Reaching up, I had to stretch all the way to get a hold of the next stone. Once I got my fingers wrapped around it I pulled myself upward.

Quickly grabbing the next foothold, I groaned a sigh and heaved myself up over the ledge.

Rolling over the stones and out into the sunlight, I took a deep breath of fresh air.

It stung. My lungs cried out in pain and annoyance as I forced fresh air in and out, washing out the poisoned gunk I had been breathing in for the last however many hours.

Lying on my back, as I forced my lungs to adapt back to the fresh air which was in a way a poison to me right now, I stared up at the bright blue sky.

Or well, parts of one.

Dark black smoke was filtering up into the sky from what looked to be several locations all around me. Burning fires… the kind that came from burning not just wood, but everything that wood withheld.

Homes were burning. Buildings were burning. Warehouses. Stone, even.

“Bastard,” I groaned a cough.

My left leg was still dangling over the ledge of the hole I had just crawled out of, so I scooted away from it a little and pulled my leg out. Not because I was worried I’d fall back in, but just in case one of the stupid tentacle roots found it.

“Though not sure how it’d do that,” I said.

Glancing to my right, I blinked at the dark arm and hand lying lifelessly next to me. It honestly wasn’t as badly hurt as it felt like it was… Or how it looked, but it was covered in black tar looking gunk. Stained, more like.

The things heart had been… almost like an ink sac. It had been about the size of my head, and when I had punched into it I had been doused in its blood.

Taking a deep breath, I flinched. “I smell like sap,” I groaned.

Nasty sap too. Not the stuff one would want on their food, or in their drink. It was probably as poisonous as the crap I had been breathing all this time.

Blinking watery eyes I sat up. My body was heavy, and my lungs were still protesting… but I needed to get up.

Just because that thing was dead didn’t mean my job was done after all.

I had climbed up the hole that the creature had made in its thrashing… because all the other routes out of that room had been destroyed. It had brought down a large chunk of the sewers, it seemed.

Which was worrying. For many reasons.

Lumen was literally built on top of the town beneath it. If enough of those underground sections collapsed… well…

It’d not shock me at all if half this city crumbled beneath itself.

But that wasn’t something I should worry about right now.

Slowly rolling to my knees, I ignored the protest of my muscles as I stood up.

“Renn…” I glanced around as I tried to get a bearing on my situation. It looked like I was near the docks, based off the color of the buildings around me… but I wasn’t sure if this was the north or southern section of the pier.

I needed to find Renn and Fly. Immediately.

If they hadn’t succeeded in getting far enough away in time, they’d have gotten caught up in all that collapsing. If they did I needed to get to them before they died from suffocation, or injury.

Especially Renn… she had already been…

Stepping away from the hole, I coughed out some black gunk and spat it at the nearby wall. It splattered the wall and glooped down in an odd way, telling me it was defiantly the blood of the creature.

“Gross,” I shivered and hoped I’d not be puking the stuff up for long.

Shaking my head and my ringing ears, I realized the world was actually noisy. Amidst the ringing sounds there was screaming and shouting. There was the roar of fires nearby, and the sound of…

I paused a moment and focused, to make sure. Yes. That was definitely the sound of cannon fire.

Was a ship firing its cannons… or was something strange happening? Maybe a warehouse full of gunpowder had caught alit? Then why did it actually sound like cannons firing and not just plain explosions or bangs?

Cannon fire was very distinctive. Not something a simple explosion or dust explosion could mimic or…

Unable to suppress my curiosity, I quickly found a building I could climb up. It was easy thanks to its wall leaning oddly… likely since it was about ready to fall over. I climbed up the wall, using broken bricks and wood supports to easily reach the roof. Once on the roof, I confirmed the building was leaning and shaking. Likely about to collapse. But I ignored it as I turned around and got my bearings.

There. The port. The northern port too, where most of the military type ships were docked and…

“You have to be joking,” I felt my shoulders slump as I stared at the towering tree.

Standing taller than any of the buildings, or the masts of the great ships that were just beyond it, was a very similar looking creature to the one I had just fought down beneath the city.

