Shea

‘’We’re too far, if he attacks her...’’

We ignore Saya’s protesting threats, watching the exchange from over 5 kilometres away so the lion beast doesn’t sense our presence. Her words mirror my own worries, I clench my fists holding on to the comforting call of my blood sense pointing me forward.

‘’I could sneak in closer alone, make sure Didi is covered. Slit that snakes’ throat for good measure.’’

Isis is already shaking her head, ‘’that’s clearly an exchange of some sort taking place, we don’t want to compromise Dishna’s negotiation by rushing in there not knowing the full situation. Besides, it’s obvious now Solomzi has the other two kids somewhere so ‘slitting his throat’ may not be so healthy for their prospects.’’

Saya grits her teeth but doesn’t rise from her supine position on my left, almost herself again yet still angry and blood thirsty to compensate for the traumas shes experienced. She crawls backwards from the hill, standing when she’s out of sight and starts pacing in worry talking under her breath with a sharp implement in hand.

I get back to watching the exchange, it seems to go well and soon enough Solomzi is leaving with two people Didi exchanged for who I’m fairly sure is Orochi and Anya. His lion companion beast lingers longer, growling and stalking about before also retreating following its caretaker in disappearing. My heart in my throat the whole time at the sight of my son, alive with all limbs attached after so traumatic a separation.

Didi seems to slump, crying with the kids whilst her pets shamble about them protectively. My heart aches for them as I witness the display from here, tears in my own eyes threatening to fall as I imagine the horrors they’ve all been through. Babies, all of them are babies not even 30 years alive but already the world has shown them it’s cruelty.

We wait another 15 minutes just to be sure Solomzi had no silent watchers before exposing ourselves and going down the hill, Saya runs down headlong like a child. I hold myself from doing the same, running through the grass at the fringes to make sure nothing is hiding over the northern hill as we were hiding behind the other.

I don’t hear what is said as Dishna realises who it is that’s rushing towards her but I see her shoulders relax and her knees weaken before being enveloped in her sister's arms along with the two little ones with all four of them clinging to each other. Their cries of joy, loss, pain and relief cut into my heart with their myriad of emotions fluctuating in their aura.

There are no threats here, I let the wild wind blow on my face taking my tears away. Why am I so nervous? I look around my heart pounding in my chest, aching so much that I feel sick to my stomach, a man has to maintain his composure though.

I jog down the hill as the others, stranglers, slowly make their way to where Isis, Saya, Didi, and the little ones are beside themselves in tears. A strong urge to urinate makes itself know, should I whip it out and piss now or later-

‘’Ma!’’ the word shoots an electric impulse that has me motionless in my next step.

‘’Ma!’’ Orochi cries out again, his little legs covering the distance as he runs headlong with no inhibition as only a child can.

‘’Ma!’’ he says jumping through the air and we’re in each other's arms both balling our eyes out without restraint.

[uhhuh ha] inaudible hiccups escape my throat as I try to form words.

My face floods, his hair smells like the sun. Oh gods, oh gods, he’s so thin, I shiver unable to control myself, unable to express myself, unable to let go of the precious little boy I birthed into the world. I had hoped it was him and Serenity whose blood we were following, how selfish of me, how selfish to wish for the children of my loins over all others I call my own.

‘’Ma, it's okay me. It’s okay,’’ his words make me weep as I hold him at arm's length for a good look. Counter productively I hold another hand over my face trying to be rid of these stupid tears. In just this short time apart he’s grown so much, he has a long scar going from behind his ear to his chin. His face is way too hard for an 8-year-olds, oh gods, what have they done to my children?

‘’It’s okay ma, now that I’ve found you we’ll find Sere and the others. Then da will come and make them pay.’’

I weep.

*

Texas

The sun is scorching, blazing like it never has, creatures never seen before rise from the depth of the ground feeding on the unwary living on the surface. People, beasts, plants throughout the entire Myrk spontaneously burst into varying degrees of change, others for the better some to their demise.

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Scavengers of death prey upon the living, stalking old men, gobbling up children, overcoming all those that take a stand against them. Our settlement disappears with the coming and fading of the mist that covers them, the stink of death lingering, settling to mark their passage.

Like a windblown cloud, the mist moves away almost as quickly as it had come, leaving bloated corpses with visages of horror permanently engrained in their contorted forms. Death has never looked so ugly, so horrifying. The creatures in the cloud using it for cover as the world turns strange around them-

I wake with a start coming out of the vision, one going further into the future than I have ever before seen. The world is strange around me, Rigel’s light stinging my eyes as I get to my feet. Was it a vision of the future?

I look about at the strange quiet of the now bloated woods around me. A lot isn’t right, I reach for my bow; was it a vision of the future?

