The Last Saint

19: Warfare

Ryan was surprised to see Kara there with Adam and Eve at his door, but he said nothing, and joined them as they all sat around the dinner table. Adam sat across from Kara, who was still quite shocked.

First, Adam turned to Ryan. "My teacher, Maze, was the Twelfth. He attacked me, Eve saved my life."

He then turned to Kara. "The short version is there's a thing called the World Tree that keeps everything together. The World Tree is dying though. and if the tree kicks it, we all die. So we have to revive it by defeating these Saints, like the guy we fought today, and using their power to revive it. the one problem is that these guys want to kill us and use Eve as the seed to recreate the world in their image. And all of them have some crazy magic abilities."

Kara blinked rather absently, staring at Adam. "Is this..."

Ryan nodded. "It's true. I don't blame you if you think we're crazy though. It's-"

Suddenly Eve stood up, grabbing her sword. "Grab your weapons. NOW!"

"What is it?" Adam asked. Eve looked terrified.

"He's coming."

"Who?"

"The First." She replied.

Adam grabbed his sword from the living room and Ryan grabbed his bow and all his arrows, and they decided to gather in the backyard, Kara going with them. All at once, men started materializing all around the group. They wore while cloaks and robes, and carried all manner of weapons. They moved in, and Eve, Adam and Ryan formed a ring around Kara.

These constructs were much more powerful than the ones created by the Ninth and even by the Fourth. Their fighting style was more agile. Adam took on two; a mace wielder and a lance user. They came at him from both sides, and he was forced to parry and dodge. From above, several fired spears of light that burned the ground on impact. Eve managed to destroy two, while Ryan's arrows took down one of the magic-using enemies.

Suddenly, the cloaked swordsman also appeared, and began helping out, even killing the lance-wielding construct for Adam.

Adam raised his hand and launched a fireball at one of the floating constructs then countered the mace-wielder, destroying both of them. Still the group fought hard, turning the tide against the First's constructs.

Adam yelled out to Eve and the others; "Alright, we're hanging in there, we're not beat yet! We can do this!"

Suddenly a strange voice carried on the wind. "No, you can't."

And a massive beam of light came down, striking the house and causing it to explode, knocking everyone back. Adam laid in the grass, his head split open from the debris. His vision blurry, he struggled to recover, as he did he saw Ryan sitting on his knees in front of the flaming remains of his house. Eve walked over and helped Adam stand up, and walked to Ryan.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Tears started to fall from his eyes. Kara was also able to rise on her own. the cloaked swordsman had disappeared once again.

"Ryan," Adam began, but he was cut off.

"We need to go to Garamond's house. We need to," Ryan said.

Adam and Eve helped him up, and they started to move there. When they got to the street, they saw the police car that always watched Ryan's house in flames, with the bodies of the two officers burning inside.

They moved slowly towards Garamond's house, carefully looking out for Constructs along the way. Adam borrowed Kara's cell phone to call Liz and Beth there too, but they didn't answer. He felt a knot in his stomach.

The knot grew deeper as he noticed a column of black smoke rising from the direction of Garamond's home.

"No," Adam whispered. "No, no, no!"

They drew closer, and he called Liz and Beth again. He tried Garamond's cell but the number was disconnected. Adam's heart felt like an anchor, slowing him as he approached. Finally, they reached Garamond's street, and started to sprint towards his flaming house.

They gathered in a line in the front yard. Ryan simply collapsed to his knees. Kara screamed and cried. Eve turned her eyes away. Only Adam stared, taking in the scene before him.

Garamond's body laid sprawled out on the front lawn, with multiple gaping blade wounds. His wife was face down on the grass beside him, her throat and ankles slashed, and Garamond's removed head stood on a wooden pike, between the corpses, his eyes open, his dead face frozen in a horrified expression.

"Oh my god!" the voice behind them cried out. They turned around. Liz stood there, dragging her sword against the ground and clutching her wounded right shoulder.

Adam and Eve rushed over to her. "They attacked you too?" He said.

She nodded tearfully. "My mom and dad fought them off so I could get away. This was the first place I could think of to go!"

Adam shook his head. "How could this have happened?"

"It was him," another voice echoed. Eve tearfully thrust himself between the new person and Adam.

The cloaked girl lowered her hood. The Eleventh. "Taiyang did this."

Adam tightened his grip on his sword and looked straight at Fate. "Tell me one good reason why we shouldn't kill you right here and now!"

Fate looked at him pitifully as he yelled at her. "I'll tell you... Where to find the First."

She walked over to Eve, and held out her hand. Eve gripped it and closer her eyes, and they both began to glow for a moment. Then, Fate let go, and turned to Adam.

"I'm sorry," She said, though it was barely audible. And then she left, her construct appearing to create a portal for them both to go through.