Lykaon

Chapter 11: Fear's Embrace

POV: Justin Piras

Fear consumed me.

It was the dead of night and the entire city was in flames. People ran for their lives from monstrosities that I had never seen the likes of before. Many lay lifeless upon the blood-soaked cobblestone ground. Women, children, men who had taken up weapons of their own to try to save their families. They were all torn asunder in a vicious massacre.

My eye caught the glint of golden armor not far from where I stood amongst the chaos. Sprinting over to it, I knelt down next to the body. It was one of my Sun Singer brothers, I could already tell by the signature colors. Grunting, I rolled my fallen brethren over. The face was that of my stubborn yet valiant friend Laiv. He had gone down fighting, just as he always told me he would.

Suddenly I heard a loud cracking noise overhead. I looked up, realizing several burning rafters were on the verge of falling on me. Adrenaline kicked in and I dove out of the way just as the entire building collapsed, burying my deceased comrade in debris.

I was overcome with grief but I had to keep moving. I had to find Kalina and get her out of here before it was too late. I didn't know where these creatures had come from or how they had overtaken the city but one thing was clear; Planao was lost. These beasts were clearly strong enough to defeat a Sun Singer despite our power and there was no stronger defense than our order. This was the end.

I spun around, trying to gain my bearings. There it was, the castle was not far. Instantly darting in the direction of the massive seat of power, I didn't think I had ever moved so rapidly.

Maybe fifty feet from where I had started, I was suddenly hit and thrown through a nearby wall that had been weakened by flames. Before I could stand, one of the monsters had leapt on top of me and pinned me down. Its jaws repeatedly snapped, mere inches from my face. Saliva dripped from its massive maw onto my face and I was scarcely able to breathe from its repulsive breath. Every second it was growing closer as I held it back with one hand and simultaneously searched for a weapon with the other. My hand finally grasped onto a shard of wood which I instantly used to impale the beast from the side. Howling in agony, the creature jumped off me. It was just enough time for me to raise my right hand to the sky, "Ra, grant me the power to eradicate this unholy abomination!" My raised extremity began to shimmer with white light and my weapon formed in my open hand. Seeing the new threat, my enemy immediately tried to strike again but it was of no use. I swung the hammer at its head and as soon as it made contact, the monster began to glow. The light increased, a loudly audible humming noise growing as it did until the beast exploded in burst of blinding light. Not a shred of it was left to be seen.

Exiting the nearly destroyed building, I once again began my race to the castle. This time my hammer was already in my hand, in case any more resistance attempted to stop me. My mind was filled with fear but mostly anger. Anger that swept over me like a tidal wave, it was ceaseless. Planao was my city. Those were my friends lying dead on the street. I was a protector of this realm and I had failed. My whole world was burning around me. I could not let my love, Kalina, fall too.

I could hear screaming coming from all directions as hundreds of people tried to flee from the city. I pushed my way through the overwhelming crowd. All of my senses were being bombarded and my head ached from the overload but I kept moving as quickly as I could. Every thing seemed as if it was moving in slow motion and it was impossible to move without stepping on the corpses below me. Gritting my teeth, I pushed on, trying to block all other thoughts out of my mind.

The castle gates finally loomed before me but.. they didn't. The gates must have been torn open by some gargantuan force, for the very bars were ripped apart. My heart sunk; No.. How is this possible?