I run through the Eskera overcoming or bypassing one peril after peril but time is against me so I’m not as careful as I actually should be. I pause at the muddy bank of another large shallow stream to catch my breath and contemplate the best way across. My breath mists from my mouth as though it were still morning yet the day is deep into its sunshine hours somewhere above the canopy of twisted branches and blotchy leaves is a ravengra looking to shoot poison once I'm in the water. I nook an arrow aim and loose, I know my shot will strike true.

I look both sides of the flowing body of water before I even think about wading through ensuring that there are no visible predators out and about. Sometimes a predator beast will hunt you just out of principle if you make yourself too easy to spot being prey. But it’s only a corsetry glance and a single deep breath before I’m wading into the cold waist-deep water of one of the many such streams and little rivers in the Myrkwood Swamp.

I keep my bow at hand as I run through the trees, the loud sounds of my passage attracting scavengers in the form of opportunistic hyena dogs trying to hem me into a dead end. I race through the woods breathing heavily from the running, wet leaves slapping against me. Three pursers flanking me almost running beside me and snapping at my feet at times as they direct me towards the cliff face ahead.

My bow is in my left hand gripped in the centre ready to take a shot, in my right is an arrow waiting to be armed and loosed. I increase my pace before vaulting myself off a rock and twisting in midair as I draw in a single smooth practised movement. At the height of my flight, I let loose on the hyena dog chasing directly behind me as it is the most immediate threat.

It squeals in surprised hurt swerving away as I land in the mud and leaves with a tumbling roll to continue my run through the Myrk. Now a limping stride more than a run.

It was just a dream, it was just a dream.

I’m breathing heavily as my pace increases for I see no fire where the settlement is, Silvia should have a fire going if not Lilian or any of the other women with homes near mine. I increase my pace as much as can with my lungs struggling for air and my legs begging for rest. I can’t make myself stop, not while I’m this close to my family, not when I’m this close to home. My heart pounds loudly in fatigue and fear.

Eventually, I slow as I’m about to crest the hill. Sneaking in closer so I’m not surprised or surprise anyone over the rise in my panic. I slow my breathing as best I can before taking a swing of the water cantina I’m carrying on my waist, its empty, my tongue drying in the cold air. Sticky as it again enters my parched mouth, not one living soul I’ve seen through the entire settlement so far.

I take slow steps forward, crouching low making sure my footing doesn’t compromise me too severely as the snow beneath my feet crunches slightly with each step up the hill. There shouldn’t even be snow this time of year but here it's thick enough to bury my foot an inch deep.

I lie gently on the little grass slope with a crunch and take a final breath before nooking an arrow and slowly raising my head to see beyond the slope. My heart freezes over, body stiffening I suddenly have a strong urge to urinate as I look upon the bodies of people I left alive not 100 hours ago hanging from trees by their throats or ankles, all dead. Indescribable horrors are written plainly on bloated bodies and their twisted faces.

No!

I weep.

*

Patra

‘’Run, run!’’

I scream at the kids pumping their little legs beside me trying to keep up with me as we run swiftly through the forest. I don’t even look back as I listen attentively for any of them falling to far back and being lost to the pursuing darkness, but it’s not easy to hear with how loud my breathing is and the sound of my own heart beating dulling every other sound.

‘’Run!’’

I scream again as Susie stumbles and Jake pauses to help her up. I’m there in a moment pushing him forward and helping her up and limping ahead through the foliage and deep within the confines of the forest. There is no hiding against the sight of the darkness and no physical weapons work against it, an insubstantial element of Law, darkness. All we can do is run, but still, it comes unceasingly.

How could things have gone so wrong so quickly, how could our House, our armies, our kingdom be reduced to what it is today in only a few short ten-days? House Alvalon is almost no more as both patronesses of our family have been reduced to meat-bags by the invaders through their imperviousness to magics, the House guards are scattered and most a dead. Everyone is scattered and there is absolutely no hope of us re-establishing ourselves again, all that needs to be focused on now is survival.

All of Sandoria is in chaos with the strange other-worldly beastmen ravaging the countryside, desolate ghost towns left in the wake of what is rumoured to be an irresistible abomination, every scoundrel, vagabond and scavenger from here to Point Eagan preying on people on top of all the strange environmental phenomena Gaia has been randomly spewing out. And now this, a deep darkness that swallows all without recourse.

‘’Run!’’

Jake’s foot is snared by a twisting ragpie seeker plant, [crack] he screams as his leg snaps under the vine’s grip. Susie wails in despair her arm reaching out as we run past her brother, the darkness at our heels swallows him whole, another Alvalon gone.

I pump my legs Re-enforcing like a madwoman with all the psi I have, there is nothing I can do for him. There is nothing I can do for him.

I weep.