This one however was far bigger, and more tree than flower.

And was being attacked by ships.

I frowned as I watched parts of the creature explode and erupt as it was hit by another volley of cannon fire.

Even from this distance I could see the blood and flesh, or pieces of roots, spew from where the cannon balls hit the thing.

“Fascinating,” I couldn’t help but admire the humans. I had no idea how long that thing had been out and about, but it definitely couldn’t have been long. The soonest point it could have emerged was when I had first dropped into that pit. With Renn and Fly… and that had surely not been more than a few hours ago.

For the humans to be fighting back so properly already was a feat. Whoever was in command of those ships was a stout one. I’d need to find out who they were, since they’d be the kind that would make horrible enemies for the Society… and…

“Wait…” I groaned as I recognized one of the set of sails in the distance.

Squinting, I shook my head as I realized that sure enough the man-of-war that I had taken possession of not long ago was indeed one of the five ships attacking the giant creature.

“Well… better than being sunk, I guess,” I said as I scanned the rest of the port. Or at least, what I could see from this angle. Most of it was blocked by the large creature. It did look like it had emerged near the main docks… maybe even right next to them. Some of the ships were definitely on fire. It seemed to have emerged not far from the ocean. Maybe it had been nesting near the ocean for a source of water or food… though it was odd it’d drink salt water, it wasn’t something to be too shocked over.

It obviously wasn’t a normal creature.

Nothing that big was normal.

It luckily didn’t seem to have anywhere near as many limbs as the one I had just fought. The thing had a few, I counted a quick six that I could make out right away, but that didn’t seem to be many after having to deal with what had felt like hundreds just now.

Though this one’s were much bigger… big enough to sink a whole ship, if it could reach them out there in the port.

Chances are its lack of limbs and roots to attack were the reason the humans were so willing to fight it. From the sea, and those ships, they were safe.

Another volley hit the tree like creature, and I frowned as I watched stone and wood fly into the sky off in the distance… away from the creature.

They’re missing it? Something that big? How many poor innocents were dying to their own people’s failing attempts than they were the monster?

“Let’s let them deal with it for now,” I decided, and went to look around for any recognizable building nearby. This was near the warehouse I had seen Fly use that one time, wasn’t it?

Yes. Over there. About a block away, it was in the group of darker colored buildings. An older, dirtier, section.

Though…

Glancing away from where I knew an entrance to the underground was, I glanced behind me and deeper into Lumen.

Should I check on the Society first?

Looking back at the tall creature, I glared at the thing. Yes. That thing was a problem too. I didn’t see a mouth on it, like the one I had just fought… but it was undoubtedly the same. The question was though, is that the parent or just another part of it? Maybe the thing I had killed had just been a branch… a sapling…

What if there was an entire forest of those roots beneath us?

“A forest of teeth,” I said as I glanced down at my arms.

They were shredded. From all the barbs and thorns. The sight was… honestly a little disturbing. My arms were stained thanks to the blood of the creature, but even with the black stains one could clearly see the blood and the gruesome wounds. They were grievous, the type of gashes that would have killed a normal man… from shock alone, forgetting blood loss.

Clenching my fists, I noted the way tendons and muscles coiled. Several of them were very visible, thanks to the gashes.

I sighed at myself. Have I gotten sloppy?

Coughing again, I glanced around for a good spot to hop to the next roof. Not only was this one starting to shake, it was time I moved on.

I really wanted to go find Renn and Fly… but thanks to that new creature, especially because of it, my first priority was to check on the Society.

Maybe Renn and Fly made it there already, and I’d just be saving time anyway by going there.

Leaping from roof to roof, I headed for the Animalia Guild.

A deep roar echoed behind me, but thanks to the open air it wasn’t as painful to the ears. I paused a moment to glance back at the large creature as it was hit again by another volley.

Well if it could roar, it had to have a mouth. Or some kind of form of one, at least. Even if I couldn’t see it from here.

