After the dawn...

[Kishimoto Kyo]

Displeasure...utter anger...rage that these words lacked the precision, or the significance, and meaning behind the man who stood in that chamber, looking down upon the bodies of who were once heads of royal bloodlines of Viragor. Now...they were completely useless to him for his purposes. They had been so close...so very close...and they ruined everything! The Chamber of Twilight and Dawn was a majestic place, columns of silver and gold, rubies and jewels in various designs along the walls and a clear diamond the size of a small person was set in the center, set in a grove in the floor. A single beam of light shinned down from above, drove through the diamond and reflected on the inside, refracting into a beautiful display of colors and light, stretching to all corners of the room. They were innocent and sweet compared to the pools of blood that soaked and slithered across the white marble floor, stained a crimson red. There stood over it all that man, his figured draped in shadow and not even the light of the diamond directly behind him could pierce that night.

A single pair of red eyes stared out of the darkness, his form lacking in size but the air around him was...terrible. He could have been a child and it would have made it all the more worse. This man though...he was not just any man. He wasn't even a man at all. Split, vertical pupils were at the center of those eyes and they held, staring down the body of one man in particular on the far end. His majestic coat of fashioned colors, colliding and harmonizing with the coat of arms on the back, but the crimson of his blood drenched it, losing its color just as his skin turned gray, just like his beard and his hair, a single sword in his hand. Shadows did not let it be seen, but the faint glimmer of the blade, broken into so many pieces, lay on the floor around him, crushed by a force it could not stop. And what did the man do? Simple: he turned on his heel, with a raised fist, and bought it down upon the diamond behind him with force enough to shift the wind. The diamond broke into shards and fragments like glass, split and broken and falling to the floor without anything to stop them.

"YOU IDIOTS!" The deep and resounding thunder echoed through the chamber and disturbed the very air. And whom took the fury that made even the marble shake? Nine shadows stood around the room, all hiding, all waiting, all of them knowing full well that they had failed at their task. "NINE! YET NOT A SINGLE ONE OF YOU COULD STOP THEM!" The light from above that once shined down upon the diamond only centered on one little piece that was left, giving only a small radiance, quickly blanketed by the figure overhead. His screaming was for their failure. He had tasked each of them to fight a bloodline, while he dealt with the Emperor. The remains of the battle were clear, large chucks of the chamber now nothing but rubble from what they once were. Yet, despite their full use of their powers, they couldn't kill one of them. Not one. They all gave up their lives to ensure the Viscus Minuo never came into their hands.

"I gave you all power...and now look at this..." His anger fell silent, their bodies motionless and formless against the shadows, unable to take shape or simply refusing to. Maybe both. His clenched fist relaxed, however, and he turned toward the body of the Emperor, the once great man now laying against the steps to the grand throne of gold, big enough for one person, but it now lay empty with its owner dead at its feet. "No matter...the only ones who could have stopped us are now dead." His feet clicked against the floor and blood pools as he moved closer to the throne, kicking the body of the former Emperor to the side and climbing up the steps, shadow still clinging to him like a veil. "Now our only concern is to hunt down the pieces of the Viscus Minuo. One of you per region should be more than enough." Once at the top, he stopped and turned on his heel again, and sat down, one hand on the arm chair and his own clenching his fist in front of him. He seemed quite comfortably where he was.

"Before you go, you know the drill..." The fist he had raised unclenched, palm spread outward and he thrusted it forward, toward the nine shadows that now gathered at the steps. Suddenly nine streams of energy in colors of all kinds leapt from their bodies, glowing for only a moment before disappearing into the man's hand, seemingly appearing to cease to exist at all. A single twist of his hand caused it to start cracking, the popping of bones as he flexed it from what it went through. "Now...each of you take an area of your choosing. There are nine regions, including this one. I would advise not making a scene just yet though...our presence may start awakening them." With a single wave of his hand, the shadows disappeared from his sight and he was left alone in that room, staring at the bodies and their trouble that had killed them. What did this man do to the others? What did he mean by awakening them? And what reason would he want the Viscus Minuo?

