Two days later.
Lioraen walked through the ruined streets, the air thick with the stench of blood and wood. His cloak clung to his skin. His feet were sore. His left hand never left the sword hilt.
The town was silent.
*I've killed five of these things already… yet I still don't know what they are.*
He stepped over a collapsed fence and stared at the rooftops, the broken windows.
*Two days now… no survivors. No movement. No voices. Only corpses. I guess the rest evacuated.*
He continued his journey.
*I couldn't find Rae's father in their home. Makes sense, since he didn't come to search for her. He's in the wide life, so I won't be surprised if he's called in by the authorities. But... is that more important than his daughter?*
He sighed.
*Doesn't matter anymore. She's dead.*
He froze, his severed arm acting up at the memories.
"Argh! It hurts!"
His ears twitched. A low rumble vibrated through the ground.
Up ahead, at the end of the street—a beast appeared.
Taller than the others he had killed. Its limbs were long, spiky. Its eye gleamed, bright and wet, following his every twitch.
Lioraen gulped down and chuckled nervously.
"How big can you be..."
The creature dashed toward him, the ground trembling under its weight.
Lioraen turned and ran.
Not aimlessly—he counted his breaths, measured his steps, letting the monster close the distance just enough.
*Faster… follow me…*
He cut into a narrow street, then slipped into a sharp turn. The beast lunged after him, one of its eyes stretched forward on that grotesque stalk, scouting ahead.
*Now.*
He pivoted, swinging his sword in a clean, practiced arc. The blade tore through the eye, splitting it open. The beast screeched and collapsed, writhing in the dirt.
*There are different types of these beasts that I have seen, but mostly the ones with these long eyes are in this area. They even have their own breed. How ridiculous.*
He stepped closer to it and dealt the finishing swing to the neck.
*Like I suspected. The neck is their weak point.*
Before he could breathe, another one burst from a broken doorway, catching him off guard.
"Wha—"
It slammed into him.
He pushed back, planting his sword into the ground to hold himself.
He didn't give it the chance.
Lioraen dropped his bag and lunged forward, narrowly avoiding the creature's paw that came swinging. He rammed his sword upward, slicing through the soft flesh under its neck. Black blood splattered across his face as the creature shrieked and stumbled.
Another howl tore through the air.
"Really?!"
A third beast burst from a shattered window, landing behind him. The ground shook. Lioraen spun, barely raising his blade in time. The creature's claw scraped across the steel, forcing him back.
*Another breed! But it's smaller.*
A fourth barreled in from the side.
*I'm outnumbered.*
The third charged first. He stepped aside, using his small stature to his advantage. He sliced into its knee joint. The leg buckled and it fell forward. Lioraen turned his sword and dashed under, slicing its neck.
Before he could regain himself, the fourth was already on him.
Its massive limb swept across his ribs, sending him crashing into a ruined wall. Pain exploded through his side. He gritted his teeth, shoving himself up before the beast could pin him.
The creature lunged again and he rolled. He grabbed a broken wooden beam and jammed it forward, impaling its eye. The creature writhed, screeching, clawing the air in blind agony.
He didn't hesitate and picked up his sword.
He leapt forward and drove his sword straight through its throat.
Its body dropped.
Silence reigned over the clearing of dead beasts. He took deep breaths, but that was not all.
More shadows moved in from different directions.
"Aah..."
He backed up slowly.
*I can't take all of them… I'll surely die.*
His fingers tightened on the sword.
Retreat.
He turned to run toward the right, picking up his bag, but then—
A small, sharp sound cut through the air.
A child's cry.
From the left.
He froze.
"A child?!"
He snapped his head toward the sound.
Every creature around him did the same, their eyes twitching violently in the direction of the cry.
In perfect, horrifying unison, all the beasts shifted their bodies.
And began moving toward the left.
Lioraen stood there, breath stuck in his throat.
"Aah..."
*I should escape... I should run away... but*
"Shit!"
Lioraen dashed toward the left. The creatures moved ahead of him, towards the cry.
He didn't think.
He swung.
His blade tore through the back of the nearest small beast, splitting its spine. It shrieked and collapsed, but another one turned instantly, its limb whipping through the air.
It struck him full force.
He flew.
His body crashed through a house window, glass and wood exploding around him. He hit the floor hard.
"Urgh!"
Pain burned through his ribs and shoulder. Blood dripped from his mouth onto the dusty floorboards.
He forced himself up.
*The cry seems to be coming from behind this street. I can run ahead from here.*
He staggered through the ruined house and threw open the back door. He dashed into the narrow alley behind it, cutting across the path he calculated the creatures hadn't reached yet.
The child's voice echoed again, thin, scared.
*Stop calling them, you damn child!*
He reached the source of the cry.
And froze.
A baby. Barely a year old. Sitting in the dirt, trembling, its tiny hands clinging to a torn cloth.
Lioraen's stomach dropped.
"Hah—"
He laughed, a frustrated sound.
"I have one hand… and I need to wield a sword, child!"
The baby whimpered and crawled toward him, dragging itself closer, seeking warmth, seeking anyone.
He knelt without meaning to, his breath shaking. The child pressed against his leg, small fingers gripping his cloak.
*If I take the child, then I can't fight. If I don't fight, I'll die.*
He swallowed hard.
The ground vibrated.
A beast burst into the scene, smashing through a broken doorway, its single eye stretching toward them.
"Aah..."
Lioraen bent down fast.
With a sudden surge of desperate strength, he grabbed the baby's cloth at the back of its neck, closing his teeth around the fabric.
There was no other way.
*I have to get away.*
He ran.
The child swung against his chest as he sprinted, crying loudly, the sound echoing through the ruined street. His jaw ached from gripping the cloth, but he held on, refusing to let the baby fall.
He cut around a corner, then another, barefoot skidding on broken stone.
Behind him, the beasts screeched.
They gave chase immediately, tracking the sound of the crying infant.
*This is hard! I have to drop the child, or I'll die.*
Nevertheless, he kept running.
Behind him, the beasts closed in.
Their screeches grew sharper. Closer.
One swipe grazed his back, tearing his cloak.
*Is this it?! I haven't even found the one-eye beast that killed Mother and took Rae from me.*
Another beast lunged. Its claws scraped the air beside his cheek. They were on him, seconds away from ripping him apart.
But then,
A sound tore through the street.
He recognized the sound of the weapon used to hunt beasts. The wide life relic made to shoot compressed stone.
**BOOM**
A single shot.
The first beast's head exploded.
The others froze.
Two more thunderous cracks followed.
**BOOM**
**BOOM**
Each shot hit clean, ripping through flesh and bone with unnatural precision. The creatures dropped instantly, bodies twitching as their eye-stalks curled in death.
Silence crashed over the street.
Lioraen stood there, panting, the baby trembling against his chest.
"Lioraen?"
He glanced and huffed.
*"Imyn?"*
TBC...