The night in Eldham was horribly alive with the roars of monsters and screams of humans. People from all walks of life yelled for help and their faces contorted in terror. They screamed for salvation… only for their pleas to be swallowed by the din of battle.
Though she heard them, Catra couldn't pay any mind. Her heart pounded like a frantic drum and her focus was absolute. She thought about what her father told her: the true necessity of violence.
This was no joke. Innocent lives hung in the balance, and she needed to get back in the game. She needed to act.
"Come on! We're almost to the infirmary," Harold's voice cut through the ambient terror.
He ran, pushing through the madness while clutching his daughter. Vulen and Catra followed closely, their eyes also fixed on all the deaths.
"Kitty!" Charlotte cried a childlike warning that quickly alarmed the cheetah girl.
Something was coming from behind, and her instincts registered the threat immediately.
Catra hopped away from an unseen attacker to her left and avoided large fangs that almost pierced her leg. A monstrous python almost got her.
The beast's red eyes burned as its tail whipped. From it, it shot sharp fangs glistening with green poison.
They were fast, but Catra's preternatural reflexes saved her again and again. She dodged and aimed her air pump shotgun.
POOM!
"Ssso clossse," the python hissed, slamming backward by the shotgun's air blast.
"GO! GO!" Catra exclaimed after landing on the muddy ground.
They turned right at the end of a street, and heard a surprising voice rip through the battlefield.
"HAROLD!"
It was a woman's shrill cry erupting from the other side of the smoke-filled road. She stood atop a small, two-story building. Her body was completely strained, holding a flimsy metal door that was being pushed outward by monsters. She had thankfully seen the small group from afar, a hope of salvation.
Hearing her words, Harold's gaze focused on the woman and his eyes widened in recognition: That lady was Soliana, the lady he was cheating with.
"Oh my gods!" he gasped.
Catra looked at the man and knew they were related somehow. His hesitation, his distraction… Those sudden actions were putting his children in danger. She had to do something before it became too late.
"You three, head to the infirmary. It's three blocks to the left of here and one to the right, right? I'll get her to safety!" Catra commanded, pointing at the trapped woman on the roof.
"Wait-" Harold tried to protest until his gaze scanned the horizon.
He saw them… the forms of beasts appearing in the distance like a tide.
"GO!"
The cheetah girl's word cut through the scene like a blade and she sprinted directly toward the creatures.
"YUMMY! I've never tasted a beast-person!" a goblin-like monster roared.
They were about to make contact, only for Catra to jump, angle her body mid-air, and point her shotgun at the ground. She fired.
POOM!
The powerful air blast propelled her upward in an acrobatic maneuver, launching her body to the roof of a small house to their side.
As she did this, Harold closed his eyes and his body shook. He was unable to determine how to continue because of the overwhelming reality around him. And just when his thoughts were about to consume him, Vulen grabbed his hand and squeezed.
"Father…" he said in a fear-thick sob.
The man's eyes immediately turned to his child, and it worked. It snapped him from his trance.
Following the sounds of gunshots and blades in the distance, the man smirked and pulled Vulen closer.
"Hang tight," he murmured.
Harold forcefully grabbed Vulen by the waist with his right arm, and did the same with Charlotte on his left. It was time to go.
.
Another goblin-like monster quickly approached and was about to attack, only for the man to spring alive and run. He didn't dare to look back at the horde closing in and just focused on the path in front.
Left turn… forward… forward… Even as he moved with all his might, a few dozen monsters were gaining on him. He could tell.
Carrying both of his children was taking its toll and the thick mud clinging to his boots amplified his exhaustion… Every step nearly caused him to fall again and again, but he didn't stop.
The man turned right in an instant and barely avoided a spear hurled by a kobold.
"Just a little more!" he thought, closing his eyes.
Scary footsteps were a drumbeat that didn't stop. Growing louder… and louder… and louder behind him.
"Please… gods and goddesses… please save my children!" he thought while mentally bracing himself for an impending attack.
Then everything slowed down… The world stretched into a blur, quickly slamming back into focus.
He saw a middle aged elf run past them and get in the way of the attack. With a surge of mana, the man generated a shield and blocked the monster's axe blow.
BAM!
"NOW!" he screamed with a raspy tone that echoed through the street.
All of a sudden, a dagger was thrown from behind them by a cloaked elf woman. The silver blade pierced the kobold's skull in an instant, and the monster dropped onto the mud. The shield user quickly looked at other creatures chasing Harold.
"COME ON, BASTARDS! YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME?!" the small and buff elf exclaimed.
Harold merely stared at him, his children clutched tightly to his chest.
"GET IN THE SHELTER!" the cloaked woman called out from beside them and prepared more daggers from her interlink.
Harold quickly struggled up and moved again. In front of him was a makeshift magical barrier that separated the safe zone from the dangers outside… All he needed to do now was pass, and thus he did.
Afterwards, the shield and sword users that had saved them also retreated, fending off the monster's attacks with precision and managing to get through the barrier too.
Watching the monsters stop their chase because of the barrier was a huge relief that let him take a breath. Any attempt to pass the barrier would cause them to burn, which was something the beasts completely knew. They were finally safe.
The shield user helped Harold to his feet and the cloaked elf woman did not stop her attacks. She kept throwing daggers, systematically taking down monsters. It caused the remaining creatures to retreat and for their roars to fade. After all, searching for fresh meat outside the safe zone was the better option for them.
"It's okay now. You're safe," the shield user softly said.
Harold finally looked around the landscape and saw even more people searching for survivors and defending the entrances. Healers and nurses ran from the infirmary onto the open field looking for the injured individuals to help as best they could. One of those healers was Alhen, his wife.
"MOTHER!" Charlotte's emotional cry immediately caught her attention.
Seeing her daughter's bruised and bleeding arm made her gasp and quickly run to them. She knelt down and her steady hands inspected the bite wound on her arm.
She was really happy they were alive, a feeling that showed by hugging Vulen and Charlotte.
These peaceful moments stretched and Harold's lips curved into a smile. He slowly knelt down and hugged all of them.
"I'm glad you're all okay…" he said, catching his wife completely by surprise.
Before he could utter another word, Alhen pulled her children away from him and returned his warmth with a cold stare.
She was still mad, but even still, her anger briefly yielded to love after some seconds. She let go of her children and hugged him tightly, sobbing while doing so.
"I thought you were dead…" she muffled against his shoulder.
"Even if I was, you would probably revive me just to kill me again," the man responded in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"I hate you so much, you darn bastard."
Harold gently moved back and swept the scene around him. He remembered it there… Catra and Soliana…
The elf frantically searched the chaos and tried to find them… nothing.
"Please… gods…" he prayed.