Grabbing onto the upper lip, I pulled back the spear and then thrusted it straight in-between the two teeth.

The spear dug deep. The creature didn’t really have gums, like a typical creature would, but the flesh around the teeth was still softer than the rest of it. The spear scraped and skidded along the huge teeth as I pushed the spear in as deep as I could force it, and then I turned the spear just enough to put it behind the teeth I had just stabbed between.

My attack, like the last few I had done, caused the creature to shake violently. Unlike the one down below, the first I had fought, this one was so big even the smallest movements made me feel as if I was being shaken around like a tiny bird in a cage. The wind whirled around me. My whole body shifted directions as it shook, one moment I was about to fly upward then the next I was hanging on with all my might as I was pulled to the left.

The amount of force my body was experiencing as the creature shook was daunting. It sucked air out of my lungs. It made my cheeks and lips get forced in odd directions, even though I was gritting my teeth as I tried to dislodge the teeth blocking me from my goal.

Somehow the creature had known not to let me into its mouth. The moment I started climbing it, it shut its mouth firmly. Giant teeth, some even bigger than me, were firmly lodged together. They created an impenetrable wall of enamel and jagged sharpness that I couldn’t just slip through, nor break through.

But some of the teeth were wobbly. Some were broken. Some misshapen.

Like the one I was currently trying to dig out.

I dug the spear upward, and felt the tip of the spear hit what was undoubtedly the roof of the tooth behind the two I was focusing on. I forced the spear up into the cavity, and began to twist and push. Using the spear as a leverage point, I waited until the creature slowed its shaking enough for me to risk kicking the tooth I was in front of.

Letting go of the lip I was using as a hold, I jumped backward as if to leap off the creature entirely. Before I actually did, I grabbed onto the spear I had lodged into the creature, and then pulled myself back towards the creature with all the force I could muster. Slamming my feet into the huge gray tooth, I felt it give way and snap. It broke, sending my feet into the creature’s mouth and the huge tooth fell upon me, hitting me in the stomach.

The spear came loose, thanks to the tooth falling out, and I quickly stabbed it back into the creature as to keep myself from falling. I had barely got the spear back into another section of flesh, right above another tooth, before it violently shook again.

It roared a little, but I noticed it still didn’t open its mouth all the way. The tooth I had knocked free had let me somewhat get into its mouth, but there was still other rows of teeth behind it. And I really didn’t want to try and squeeze through what little opening there was now… It was holding its jaw firmly shut now, but if I put myself in a position where all it had to do was open and then shut again quickly to finish me off, then it’d do so.

Using the teeth around me, and the spear, to keep myself from being flung off, for a few long moments the whole world did nothing but spin. The world blurred, my breath caught, and the tooth that had hit me flew off into the sky.

Blood splattered me, from the tooth I had just dislodged, and I tried to peer through the rush of air and tug of gravity to see which tooth I’d target next.

The one right behind the hole I had just made, or the one next to it? The one behind it was smaller, so even if I dislodged that one too it’d be difficult to squeeze through and…

My feet suddenly lost their support. The creature opened its jaws for the first time, and I nearly missed the opportunity. Yet before I could leap in… it exhaled out.

Buffeted by a huge gust, I squinted as a familiar green haze emerged from the back of its great mouth. Within the blink of an eye, my whole world went green. The haze flew into me, and then past me and out into the world so quickly I hadn’t even had the time to take a deep breath of fresh air before it could.

Unable to see anything thanks to the thickness of the haze, I quickly shifted and tugged on the spear I was clinging to. Pulling it free, I swung myself in the direction that I hoped was still the thing’s mouth. I couldn’t see anymore, and although the mouth was huge it wasn’t a sure thing I was still leaping into its mouth. It was so massive even the smallest twitch made it move dozens of feet.

I got my answer as I landed on something soft, instead of sharp teeth or thorny roots and tentacles.

Like the one I had fought beneath the city of Lumen, this one didn’t seem to have a tongue either. Yet the inside of its mouth was just as slimy. I skidded on the bottom of its mouth, and heard and felt the layer of liquid.

This is the second time in only a few hours that I’ve been in another creature’s mouth. I really needed to make sure this didn’t become habit…

Heading deeper into the mouth, the green haze pushed against me like a great wind. I squinted through it until I reached its throat, and knew from the last one I had delved into… that the thing had two holes. One for air, the other… well… for everything else.

