Atop a skyscraper, Mia Serrano had watched the last embers of civilisation die.

Rioting, looting, gangs taking to the street as blue boxes empowered even the least among them to the point of contesting the police.

Chaos followed in the wake of a thousand crashing stars as monsters of myth and nightmare crawled forth from rends in reality, opposing human factions forced to unify or face extinction.

Then the fires sprouted from the battlefields alongside lumbering beasts of hate and flame, evil made manifest that killed and ate until they died, bleeding from a thousand wounds, deadly until their last breaths.

Hot ash now covered cracked streets as short green-skinned savages frolicked through the blackened heart of the scorched city, seizing any corpses they came upon and tearing charred meat from warped bone.

Baser among the hunting party used any intact corpses to satisfy their lust alongside their hunger, never stopping for long. Only to cut away what they could consume or thrust into.

Bile crawled up her throat, hand halfway to the bow slung on her back before a dry cough from the couch behind stopped her still.

At once she returned to his side, soft green eyes blinking away sleep as he forced himself upright.

“Mia? You’re back already?”

“I never left your side, Stefan.”

He fixed the best reproachful look a boy of twelve could manage on her.

“That’s no good. You’ll fall behind the curve if you-“

Another cough cut his words short, soon turning to a series of hacking wheezes which taxed his frail frame.

She had a glass at his lips when the fit passed, water warmer than she would have liked. Regardless, he drank greedily, draining what little liquid remained before nodding in thanks and continuing as though nought had happened.

“-stay here and look after me. I’ll be okay, Mia.”

“No. You need me here. One day off won’t kill us.”

She watched as he ran the gamut from anger, sorrow and pain before arriving at a resignation which suffused each syllable of his reply.

“Promise me then. That you’ll go tomorrow and hunt from sunup to sundown.”

“Sure. I promise. Can I get you anything?”

“Keep watch on the streets for me? Tell me if anyone or anything strong passes by, we need more information.”

She’d meant in terms of refreshment, yet she would not deny him this small request. Returning to her seat on the balcony, Mia expected to see nothing.

What remained of the human population must have grouped up on the outskirts, for none had probed near the skyscraper she’d claimed in the last two days.

Smoke licked the pale sky, great tongues of black rising from the smoulder to the heavens, dispersing as they spread themselves thin.

True to her word, Mia watched the street while her brother shakily hauled himself up, still strong enough to tend to his own needs.

For now.

By midday, even the monsters had grown tired of sifting the ash for loot and moved to greener pastures.

But as the sun reached its zenith, they returned.

Rounding a corner on the edge of her vision, she watched as a band of the monsters fled in terror, severed limbs weeping blood into the ash.

When one fell, the others left it to die.

With a start, she realised the little green blighters were running right for her building and had she not already disabled the elevator and barricaded the stairs, their ingress would have spurred fearful action.

Yet fear came anyway as she thought- what made monsters run?

Greater ones.

A stronger and crueller beast on the prowl, hungry for blood.

One which strode around the corner, glimmering in the sun with his gilded plate, a steel sword slung over his shoulder. Upon its point a bulkier green skin bled and screamed until, seeming to tire of its pitiful noises, the man tossed it from his blade and drove the point through its skull, grinding its brain to paste underfoot as he continued.

She dared to inspect him.

“Level Thirty-Six Chaotic Stormblade”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

The strongest human she’d ever seen snapped his head up at the balcony like he’d felt her gaze, giving a little self-satisfied wave before following the blood trails of his prey.

A thought crossed her mind as he vanished from view.

At his level, could someone still be called human?

She’d strung her bow and had an arrow in hand within seconds, Stefan looking up from his book to see her moving towards the elevator.

“Trouble?”

Biting back on a terse reply, she simply nodded, already peering into the dark shaft and waiting.

Screams rose alongside the stench of blood before long, steel meeting steel in a concert of blows as that man scythed through his opposition. She knew he hadn’t fallen, as human laughter rang out intermittently.

Turning back to her brother, she gave the order.

“Go. Now, hide in the bedrooms.”

“But-“

“No arguments. Now!”

Just as the door clicked shut, a body slammed through the crack of light at the bottom of the shaft, splayed out on top of the broken elevator. He entered after it, gleaming blade parting neck from shoulders, his attention turned upwards, noting the arrow pointed at him with detached curiosity.

When he spoke, he sounded downright predatory, tongue relishing each syllable he spoke.

“Mia Serrano. You’re a hard woman to find. Had to check two other buildings before this one. Now. Am I coming to you or are you coming to me?”

His cold eyes delivered another message.

Loose that arrow and I’ll kill you.

Slowly, she lowered her bow and replied.

“Come up. I’ll unbar the door.”

“No need for that.”

Something in the air shifted as he leapt, pulling himself up the coiled cables in mere seconds, dismounting with nary a hair out of place, extending a gauntleted hand as he introduced himself.

“Leon. Leon Knox. Nice place. I’d also have claimed the penthouse in your shoes.”

