The sound of intense combat rang out behind the lion pack, but my plea for reinforcement was dismissed almost immediately. I caught glimpses of Blessed and their Soulkins equipped for battle, rushing into the masses of Wilds and Awakened beasts. They were experienced enough to kill a few Wilds, but they faltered against the Awakened.
They were Adepts at best, and it didn’t take long before they were surrounded by beasts, their bodies covered in deep gashes. Then there were the corpses—and the beasts feasting on the unfortunate souls. I had seen some before, but only now did I truly register what was happening as lifeless eyes stared at me.
My mind went blank as those void eyes locked onto mine, accusatory, as if I’d had anything to do with their deaths. As messed up as it was, guilt tore through my body regardless of whose fault the stampede had been.
Screams, some filled with despair, others laced with excruciating pain, filled the streets, followed by the horrors of claws and fangs tearing through those who couldn’t protect themselves. Their despair filled me with dread.
Are my parents… okay? What if— I shook my head, trying to dispel the thoughts. I had to survive first, and once again, I had to rely on the protection of others to do so.
Not now!
Bert and Evalynn were on the move. The Beaster’s wife vanished in a flash, while the two-headed lion attacked. The crystallized beast summoned icicles and hurled them at Bert, who met the projectiles head-on. He punched through them like they were snowballs.
His fist was coated in ice, but he didn’t seem to care as he rushed at the beast. Its heads lunged, but the Beaster grasped one and tore it apart with brute strength. The creature didn’t even get the chance to scream as Bert pushed forward, ripping through the beast’s left head. The right one struck, sinking its fangs into Bert’s shoulder.
Evalynn appeared out of nowhere, a set of bloodied shortswords in her hands.
I could barely comprehend what unfolded before my eyes as Evalynn’s blades became a blur—and the beast collapsed.
It was incredibly difficult to tear my attention away from the crystallized, two-headed monster, but more beasts still needed to be dealt with. Or at least, they had, just a moment ago. I had no idea when it happened or how, but the rest of the lion pack was no more. The two-headed beast’s cronies lay dead, blood pooling around them.
“Damn,” Daniel muttered aloud, and I could only second that.
Since when were Beasters so powerful? Evalynn didn’t strike me as violent. She was quiet, but kind.
But what did one of the last books I read say? The most unassuming depths often hide either boundless treasure or ruinous danger.
I shuddered and watched the couple in silence. Evalynn stored the crystallized beast in their storage unit while Bert retrieved a vial. He removed the cap and poured a viscous, dark-violet serum on his wounds. For a moment, it looked like his clothes had caught fire, but then the acrid stench of burning flesh hit me.
Bert grunted and motioned for us to follow. I was still staring at the chaos, chaos that had probably engulfed the entire Bastion by now, and dashed to catch up.
We passed through two streets with relatively little resistance. Evalynn vanished a few times, always returning with fresh blood dripping from her blades, but soon we reached my home. The building stood just fifty meters ahead, yet my stomach twisted.
Dark thoughts flooded my mind, worst-case scenarios flashing like lightning as I saw avian beasts climbing walls, slipping through shattered windows. Ground beasts stalked through the entryway. Screams echoed inside.
Something felt wrong. My gut twisted, and my hair stood on end.
“Phantom beast!” The cry barely reached me before warm blood splattered across my face. Bert appeared beside me, a claw protruding from his back.
The Beaster cursed under his breath and lunged at the unfamiliar creature, only for it to vanish into thin air.
He retrieved another serum and emptied it without hesitation, his eyes darting left and right.
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“Nasty bugger,” Evalynn said as calmly as possible while pouring her own vial over deep gashes in her arm. It was only then I noticed the wounds.
“You and Daniel will be fine. The Phantom beast is after our Worlds,” Bert said through gritted teeth, but I wasn’t so sure. The Beaster and his wife didn’t sound nearly as confident as I wanted them to.
“Rescue your parents. We’ll be fine here.”
He coughed up blood as he spoke. I shuddered but nodded. Fear tried to freeze me in place, but the thought of my parents in danger burned hotter than any panic.
Daniel stepped beside me, his eyes sharp, a sword in hand. Coco emerged beside him and charged at the mass of Wild beasts clogging the street.