Unlike the last one though I only had a general idea of where I’d find the heart. The other had been large, but small enough that a little flailing and crushing and I had been able to eventually find the heart. I had found the lungs too, but crushing those hadn’t seemed to have really done anything to the creature down below. Odds were it’d not do much to this one either.

Maybe it, being plant-like, was able to draw oxygen from its roots and body. It didn’t really have petals or anything, but…

Tossing the thoughts out of my head, I jumped down into the darkness of the throat.

The airway was forcing air upward, as to spew out the toxic fumes. The winds buffeted against me as I sent the spear out and stabbed into the wall of the throat. It slid for a moment, slicing the soft flesh, until it came to a stop.

Dangling in the throat, I pushed my feet up against the wall of the throat… and slowly removed the spear. Sliding downward or well… falling really, I occasionally speared the throat again to slow my descent and keep me from falling away from the throat’s wall.

I knew from the last creature that the heart was near the lungs. But this thing's size was so gargantuan in comparison, I wasn’t sure just how much farther they…

There. My feet suddenly had no throat to push against. I glanced down, and through the darkness and green haze I thought I saw movement. Air flowing in another direction than all the rest around me.

Another hole. Another air way.

Sliding down the throat a little more, I flung myself into the new hole. One that led deeper into the creature, not down it.

This hole was much smaller than the throat, and after only a few steps the floor became steep. So steep that I started to slide and fall.

Keeping my spear leveled, I did my best to not let it stab anywhere and get stuck. Although I didn’t want to fall too quickly, I also knew this would lead me where I needed to go. The creature I had killed down below had a similar hole in its throat… though that one had not been big enough to walk or slide in. I had torn it to get to its lungs.

I slid a little while, and then I felt it. The pull. The tug of air, from not far from in front of me.

Sliding the spear into the wall as to slow down, I came to an eventual stop and stood. The hole I was in was no longer big enough to stand up entirely, but I was able to slouch just enough that I was able to stand up. Once up, I closed my eyes and focused on the air all around me.

It was hot. Warm. And… moist… but most importantly, the air was flowing inward, not outward as it had been earlier. Every so often the air tugged forward, and it was strong enough I actually felt the pull. If I wasn’t as heavy or steadfast, it might even have been enough of a gust to make me stumble.

Heading deeper into the hole, I slowed my pace as I kept my eyes closed. Not just because it was dark, but to better focus. To feel past the tug of the air whooshing around me. To feel past the shaking of the creature itself, and the roars vibrating all around. To feel past the coiling and moving of flesh and muscle and…

There. I froze as I felt something heavy. Like a beat of a drum.

Spinning the spear around, I stabbed it right into the wall of flesh to my left. The flesh was soft, and easily cut. It didn’t take long for me to open up a hole big enough for me to pass through.

Cutting more and more, I eventually found myself in a recess of muscle. The muscles were coiling all around, and not just because I was cutting them with my spear or pushing past them. They were moving alongside the deep beat of the drum that led me deeper and deeper.

A few minutes later, and what had been many league of muscles and flesh… I finally laid eyes on what was creating the sound that had led me to my destination.

Within a strange alcove of muscle and veins, was a giant heart. In the dark it was really hard to tell its finer features, but it was moving wildly. It beat with a strange pressure, and sounded almost as if it had a heartbeat of its own.

Although I needed to end this creature’s life as fast as possible… I still found myself standing in awe at the sight.

The heart thumped, drowning out the sounds of anything and everything else. I could no longer hear the creature’s roars. I couldn’t hear the cannon fire. I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts.

Approaching the heart, I slid between a pair of what was likely a form of muscles. They contracted away from me on my touch, giving me more room.

Hefting the spear, I studied the heart that suddenly increased in its heartbeat’s pace. The thumping went to something with a rhythm to one sporadic and…

It knew I was here. It felt me.

The other one had as well, but it hadn’t been anywhere near this size. The heart had only been the size of my head. This one was…

It was hard to tell its size, thanks to all the muscles and flesh surrounding it… but it was definitely bigger than me. Nearly twice my size, at least.

Hopefully it was the only heart it had. This one was hard enough to find.

Wasting no time, I stepped forward and speared the heart.

The moment the spear point punctured the black organ, the whole heart and the cavity I was in began to vibrate. I couldn’t hear the roar of the creature, but I felt it. I felt it in my feet, and saw it in the way everything around me shook violently.

Pulling the spear out, I ignored the blood that gushed forth and stabbed it again.