It was exactly what I had wanted to avoid, by staying down there and killing that thing. I had even risked Renn and Fly, to kill it as fast as possible.

All that just for something even worse to throw that whole plan into the trash and set it aflame.

Though…

Landing on a new roof, I slowed down and paused for a moment to look back at the creature.

“Monarch…” I frowned as I remembered what Fly had called it.

Master Monarch.

Glancing down at my stained arms, I wondered if I should head closer to that thing to verify it first.

The one down there hadn’t been a Monarch… but that thing?

“After,” I convinced myself to deal with it later.

I was able to stop coughing, mostly, by the time I got to the Animalia Guild Company building. As I approached it, I noticed the chaos around it. The gates were shut closed, and no one was going in or out of the building… but there was still people all around it. People were trying to get their carts to wherever they were going, but thanks to all the chaos there were traffic jams and fights. I passed a group of carriages that looked blocked thanks to a broken one, with men shouting at each other instead of simply working together to move the broken carriage aside out of their way.

Rounding the building I hurried to the main entrance. I found the main lobby had one of its doors opened, but there were guards stationed at the entrance and it seemed they were only letting people exit and not enter.

I walked up to them and wondered if I’d have to get physical with the guards. None of them were members of the Society, and I didn’t recognize any of them.

Why wasn’t Brom or Reatti amongst them? Especially during such a vital moment?

“Sir, no one’s allowed to enter right now,” the guard on the right stepped up upon noticing me. He spoke firmly, but I could hear the shaking in his voice.

He looked terrified.

Well…

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Glancing behind me, I could just barely make out the tall creature in the distance. From this distance only the top of its body could be seen over the buildings. It didn’t have leaves on the top of its head, but from this distance one wouldn’t have been able to see such things anyway.

Yes. I could understand why he’d be so shaken.

Something like that to the humans was like a prophecy being fulfilled. A demon. An angel even… come down to pass judgment.

Such things were legends. Stories.

Until they weren’t.

“I’m a member of the guild, let me pass,” I said simply as I turned back to the man.

“No, we’ve been told no one is to…” the man started to say but I stepped forward. I didn’t want to hurt our own people, but I was in no mood. I’d just hurt him. A single man. The rest would step aside after seeing the violence.

A pity, but a single life… a single human life, was worth less than those I served.

“Let him through!” a woman’s voice gave an order. One I didn’t recognize.

The man stepped aside, but didn’t seem too happy about it as I stepped past him. As I entered, a pair of women left the building. I had to step aside a little to let them pass me, since they were carrying baskets of…

Glancing at the contents of what they were carrying out, I noticed the food and supplies. Bandages. Herbs. Stuff for emergencies.

Such acts of piety. To give those we employed pre-gathered supplies for emergencies.

Brandy’s or Gerald’s orders, I wonder?

“Vim, Reatti just headed upstairs,” the woman who had given me entry greeted me and I was able to put a history to the voice. It was the human who had spoken to me and Renn in the hallway a few weeks ago. The one that had children…

“Your children?” I asked her.

The woman startled, and then gave me a flushed smile. “Here. In the building. They’re safe,” she said warmly.

I nodded and stepped past her. “Once everyone who wants to leave does, close the door and seal it,” I said.

“Sir!” she nodded as I hurried for the stairs. Reatti must have gone to the houses… but why? She and her brother should be here at the entrance, handling this.

A quick glance around as I hurried up the stairs to the second floor, I recognized a few faces… but everyone here was human.

Coughing one last time as I picked up my pace, I rubbed my mouth to clear it of blood and that black gunk… then realized I was hurt on my face too.

Staring down at the back of my hand, where I had been rubbing… I realized I was likely bleeding rather badly on my face. I had felt a strange pain under my lips. Likely a large gash.

Maybe that man hadn’t been terrified of the situation, but me.

“Hmph.”

Reaching the metal door of the Societies Houses, I was glad to find it sealed shut. I was careful to not break it as I opened it and shut it behind me. I was hurt, so I knew my strength was going to be all over the place.

