The bellow lasted two minutes. Long enough for Taiga to sprint around the town’s crumbled wall, and plaster themselves against it. Taiga’s heart pounded, a drum revealing themselves in the silence left by the Howler. Mouse crumpled to the ground, stifling whimpers and tears.

“Mouse, what’s wrong? What’s going on?” He hushed his own voice, keeping any feigned calm he could muster. His eyes darted around them before settling on Mouse, then checked the surroundings again. Another roar shook him, and Taiga gripped the stone wall to keep steady.

Metallic clicks cackled around them, and he closed his eyes, listening for the closest one. Towards the town, maybe a couple dozen meters away. He paused, studying the direction, steadying his breath, and ignoring the ache in his stomach. When no demon made itself known, he turned back to Mouse.

“Mouse, talk to me. What is it?” Taiga touched him gently, rubbing his shoulder. “I can’t help you unless you talk to me.” He spoke just loud enough to be heard over Mouse’s whimpers.

“It,” Mouse gritted his teeth, seething against something Taiga couldn’t see, “it hurts.”

“What hurts? Your head?” He soothed the best he could, darting his attention around them. From beyond an abandoned guard post, black talons clawed into the tiled roof, pulling itself up. Its black wiry head cocked back and forth, clicking with every movement. It watched them from its perch, as Taiga eyed back.

He held his wooden sword tight in his hand, vines retracted and the battered handle splintering his palm. Magic seeped from him, exhaustion overwhelming.

“We gotta go,” he nudged Mouse. He opened his dark eyes for a moment, trying to follow Taiga’s line of sight, but squeezed them shut before finding the demon.

“Please…” Mouse mumbled, “stop it, please.”

Taiga caught the glint of a purple haze steam from Mouse’s arms, leaking from the concealment he usually held such tight control over. Taiga’s feet froze, watching the purple magic linger over his friend. He forced his hand to relax, keeping a mental note of the demon, and knelt beside Mouse.

He touched Mouse’s fingers pulling at his hair and slamming his knuckles against his head. Taiga spoke a forced calm, restraining any note of panic or rush, partly for Mouse but also for himself. If he couldn’t stay calm, then how could he hope Mouse would?

“Mouse, listen to me,” Taiga paused, taking a deep breath and listening to the clicks encircling them slowly. “We have to move.”

Another roar sounded somewhere in the distance, from within the town. More demons were arriving. Though a few bodies lay about, it seemed most civilians managed to escape. At least, Taiga hoped so. He couldn’t afford to think otherwise right then.

A small crumble, and fragments of stone fell onto Taiga’s shoulder. He spun around, gripping his sword and swinging it in front of him. Atop the wall, a demon sat, its claws digging into the capstone and cracking the outer layer.

Shivers shot through him, freezing him for only a moment. It clicked, chattering its teeth together in a string of notes. Taiga steadied his feet, sliding a boot around Mouse, and digging them into the ground. The demon slid its legs beneath it, bouncing up and down while its arms gripped the side of the wall, slowly inching closer to him.

Taiga drew upon the earth beneath him, though little responded. The corruption had plenty of time to soak into the soil now, and he’d garnered as much life left from it for the Guardian. He rooted himself, spreading bark from his stomach, up his chest, shoulders, and down his arms.

As the demon on the wall lurched back, the grass hissed from behind. He whirled around, slamming the pommel of his sword into the jaw of the demon from the guard post. The jaw cracked on impact, and spines of the demon snapped against Taiga’s bark. He winced at the few that bit through, before spinning to the right and flinging the demon into the grass.

He slid his right foot back, tossed his sword to his left hand, and slashed horizontally over Mouse, the wooden edge meeting the soft belly of the demon as it leapt from the wall. Blue splattered over his sword and arm as he followed through, clasping the sword’s grip with both hands and smacking it away. It flew back, spinning a few times in the air before landing all fours on the roof of a house.

Taiga turned back to the demon in the grass, yanking the green magic from beneath him, and beckoning the grass’s submission. The blades grew in length, snatching around the demons arms and legs, pulling it to the ground. The demon struggled, screaming a scrape of metal as it fought, but he surged magic through the ground, coursing through every leaf and root. The grass leapt at the demon, and forced it beneath them.

Taiga spun back towards the demon on the roof, sword in his left hand, positioned in front of him. The demon crawled to the side, dropping to the cobblestone, studying him. He readied himself, but as it prepared to leapt, instead, the demon lifted onto its back legs, raised its head high into the air, hung its head back, and opened its mouth.

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The demon barked from deep within its throat. A croak like the ticking of a watch, gurgling spit into foam that poured over its mouth and plopping onto the ground. It called to the others. And in response, a chaotic chorus of clicks sung through the stilling air.

“Shut up,” Mouse hollered. Taiga whirled back towards him, still hunched on the ground, but eyes focused, teeth seething.

“Mouse, we—”

“Shut up!” He screamed, rage shaking his voice. Mouse’s gaze burned beyond Taiga, not even noticing his presence.

“Mouse,” Taiga snapped, catching sight of several black heads appearing around buildings and around the wall, “we can’t stay here.”