Stabbing at another angle, I made sure to pull and push the spear as I dug it in and pulled it free again. To cut as much of it up as I could. To do as much damage, as quickly as possible.

Getting doused in really hot blood, I stepped to the side as I pulled the spear around and swiped it. A massive gash separated one of the huge valves near the top of the heart, and I went to cutting more and more.

Mindlessly cutting and stabbing away at the heart of the beast, I focused my all on doing damage… and staying sure footed. The creature was thrashing wildly, more than ever before, and now there was a very thick layer of liquid all over. It was quickly pooling beneath me, already above my ankles.

The heart thumped heavily, with each pump it spewed out more blood. Most of it hit me, and before I knew it I was up to my waist in the gunk.

Stabbing the heart one last time, I noted the way the heart thumped along the spear’s shaft. It hesitated. It slowed.

Holding the spear there, I studied the heart as it slowly stopped its beating. The creature was still thrashing, and now its roaring could be heard again. Though now the noisiest thing was the blood splashing all around.

Pulling the spear out, I took a deep breath as I both stepped away and nearly swam away. The blood was to my chest.

The heart was no longer thumping… but it was twitching. It looked weird now. There were pieces floating in the blood nearby. Chunks were hanging by small threads. It was now lopsided, leaning oddly to the right as if about to fall over.

Heading for the hole I had used to enter, I really didn’t have to search hard for it. The blood had a current leading to it, thanks to it being the only real exit for all the liquid.

I had a much easier time squeezing through the muscles and flesh exiting. The river of blood didn’t just push and carry me out; the creature wasn’t as tensed up as before.

Reaching the airway, I stuck the spear into the side wall of the hole I had made to keep myself from falling into the huge hole alongside all the blood. I stood a few feet from the ledge, and the blood poured around my feet and into the thing’s airway. It roared as it splashed and fell, like a waterfall. It sounded weird in here.

Glancing up, I tried to find the place I had slid down from. The mouth... or throat I guess. It was so hard to see in the dark, and my eyes were burning. Likely from both the green toxic fumes and the blood…

As I searched, and found what looked to be my escape, I noticed something interesting.

The creature wasn’t roaring. It wasn’t moving.

Or at least, not in the general sense.

There was movement. Not just of the blood either. The flesh and muscles around me were… expanding. Relaxing. Un-tightening. Yet I could tell that the creature itself wasn't thrashing around anymore. I no longer felt the odd shifts and tugs of gravity as it moved.

Was it dead? Already?

The smaller one hadn’t died so fast. It had taken several minutes for it to bleed out and die… maybe this one died quicker thanks to its size.

Glancing down at my feet, I grimaced at the sight of the blood. It was growing thicker, oddly. Heavier. Plus it was quickly becoming dangerous. It had been midway up my shins, now it was over my knees.

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I needed to get out of here before I drowned.

Pulling the spear free, I leapt out into the airway. Stabbing the other side of the flesh wall, I hung there for a moment to make sure the spear didn’t slide out, or down. Once sure it was good, I began to climb.

Dislodge the spear. Reach up, grab as much of the flesh as I could with my free hand and then stab with the spear again. Each time I only ascended an arm’s length, but it worked.

Climbing slowly, I listened intently as I heard the blood flowing. I heard the impacts of cannon fire, but didn’t feel it. I heard the rush of wind from up above, yet couldn’t smell or taste the fresh air yet.

And oddly…

Delving the spear into flesh again, I held myself for a moment as I verified it.

Yes. I was no longer hanging upright. There was now a slight tilt to the wall I was climbing. I could rest my feet and knees on the wall, and be at an angle. An angle that hadn’t existed before.

The creature was falling. Or at least, collapsing into itself.

Groaning at the thought of having to dig myself out of this thing, I picked up my pace.

Thanks to the growing shift in the creature’s placement, it was easier for me to ascend the wall of flesh. I reached the opening of the throat quickly, and found it was more angled than last time. I had slid down it then at an angle that would have required climbing in a similar way I had just done… yet now I was able to just walk up it as if it was just a small hill.

Every so often I had to stab the spear into the ground to keep myself from sliding, but the continued collapse of the creature just made it easier to escape. I found the mouth quickly enough, and the stinging air it held, and finally was able to see again.

The light peering from the mouth told me the creature really was dead or at least dying and close to death. The mouth was open agape just a bit, yet wasn’t moving at all. The green haze was no longer flowing out of it as if blown, and instead was just floating around.