Heading down the hallway, I calmed down a little as I smelled… nothing. Nothing too important.

No blood. No death. No sorrow.

The place was still warm. The air was gentle. If not for the rumbling noises outside, which were a far distant sound here, one wouldn’t even realize how dangerous the situation was.

Heading downstairs, it didn’t take long to hear the voices of the Society… especially since someone was yelling.

Picking up my pace, I nearly jumped down the last flight of steps and then darted down the hall to the shouting. I entered the room with such momentum, I nearly ran over Pierre in the process.

“Vim!” the whole room shouted my name at the sight of me, and I calmed down as I realized they were all fine. They had just been in a heated debate.

Though… over what?

Looking around as everyone hopped off their chairs and away from their tables to rush over to me, I smiled at the looks of concern and shock. Half of the group was glad to see me; relieved… the other half was now very concerned for my safety. Likely thanks to my visible injuries.

“Who’s not here?” I asked loudly. I was counting them, but for some reason I couldn’t think of who wasn’t here. Renn of course, and Fly… but…

Wait…

“Fly?” I noticed the young bird to my right. She had stood up on a table, to get a view over the tiny crowd in front of me.

“My brother and Merit are out there! Still looking for you and Renn!” Reatti shouted up at me. She had been one of the first to run up to me.

I frowned as I confirmed it. Yes. They were the only ones not here.

Merit. Brom. Renn.

“Then why…” I glanced at Fly whose face immediately contorted and she collapsed to her knees. She began to bawl.

Woops.

“Renn made her run away, I guess. It’s why my brother and Merit went to find her. She was in trouble, Fly said,” Reatti said.

Herra and Magda stepped away from the crowd to go over to Fly. They hovered around her, making sure she was okay.

“She alright?” I asked.

“Physically…? I think so,” Brandy said.

“Everyone else?” I asked.

“We’re all fine, Vim,” Reatti said.

“Have you seen the thing outside?” I asked.

“Is it a Monarch?” Tosh asked.

His question made the whole room grow… weirdly quiet.

“I’m not sure. It doesn’t seem to be something that moves, so you all should be fine here… but just in case I want you all to prepare to leave. Together. The roads are blocked, so if you take wagons make sure you take axes to clear the road if you need to,” I warned.

“Just go kill it already, Vim,” Jasna complained.

“I’m going. I came back to make sure you all were okay,” I said.

“Get going!” several yelled at once. Reatti even began to push me out of the room.

“Reatti, come with me. You need to seal up the building once I leave,” I said.

“Oh. Right. Yea. Let’s go,” Reatti nodded quickly. She followed me out of the room and down the hallway.

“He was crazy hurt!” Sofia shouted as we left.

“Shush!” Brandy shouted at her, and I was glad that I had gotten away before any of them had made a big deal out of it.

“You are really hurt, Vim. You okay?” Reatti asked as we headed for the exit.

“Yes. You know what I’m capable of enduring, Reatti. No need to ask,” I said.

“Yeah but… you look bad. You have huge gashes all over. Especially your back,” she groaned, and I knew it was because she staring straight at them. She was following behind me, after all.

“They’re that bad looking?” I asked as I glanced at a window we passed. It wasn’t reflective enough to see myself.

“Really bad.”

Hm. Didn’t feel that bad honestly. My lungs were the things giving me the greatest complaints right now. But I knew it wouldn’t take long for them to re-adapt to the normal air and be fine.

“Fly is a member of the Society, Reatti,” I said as I glanced at her. She had gotten upset before, so I wanted to just make sure.

“She is,” Reatti nodded, but I noted the tone she used.

Great. She’d never like Fly. She must blame her for all of this.

It was likely many would… maybe it was a good thing Fly was so inhuman. She’d have to leave, and now it’d make the reason… well… obvious and easy to express. Even someone like Fly would understand the why.

Approaching the metal door, I slowed a little. Reatti gave me a look as I gestured at it. “Open it for me, I don’t want to break it,” I said.

“Oh. Right!” Reatti hurried forward and obliged me. I nodded in thanks as I stepped past her and she closed the door behind us.