Daniel transformed into a purple flash and dashed past his Soulkin, paving a path for Coco. The Thunderhorn Bull charged ahead and released lightning currents in all directions, expanding the path of death and destruction. The smell of burned flesh hit me fiercely as I followed my friend and his Soulkin. I was slow, but I reached the building shortly after the others.
“There shouldn’t be any beasts nearby. Most Awakened beasts will attack me and Coco,” Daniel said, his eyes constantly scanning the battlefield. “I’ll clear the building of Awakened beasts. Get your parents out of the building.”
My mind was a mess, and I had a lot to say, yet the only thing I could utter was a “Thank you.”
Daniel patted my back and disappeared once the Thunderhorn Bull scared off the Wilds in the streets. Coco had to kill two dozen Wilds to make a statement, but those who survived understood the Soulkin’s intentions.
Aureus appeared on my shoulder as I stepped into the same old building I had lived in for the last fifteen years. Looking at the destruction around me—splattered blood and smears of dirt all over the small entrance hall—it was hard to imagine that it had once been the same place. I looked to the left at Aureus’ behest and noticed movement near the elevators. My eyes lingered on an unmoving hand on the ground, half-disappearing into one of the elevator doors, followed by a resounding crunch that rang in my head. The sound was imprinted in my memory, alongside images formed by a mixture of terror and imagination.
A burst of anger flooded the bond, tearing me away from the horrors around me. Aureus was right; I had to get moving. If I didn’t want my parents to end up like my neighbors, I had to go—now.
I didn’t trust the elevators to work properly, nor did I think it wise to use one when every floor was likely filled to the brim with beasts of all kinds. So, I turned to the stairs. Daniel and Coco were nowhere to be seen, but the sound of combat reached my ears as I neared the door to the right—or where a door was supposed to be. Something had ripped the door to the stairwell off its hinges, which was no easy feat by any means.
That didn’t promise to be a safe path to my parents, but it wasn’t like a stampede promised anything but certain death to countless innocent people.
A beast—a dog-sized spider—scared the living shit out of me when it leaped the moment I stepped into the stairwell. I regained my senses quickly enough and was ready to use Paralyse, though Aureus had already done so. The spider froze as Aureus leaped from my shoulder. He pounced on the beast and crunched down on the spider’s head.
Aureus clawed at the spider while I unsheathed the refined silvernit sword, but the little glutton didn’t need my help. He climbed back onto my shoulder after spitting out the remains of the spider’s head.
“Thanks, buddy,” I muttered, cursing myself for my lack of preparedness.
I gripped the silvernit sword tightly and channeled enough ether into the bond to use Paralyse at any time. At the same time, I made sure to channel ether through my body, augmenting my physical attributes ever so slightly.
Moving up the stairwell was a simple task. A few more beasts obstructed my path and attacked when they discovered what they thought was easy prey, but it turned out they had never been the hunters. The silvernit sword tore through three beasts that couldn’t have been stronger than a Bloodbath Deer, while Aureus helped with a fourth beast by using Paralyse. He conserved his power as much as possible and maintained Paralyse only for a quarter of a second, but that was all my sword needed to behead the grotesque creature. It was some sort of winged badger covered in scales and a slippery gel that could only be mucus.
It was dead, and that was all that mattered.
We were fortunate not to encounter the beast that had torn apart the door to the stairwell. It had continued through another door on the third floor, which was far from my final destination. My feet carried me through the stairwell in large strides, and it didn’t take long to arrive at the correct floor.
My heart skipped a beat when I noticed the stairwell’s door was wide open, but I rushed into the hallway nonetheless. My head snapped to the right while Aureus looked left, alert to unwelcome guests. My worst fears came true as I locked onto a beast stepping into our apartment. The door was nowhere to be seen.
Yelps and screams rang in my ears, and I found myself in the doorway, a dead beast lying at my feet. Blood dripped to the ground, but it was not mine—nor would I have cared if it had been.
My eyes narrowed to tiny slits, and my heart was racing as the living room came into view. Our table was crushed, splinters of wood covered in dirt and blood. I rushed into the apartment and found my parents in the kitchen. My father was bleeding and Mom was screaming, tears trickling down her cheeks. Then there were the Blackbellied Gibbons—those little mischievous, but loyal brats. They were weaker than the abominations attacking my parents, yet they fought desperately to defend their people—their family.
Seeing my parents like that crushed something deep inside me. My World roared, and so did I, as I rushed at the beasts, ignoring the blood oozing from my eyes.