I walked up to the teeth and used the spear like a toothpick to pull myself up out of the mouth. I made sure to do it quickly just in case the creature had one last death spasm right as I was passing between the rows of teeth.

Once out into the world, I found I didn’t need to worry about descending. The creature was falling, and lowly. It was falling out into the ocean, luckily for Lumen, and thanks to the angle it was collapsing I was able to just walk down its body to the ground.

Descending the beast, I fell to one of the larger tentacle roots. Upon landing on it, I noticed the thing felt much harder than it had before. The little thorns weren’t moving around anymore either.

“This thing will need to be burnt, or chopped up and burnt,” I said… and regretted talking as I began to cough up a lung again.

Throwing up some gunk, I noted the black of the thing’s blood. Had I really swallowed that much?

I forced my stomach to expel as much of the stuff as I could, and took a deep breath as I shivered and hoped my lungs and stomach wouldn’t take too long to heal. I hated the feeling of being winded and…

I had to dodge backward, as something silvery flashed in front of my face.

Ducking the next attack, I squeezed my throat and stomach to stop the bile rising… and not because I had more poison to throw up.

Instead I did my best to not puke out of pure disgust… as I stepped back from Reatti.

She snarled at me, shifting her spear into a more proper attack position as she stepped away from the edge of the root. She had almost slid off it and to the ground when she had attacked me.

“Reatti…” I barely was able to say her name, before she shrieked at me and charged.

I shifted my feet and brought my own spear around to block her jabs. In a blurry of movement, Reatti tried relentlessly to stab me. She forced me backward, since I wasn’t willing to retaliate, and she spun her spear around and swiped at my legs.

Dodging her swipe, I stepped back a few times and glanced around to make sure we were fine. The creature was still collapsing, but doing so slowly. Plus it was falling the other way from us. The root we were on was large enough, and long enough that I had plenty of room to backpedal without worry. There were also dozens of similar sized roots around us to leap to if needed.

There were no humans around. No one else to see. Just me and her… and…

Focusing back on Reatti, I squeezed my spear as I hefted it into a defensive position. She shook her head, and then screamed wordlessly.

“Reatti… Please,” I spoke calmly, yet was desperate.

“He’s dead!” she screamed at me.

I frowned as I nodded. Yes. Brom was.

“Dead!” she screamed again, and then charged.

My heart was heavy as I dodged a fury of stabs, and then blocked a few more. She was lashing out in pure rage, yet her skills and abilities weren’t too hindered by her mindless wrath. She really had been the better warrior of the two.

Our spears connected as I blocked her attacks. The steel rang out loudly, and bright sparks flew out each time our spears collided.

“Vim!” she roared at me as she continued her relentless assault. I continued backpedaling, heading closer and closer to the beast’s body as I tried to formulate a plan.

Did I let her wear herself out? Knock her out? Run away?

It was so hard to tell what to do in these situations. Reatti had always been… holding a deep resentment. A deep hate. Yet that hate had always been directed at herself. Not me. So I wasn’t sure what to think or do…

Her spear nicked my right forearm as I shifted and spun; blocking her spear in a way that sent her tumbling past me so we could swap positions.

I wanted to lead her away from the beast, not closer. I had no idea if it would burst open or collapse inwardly once it fully fell down, and if it did that I wanted Reatti as far as possible from it. She was strong and obviously not human… but she’d not fair well if that thing's toxins got in her system.

Reatti roared a wordless cry of frustration as I took a deep breath, and nearly coughed it out as my lungs protested. I refused to give the cough life, as I held the breath in and took a stance again.

She spun, to glare at me… and this time didn’t take a stance herself. She stepped towards me a few feet, and then started to pace. The root we were on was wide, but only wide enough she could pace a few feet. “You promised, Vim!” she shouted.

“I did,” I answered.

“You were here! Right here…!” she screamed her heart at me.

“I was. I am.”

Lowering my spear, I stood firm as Reatti’s heart broke in front of me. She swung her spear in frustration, cutting only air. “You promised to protect us! Him!” she shouted again.

About to say something, the world shook. Right above us, not far away at all, a volley of cannon fire hit the creature. Reatti didn’t even register the chaos happening above us, as flesh and smoke started to fall around us.

Studying the poor girl, I wondered how it always ended like this.

Obviously, it didn’t. Usually my presence alone stopped such tragedies from happening. Usually I was better.

Yet here I was… once again being forced to stand before those I had failed.

