There was so much blood. How did it come to this? We were prepared...
Tua was splayed against the wall, his eyes empty of life while his broken limbs hung at odd angles. He was the first to charge into the fray, to her regret. Derros's charred legs fell over - his upper body was already consumed by the yawning gout of flame earlier from the demon's weapon. He barely had time to scream. Vez was still staring at the bloodied remnants of her twin, mangled flesh sticking out of the wall as if it had grown there all along. The stink of blood, burnt meat and fear filled the air. Matriarch Cerrs had it worst, though. Despite her sorcerously rejuvenated body and the battle potions that she had consumed, her attempts at striking the night-black demon came to naught. She was trying to hit its metal-like body with her severed arm, but it looked like a child flailing against a wall.
How...
It took Liare most of her remaining strength to wrap her fingers around the slender cylinder near her wrist. Her mind had simply blanked out the pain - there was just too much to even think about it. Something moved just beyond her vision. Was it help? Had Hein come with rein-no, it was just Matriarch Cerrs, her body sent flying with a dismissive backhand. There was an all-too-familiar crunch of bone hitting stone - and losing badly. Squeeze the button! Her mind screamed at her rapidly weakening fingers. Squeeze it! Blessed Yrna, give me strength! Help me!
Something was walking to her, but all her attention was on the cylinder. Someone was screaming. Was it her? Was it Hein? A man's voice spoke from the cylinder. "Chronal reset, activating in 3...2...1..."
The world faded, as if she was being pulled back from far, far away. She awoke. Cold sweat drenched her slim, aged body. It took several moments for her to realize where she was. A dream - no, not a dream. A future. She was in her quarters, a room filled with aromatic woods of various kinds, meant to blend and soothe those within no matter how agitated they could be. Outside, Yrna and Yrne shone in their fullness from the skies, as a cool, crisp breeze gently blew in. But she took no notice of these things, her golden eyes focused only on the gold-and-silver cylinder that hung from a chain around her wrist.
"You have -beep- two rewind charges remaining. The Solar Knights appreciates your business! For the best deals, check us out at -beep- link not found. Retry?"
It was lying in a cave when she had first found it, next to a long-dessicated corpse - of what species, she had no idea. An oddity from the ancient past, it took a while before her best sages determined what it was for, and how safe it was to use. They called it a time-warper, allowing her to rewind time whenever she pressed its button on one end and expended one of its precious charges. She would remember bits and pieces of the future, but where in time it would let her wake was a wild gamble. Sometimes, the gap took days - sometimes, months. Still, it was a precious resource that she safeguarded with her life. With it, she had avoided three assassination attempts already - and in these tumultous times, she needed every edge she could get.
"Your majesty..."
How long had they been standing at the door? "Enter." At a thought, the dimmed lights in her room slowly began to brighten. Vez and Vea knelt by the doorway, their rich, purple cloaks pooling at their feet. She quickly slid out of the bed and into a shimmering green dress that hung next to her bedside, her hands slowly tying up her silver hair into buns with the ease of practice. Despite her age, she refused to let anyone help her with these things. She was just stubborn that way. "What news?"
"Your majesty, Matriarch Cerrs has arrived and asks for an audience on a most urgent matter." She finished tying the back of her dress up and turned to them as they continued to speak. "She has come armed, but alone, and has sworn the oath of peace."
"I shall see her in my my solar chambers. Wake my blade-bearers - I wish for them to join us." She ignored Vea's stifled gasp as she turned towards them.
Despite Vea's gaffe, they both drew themselves up to let their Queen pass, their heads bowed. "Which ones, your majesty?"
"All of them."
---
He turned around slowly, his eyes scanning the empty road. He had been walking for the better part of an hour now - contrary to Browning's initial assessment, the way to the spawn point was slow going. The forest around him had an eerie silence to it, an unsettling fact to add to the slowly dying natural light. He doubted he'd reach the point before nightfall, and he'd have to make camp soon. Fortunately, he spotted a small overhang nearby - a nook formed by some overgrown roots. With a happy sigh, he sat down onto the muddy ground and watched the day turn into night.
There was that, he supposed.
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He chuckled at the idea.
Name. Pain. Hurt. Stabbing. Name. What. Hurts. Needles. Laughter.
"Hey boss, we're taking our lunch break!" Cass. August. Mexican food. What was his name?
"Look, we need to talk about Brian." Keith. His boss. Incident report. Brian, poor forum interaction with paying player. What was his name?!
"Merry Christmas, everybody!" Annual company party. Christmas. Too many beers. Laughter. Gossip. What was his name?!
WHAT
PAIN
IS
HURTS
MY
CANNOT
NAME
REMEMBER
Darkness.
----
There was so much blood. So much blood. How did it come to this? We were prepared...I was prepared! This shouldn't be happening!
Liare tried to gather her strength, but her body refused to cooperate. She was badly hurt - it hurt to breathe, to think, to do anything.
Tua was splayed against the wall, his eyes empty of life while his limbs bled at his feet, severed from his body with brute force. He was the first to charge into the fray, to her regret. Derros's screams would stay with her forever, his entire body consumed by the hell-flame from the demon's weapons. Vea was still staring at the bloodied remnants of her twin, mangled flesh sticking out of the wall as if it had grown there all along. The stink of blood, burnt meat and fear filled the air. Matriarch Cerrs had it worst, though. Despite her sorcerously rejuvenated body and the battle potions that she had consumed, her attempts at striking the night-black demon came to naught. She was trying to hit its metal-like body with her severed arm, but it looked like a child flailing against a wall.
How...
It took most of her remaining strength to wrap her fingers around the slender cylinder near her wrist. Her mind had simply blanked out the pain. She squeezed the button. "Warning: Chronal interdiction field detected. Reset, failed." No! No! It couldn't be happening! "Warning: Chronal interdiction field detected. Reset, failed."
Something moved just beyond her vision. Was it help? Had Hein come with rein-no, it was just Matriarch Cerrs, her body ripped in half as if she was a joint of roast meat. There was an all-too-familiar crunch of bone hitting stone - and losing badly. Squeeze the button! Her mind screamed at her rapidly weakening fingers. "Warning: Chronal interdict - Warning: Chronal in - Warning: Chronal interdiction field detected."
Something was walking to her, but all her attention was on the cylinder. Someone was screaming. The demon loomed into her vision, its fingers scooping up the cylinder with infinite care. "Ah, a chronal resetter. It resets your HP and Endurance back to a saved point in time." The demon had a male voice, one that was ... distressingly average. "And crafted by the Solar Knights, I see. They always did quality work. But, if you have the right countermeasures..."
Blessed Yrna, give me strength! Help me!
It chuckled - a dry, horrifying sound, like a human who found killing his pets humorous. "Ah, well. It seems to work well enough for you, and to be honest, this wasn't as fun as I expected it to be." He put it back in her hands and gently wrapped her fingers around it. "Browning, deactivate the interdiction field." Was he smiling? "Well then, off you go."
A man's voice spoke from the cylinder. "Chronal reset, activating in 3...2...1..."
The world faded away, as if she was being pulled back from far, far away...
She awoke. Cold sweat drenched her slim, aged body. It took several moments for her to realize where she was. A dream - no, not a dream. A future. Then she heard the cylinder speak.
"You have -beep- one rewind charge remaining. Reload today at 10% off! For the best deals, check us out at -beep- link not found. Retry?"
---
Author's note: Thank you for reading so far!
I'm not completely satisfied with how this chapter turned out, and may touch it up in a future installment. That said, what do you think?