Sanguine Halo

Chapter Five: The Dawn of War

From the darkness, the demons made their way into the land of the lightbearers. Long ago they maybe defeated but now, they thirst for blood. The prophecy of chaos is nigh.

In the middle of the night, Mirael woke up by strange noises of screams and cries of people outside their house.
"Fawkes? Fawkes!" She called out to him and he immediately came to her room. "What's happening outside?"
Fawkes opened the blinds. Red lights filled outside and people are running on the streets.
"Trouble." Fawkes hurriedly got dressed and tool his coffin and crossbow with him. He covered his face with a black mask and wore a hat.
"You do look like more of a cowboy rather than a hero you know." Mirael said jokingly.

She casted a flame and her clothing changed into a long, black dress with a matching hat on her head.
"Hey, you wore the hat I gave you." Fawkes looked at her. His imagining things again. Looking at her makes him hypnotized. He thinks that Mirael isn't just beautiful... She looks like a Goddess to him.

"Snap out of it. Let's find out what happened."
They rushed outside their house and found people running away. Hypogeans filled the streets and caused terror to the humans. With his crossbow, Fawkes shot down the hypogeans and ran to help the humans.

"Help! I lost my daughter please!!! Help me find my daughter." A woman ran towards Mirael and Fawkes crying hysterically. Fawkes looked back at the area. It's swarming with hypogeans. One thing for sure appeared on his mind, hypogeans takes existence and the poor woman's child might haven't even survived.

"I'm sorry. Your daughter's already dead."
After he said this, the woman continued to plead and cry until she knelt on the ground and touched Mirael's dress.
"Please!!! She might still be alive... Maybe she hid somewhere safe please!"

Mirael couldn't ignore what she said and looked at Fawkes.
"If you're not going, I'm going."

Fawkes stopped her by gripping her hand and tried pulling her close.
"No Mirael. It's dangerous out there, you can't even control your powers!"

"So what if I can't control it? A life is at stake... What more could we do? Are we just gonna stand by on a corner and do nothing? Sorry... But I can't let another mother lose her child."

Mirael shook her hand off Fawkes' grip and ran towards the swarm of hypogeans incinerating every one that reeks of hypogean stench.

These imbeciles are too many. She was almost out of her breath from swinging her arms in every direction casting fireballs of any sorts killing every demon that she sees.
She realizes what Fawkes said and would almost give up from searching the lost girl when she heard a faint cry of a young girl from a corner of the street.

Hypogeans surrounded the girl while she helplessly cried begging for her Mommy to come.
Mirael jumped into the action and stepped up holding a bright flame on her hand.
"Pwwwht!"
She whistled and the hypogeans faced her.
"Hey boys. You all look cold... Let me warm you up."

She casted a flame shield on the young girl while releasing five giant burning phoenix to burn them all.
"Kggaaaaarhhhhhghhhh." The hypogeans turned to ashes being touched by Mirael's flames.

She's catching her breath after a short while. Mirael had used up all her energy and dropped her knees into the ground. The young girl went close to her and hugged her.

"Thank you pretty lady."
The child gleefully smiled at her and she returned also the same smile even though she's exhausted as hell.

"My work's not done yet little one. Let's get you to your mother."

Mirael caught up a few energy by resting a bit and brought the girl with her.
Her flames illuminated the seemingly cold and dark night.

She held her phone on the other hand tracking Fawkes' location via GPS.

A short while passed and Mirael and the girl reached Fawkes' destination.
There are many refugees that she saw which Fawkes saved from the hypogeans down the streets.

"Momma!" The girl gladly shouted as she saw her mother that had been worried sick about her.

Mirael remembered Shemira. She never saw her son happy like that when they were alive. Her convictions are honed by what happened during the time that they went to the border of the Arcanists' Union.

"Temporarily... We'll stay here at the castle Rayne. His highness allowed us and these refugees to use this place as an evacuation area when the hypogeans attack again." Fawkes said as he walked closer to Mirael from behind her.
"The King really agreed? Wow. I must Tweet this!"
Mirael grabbed her phone but Fawkes stopped her.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through a lot."
His voice is cold yet she can feel the warmth of sympathy that he had for her.

"Say Fawkes... The hypogeans made their way here right? Do you think if we're going to have children... Will they also fight the war that we fight?"

His eyes averted from her gaze. Fawkes wouldn't imagine a world where their children are afflicted by this pestilence that they are now experiencing.

"We will fight now even if we lose our breath in the battlefield to safeguard the tomorrow of our children and our children's children."

Mirael moved closer to him and he gave her a warm hug while facing far away. Not visible from Fawkes' sight and covered with her hat, Mirael's tears fell down slowly. She knows that Fawkes is someone that she could trust. Someone she could turn to when times get rough and he is someone that can save her
from herself...

"Did you find my daughter yet?"
A loud voice filled the throneroom of the hypogeans.

"Not yet my king. No Lightbearer had been spotted having a power that matches yours."

"You're all useless! Find her! Kill every lightbearer that you see just find her and bring her to me!"

The loud voice sounded even more vicious than before.
Moments on, a hypogean minion ran towards the throne room and knelt before the king.

"King Kane... We believe that we may have found your daughter."

The man sitting on the throne rose up and the light hit his face only to reveal a man's pale face with a blazing hair.

"Bring my daughter back to me!"