its fur was as black as the sands it lived in. He was once told that these creatures would drag a person into hell if they caught him.

He couldn’t outrun it, Theos hissed as the creature crashed into the wall when it took the turn at full speed and continued running after him. He would need to either lose it or fight it. So he naturally decided to lose it.

A hellhound would never be alone, its pack would be somewhere nearby, waiting for its terrible howl before they blocked his path and cornered him. Theos took out Heras’ dagger and took the turn to the market, hearing the creature missing the turn and continuing into the alley.

Theos tried to find the weaker looking stalls, the ones with staffs to hold the entire top and keep them standing, he grabbed one of those, and the stall collapsed behind him, he nearly sighed in relief when something got caught in the crash. The sigh didn’t even manage to come out when the other hound jumped from behind a corner and snarled at him, the staff’s edge met the creature’s body as Theos collided with it using his whole speed.

The creature howled in pain and keeled over to its side. Theos did not allow the motion to stop, even as he slowed down, he jumped over the counter of one of the shops and ran to the back, where he thankfully found a door he could close, he tipped over stone shelves and urns to blockade it before he moved to the back of the building to find another exit. It led him to an alley, an empty one thankfully, he continued running and thought about getting on one of the roofs again, but the bats that swarmed the air were more numerous now.

“What in the name of Amu is going on in here?” he stopped and leaned to peek around the corner. He found no hellhounds in this area so he continued to move, slowly, this time, half crouching.

The sphinx silhouette loomed in the distance, he managed to run a fair deal away from it, and that was the most important thing right now. The other creatures were animals, mindless beasts driven by instinct and needs. He could deal with that, but trying to outrun, or outsmart a sphinx?

Not a chance in the underworld.

The noise was dying down as he moved towards the temple, and less of the creatures moved to that place, he noticed. Even the bats flew circles away from the temple.

It was a haven, for now.

The temple guards were not blocking people from entering, at least. He imagined them to be so villainous, enough so that they would block the arch and let people wait outside until the monsters caught up and had enough to eat that they wouldn’t bother them or something.

He rushed through, he made his way all the way to the top, strength leaving him as soon as he reached the final steps. He found Lapis standing there, hand on her chest as she watched the horizon.

“Theos!” she exclaimed as he arrived. He rushed to her and held her.

“You are okay,” he sighed in relief.

“What is going on?” she asked when he let go of her.

“I don’t know,” he looked around, the view from the temple providing a more horrible image than the one he witnessed. The entire city, lit by the moonlight that showed the people that ran around in panic, much like tiny insects, and the monsters that chased them. “That’s a fucking sphinx,” he hissed, “those things… the bats are like the one I’ve seen in the mines. There are hellhounds, ghouls, I think those things are golems… there is a fucking sphinx,” he hissed. “Most of them are creatures from the Black Dunes.”

“Creatures from where the dark god lives…” she said. “I- I am sorry.”

“What for?” he blinked.

“For before, I don’t know,” she shook her head.

“This is not the time for any of that,” he grumbled, “we can talk about that once the situation is-”

“My lady!” a priest interrupted, he nearly tripped and fell to his face as his foot got caught on the steps. “Commander Apix has issued orders,” he tried to catch his breath,

“The guards are to vanquish the monsters in the city,” she said, plain and simple, “under the light of the holy moon and the power of Dion,” she ordered.

“Yes, he said something similar,” the priest nodded. “He also asked for permission.”

“Permission for what?” she frowned.

“He wishes to venture out and slay the sphinx,” the priest said, a couple of guards appeared behind him a moment later, “and after that, take care of the rest of the monsters.”

“That needs no permission,” she scowled. “That is the only thing he is useful for,” she walked to the edge of the stairs and raised her arm as she spoke, this time authority seeped into the words. “Protectors of Shinar, guardians of the Star Temple, chosen of Dion,” she shouted, her voice seeming to reach the entirety of the city as she did. “Drive away the fiends, the unholy, and the demons. Fear not them for the goddess decided to assist us.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Theos rubbed his eyes as he thought the city became a little bit brighter.