Something wasn't right...something was really not right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day One

"Okay people, keep it moving! Enough food and water for everyone!" The village Elder stood off to the side of the benches and stands that covered the road, lines of men, women, and children trying to get some of their provisions, and others tending to their wounds. Zero didn't care. He slowly ate at the bread he held in hand, the meat of a sandwich inside of it, and a cup of water was held in the other. He might have been a Dhampir, but even he still needed to eat, or at least he did. Not sure about others, could just as well be the same. Either case, he looked over the crowds and wondered to himself what to do. Erium was officially ghost town now, and the thousands of people who lived there were now moving out. The mysterious attack the other day didn't make any sense. He could still see those shadows in his mind, but he couldn't see those creatures. They weren't like beasts, mindless and acting on instinct. These things were different. They had a purpose, but whatever it was, he couldn't find out now.

"Ori! Stop eating my food!" Zero bellowed when he suddenly noticed that what left of his sandwich was quickly eaten right out of his hand by the horse, Ori. Glaring at it in frustration, he wondered in the back of his head how the hell he was going to get something to eat now. Sitting in front of a house cross legged with the house laying down besides him didn't get anything done. At least he ate some of it, if not most of it. Stupid horse. Still...the horse had been good to him, so he'd give it that. Considering the wild night they had, he was still shaken up a little about it. All he could remember was riding out into the darkness and disappearing from sight of the Capital. He only stopped once the horse could go no further and rested the night. Luckily by morning they had been close to this village. Many families were already here, a couple of hundred if one asked around. Still...the thought of those beings were still in his head. Just what were they? They had been there for a reason, but what? The rumors flying around like fire were interesting to hear, whispers of ancient demons, the plague, a new army experiment gone wrong, an army invading, heck even the gods coming down to the earth to punish them.

There was one in particular that he couldn't help but wonder. The attack happened during the Guardian Festival, and the entire place was shut like walls to all invasions. How was it that they got through at all. Even in the dead of night under a new moon, the lights from the activity would have been more than enough to see in the dark, even warn people. But this was different. The Capital was a blaze of light and candles, and all of it went out in moments before the attack. What in all of Viragor could do that? It was magic unlike anything he had ever seen. The result this: people flying in all directions from the Capital and no doubt worrying their eye balls to death about what's happened. No word of the Royals either. No one has seen hide or hair of them, at least in this village. But a more pressing concern would be: where's the Emperor? People are wondering, but there's no trace of him, or his family. What could be going on? The few soldiers that were even alive at this point were either those who were away, or fled early. Couldn't blame them for wanting to save their asses, and sure, those who fled didn't see the creatures, or fight them first hand, but they were at least still alive. In fact...there wasn't anyone here he could see that survived an encounter. All he knew for sure was that if anyone stayed in that city, they were dead by morning. Not like they would have been able to tell it was morning anyway in that place.

The black dome, that darkness, still covered the city.

[Seth THM]

The pain she felt was excruciating; it left her breathing shallow, her vision blurred, and her head spinning. She couldn’t distinguish dreams from reality as her mind slipped in and out of consciousness. Familiar faces flashed through her mind, but their names she couldn’t find. She could hear screams, terrified whimpers, and monstrous howls. Fire and darkness dominated was little she could see. The air around her, despite the immensity of fear and chaos, was cold. A small hand brushed her cheek, and a low voice reached her ears; “Momma…”

She fought for control over her mind. As she focused her thoughts, she realized she was laying on the ground. With her cheek, she could feel the dirt; it was wet… sticky. Her vision, still clouded by confusion and pain, cleared just enough so that she could make out the small face bent close to hers. The boy’s cheeks and eyes were red with tears. His expression was frozen in fear. She reached a hand toward his face, cupping it gently. She wanted to tell him everything was fine, but the words were stuck in the back of her throat. The boy, too, seemed to grasp for words; “Momma… I’m, I’m c-cold.” He then closed his eyes and collapsed upon the ground.

