Chapter 41: Autumn Dream
Reinhard found himself standing on a dirt road, the afternoon sun casting warm light across familiar buildings. But he felt something was wrong as he looked around and saw the architecture was older.
He didn’t recognize the people walking in the streets, and when he narrowed his eyes.
He noted the structure around wasn’t the same as Mensis town. The colors of the building and the way they were shaped was different and it’s then he realized what’s going on.
He was dreaming about Autumn Town, before the fire.
Reinhard then saw the forest beyond the town edge began shaking violently. Trees swayed and toppled as something massive moved through them, stirring up clouds of dust that obscured whatever beasts were approaching. But the sounds of howls, roars, and thunderous footsteps rushing through the forest were unmistakable.
Reinhard then blinks and then the scene shifts.
Reinhard saw residents poured into the streets, their faces pale with terror as they pointed toward the approaching dust cloud. Children cried and panicked while parents clutched them close and tried their best to calm them down. Elderly residents stood frozen in doorways, unable to process what their eyes were telling them.
But then the mayor emerged from the town hall, an old man with graying hair and a face that had seen too many sleepless nights. Town guards flanked him, their swords drawn but their hands trembling.
"Everyone to the storage building!" The mayor’s voice carried across the panicked crowd. "Into the cellars! Move quickly but don’t run, we need everyone to reach safety!"
The mayor’s words instantly had the residents moving. Guards began directing the flow of residents and stopping everyone rushing in chaos.
Reinhard saw mothers grabbing children’s hands and rushed toward the designated building. Men helped elderly neighbors navigate the crowded streets with some picking those elderly up. Teenagers were picking up the kids before following along or moving together in groups with worried expressions.
Reinhard watched the scene shift as people streamed into the storage building, disappearing down stone steps into the underground tunnel system. Their faces showed fear but also determination as they glanced at the people they cared about.
Meanwhile, the mayor pulled his guards aside. "To your positions. You know what needs to be done."
The guards nodded grimly before dispersing throughout the town and the scene followed them as they moved to predetermined locations. He saw guards moving behind buildings, standing in alleyways, and rushing to other structures.
Each carried a dimmed lantern that they positioned carefully and then began throwing oil over their structure.
Then once the oil was done, they crouched down to wait.
Reinhard caressed his chin and muttered. "Is this how they did it? Burn down the town?"
The Phantasm Beast horde broke through the forest edge and rushed in like a tidal wave. Werefangs rushed forward on all fours, their crimson eyes glowing as they crashed through the first line of buildings. Wooden structures bent under their assault with debris flying in all directions.
Autumn Deer with their multi-antlered heads smashed through gas lamps lining the streets, their hooves striking out with precision. The Phantasm moved around targeting the town’s infrastructure rather than simply rampaging randomly.
Massive bears with spikes protruding from their backs blasted through walls, their roars shaking the ground as they demolished everything in their path.
The scene shifted to guards throughout the town simultaneously turning up their lanterns and hurling the flames against the buildings. Fire covered the buildings before swiftly spreading with frightening speed across.
Within minutes the entire town was engulfed.
Flames roared skyward as the trap sprang closed around the invading beasts. The Phantasm Beasts roars shifted from aggression to confusion and pain as fire surrounded them on all sides.
The mayor ran through smoke-filled streets with his remaining guards, the heat making them sweat as they raced toward the storage building. Reinhard saw behind them, some Phantasm Beasts broke through the fire wall and pursued with single-minded fury.
Bits of fire had coated on the fur of the Werefangs but they didn’t seem to care.
The mayor and his guards reached the cellar entrance and plunged down the steps. Just as the Werefangs approached, the flames erupted over the building and smashed into the pursuing Werefangs.
The scene shifted to show them catching up with the evacuating residents who moved through the underground tunnel in organized formation. Children were carried, elderly residents supported by younger people and everyone moving with urgency.
Then the formation stopped abruptly.
Ahead in the tunnel, illuminated by flickering gas lamps, stood Werefangs and Autumn Deer blocking their path.
One guard cursed viciously. "They must have found the exit and entered from the other end!"
The mayor’s face hardened as he drew his sword. "Guards clear a path for our citizens! For Autumn Town!"
The scene became fragmented and blurry as combat erupted in the confined tunnel space. Reinhard saw flashes of violence as guards engaging beasts in desperate melee, residents screaming and trying to flee, blood splashing against stone walls.
People and Phantasm Beasts fell alike, their bodies creating obstacles in the narrow passage.
The fragmentation condenses together to show the mayor lying on the tunnel floor, bleeding from multiple wounds. Other bodies surrounded him both human and beast.
But despite his injuries, he was smiling.
"Some of them escaped." The mayor muttered through bloodied lips.
Then a white light rushed through the area and washed over the mayor. The white light covered them in a white shimmering aura that blinded everything.
When it cleared, the amalgamation stood where the mayor had been lying in all its horrific glory. Reinhard eyes widened in realization as he watched the arms and limbs and wax and wood twisted together around that single massive eye.
The Autumn Town people... Is that amalgamation? How!?
And Reinhard could hear them now, the voices trapped within. The mayor’s consciousness, mingled with the beasts he had killed and those who had killed his guards.
Residents who had died in the tunnel, their final moments of terror preserved and replayed endlessly.
All of them pleaded and cried out.
"Release us." They begged.
"End us." They cried.
"Please, let us rest." They whispered.
Then a tall figure that was blurred appeared, gently rubbing the amalgamation before then walking forward through the tunnel.
Ignoring the pleading and cries of the amalgamation that couldn’t move.
The dream then froze before shattering as Reinhard’s consciousness struggled toward waking reality.