“Leave none of the transgressors,” Lapis hissed, and it was still loud and clear. “Slay them so that they will regret stepping on our consecrated lands.”

The soldiers cheered in response and marched out of the temple, making their way into the various parts of the city. Spots battling spots, and the largest of the spots was marching towards the sphinx, Theos watched from the top of the temple.

“They won’t lose,” Lapis smiled, her eyes glowing an eerie blue, “the goddess decreed it.”

Theos grabbed his head as the moon glowed slightly brighter, and the water exploded from every source around the city.

The bats were the first to try and attack, gathering in a large swarm that dove from the air, aiming for Lapis, but they were struck with a shower of arrows from the guards on the different levels of the temple. The creatures dispersed as a few of them dropped and littered the ground, the swarm members decided to choose their own targets instead.

The hellhounds fared much better than the bats, however, with them piling at least three to one and the guards being so heavily armored, they quickly managed to pull the isolated ones down to the ground, and even though they could not bite through the chain and plates, they seemed to injure or tire them out enough that they could join others of their kind in taking down more.

The ghouls were the most troubling, to his surprise, it was true that they only needed to be struck once before they dropped unmoving. But then they rose again, much to the surprise of the soldiers fighting them this time.

“I think the ghouls are being raised by a master,” he told Lapis. “It would be hiding somewhere close, close enough to revive them, but not to be seen,” the ghouls were spread around the market square, would the master be somewhere under the colorful clothes? He frowned.

“I never heard of those,” Lapis looked at him, her eyes a bright blue. “They raise the other ghouls?”

Theos nodded, still scanning the marketplace. “They need to look for him between the stalls…” he gave up when he realized that even under the unobscured, brighter light of the moon he could not hope to see a human sized figure that was trying to hide between the crowded stalls and under the flapping banners.

Lapis looked towards the market, but she looked like she was looking somewhere beyond the horizon.

Theos looked back at the city, trying to figure out where everything was. More monsters were pushing through the gates, and a large group became a wall against them, blocking the tide of the dark creatures. Another group became a wall that defended them from the monsters that would attack from behind and they would try to reinforce the others when needed.

The ones going against the golems split into smaller squads, circling the creatures and trying to shove them to the ground, where they could swarm the rampaging piles of stones.

That left the sphinx. The creature was large enough that he did not need to look around to find it, no, he had to pull his eyes away from the creature to look at the others. The large feline bodied creature with the decorated woman’s head was jumping in glee after it crushed a house under its paw, her voice was too far away for him to hear, and he was thankful for that. The headaches he was getting were enough, no need to insert beguilement into the mix.

“Apis will take care of the sphinx,” Lapis replied calmly, eyes still scanning the market area. “There,” she finally said. “Found the creature hiding in the market.”

“What now?” he followed her line of sight that was locked onto something in the market, something he couldn’t quite see.

“Near the flower stall,” she smiled. “You remember that one, right?”

Theos did remember, he even looked at the stalls’ location, there was nothing that he could see from this far away. “You will need to get a few people to corner it and strike it in-”

“You go,” she said, the smile wide on her face. “There is no one else that will be able to get there in this chaos.”

“Me? There are plenty of soldiers in the market area,” he frowned.

“I will have to send someone to tell them where the creature is, they will go, but they are heavy and loud, the creature will relocate, and they will need someone to tell them where it went again, and again, and again…” she circled her hand.

“I don’t think sending me alone is enough,” he said, “I would need at least three competent people with me and-” he remembered his friends from the outpost. A wave of nostalgia came over him. “Yeah, at least three.”

“You will be enough,” she said, looking at him with those glittering eyes, “help us, before more people get hurt.”