Pulling himself to trembling feet, Mouse brushed past Taiga. He stumbled, catching himself on a broken lamppost, before wobbling to the demon calling to the others. Taiga stayed on him, calling his name and keeping track of eight demons watching them eagerly.

“Mouse, listen to me!” But before Taiga could grab him, Mouse jerked a hand out towards the demon, gripping its thin neck between his fingers, and slamming it into the ground.

The creature squealed beneath him, likely from shock. Mouse pulled the demon up again, before bashing its head into the cobblestone. Blue specks of blood splattered over his face. Taiga grabbed Mouse’s arm, but not before Mouse managed to pull up on the demon and pound it back into the ground.

“Mouse, stop!”

He ignored Taiga, getting a better grip on the demon, and slamming it down over and over. Blood pooled around their boots, scattered drops staining their clothes. Despite Taiga’s calls, Mouse’s attention never pulled away, even after the demon lay still in its own blood.

Purple magic steamed from Mouse’s arms, and as it leaked, Taiga tensed. He grabbed hold of Mouse, cupping a hand over each ear and forcing his face towards his. “That’s enough.”

Mouse blinked at him, “I told them to shut up.”

“Yeah, I think they got it.” Taiga let out a held breath. He held his grip on him, “calm down.”

Mouse nodded, closing his eyes and winced. He muffled a groan, dropping his arms and leaning into Taiga. Taiga let him, resting a hand on his back, and nesting his chin atop Mouse’s head. “Calm down.”

Taiga eyed several demons, slowly nearing them. Though most of them kept their distance, seeing one trapped in the grass and the other’s head bashed in, a few braver ones crept closer, clicking and ducking out of sight.

He couldn’t fight them all, not with a wooden sword and Mouse in his arms. The demons seemed to stay off the soil, or at least avoided it as much as they could. The demon he’d trapped was abandoned, left to struggle against a futile escape.

“Mouse, you hear me?” He waited for Mouse to groan in response. “We’re going to run. I need you to get yourself up and lean on me, okay?”

“They’re screaming,” Mouse whined after a few moments. Taiga hesitated, but measuring the distance to the only visible demon at four meters, he gritted his teeth and stood, pulling Mouse with him.

Mouse’s legs caved a moment. Taiga caught him, and placed one of his arms over himself, “We’re running.”

“I heard,” Mouse nipped at him, clicking his tongue and gripping the shoulder of Taiga’s tunic.

Clutching the belt strapped to Mouse’s waist, Taiga shifted part of his friend’s weight to himself, and took a few wobbly steps. Though much of the thickest corruption had ceased after killing the Guardian Spirit, what lingered still slowed his reactions slightly. Without Mouse, he could manage, but with? He said nothing, focused his feet in front of him, and kept to the soil and grass.

Once he felt steady, Taiga picked up the pace. Mouse’s feet matched with his, though they stumbled and gave way without Taiga’s support. A demon slithered from behind rubble, running towards them. He sidestepped, pulling Mouse further from the demon than himself.

He watched it, as it jerked to a halt at the edge of the cobblestoned road. It’s glowing blue eyes looked to the grass, before back at him, clicking annoyed. It stopped its feet a few times before letting out a growl of deep grinding metal. Taiga ran, begging the grass to grow around them.

As Mouse’s boots dragged behind his, blades of grass pushed him forward, and stretched towards the sun, a threat to any demon that dared approach. He ran past a house, and down an overgrown alley between buildings and the town’s wall.

His breath hitched and his legs trembled, but Taiga pounded his legs into the ground nonetheless, further from the swarm of clicking and out of the faint mist of orange. When he was sure no demon watched from nearby, he slunk into an abandoned shop.

The interior was simple, decorated with wood carvings and tools. Setting Mouse down behind the counter, he surveyed the small room. Silence welcomed him, calming his nerves and inviting exhaustion. He checked the back, locking the door and barricading it with a cabinet. He enjoyed the light from the window, but shut the curtains just to be safe.

In the front, he pulled a stool from the counter and shifted it under the front door. No curtains hung over the storefront window, so he made due with sliding a table on its side and placing it up front. Stairs leading up were already locked. He left it be, considering it an escape route if all else failed.

“Taiga?” Mouse muttered, his voice strained and spent.

He hurried back after one last glance around and slid down beside Mouse. “Hey, shhh, we’ve got to stay quiet.”

Mouse leaned into him. Taiga caught his head, positioned himself next to him, and propped Mouse’s head on his shoulder. Mouse leaned into him more, groaning and squeezing his fingers around Taiga’s arm.

Soft clicks grew in the silence, filling the air. Shadows moved across the covered windows. A few scratches made Taiga draw Mouse closer. Purple magic wafted from Mouse’s skin, condensing and intertwining as he pushed back the pain. It didn’t harm Taiga, but with every groan, and every pulse of magic, the clicks grew outside.

“Mouse, calm down.” He hushed him as soothing as he could manage. He kept a hand on his sword, tense and ready to launch if needed. “Calm.”

“It hurts. They’re screaming.” His voice cracked.

“I know,” he rubbed Mouse’s back gently, his voice nothing more than a gentle whisper. He didn’t know, but he could find out later. “Just calm down. Focus on my voice. Breathe.”

He repeated the words, until the magic calmed, the clicks grew distant, and Mouse fell asleep.