She shook and felt the power present in his frame, noting how he held her grip tight enough to serve as a reminder of the naked threat he represented but he came nowhere close to harming her.

He smiled with entirely too many teeth shown as he drew back, gesturing inward.

“Well. Let’s talk business.”

He took the lead, golden armour falling away to reveal a tracksuit, the man throwing himself upon the first seat he spotted, bloody blade staining the fabrics.

“I’ll cut to the chase- my partner wants you to join us. Told me you have talent and power that we can use.”

One second he’d been relaxed, an amiable smile plastered on his face.

The next, he unleashed his aura. A thousand blades prodding her skin, edges pressed to her throat, her eyes, her heart and when he spoke he’d lost his humour.

“Words are cheap. So far? I’m not convinced I need you. You’re... middling. Not weak enough to mock, not strong enough to rouse my blood.”

His blade now lay across his lap, one hand closed around its hilt, his muscles tensed in anticipation.

“Well? Convince me. Or should I bloody my blade on the boy with his ear pressed to the door first?”

The arrow loosed before she could think, blue bolt tearing through the air, plinking into black armour that materialised as the warrior lunged, splitting the coffee table in two as he advanced on her.

It took all she had merely to stay one step ahead of his sword, projectiles fired only when an opening presented itself. Half of those had been feints, her arrows batted aside effortlessly, any that struck him did so shallowly.

Through it all he kept a smirk on his face, pulling back only when the furniture lay in splinters and great scars scored the floor, blade slung over his shoulder as he stared at the bright blue string of her bow.

“You’re not using mana for those attacks. That’s interesting. I’ll give you thirty seconds. Hit me as hard as you can.”

Spreading his arms wide, he looked on with curiosity as Mia pumped everything she had into her arrow until the air distorted around its head and her body ran dry. He just stood there, arms wide.

Waiting to embrace her attack.

As the arrow smashed into his dark chest plate, she heard the metal scream in protest, felt the energy explode, and watched the glass blow out of every window in the room. Only once the smoke cleared and her ears stopped ringing did she hear him, still standing there, nonchalantly chatting to himself.

“... then I’ve gotta go grab the spear after this and a crystal thingy too. Wonder if she has any spares? Ah, forget it. I’ll just kill someone and rob ‘em.”

Noticing she’d recovered, he regained his predatory smile.

“Nicely done Mia Serrano. I actually felt that one. You broke a few ribs there. Consider me convinced. So? You want in?”

Collapsing to her knees in the wreckage of their brief battle, Mia forced a reply out through grit teeth.

“In to what?”

She hadn’t thought it possible, but his grin grew wider, his tone taking on a serious edge.

“The war. You weren’t in the Tutorial. Makes sense, you don’t know- we’re being colonised. Invaded. Enslaved, but I can see you don’t really care about that. These aliens have power. Their technology and magic are millennia ahead of what we’ll have a hundred years from now. Who knows? Might have something that can cure your brother.”

Her blood ran colder than she’d thought possible as he continued.

“He’s got a month left, by the way. We’ll extend that time significantly in exchange for your services. You’d be working with me- at the tip of the spear aimed right at our enemies’ hearts.”

“And if I say no? Try my luck with these aliens?”

The answer gave him pause as he twirled his weapon from hand to hand and when he finally spoke, he sounded downright excited.

“Yeah, guess that’s an option. I was told to leave if you brought it up. We’d make contact again after you got desperate.”

His tone shifted, a hunger creeping into his eyes.

“I have a better idea though. I could kill your brother. Kill, well, that isn’t exactly an appropriate word for what I’d do. I’d brutalise him. Tear him limb from screaming limb after cutting the tendons in your arms and legs. I’d make you watch, then I’d leave. See, I know you can get stronger, with the right motivation. Strong enough to give me a great fight someday.”

Slamming his blade into the carpet, he hunched over it.

“To be honest? I’ve other stuff on my plate today, so even if you say no, you’ll at least have a day’s start on running. I need an answer, Mia. In or out?”

Unbidden, a thought entered her mind- better to stand at the monster’s side than in its path.

For if he and his partner could save her brother, she’d gladly follow them into hell.

“I’m in.”

Sliding his sword onto his back, he smiled, far more naturally.

“Welcome aboard then! Pack whatever you need, I’ll be back in an hour or two and we’ll make tracks to base. Better you ask my partner questions buzzing around your brain when we get there. So long, see you soon and try not to die.”

He’d retreated to the elevator shaft, the screech of metal ringing out as he grabbed a cable and let gravity take him back to the ground floor.

Only after a minute did Mia feel like she could breathe once again.

She noticed as Stefan crept his way out, eyes wide and locked on the hole Leon Knox had vanished down as if he expected the monster to claw his way back up the second he looked away.

“Who is he?”

She wished she had a clearer answer for him. Something rooted in physical reality, not a vague feeling.

But she didn’t.

So she answered with her gut.

“A monster of a different sort. Pack your things. I’d rather not keep him waiting.”