“So this is what you meant,” he huffed, pulling Heras’ dagger out of the sheath, “you really got an eye for that sort of stuff.” Quite literally, he thought as she nodded, smiling. She returned to watching the situation and he descended the stairs.

“Run,” she called out, “please!”

He obeyed, running through the tomb bats littered stairs. Guards were still shooting the air that was still nearly full with the creatures. A bat swept over and nearly cut one of the soldier's arms off. Theos saw the blood flooding out, and then the blood flow stopped. Specks of bright blue flowed into the wound and covered it before dispersing into the air and vanishing, leaving the man’s arm fully healed.

Everywhere around him, Theos could see wounds get mended, cuts removed, strikes nullified. That did not work on dismembered limbs, though, he saw a man who lost his leg cry in pain, even as the wound was closed and the injury healed, the leg was still gone. He did not stop screaming.

He had to be careful as he tried to move fast on the stone stairs, lest he trip and fall, he shouldn’t try his luck by giving Lapis a snapped neck to heal. The obstacles, both man and beast, did not make that an easy task.

Theos held the dagger, point forward as one of the tomb bats dove for him, it was struck by an arrow and its trajectory moved slightly to his side, it landed with a loud crash, splashing him with blood and bits of offal. It did not bother him, he got covered in worse in the outposts, so he resumed moving until he reached the stone arch of the temple.

A few guards with their shields and spears stood there, corpses of straying ghouls around them.

“Get back to the temple!” one of them shouted at him before he stabbed out with his spear, striking one of the ghouls as it got back to its feet.

“Cut their legs and heads off,” Theos said as he bolted through them, the ghouls weren’t focused on him at all as he did, and that made things easier.

“Are you mad?” the man shouted behind him. Theos burst out in laughter. Was he mad? He did not know, but here he was, running away from safety to fight a master on his own. Yeah, that was madness.

He used the main street, darting through the ghouls and guards alike, it was the shortest path to the market, and the most filled with guards. He did not wish to be ambushed in the alley, all alone. A ghoul lunged at him after it broke away from one of the guards and tried to bite him, but Theos swiped the dagger and cut the rotten flesh off its face. The ghoul crashed forward as it went limp.

Theos was finally under the first of the colorful banners, and above the second that came loose during the assault and was now a tripping hazard. He rushed through the stalls, the same way he did with the hellhound from before, jumping through the ones that didn’t have anything that would slow him down, or outright stop him. A few bolts of clothes, some baked things prepared for those that were coming out to find a night snack before hell broke into the city, and- the flower stall, Theos’ eyes studied the surroundings, trying to find the master, as he stopped near the flower stall.

He heard the fluttering of clothes before he even saw, he threw himself away and the creature darted in front of him before turning and hissing at him. The six armed creature floated above the ground – they could not fly – and brandished the razor sharp nails that came out of the three fingered mummified arms.

“You are one of the nasty ones, huh?” Theos grit his teeth as he stood, taking the fighting stance.

The creature watched him with the six eyes on its torso – it was headless – as it drifted away, but not in a manner that suggested running, just keeping distance. The clothes that wrapped the entirety of the creature – other than its dangling spine that was hovering slightly off the ground – were fluttering in the wind that blew away from the Star Temple. The creature’s eyes blinked, out of sync, and that was the moment it chose to charge him.

Theos moved in, like Heras taught him, moving away was death. The bladed claws were terrifying, but the arms were rigid, they did not move during the attack, just repositioned before they did. Whatever openings were in the attack remained there until the creature readjusted its arms again.

In this case, the arms all pointed towards his stomach, so when he moved in, he also spun, the footwork used in the dance that he practiced with Lapis. The claws managed to cut through his arm, and he swallowed the scream of pain, instead, he used the momentum and funneled the pain into the blow, and the dagger came slashing at the torso from the side. His knuckles punched the ribs instead of the dagger slashing between them, there was a crunch before they moved away from one another.

He was too close for the swing to land, he cursed.

