The moment the front door of the Guard's House opened the screams of the people in town ringed through my ears. There was a hint of blood in the air. There were wounded people in the streets. Some were on the ground, some hanging on to a wall, trying to escape the onslaught.

Monsters and feral animals were running through the streets. They attacked everyone they came across. But something felt off. Something just didn't look right.

What is going on? There is something off about all of this.

My thoughts were cut short. A sudden scream by a woman trying to escape death rang through the street.

The woman was trying to escape from a monster that had pinned her down. The monsters were fierce looking with a dark-purple fur and black aura. They could take any shape, but currently, they took the shape of wolves. Kellan taught us the difference between monsters and animals. Where animals are natural, Monsters are manifestations of pure dark aether. And it was apparent that monsters were an increasingly big concern for the whole region.

I grabbed my new weapon from my back and with a spin got into a fighting stance. Feet steady, hands trembling, mind panicking. I took a deep breath, sensing the smell of despair and death in the air. With the help of my windmagic, I boost myself towards to woman. Spear pointing forward, I ram the monster in its side.

Letting out a deafening roar it fell to the ground. Its black blood spattered on my face as I twisted the spearhead in its side and it punctured its heart. As I pulled the spear from the monster I turned around and with the blade on the other side of my spear, slashed an incoming monster.

It must have been attracted by the roar from just now.

Luckily Zeph kept watch over me and saw the animal coming, long before I could.

A group of animals came running down the street and I started to prepare for the battle to come. Zeph ran to my side and Lucian began healing the people that were still alive. Meanwhile, Owen and Kellan ran further ahead, dodging the animals and trying to save as many people as they could.

I was confused about the animals that were running our way.

Why didn't they attack Kellan and Owen?

"Something isn't right here. Why are all these animals here? They don't even look like they are feral. They look more like they are--- panicking. They are afraid of something."

Zeph looked around as well, looking for any hints as to what was happening.

"I don't see or feel anything that should make them this afraid thought. And even though the monsters here are pretty wild, the animals would normally not be this scared, right?"

Without warning an earthquake hits. Zeph and I fell to the ground from the sudden blast of energy through the ground. The ground shook violently. The incoming animals ran past us while the monsters kept attacking people near the plaza.

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Trying to steady our feet we started running to the plaza. Spear readied and pointed forward.

As we moved through the streets, houses were collapsing from the shaking earth that was still rumbling away. We heard the screams of people getting buried alive inside their own homes. I felt horrible. No, there are no words to describe how it feels to see people die like that. The only thing I could do was save who I could.

As we arrived we split around the central spire.

With a big swing of the spear, I ran it through a monster's neck. The head fell to the ground and the remains dissipated as the aether spread into the air. I helped a man who was on the ground and jumped to the next monster. As I slammed my spear onto its back, a monster jumped me from my side. It had me pinned down and I couldn't move. Its head hovering above me with fierce eyes locked into my neck.

Zeph slashed at the monster he was fighting to reach me as quickly as possible. Within seconds he was charging the monster that was about to put its teeth into my neck.

I closed my eyes when Zeph slashed the neck and the monster fell over. It left me lying on the ground. I was scared, I was afraid. Images of the forest just 2 months ago came back. Those moments where we almost lost our lives.

"Heal!" Lucian suddenly called out as he reached us on the plaza. A blue glow spread around me. A glow I remembered from the first time I saw him heal that girl on the river bank. I felt my scratches and fatigue disappear and with Zeph's help stood back up.

After a few seconds of catching our breath, Owen and Kellan joined us.

"You guys alright?" Kellan asked concerned.

"yeah, we are good. Took care of the monsters on the plaza. Even if it was barely." Zeph replied.

Just then, out of nowhere the earth, which was still rumbling, started shaking heavily again. Having trouble standing up a sudden explosion in the western mountain range created a massive crack near the top. Moments later a dark purple glow come out from it.

"Ow no," Zeph and I said as we made a few steps back.

We were scared. We knew what this was. We knew what would be coming.

"Guys? What is it?" Lucian said half afraid of seeing our response.

Kellan looked and put 2 and 2 together.

"Zeph, Don't tell me this is..." Kellan couldn't finish.

"Yes!" Zeph almost shouted in fear.

The only thing Kellan could reply was a simple "Fuck"

Zeph and I could hardly stand up. The fear was crippling and the air was getting heavier. My skin was tingling and my vision was getting blurry from tears building up.

Clouds started to gather above the village. Clouds with a dark purple hue. Monsters started getting near the village again and it looked like they surrounded the village now.

As we stood near the bridge on the plaza side of the river, we saw the monsters slowly walking into the town. The further they got in, the more screams we could hear from the homes further north. We just stood there, powerless to stop it all from happening.

From a bush on the other side of the river, a few monsters gave chase to something. When we saw what it was, our eyes grew wide from surprise and shock.

"SARAH!!!" Lucian shouted over the river. "SARAH RUN!!!!"

"Guys we need to save her! We need to do something!"

Lucian was now desperate with tears in his eyes. Zeph and I looked at each other and started running towards the bridge when suddenly a familiar aura blasted into the village. The aura of the thing that we hoped would not come.

There it was. Standing in the middle of the bridge. Covered in a dark purple aura. Something shaped like a person with massive muscles and no features. Just a black and dark purple entity.

The oppressing force of his aura almost brought us to our knees but Zeph and I were able to stay on our feet, Weapon ready.

Lucian, however, could not handle the force and fell to the ground holding onto the fence next to the plaza, Still trying to find a way to save Sarah. She looked at Lucian in despair, tripped, and fell.

Seconds later the monsters grabbed her in the neck, arms, and body, ripping her apart. We saw it happen from the corner of our eyes but before we could really process what happened, the entity in front of us spoke in his thunderous tone.

"Son of Gaia. You may have escaped last time. Today, you will die. I will rip you apart, down to the last molecule. Know this. This– Is– The– End"