Vincent… The name flashed across her mind. Her stomach turned as her heart squeezed inside her chest. Suddenly, she remembered where she was. Her body jolted with the recollection…. Monsters, darkness, chaos… She pushed herself up into a sitting position, her body protesting in agony. Her back felt like fire, and her face contorted in pain. Nina Foster reached for her eldest son, barely six years old. She pulled his body close to hers, so small and fragile… and still warm. His torso bore three deep gashes, but the blood had already stopped flowing. As she held his lifeless body, clinging to it, praying it would stir with life, she tried to figure out how long she’d been unconscious. It could not have been more than a few minutes, a half-hour at most judging by her son’s body. She could also still hear the panic out in the streets, The darkness covering the city had only just begun.

That very fact spurred her into action. The night wasn’t over, and she had to survive. The monster that had followed them had taken away both Cameron and Vincent—

Her breath caught in her throat. Where was Maria? Nina frantically looked around, vainly attempting to avoid the sight of Cameron’s body where she remembered it to be. At first, Maria was no where to be seen, but Nina soon noticed its small figure in a far corner camouflaged by debris. Slowly, she stood and managed to make her way to the ally’s far end. “No no no no no no…” she chanted in vain. Her eyes had already begun shedding tears; she knew before she reached her daughter that she was dead. Maria’s body, as if it were an old rag-doll, had been tossed aside carelessly.

Nina couldn’t breath. She desperately wanted to believe it was all a dream, some horrid nightmare she would soon awake from to be comforted by Cameron. Something this terrible couldn’t be real. She clutched her chest. The pain she felt was no longer coming from outside her body. She felt it within; her heart felt like it would burst at any moment. She slowly knelt down over Maria’s broken body and pick it up gently. While her back screamed for mercy, her heart screamed for revenge. Someone had sent such mindless creatures to plague the city; someone other than those foul beasts were responsible for the deaths of her children and her husband.

Within minutes, Nina had placed the bodies of her family along the back wall of the alley, neatly poised in death’s embrace. She covered them, to her own repugnance, with an old blanket she’d found, hoping that the beasts still lurking within the city wouldn’t find them. She would return for the bodies once the city was safe… They were owed a proper burial. For now, she had to escape the city if she wished to get revenge. She had to survive. She picked up her machetes before she left. One was covered in blood. Apparently, she’d managed to get a piece of one of the beasts: the silver lining.

------------

Sometime in the night, somewhere along the long road out of the city, she stopped crying. Stubbornly, she had pushed aside her sorrow. Along the way, an older woman probably the same age of Nina’s mother, offered to bandage the wound marring her back. Apparently, Nina had suffered the same type of wound Vincent had: three jagged gashes sliced across the surface of her upper back. Her tattoo symbolizing good fortune was unrecognizable. Irony.

By morning, the party of survivors that she had joined reached a small village. They were not the first to arrive, and they most certainly would not be the last. Exhausted, Nina sat down as soon as she found a place she could sit without actually sitting on top of someone else. So many people had found their way to the village; so many people had fled the horror in Erium. The wall against which she rested was probably a part of some local’s house. Idly, she wondered if they were annoyed or simply curious about all the refugees. How much truth had actually reached their ears? Nina was certain the stories had spread like wildfire, escalating in drama and detail from ear to ear. The previous night was a mere blur to Nina. It was, in truth, a night she’d much rather forget. She longed to hold her children and longed to be held by Cameron.

She closed her eyes.

Soon enough, she heard one of the villagers, probably the village elder, announce breakfast for the refugees. The food was probably donated by the village as a whole. Nina suddenly realized she was famished. Her stomach growled in hunger, and suddenly her throat begged for water. Awkwardly, she stood, her body once again protesting in pain, and joined the line. While most people waited patiently enough, others forced their way to the front of the line, claiming some need or status that made them more important. Nina couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Once she made her way back to the spot she’d left previously, she found it to be occupied by a family of three. The only other spot she noticed right away was next to a rather large horse she was sure would sit on her. She settled for standing next to it instead.

The meat between the bread slices was foreign to her; not that she was complaining. Nina ate it greedily, and downed the water faster than necessary. She was taken by surprise with the sudden yelp beside her. Apparently, “Ori” had eaten his master’s food.