Reatti stopped swinging her spear in frustration, and huffed and heaved as she turned back to face me. A huge chunk of the creature’s flesh landed with a strange sounding plop not far behind her, yet she didn’t even flinch as she glared at me. She held my gaze, as I waited for her next words and actions.

Whichever, whatever they were… I’d listen. I’d endure.

But I could not do so forever. I needed to go check on the Society. So I’d let Reatti act out a little more and then…

“Why Vim?” Reatti asked me.

“I don’t know. I really… really don’t,” I said honestly.

“Were you there?” she asked as she lifted her spear and pointed it at me.

“No. I arrived shortly after,” I said as I turned a little, so that I’d be able to block her incoming attack properly.

Reatti shook her head in aggravation, and then charged at me.

I quickly retreated, blocking and dodging her blows. I made sure to not let block her too harshly, so she’d not fall off the root… but at the same time, I made sure my blocks and dodges always led to her having an easy follow up attack.

The more she attacked, the farther we’d get from the creature. The more she attacked, the more she’d wear herself down… and time would pass so hopefully she’d come to her senses and…

Without warning the root beneath our feet came alive. It lifted upward with such speed that both Reatti and I were sent to our knees, as we were hefted into the sky.

“No…” I groaned as I watched the world disappear around us. The creature was still falling, deflating even, yet the root we were on and several others had come alive again.

This wasn't good at all. Reatti was in no condition for this. She'd not survive this thing's wrath even if she was clear of mind.

Before the tentacle root slowed or stopped, I noticed Reatti start to slide. She wasn’t able to stay situated along the rush of movement, or the air, and didn’t seem interested in trying to stab the root as to hold herself steady. I hurried towards her, sliding along the root as I grabbed the spear she held right as she slipped off the root.

Although Reatti didn’t seem to care, or even really register what was happening, she still clung to the spear. It let me hold onto her as the root finally slowed its ascent and eventually came to a stop.

High up in the air, I pulled Reatti up to me. She snarled at me, and even tried to attack me upon our close proximity. She clawed at my face as I wrapped my arm around her waist and looked around.

We were now high above Lumen. Probably up as high as the creature had been originally. The town looked… familiarly tiny up here. Oddly only a few other tentacle roots were in the air beneath us, but it did seem most of them were the big ones. The massive ones.

Was this a last moment death throe, or something more? Maybe it hadn’t died… yet it sure did look it. It was now half fallen over; most of its body was laying on the ground. A part of its top head was even hanging off the side of the sea wall and into the sea.

“Vim!” Reatti screamed at me as she flailed, trying to free herself. She was also trying to spin her spear around, as to hit me… or even stab me with it.

I ignored her attempts, and quickly started running down the root back to the ground. The root had come to a stop, but at any moment it would either fall or fling itself. Either could, or would, kill Reatti from the impact and fall so…

Before I even got a quarter way down the root, the thing snapped. Like a whip, the root snapped outward into the sky… and sent Reatti and I flying.

We flew through the sky, and I groaned as I realized we had just been tossed the opposite way from the ocean. The bright blue sea went from very visible, up here in the sky, to too far away without warning.

I spun Reatti around to my front, and did my best to curl my arms and body around hers. I covered her head and upper body as much as possible… and then we landed.

We hit something hard. But luckily, I hit it first. My back absorbed most of whatever we landed on, and we skidded to a stop rather quickly.

Breathing quickly, I blinked dust out of my eyes as I hurriedly sat up and looked down at the woman in my arms.

Reatti was alive. Her face was scrunched up in pain and covered in a white dust… and…

Quickly looking around, I found other people looking at us. Knights in leather armor were staring at us in pure awe, and there was white stone all around. Large bricks crumpled and broke off above me, landing on my head and shoulders as they collapsed. I covered Reatti again, and realized we had landed at Lumen’s main castle.

Or rather, some kind of rampart or…

Reatti coughed, drawing my attention back to her. I shifted and brought my knees under me so I could her in a more comfortable position. Laying her down onto the stones, I pushed some bricks and larger clumps of stones aside as she coughed and started to move.

She looked okay. She still had her limbs. Nothing looked too horribly broken, or out of place… she had gashes on her arms, likely from the stone we had been thrown into. It had cut her as it broke.

“Reatti? You alright?” I asked her as I put a hand up against her side. I felt her quick breathing, and could tell her lungs were fine. They weren’t punctured by broken ribs, or crushed from the impact.