“Once everyone’s out of the building lock it down. Then have a few people on the roof to assess the situation. If that thing starts moving, or the city starts sinking I want all of you out of Lumen as fast as possible,” I gave Reatti orders as we headed for the main entrance.

“Right.”

A pair of men hurried past us, running towards the exit. They weren’t carrying anything and didn’t even really glance at us as they did so.

“Humans. They panic easily,” Reatti said with a sigh.

“It’s what keeps them alive,” I said.

“Where should we go if we have to leave? The Bell Church?” Reatti asked, changing topics.

“The Clothed Woman.”

Reatti paused and I wasn’t in the mood to stop with her and give her an explanation. I continued walking towards the exit, and even picked up my pace.

Merit and Brom would be safe. Merit wouldn’t let Brom overextend himself… but that didn’t mean all was well.

Merit and Brom would both die to save Renn, if they found her in dire straits.

So I needed to hurry, to stop that from happening.

Not only would that be horrible for the Society… It would…

I tried to imagine the look on Renn’s face as she watched the two sacrifice themselves for her.

Not only would it traumatize her, it would ruin her. She’d never get close to anyone again, knowing her.

I could not afford that. On many levels.

“Vim!” Reatti hurried to catch up to me as we entered the main lobby.

There weren’t as many people here as there had been, most were the guards and those guiding them. And it seemed most of them were preparing to leave themselves.

I nodded to Reatti as I headed for the door. She furrowed her face at me but nodded back.

Leaving the Animalia Company building I stepped out onto the street far enough as to be able to see the horizon.

Good. It was still in the same location. Maybe I’d get lucky, and like the one I had fought below this one couldn’t really move.

If it was stationary… although it’d cause horrible damage and wreck chaos for who knows how long, it wasn’t an immediate threat. At least not to the Society or me.

Unless…

My lungs protested as I took a deep breath. Yes. That was a problem.

If it was like the one I had fought, or even the same creature entirely, that meant it could likely also release that toxic fume.

Which at that thing's size… even with the oceans breeze it could probably cover most of the city if it released it.

If even my lungs had such a problem with it, then there were no way the humans or any of the Society could survive it. Not without dire lasting effects, even if they did survive.

Oh. Wait.

Heading back into the building, Reatti smiled at the sight of me and hurried up to me.

“Where’d you find Fly?” I asked.

“Oh! Right! Head towards the canning district. Near the southern port,” Reatti’s face contorted in shame as she realized that she too had forgotten all about it.

“Thanks,” I left the building again, this time with an actual destination.

That wasn’t far from the creature. Closer than I had emerged from… but that was not too surprising. Who knows how far Renn and Fly had to traverse to find an exit.

Picking up the pace, I spat out a much smaller blob of black blood. Good. I needed my lungs healed before I confronted that giant tree. Shouldn’t be long now. Rounding the Animalia Company building, I ran down one of the larger streets that led to the piers. It was… empty, it was an odd sight, especially for this time of day.

As I drew closer to the ports, the sound of chaos returned. Fires. Collapsed buildings. Cannon fire. The roar of the creature.

Running past a man on the ground that was bleeding from a crushed arm, I wondered how long it’d take for Lumen’s army to be roused and sent to restore order. Lumen was a merchant empire, but it still had an army. An army of nobles and…

Slowing a little, I studied the scene I was approaching.

A large building had collapsed. One that had likely been a place of markets. One that had restaurants, shops, stalls… and it had been a busy one.

The whole area was destroyed. It seemed the large building had toppled and as it fell it broke the buildings near it, creating a domino effect. The whole street was covered in debris and dust. There were fires raging in several locations, and there were as many dead bodies as there were injured ones.

I nearly stepped forward to help what looked to be a young woman stuck under a pile of bricks. She was alive, but wasn’t moving much. Blood was flowing out of her orifices, telling me she had severe organ damage. Likely the bottom of half of her body had been crushed completely beneath the pile of stones she laid under.