She peered around the horse, noticing a man about the same height as her. He had a rather animated appearance, sporting a rather color coat with intricate designs. She said to him, “I’m sure if you ask, someone in the village wouldn’t mind lending you some feed for your horse; they were already nice enough to set up some provisions. You may never get to eat a full meal at this rate.” [/color]

[Kishimoto Kyo]

"Huh?" Zero murmured when he first heard a voice. He could recognize it was a lady, and as he looked over his shoulder, past the horse that sat on the ground beside him, he found the source from whence it came. The woman was about his height, if not the same, and though her clothes were not nearly of the same design as his own, not that he was bragging of course, they seemed comfortable enough for the weather. Situated on her right hip were the sheathes that held her blades, and he wondered in the back of his mind where she got them. They weren't of any common manufacture or design that he could place, so were they a personal forge? Blinking his eyes as she spoke, he noticed her coat that were ripped and torn, along with the rest of her clothes. She had lived in Erium, just as he had, but he could not place a name to her. He didn't know her by face, or by name, someone completely new to him. Considering how the city had been, no one knew everyone else, at least not absolutely everyone.

"True..." he replied plainly, in agreement and factual tone, before he turned his attention to his horse, and wondered to himself what he was going to do now. He had no home, not since he left the inn two years ago, and that he was here, he had no clue where he was or what happened behind him. Resting one hand on its brown coat, he petted the kind horse, thankful for its company, even if he wasn't its original master. With so many people here, its possible its master was around, but what were the chances of that? With so many people, it was a wonder riots weren't coming out of the works, but then, it was possible they wouldn't come, because everyone's lost someone yesterday. Looking around him, he needed more to eat soon...and he needed to get Ori something as well, and some water. There should be someone in this place that would give him some, even if it was only a little.

Zero sighed in exhaustion, and wondered to himself how he was to get all of this without Ori being stolen while he was gone. He didn't have enough time to think, however, when just as suddenly the earth began to shake. He felt the vibrations first in his legs, then in his hands, and then his head. Shouts of panic echoed in the air, and people weren't sure what was going on. Standing on his feet, he felt his heart beat...its fast rush, hammering inside its cage, but there was something else. It was on the edge of his hearing...crying...someone was crying. Time seemed to slow down, people were moving so slowly to his eyes...but he felt so slow. He could not move, his breath was numb...he could only stare blankly in front of him. The world began to lose its color and faded to shades of gray. What was going on here? Though he stared with shaking eyes, he saw nothing but gray and forms of people going past, panicking and afraid.

That's when it started. That's when it began. The crying...the sadness...and the screaming. He couldn't see her face...but she stood in the middle of the crowd and looked up toward the sky, a black cloak draped around her shoulders and her hair flowing down to the ground, twisting and turning with wind that did not exist. There were so many colors, so many shades in her hair, he felt himself go blind. Their beauty was beyond compare. And her singing...her voice carried up to the sky and filled the void of eternity. It was so beautiful, he began to cry, the tears rushing down his cheeks before he could stop himself. It was so beautiful...he wanted it to stop. He couldn't stand it...he couldn't hear it any more....or he'd go insane. He couldn't move though...couldn't cover his ears to that beautiful voice. She wasn't singing. She was crying.

The world suddenly started back up again as he fell forward, falling to his knees and his arms colliding with the ground. The world had sound again...the voice was gone...and he stared at the shaking rocks that lay before him. What had he just seen? What had he just witnessed? It felt sacred...that voice. Jerking his head up, he saw only people go past, the woman was gone, and he could not find her. "Hey!" Zero cried out to a boy nearby, a boy twitching and cowering on the ground from all the people yelling around him. The boy slowly shifted his gaze from the ground to him, his innocent eyes red with tears. "Did you see a woman in a black cloak standing over there?" He pointed to where he meant, but the boy only shook his head. Dumbfounded, he got up to his feet and stared at where she had been, as if trying to find her where she did not exist anymore. He brought his hand up to his face to rub his face of the fatigue he felt, but then the feeling of water came to his senses. He lowered his hand...and there was blood on it. He hadn't cried tears...he cried blood. Whatever had happened...happened...but had he been the only one to see her? To hear her voice? It almost seemed...impossible...

