Rick laid witness to a massacre.

As soon as Huge had given the order to flush the ferals out, there were a series of explosions at the northern edge of the village. Loud enough they shook the ground they stood on. Fire started to pour into the streets from the rooftops, targeting the ferals.

These flames were scaring the wild maidens, forcing them to rush all the harder. With the ferals attacking one another as well, it was easy to tell something else had happened in the village’s layout. There was a very sudden decrease in movement through narrower streets. Rick could barely make them out, but he could spot fake walls had been erected to guide the flow into the larger streets.

“Seal off the Northwest section of the village and send teams one through four. Hunt those damn bears,” the major growled. A bright yellow flame burst out north of the village from the forest. Several trees ignited with the explosion.

The forest was almost a full kilometer away, probably more, and yet, even at this distance, through the pouring rain and the darkness, Rick could make out that the source of the flames was a single individual. Fire was pouring out of the figure like a flamethrower, spreading in every direction.

“Contact!”

“No shit.” Mr. Gabriel whistled. “What kind of monster can do that?”

“Pyrebear.” The Major frowned. “Categorized as a Menace for a reason. Their whole damn genus are cunning and ruthless, even when feral.” His jaw clenched. “And she brought her cubs to hunt.”

Three streaks of thunder leapt diagonally across the sky. Two impacted against the rooftops of houses below. One struck the radio tower. And for a split second, the structure glowed. Some shrieks could be heard from the general vicinity of the metal tower.

“Sir?” One of the maidens standing guard spoke up. Rick could only see her back as she stared over the railing and towards the Eastern edge of the village. “I smell blood.”

The fact that Huge’s tanned features grew pale instantly told Rick everything he needed to know.

“We need to move to a safer location, sir,” Helga spoke with a frown. “A frenzy might start any moment.”

“Confirmed. Take our guests out of here.”

“But you sir-”

“I have Irene. Follow your orders. Take your team and make sure they’re safe.”

She became tense instantly. “Yes sir!”

Helga immediately turned towards the stairs. “Follow me, single file.” The tone lost any semblance of deference; it carried a hard command and a slight tension. And with her order, six of the maidens in the control tower moved to issue out everyone who wasn’t part of the Hunters. The village’s map lay forgotten by all save Huge.

Rick, Tomas, and Mr. Gabriel took the rear of the group.

“What do you figure a frenzy is?” Tomas wondered, talking over the muttering of the rest of the group ahead.

“It’s when ferals give up on ‘flight’ and choose ‘fight’. It is a worst-case scenario for us.”

The voice came from behind them. One of the maidens had spoken up. She was shorter than the others, and her hair was the color of light copper, almost blond. With a green collar, she had a bow slung over her shoulder and a shaft full of arrows on her back.

She’d be human if not for the sharp ears at either side of her head.

“I take it that’s very bad.”

“It could easily mean half the village will be dead come morning.” She kept urging them to continue walking down the stairs, spiraling their way toward the stone building atop which the wooden structure had been built on.

“Why not just make a wall?” Mr. Gabriel scowled.

“When a feral rush finds an obstacle, it has two options, change course or hammer against it. To build a proper wall would be a monumental effort,” she spoke. “A frenzy would immediately break out, and the farms surrounding the village would be destroyed in the process. To say nothing that a feral rush can come from just about any direction considering how far we are from the kingdom’s heart.”

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“That’s also why you don’t wear armor?” Mr. Gabriel wondered, glancing at the woman and her green uniform. “Because nothing cheap would be as durable as yourself?”

A curt nod followed the question. “Indeed. An especially harsh truth for those who have traversed more of their genus.”

“I keep hearing that word, and it doesn’t seem to mean what I think it means,” Rick muttered.

“It is the road a maiden has, based upon their breed,” the elf replied. “I am an Elf. With enough strength, and the proper circumstances, I could gain the powers of a Golden Elf or a High Elf.”

Tomas’ eyes widened. “Wait.” He spoke the word, gasping.

The statement was accompanied by a rumble that shook the tower.

“No waiting, sir. We must hurry,” the Elf urged, wide-eyed and clearly holding back a slightly panicked edge.

Through the windows on the stairs, Rick saw more thunder arcing towards the village.

An ozone smell filled the air, lingering along with the humidity of the rain.

His hairs stood on end, and the air became charged.

His head snapped towards the other humans, descending the steps ahead of them. “RUN!” He heard the Elf roar.