Those not buried had not escaped unscathed completely. There were people with broken limbs, head wounds, and more. There was even a man stumbling around while holding his mouth which was pooling with blood. The fact he was still walking around told me it was a mouth wound and not an internal one. Maybe his tongue had been destroyed.

This damage was recent. The building must have collapsed not long ago… had they been hiding in the building maybe?

At least there didn’t seem to be any of those tentacle roots anywhere.

Another volley of cannon fire erupted nearby. This time I counted far more than just the five ships I had seen earlier. Maybe more captains had finally gotten their ships in position.

Maybe they’d kill it before I needed to deal with it.

“Momma!” a child’s scream stopped me. I turned to watch a young girl screaming nearby. She was standing still near a pile of fragments and stone. She was dirty, and had small wounds upon her. She was dressed in clothes that were suited for a commoner, likely the child of someone who had been at work.

The girl sobbed alone, and I wondered if any of the bodies around her had been her parents. There were a few women amongst them, but thanks to all the debris and dust it was impossible to see if any were obviously her mother. The little girl’s auburn hair looked far darker than it was thanks to the layer of dust on her.

There were several dozen people walking around. And some of them weren’t hurt, or at least not hurt that badly… but as of yet no one had noticed her. Everyone was far more concerned with their own well-being, or finding those they cared for. Their own family. Their own friends.

Ones desire for survival eroded their kindness.

A scene very familiar to me.

Walking over to the young girl, I sighed at the sight of her bloody legs. She had huge scrapes running up and down her shins to her knees. She had likely fell during the commotion, or her legs had originally been buried and she had pulled them free.

“Little one, it’s dangerous here. Where’s your home?” I asked her.

The young girl didn’t even register my approach, or my question. She just kept sobbing for her mother.

Reaching out, I lightly grabbed her by her shoulder. She yelped, shocked at the sudden grab, and actually stepped back and away from me. “Who! Momma!?” she cried out in shock. Rather loudly, too.

“It’s dangerous here. You need to leave or you’ll get hurt again. Where’s your home?” I asked her again.

This time she was at least staring at me, but instead of answering me she instead fell to her knees and started to sob even harder.

Sighing at the young girl, I wondered if she was younger than she looked. Or maybe just frail, and not just in the body.

Kneeling down, I fought the internal urge to run off. I shouldn’t be wasting time, but once I started something I needed to finish it.

“Young girl, really. Other buildings might collapse, or the fires might spread. Where’s your home? I’ll take you there,” I asked a little firmer this time, but made sure to be gentle while doing so.

Like before the young girl didn’t even react to me.

Maybe it was because of the wounds on my body. Between my appearance and the situation… well… it’d be understandable for her to not think I was something worth trusting.

“Charlotte!” I turned as a young man ran towards us. He skidded to his knees next to the girl and wrapped her in a hug.

The man was too young to be her father, but the moment he grabbed her the girl recognized his existence and returned his hug… and erupted into an even greater cry of relief.

“I know… I know… Here…” the man carefully lifted her, and then sniffed a sob himself as he stood.

Standing up alongside him, I watched as the girl started to oddly poke the man on the back, and even dragged her finger along in the process.

The young man nodded quickly and he too went to doing the same to her back. He did so as he spoke, telling her it was alright now and that her brother was here. The acts were… odd, but it didn’t take long for me to understand.

She was deaf.

He glanced at me, but didn’t linger. Her turned and ran away, carrying the girl as she sobbed and cried.

Maybe not deaf entirely… after all she was speaking.

The boy had noticed me but hadn’t said anything. Likely thought I had…

Glancing down at myself, I sighed as I wondered what he had thought of me.

“That was the better of the outcomes, at least,” I said as I turned and headed for the canneries at the southern port.

I needed to find Renn and the rest before I got sidetracked again. Before I saw anyone else who deserved pity.

Pity was something I couldn’t afford after all.

My own people had enough of it. More than I could ever give. So there was no point wasting it on humans. Or anyone, or anything else.

At least that was what I told myself as I continued to run past those who were suffering.

Suffering because of us.