The shaking had resumed, but the earth suddenly jerked with enough force to throw off his balance, causing him to step sideways to catch his center of gravity. Something in the corner of his eye caught his attention, making him look up toward the sky and shock of disbelief stretched across his face. In the distance, a giant black beam of...energy...shot up into the sky and went on forever through the clouds, parting them with such force as to mend the weather. 'What...what is that?!' From all of Saravis could this be seen...but it wasn't just Saravis. In the lands of Helvinon, the rolling lands, a hunter with bow in hand had trouble calming his horse, and stared up into the sky, its blackness absorbing his attention. In the desert of Bagara, a group of nomads were heading toward a nearby village, the heat of the sun baring down overheard but the disturbance of the ground, the shaking of the earth, puzzled them. Even in Filumdi, the high trees shook and one man hung on for dear life, looking out through the leaves to see the blackness in the sky. A fishing boat on the far sea was fighting the roaring waves, constantly twisting and turning, its fisherman frowning at the disturbance and strange thing in the sky. From all distance corners of the mountains, Judita, Cydur, and Asadur, their living people were lost for words, not understanding what was going on in their skies.

The energy began to take shape, forming and crackling loudly in Saravis, so loudly that people had to cover their ears. It made even the clouds waiver in their movement. A Tower was what it made, and it reached up into the heavens, somewhere up there that Zero could not see. If this was all that happened, the chaos the people were making around him was very small to what happened next. Several, hundreds, of black streams shot forth from the exterior of the tower, off into the distances and one hit the ground just several hundred meters away from the village. Its crash brought up dust and smoke that raised into the air and settled over the ground. People were screaming by this point and Zero couldn't blame them. All he could do was stand there and watch the falling specks rest over the air. Ori had already run off at this point, scared to no end at what had just happened. Hehe...he couldn't blame the creature...he was scared to death.

[Seth THM]

Nina could tell the man was preoccupied with his own feelings, no doubt feeling the same bewilderment and uncertainty as the rest of the fugitives in the village. His response was short, nonchalant, and absent-minded. His attention quickly turned back to his horse and to his own thoughts. Nina didn’t mind; her own grief and pain was still sharp and threatened to break down the composure she’d been fighting to maintain since leaving Erium. She should have been holding on to the small hands of her children at this moment and taking comfort in her husband’s presence. A shaky sigh escaped her lips, probably mimicking the man on the other side of the horse. As her eyes filled with tears, Nina felt the earth begin to shake.

The tremor was subtle at first. Nina thought she’d imagined it until she noticed more than a few birds fly away from the trees and from the houses in perfect harmony. Some people screamed, some people cried, and others breathed panicked whispers. A second tremor knocked her off her feet and onto her back. The pain racked her body and a flash of white light blinded and dazed her. The wound upon her back, so neatly stitched and wrapped, opened up again, staining the wrap a dark, crimson red. The horse next to her ran off, almost crushing her legs as he did so. In fact, many of the animals belonging to the village and to the refugees fled their masters. Panic ensued.

Nina found her way back to her feet as the earth continued to roll. She found her balance, but couldn’t find the will to run, although fear had gripped her soul. She was expecting to see again those monsters that had plagued Erium and that had murdered her family. Machetes in hand, Nina stood her ground, her legs feeling as if they were filled with lead. She looked towards Erium, come what may. She wasn’t, however, prepared for what actually took place. A black mass shot up for the ground, a dark nothingness, an embodiment of evil that was made up of what Nina could only describe as energy, a very dark energy.

From its core, it formed a tower. The sound of its formation had Nina covering her ears; her machetes fell to the ground. Its height reached past the clouds, and Nina couldn’t help but stare in awe. From its exterior, streams burst forth, hundreds of them. One landed close enough to the village to send up dust and leave the villagers and the refugees choking. Nina soon realized that the earth had stopped trembling. She knelt down to pick up and sheath the machetes she’d dropped. Her eyes, however, were still fixed on the tower that had formed, her mouth agape in bewilderment. As the dust began to settle, the screaming and the panic stopped. Other than the sobs of children and a few others, a silence fell over the village.

Nina looked to her left and noticed the man she had spoken to only moments ago. He too, like the rest of the gathering, stood astonished and terrified. His cheeks bore red streaks; blood-filled tears had cascaded down his cheeks. Unaware of the vision that he alone had seen, Nina assumed his fear and his strange tears was from the earth’s trembles and the tower’s formation alone. She reached out her hand and gently touched his shoulder.

