Aerorise: Shadows of the sea

Echoes of invasion

It was late at night in Harveston-shire when the first moon began to rise. The moon could rise beautifully above thousands of fields, which were occasionally interrupted by old colorful Victorian houses, stables and warehouses. This was because the humans who lived there mainly practiced agriculture for less than a minimum wage. The entire town was asleep, all the lights were out, the only thing that lit this peaceful location were the billions of stars even adding color to this otherwise dark canvas, the streets were silent, the only sounds of crickets that rubbed their wings making a calming sound were heard. When the clock struck midnight the first moon hit its highest point, it would only be a few minutes till all three of the moons would shine at their highest point. The inhabitants of Harveston-shire had no clue that today would be the day that they could participate in a once of a lifetime event, the moon festival. And when they use the term once in a lifetime to explain this term, it is because you participate in it once and in most cases you won't see the morning again. But still, no matter how deadly this event can be, it was stunning to see the moons change from a beige to an ocean blue to a bunting blue. This extraordinary change of color would be the last warning that Harveston-shire would get, their last chance to evacuate before it was all too late for them. It started with small earthquakes, those who couldn't even wake the light sleepers as they were all doomed, these weren't normal earthquakes, no these got caused by Nyxenthrope, who were climbing from the metal chains that connected the flying countries, Dreadmore Abyss and Harveston-shire, This didn't take long as they climbed with their ten-feet long arms, which was made with the same black liquid that shifted and sometimes even made holes, where you could see their intestines through. They moved carefully and unhurried as they gently began climbing the long journey, each movement causing small earthquakes, almost impossible to feel. The shadow reavers, a different type of Nyxenthrope with shorter arms, used their midnight black wings to fly the distance. If it wasn't for their sharklike mouth or the fact that they didn't have eyes, ears or a nose, their wings would be the most terrifying thing about them, they looked like the wings of an eagle but instead of feathers, you could see from a distance the reflection of knives that somehow where still able to lift them in the air.

only a few hours and they would reach their destination, forming an even bigger danger for the colorful homes near the edges of harveston-shire, one of those homes was the home of the Meadows family. Their home had three floors with the stables built against the house in the same baby blue color, which was in some places peeled off by the old age. The Meadows kept sleeping peacefully but not for long as the Nyxenthrope came closer and closer towards their homes, as their dreams continued. Marie-Elise, the youngest of the family, was the last to wake up by the loud sound of the sirens, which were echoing around the streets, alarming them for the invasion of Nyxenthrope that had just destroyed the first villages on the edge of the cliff. Marrie-Elise woke up a bit too calm, considering the situation as it took her a while to understand what was happening and from where this disturbing sound that woke her up came from. With her red wavy hair all tangled up and covering her entire face she tried to get it out her face to see what was going on. When she was able to see, she realized that it was not her morning alarm that went off to remind her of her life where she has to wake up to help her parents with the farm so they would have enough money and food. No, these were the alarms to show her they were under attack. When she came to the conclusion that her hometown was tonight participating in the moon festival she got stiff, she could feel her heart stuck in her throat, feeling every beat it made. She tried to run towards her parents, for Sylvaris sake even towards her brother, but she couldn't, she couldn't move a fiber in her body, her defined muscles went tense as panic slowly took over her mind and she couldn't think rationally anymore.

If it wasn't for her older brother, Marcus, who bursted into her room, without knocking as usual, only this time his gray eyes stood wide and he had a frantic voice instead of his normal low, almost dead voice, Marrie-Elisia would have remained paralyzed in her uncontrollable fear.