She opened her eyes, and I noticed her left was bloodshot. It was leaking a little, a mix of tears and blood.

“This is all your fault Vim,” she said with a thin voice.

I nodded.

Reatti glared at me, and then her eyelids slowly started to close. I panicked for a moment, but her heartbeat and breathing remained steady… she was just passing out. Maybe from exhaustion more than the wounds…

“You brought her here…” she whispered as she fell unconscious.

Lifting her head up, I put my hand against her throat and focused as I tried to keep myself calm.

Yes. She was fine. Her heartbeat was steady. Her lungs strong.

She was just hurt. Tired… broken.

“Brought her,” I whispered Reatti’s words, and felt the horrible dread as I understood exactly what she meant.

“What are you idiots doing? Load another, it still lives!” a man’s voice shouted the world awake. I looked up and watched as all the leather clad knights stepped aside to let a new man into the area. He emerged from an archway, and had a weirdly shaped mustache.

He looked furious as he pointed at one of the knights. “Get it together you…” his loud voice slowly died down as he turned and saw what they were all pointing at.

Me and Reatti.

Glancing around, now that I was a little calmer I realized where we were. There was a massive trebuchet not far from us, up on another level. We had landed on a drum tower, near a larger outward tower. One used to support a massive trebuchet.

One that had its sling down, and was empty. We had landed right as they were reloading.

“What the hell… Get loading you idiots!” the man who had froze at the sight of us, and the hole in the rampart we had made, finally regained his senses. He shouted at the knights, and even drew his sword as to emphasize his orders.

The knights burst into a flurry of motion. Those who had been staring in awe at us turned away, seemingly forgetting we even existed.

Coughing, I slowly put Reatti down on the floor and stood. Stepping away from the wall of rubble that had stopped my fall, I went to the edge of the rampart wall and stared out at the city of Lumen towards the sea.

The creature wasn’t moving anymore. The few roots still moving, in the sky, looked… lost. Moving without purpose.

It was dead. Or dying. Those were just the death throes.

A loud clunk drew my attention above me, to the level of the siege weapon. It was hard to see from this angle, but I could see the large stone they were loading. It looked like it took a dozen men, and they were using large poles as leverage to push it over onto the sling and…

“Wait…”

I hurried over to the open stairwell that led to the upper floor. I pushed aside the mustached knight who was still barking orders, and reached the trebuchet.

It was firmly situated in a layer of sand. It looked old, and a little worn down. This was likely the first time this weapon had ever gotten used, since being built… yet…

I cared not for the weapon. Or the people loading it… who hadn’t noticed me yet.

Instead I focused on the familiar looking boulder being loaded into the weapon.

It was cut in a round shape. Made from the same white marble as the castle and wall I was standing on.

“No…” I turned, and tried to imagine its flight path. They were still loading the weapon, and I knew it’d be many minutes until it fired again as to prove it… yet…

Yes. It would land there. Especially if they missed.

A few deep heavy breaths barely kept me from falling to my knee, and I reached over to grab the rampart wall for support.

That boulder had not been from the creature.

But from the humans.

Blinking watery eyes… I slowly headed back down to the floor where I had left Reatti.

I needed to get her away from here before she wakes. If she saw her brother’s body, as she likely did… she most undoubtedly had also seen the boulder that had done the deed. If anything to verify it.

Which meant she’d recognize it instantly. Just as I had.

Walking over to Reatti, I bent down and was glad to find she was still fine. Asleep, yet alive.

“Who even are you people?” the mustached knight asked behind me, but I ignored him.

I didn’t want to even look at him.

After all I now hated him. All of them.

And that wasn’t right. It wasn’t.

It’s not like they attacked with the intent to kill Brom, or hurt Renn and Merit. All they had been doing was defending their homes.

Homes that had been put into danger because of me. Because of our people. Because of our actions.

Humans hadn’t killed Brom.

We had.

I had.

Yet… all the same…

Picking Reatti up carefully, I groaned as I realized she and I no longer had our spears. We had lost them in the fall.

I had thrown it aside as to better protect her. A fitting use of the weapon… yet a loss all the same.

Though maybe it was for the best. All those spears would do is remind us of Brom.

“Come on Reatti. Let’s go before we hate ourselves even more,” I said to her as I turned and carried her away.

I ignored the knights. I ignored the shouting… and the humans we passed as we headed for the Animalia Company building.

After all I now hated.

Hated myself.

Who hated them.