Fear and dread gripped Nina’s heart. Just what exactly was going on? What new evil stirs within Viragor? [/color]

[[not my best i'm ashamed to say, but it'll do ^^]]

[Kishimoto Kyo]

(I tried looking for a better photo of the soldiers that are in the Dark Army, but this was the only photo of them. It's kinda sad really that it's the only one >.> Stupid internet...)

The moment her hand touched him, the moment his other shot out and grabbed it over his shoulder with a firm, tight grip. His head turned to face her on instinct, and his eyes glowed a faint glow of red to his already crimson iris, staring her down. Those primal eyes were filled with a blood lust that Zero only experienced when he needed to feed. When his gaze, however, lay upon her, he blinked, the glow vanished and his grip relaxed. "Sorry..." he said apologetically, looking the other way, back to the cloud of dust that had risen in the air. What happened to him right then? He was being more jumpy than usual but the blood lust he had just a second ago came out of nowhere, and he isn't due to feed for another two days. Something, or someone, is messing with his head, and what was worse was that he wasn't sure if it was the tower doing this, or if it was someone else.

The silence that had draped over the village broke when from out of the dust came a person, then two, then four, all of them walking heavy steps in black armor. More came out of the dust and soon, even more came. "Damn it..." Zero swore under his breath, knowing for well it was useless to try and count how many there were, as if that would have helped anyway. The people were panicking again at this point, now on full burst to run away from the approaching danger. Many of them carried swords, a few spears, and the rest behind held in their hands bows and crossbows. They marched in single line formations behind the main force before stopping and taking position, drawing arrows and notching them as they readied to fire. Zero's eyes widened upon the shout to fire. "Get down!!" He almost screamed, grabbing at the woman he just meet and dragged her to the side, into the nearby alleyway. He accidentally pulled a bit too hard and caused them both to fall down to the ground, just as the screams of the people echoed in the air, coming to a terrible silence.

"Damn it!" he swore again, standing up and running down between the two houses, hoping that the woman ran too, either with him or at least away from those soldiers. He wasn't a fighter...no way was he one...besides, one person couldn't take on all of those guys. There was no way he could win. Turning a few corners, he came to the outskirts, only to fall back immediately just as a few black arrows nearly made him into swiss cheese. This was bad...he did the only thing he could do and ran through more of the alleys, hoping to get out of here, if only somehow. Not only had that tower made one army appear where they had been, more were appearing up all over the place. They were going to be overrun if this kept up...but how could these people fight? Most of them were simple merchants, farmers, woodsman, smiths...how would they know how to fight combat trained soldiers and come out alive? This sickening thought only grew worse as the screams continued on. At least the sound of fighting crackled in the back ground.

Zero came out another exit, only to find that the entire road between houses was filled with fighting, the soldiers left of the Erium military trying to combat the enemies off with the few other people ready to fight. "Now or never...I guess..." he painfully said, wary of the battle ahead of him as he drew his daito sword, the tanto secured in its sheath. Gripping the sword with two hands, he stepped forward quickly and took an enemy by surprise, taking a quick blow at the neck with a raised downward strike from above, taking him down easily, the soldier laying in a pool of his own blood. Next time...he was probably not going to be so lucky. Turning swiftly, he raised his sword sideways just in time to block an enemy's attack, only to strain against the strength behind it. Holding steady, he pushed back, but to no avail, the swords deadlocked in place. This really wasn't going too well.

[Seth THM]

((That's totally an imperial from FFXII I guess I get the idea of the Dark Army soldiers!))

In a fleeting moment, Nina thought the man had reached for her hand as a sign of gratitude or relief, perhaps taking comfort in such a small gesture. But suddenly, he turned to face her, and his grip tightened. The surprise – or fear – in her eyes was obvious as she stared back at him. His eyes, already blood shot from his tears, were glowing an eerie red color, something Nina had only heard of in stories. For a moment, Nina could not determine his expression. It was neither anger as she might have expected nor malice, but lust, or better yet, hunger, and it was ravaging.

