The first time that I felt the power of the returned Legends with my own flesh and blood was an unforgettable and harrowing experience.

It was a rather typical day off, no work to worry about, no chores pending. I’d gone into town to have a meal out, meet some friends, catch a movie and do a little leisure shopping. Nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary.

I got a hint I had that something might be wrong came while I was waiting at a bus stop. I was idly gazing at a reflection of the sky in a puddle when I noticed it ripple. Have you ever seen that iconic scene in Jurassic Park where the T-Rex is coming, and the kids notice the ripples in the water cups? Well, it was like that, little ripples running across them for no apparent reason. Of course, when I saw them my first thought wasn’t ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex incoming’ or ‘warring divinities inbound’. Rather my first response was to think that there must be some pretty hefty road works being conducted nearby.

Then I heard something, a strange whining noise, not mechanical but more the sort of thing you hear when something goes whistling through the air. I paused, trying to place it, but my thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash. It was a distance off, so I couldn’t see it, my line of sight was blocked by several buildings. Again, my thoughts immediately latched onto a more reasonable explanation, perhaps a large traffic accident, something involving a truck or a bus.

I was turning towards the sound, wondering if it would be worth checking it out when there was another crash. I recall being surprised, wondering if the accident was somehow ongoing, when I heard the third crash, and more screams.

I felt my body tense, preparing itself to spring into action, though just what I would have done I never got to find out. A wave of force suddenly slammed into my body force accompanied by something like a thunderclap mixed with an explosion. They both hit me at the same time and were then followed by another, and another, and another.

What they were . . . I don’t think I can properly describe them. At the time I kept thinking of bombs going off not too far away, some sort of terrorist attack. As I felt the waves slam into me, I could feel them going through me! They hit like someone slamming into me at full tilt, but they also seemed to punch at my skeleton and internal organs. I tried to turn around, to get away from them, but it had become so hard to tell where I was going, my vision swimming and I was having trouble catching my breath. I couldn’t see anyone else around.

The next moments were a bit hazy, I remember spots dancing before my eyes, my hands clutching at my chest as I tried to protect it, but the shocks kept passing through me. With my brain as rattled as it was, I wondered if this was what a heart attack felt like.

Then, out of nowhere, there was a hand grabbing the shoulder of my jacket and dragging me into an alley I was blindly passing by. I couldn’t resist, I just went where the pull directed me.

Then the shocks stopped, and for a moment all I felt was relief.

“Come on! Come on, are you alright?”

I became a bit more aware of my surroundings at that point, enough to notice that someone was shaking me.

“Can you hear me?! Can you tell what I’m saying?!”

The words made sense, so I tried to nod, but my neck didn’t want to cooperate. Then I felt another one of those shockwaves pass, but this time it didn’t hit me. Instead, the walls about us shook slightly, loose bits and dust raining down in a brief dirty shower.

“Good, they aren’t giving it their all,” I focused on the blur before me, trying to bring it into some semblance of clarity. The voice sounded feminine but given that my ears were still ringing I couldn’t be sure. “That works for us. These walls should be enough to keep the worst off us, and as long as they keep holding back, I think the buildings should hold. Good thing this is happening here, anywhere else and they wouldn’t bother holding back. Guess Arthur really is good for something.”

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Those words grabbed my attention, and I took another look around myself. Yes, she was right. This part of town was a bit older than the rest, and the buildings were made of more sturdy construction, bigger bricks, and thicker walls. Huh, whoever knew that I’d find my life saved by architecture?

Trying to get my thoughts back on track I looked up at my rescuer. She, or at least I thought it was a she, was tall, easily my height. The first thing that struck me about her was her clothes. They were old and worn, older than most people would be willing to wear if they had any choice in the matter. Her jeans were faded and frayed, and the light grey hoodie that concealed most of her wasn’t so much battered as it was beaten to within an inch of its life. Yet oddly there wasn’t any sort of slouch or tiredness to the figure, nothing that would suggest a homeless person or anything like that.

“What . . . what’s going on?”

“What’s happening is that you were going to get yourself killed! You can only take so much of that! If you take too many hits, then a few months down the line you’ll suddenly keel over from something like a bad ticker.”

Her reply, and now I was sure that this was a ‘her’, was snapped, as though she were annoyed that I’d made her life more difficult by being in danger. She looked up into the cloudy sky as another shockwave passed us by, this one accompanied by another massive crash from somewhere out of sight.

“We’re lucky it was just those two muscle heads having one of their grudge matches. If it had been Nuriel and Garmarath then this place would have been a wreck by now.”

“What?”

I hated how stupid my monosyllabic questions were making me sound, but it was the best I could manage at the time.

“Those two, Abriel and Bellbarath, neither of them can ever think of anything other than just hitting whatever they’re fighting. The powers of Grace and Perdition behind them, and the best they can think to do it just smash away at each other. Well, I suppose that’s the best that you can expect from the angel of Stones or a demon enforcer; they’re both pretty blunt objects.”

Things began to click into place in my head. It had taken a bit for the old brain cells to start firing again, but I thought that I was finally starting to understand.

She was a researcher, or an occultist, or at least someone that actually knew something about the supernatural. Those were popping up more and more these days as it became increasingly obvious that knowing myths and legends had more practical merit than it had this time last year.

“Well, it works to our advantage. They probably won’t stay too long. They know that if they keep it up too long then Arthur is going to show up to curb stomp both of them. They’re dull, but they know not to make too much noise on his patch.”

She paused for a moment, and the hooded face turned to me.

The light in the alley wasn’t good. The sun was going down, and dust was floating in the air all around us. So, I couldn’t get a good look at her hooded face. However, for all that, her jaw and lips were briefly visible before she turned away.

And they were beautiful

What little skin I could see was pale, but not in a pallid or unhealthy way. Her chin was delicate and finely curved. Graceful, that was the first word that came to mind to describe it, the way her cheeks curved into an elegant jawline was pure poetry. Just as with the rest of her, her lips were seemingly perfect, their soft red colour contrasting with the paleness of her skin but seeming to be in total harmony rather than clashing with it.

Beautiful, that was the only word that sprang to mind. Beautiful.

The moment was broken as there was another massive crash, this one not only creating a shockwave but also rattling the buildings hard enough that I could hear glass shatter and masonry break. More screams could be heard from the main road outside, but in the alley where we stood, the building seemed to be holding up just fine.

The woman pushed past me and peered out of the alley’s mouth. I could see her turning one way and then the other, looking not only up and down the street but also up at the sky, then she seemed satisfied. Without turning to face me she waved me over. As soon as I was beside her, she started speaking again.

“Alright, they’re gone now. I’m not quite sure, but I think I saw them heading north, so that should take them away from major population centres. There’re mostly farmlands that way, so hopefully, those two blowhards can pummel each other as much as they want and nobody else will get hurt. You, get out of here. And take better care of yourself in the future, don’t just stand there gawking when the higher powers start to battle near you. Run! Run and live, that’s how it’s always been.”

I looked out at the street, then began to turn to face her, questions on my lips as well as thanks. But before I could utter a single syllable, I felt a hand on my back pushing me forwards. My balance was off, and I couldn’t keep myself from stumbling forwards a couple of steps. It only took a bit for me to regain my balance, but in that time . . . well, when I looked back into the alley and all I could see was a flash of light grey disappearing around the corner at the other end of the alley.

I had been left just wondering what had happened.