The tower shook, and the stairs became a sudden slippery downward slope. Rick’s hands reached out for the railing and he held on tightly with one hand, the other reaching out and firmly yanking Mr. Gabriel to ensure the old man wouldn’t fall as well.

Behind him, the Elf had done the same with Tomas, her hand firmly grasping his shirt and pinning him to the wall. An odd sight, considering he was a full head taller than her and she had the physique of a gymnast. “Are you ok?” The question came from both the Elf and Rick at the same time.

“I’m fine,” Mr. Gabriel grunted.

“What’s your name?” Tomas looked stunned as he stared into the Elf’s eyes. There was a wide eyed wonderment in that expression of his.

But now was not the time. The tower felt like it was leaning.

“We move!” She commanded, and no one dared to think twice rushing down the stairs as quickly as they could.

There were screams down below. People were practically rushing towards the bottom of the wooden tower as quickly as they could. Something that let them tumble their way forward rather quickly.

Not as fortunate as them was Mr. Gabriel, unable to keep the pace.

The tower leaned further, almost a fully thirty degrees. Attempting to move down the steps abruptly became a harrowing game of slippery slopes. And it was gaining further inclination with every passing second.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!”

“SIR!”

The Elf had jumped above their heads and lower on the stairs, her hands glowing a bright greenish hue.

Her hands slammed against the wall. The wood reacted to her touch as if it were alive. The wood rippled and bent, molded, and the stairs very abruptly closed in around the three of them from all sides. Rick’s got the sudden sense of claustrophobia as the sensation of falling down was becoming more pronounced. His instinct to struggle and scream heightened further as the walls reached out to grasp at his body, pinning him against the wood as they continued to fall.

The only source of light was the Elf’s still glowing hands as they remained firmly pressed against the walls of their new tumbling prison.

The sensation of falling was soon replaced with spinning. They had hit something at an angle and it was very clear they’d abruptly become a pinball on its way down to ground level.

“BRACE!” the Elf warned.

Clenching his teeth, Rick closed his eyes tightly.

The world came to a screeching halt when the sphere that had trapped them broke into pieces as it slammed against something hard. Still tied against his own chunk of wood, Rick felt he’d been launched out of a window in a car crash. Except he had the fortune to have the plank serve as the breaks against the cobblestone rather than his face.

It came to a grinding halt. Rain fell down on him and Rick had never felt so happy about it. A hysterical laugh escaped him, heart racing a mile a minute. He tried to move to stand up. And failed.

Wide eyed, the chemistry teacher looked down at the wood, still holding him fast against the plank. His head whipped around, trying to spot the others. There was a glow to his right, and as he turned to look, his stomach dropped.

It was a naked woman, beautiful by all accounts, her body drenched. The crackle of lightning that danced on her hand accentuated every curve on her naked body as she looked at Rick with confusion.

That confusion slowly turned to a frown, and he realized she did not have a collar. The dots were quick to connect.

With a grunt, Rick began to fight against the wooden restraints that kept him firmly in place. He couldn’t find any give on the straps that had kept him from bouncing inside the ball like a maraca.

The creature took one step closer, and the lightning in her right hand grew brighter.

She raised her hand, pointing her palm at the teacher.

THUNK

The sound had been barely a whisper, and with it, the crackle of lightning in the feral’s hand vanished instantly. Where her right eye had been, there was now the shaft of a glowing arrow. The maiden was dead before she hit the ground.

“I’ve got you, sir.” The Elf ran towards Rick, legs seeming rather wobbly, but her grip on her bow firm. Behind her were Tomas and Mr. Gabriel, both sporting a limp. “We need to get you all to safety.”

The proclamation came with glowing hands. The wood released Rick, and he had a chance to see her pointing with her free hand towards the Hunter’s building that had once sported the wooden tower atop its roof.

Said tower was now a pile of splinters and broken smoldering planks, obstructing the road.

They were on the street.

With the ferals.

“Rick.”

Mr. Gabriel’s word made the chemistry teacher turn his head to see the older man pointing ahead, in the direction opposite to the Hunter’s building. The radio tower was glowing as it had been when it’d been struck by the lightning.

And at its base stood the Baron’s house. There was a gaping hole in its side.

Rick looked back towards the Hunter’s building- the main door was open, and there were uniformed maidens there, fighting off the ferals and clearing a way towards them. Then he looked forward towards the Baron’s manor and the dozen confused looking ferals that stood between him and that hole.

He began to run straight towards the manor.

“Sir, NO!”