Nina found herself again facing an evil she never thought she’d live to see. He wasn’t a beast like she vainly fought in Erium, but in his eyes she saw the same malevolence as she’d seen in her family’s slayer. It frightened and angered her. She could feel her heart vigorously pumping inside her chest, the adrenaline rushing through her veins, and a rage boiling within her soul. Nina’s thoughts were racing, but as soon as she had gathered them and willed herself to move and defend herself against whatever impulses were forming in the mind of the creature before her, the man’s eyes suddenly cleared, his grip loosened, and a soft sorry escaped his lips.

Nina was at a loss for words as his gaze left her. She pulled hand away and released the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. Her heart never did have time to return to normal, and she never did find a moment to relax her anxious thoughts for in the distance, from out of the dust that had not yet settled, came armored soldiers marching in their direction. At first, there were only a few, but suddenly it seemed they covered the entire horizon. “Oh dear god,” she breathed, eyes wide with fear. Many of them had drawn their bows, preparing to rain deadly arrows on the town before them. Nina knew she should run, get out of range, but fear held her body frozen. The whoosh of launching arrows was obvious even from a distance. Nina never heard the man shout, but she did feel him pull her down the alleyway and onto the ground. Thankfully, she landed on her side rather than on her back again; however, pain still racked her wounded body.

She struggled to her feet as her senses caught back up with the present. She followed the man as he sprinted though the village’s alleyways, catching an uncanny sense of déjà vu as she did so. She pushed such negative and depressing thoughts to the back of her mind. She and the man continued to run though the labyrinth of alleyways, the sound of battle neither ceasing nor growing fainter. They were surrounded on all sides by the Tower’s soldiers and those trying to fight them off. Swords were clashing, grunts and cries of battle were echoing, flesh was tearing, and people were dying. Nina and her companion soon found themselves facing a road filled with fighting. Nina saw mostly villagers and the opposing army, but littered throughout the battlefield was Erium’s finest, the small platoon of soldiers that made it out of the city.

While her new acquaintance joined the battle, seemingly without any hesitation from what she could see, Nina remained hidden in the shadows of the alley. Her first thought was to turn back, take one of the other turns in the alleyway that might possibly lead away from the fighting, but seeing actual Erium soldiers held her fast. Christopher, one of her two older brothers, a solider himself, could be among them, fighting for the villagers’ lives as well as Nina’s. She couldn’t abandon him; she couldn’t turn tail and flee.

Nina hands found her machetes once again, seemingly of their own free will. She hesitated once more. Nina wasn’t a fighter, despite her longing to become one. She’d never taken a life before, never even drawn blood from an opponent much less an enemy. She had not the skills to take down trained soldiers. She possessed only a crude understanding of swordsmanship and had even less experience in handling. The odds of her being of any help or even surviving the imminent onslaught were slim. Nonetheless, her legs began to carry her foreword, machetes in hand. Her mind’s protests could not outmatch the desire in her heart to fight and to win. Her adrenaline was pumping, numbing the pain her body felt not moments before.

A Dark Army soldier was suddenly before her, his blade aimed for her neck. She ducked, spinning on her heel and managing to kick him square in the chest. He must have been caught off guard because he sprawled on the dirt road. Like an animal, Nina was on him within seconds, one of her machetes finding its mark in the gap between the soldier’s helm and chest plate. A muffled gurgle told Nina the creature was dead. When she pulled the blade out of his flesh, Nina caught sight of bright red blood dripping from its point. A wave of nausea passed over her, but she managed not to let it get the better of her.

Another blade was suddenly aimed at her again, but she managed to parry it away with one machete. With a little luck, she simultaneously brought the other one around to sever its wielder’s head. Nina had turned away by the time it clattered upon the ground. Not far from where she stood, Nina soon caught sight of her the man in the colorful coat standing at odds with one of the Dark Army soldiers. Equal in strength it seemed, they stood sword on sword, one trying to outmatch the other. Within moments, Nina was standing behind the soldier. Her machetes criss-crossed at the nape of the of his neck. As the body fell in a heap, Nina met the eyes of her recent acquaintance briefly. You’re welcome?[/color]