It was not for nothing, though. The creature’s ribs caved in, and even though the bone shards on his knuckles hurt that-

The blue specks surrounded his wounds, pricking him as they landed on the cut on his arm and the split skin of his knuckles. Then they exploded into a blue mist, not dispersing like they did to the other soldiers.

The master turned, arms readjusting, eyes narrowing as it studied him. “Good as new,” he grinned as he rolled the shoulder of his no longer injured arm. “Round two!”

The creature tried again, this time placing two of the arms around its sides so he wouldn’t repeat the attack, two pointing down and out, and the last two in the middle of its center, protecting its eyes and heart. Theos lowered himself, dagger’s point so close to the ground as the master zoomed in and was almost above him. The dagger came up in an upwards slash and he tried his best to make it sink into the row of eyes on the right, he managed to strike two of them, and the rib deflected the dagger before it reached the third.

The creature crashed into the ground and into a stall of wooden crafts. It let out a horrible shrill when it emerged out of the wreckage.

Blue specks gathered around Theos as he rose from the ground to face the monster once again. He didn’t even realize he was injured during that exchange. He touched the long, bloodied cut on his tunic.

He would’ve died on that one if it weren’t for this healing. He did not even notice.

Theos gritted his teeth and took the stance once again. He needed to figure out the distance, both his and the enemy’s. The master looked at him with four eyes, as the other two fell out after Theos cut through them, a smoke leaking void lay in their places now.

The master shrilled again and this time it felt like a call for help. Theos was the one to open the exchange this time before the arms adjusted towards him. But the creature was not going to attack, Theos noticed, and the arms began covering the remaining of its eyes.

It was planning to flee.

“No!” he hissed as he stabbed and managed to break one of the arms. If he used a regular dagger, that arm would’ve probably been broken still, but it would’ve bent the dagger along. This one was made out of good metals, and he had to appreciate it even in the midst of this fight. The floating creature began to speed up as it moved further and further from him, swaying between the obstacles without needing to see them. Theos broke into a sprint and grabbed a piece of the clothes that wrapped the creature and tried to pull it.

The creature was yanked from its progress, but then it pulled harder than Theos did, and he began sliding on the ground.

“Why are all of you this fucking strong?” he shouted as he reached out with his other hand to grab onto one of the stone fountains, now toppled over and not spitting out water. He put his entire body behind it and tried to keep the creature there. “Aren’t you supposed to be dried skin and bones?” he grinned.

The creature kept pulling away, but the weight of the fountain helped stabilize him and to keep the master from fleeing, but his arm was getting strained. He pushed with his feet on the fountain, until he found a piece that was deep in the ground, and then decided to pull with both his arms.

The creature stopped trying to go backwards and decided to spin, instead, to make Theos lose the foothold that was assisting him.

“No one is coming to help you,” Theos hissed and spun the loose piece of cloth around the decorative part of the fountain, a statue of a naked woman. “We will keep tugging like this until you die!”

The creature struggled, and it made tying the cloth nearly impossible, but Theos managed to get some poor man’s knot in and jumped after the master. His arms shook in exhaustion, and his lungs burned even as they cried for more air. The arms of the creature were wide open as it was trying to float away, and it had no time to pull them closer before Theos could land his attack.

This time, he aimed for the dead center of the torso. He jumped and grabbed the dagger’s hilt with both hands as it drove it through the bone armor that tried to protect the center, the creature’s spine flailed as he drove it to the ground more by momentum rather than strength and he kept it there as the dagger sank deeper and deeper.

Eventually, the blade met flesh, and the nauseating wet noise of metal cutting into muscles was heard. The creature convulsed one last time before it became still on the ground.

Theos dropped to the ground, heaving. The light of the blue motes gathered around his back.

“Seriously?” he grumbled. “Going for the kill even as you are cornered?”

He watched the tenacious creature bleed its dark ooze before he got up to head to the temple.