A Knight's Lilies

“Notice to All Citizens: By order of His Imperial Majesty Sinlar Trax: Following the official declaration of war against the Carradorian usurper. The Crown is seeking able bodied men and women to enlist with the newly established Imperial XVI Tynsford-Felmarch Legion. Sign on bonus of 3 Gold Artes for volunteers, salary of 10 Silver Artes per month.”

- Enlistment Flyer in Saints Peace Square, Tynsford

Death wrapped itself around the church like a blanket as the screams on the streets slowly grew quieter. Boulders had begun demolishing what remained of the city soon after. One smashed into the bell tower so hard that most of the rubble went with the boulder, leaving a clean hole into the sky above. Sophie was paralysed at the sight of the blood red skies; her mind slowly melded dream into reality even as survivors glared at her with hatred. Even here, an elf was an outsider and Sophie had planted herself in the corner of the church closest to the doorway, secluded and alone.

“Mighty Astralis, preserve your people in our hour of need, forgive our sins and save our souls.” The priest bellowed.

His soothing voice might’ve bored her to sleep or calmed her amidst a natural catastrophe. But against what felt like a demonic invasion, his words rang hollow as another boulder knocked out part of the church, the others scrambling for cover. The intricately designed stained glass windows too suffered at the hands of the attack, arrows and the occasional projectiles shattering them into pieces.

“Preserver of the heavens and defender of the free, your flock calls for aid as the dreaded foe emerges once more. Send us your champions, your blessings and your strength.” The priest continued.

On cue, sharp screams echoed outside the church similar to what Sophie could recall from her nightmares. She spared a glance at Mila and found the young child crying alongside her brother as the older sister tried to comfort them. It’d be nice to have a brother or sister, Sophie mused, allowing herself a small smile despite the situation.

“Divine protectors heed our words and send your angels to deliver us from this evil. Send forth the Saints and bring to us salvation from the oncoming tide. Let the flames of the darke be extinguished by the light of the stars eternal.” Yelled the priest.

More screams and loud crashes shook the whole church, her body trembled from the impacts nearby. She could hear the clang of the swords outside clearly, the battle was most decidedly not being won by the humans.

Sophie tried to sneakily look at the people around her, taking in the composition of the terrified crowd. Many were dressed in tunics decorated with little patterns or inlays, some in dresses that showed off a distinctively homely level of craftsmanship. A few kids even clutched at little baskets, holding onto their goodies even as they quivered or wailed in place. A festival, these people were having nothing more than a festival, Sophie gasped at the realization, accidentally drawing attention to herself.

“Elven wench.”

“It’s all your fault.”

“Your kind brought this upon us.”

Were a few of the murmured curses she managed to catch. Though none were brave enough to demonstrate their resolve behind the words, she found herself saddened that even during a catastrophe, people seemed to despite her. What’s the point of this? Why me? Why indeed. She remembered the words of the entity and felt a shiver run down her spine.

“Look out!” Someone shouted and Sophie glanced upwards to see the trail of the projectile a split second before the other end of the church came crashing down in a violent collapse. Before the stunned survivors could react, another chunk of the top wall exploded into splinters and debris as more projectiles hit the church.

Sophie watched in horror as a stray spear of wood flung itself past the older sister's head, just barely missing. The girl seemed to be stunned into silence as her two siblings frantically tried to get her attention. Shock was a nasty thing and Sophie shuddered at how pathetic she too had acted when she was fighting the undead, the terror and inability to force herself to move. She understood and offered a silent prayer for the stranger.

A desperate knocking on the door spurred the priest forward to open it. A bloodied guardsmen tumbled in before the church doors were quickly shut again. Fear gripped the survivors at the sight of one of their guardians brought so low, the civilians scrambling to fortify however they could. When the priest finished his prayers and joined the crowd, Sophie quietly snuck over and acquired the dead man’s sword. If she was to survive, a fight seemed inevitable.

She tried to act natural in an attempt to not spook the people any further or draw attention to herself as she slinked back into the corner. The quiet frightened murmurings echoing throughout the church until the terrible whoosh of a projectile almost deafened her. The rock smashing almost directly above her and taking parts of the ceiling with it, sending more civilians cowering under their pews.

She could feel the vibrations before the action caught up, the heavy thudding of armoured boots moments before a sickening crunch marked the end of the church’s protection. Sophie furrowed her brows as she tried to remember what the odds were. Three armoured knights, a dozen odd demons, a few abominations…fuck.

Screams of fear pierced through the din as the entire crowd started panicking at the arrival of the monsters. The priest chanted an incantation to light his sword up in flame, the small sigil etched on the front just bright enough for Sophie to see.

Grotesque abominations with a multitude of bulbous rotting limbs shambled forward with a frenzy, their hunger evident at how greedily they raced for the innocents near the front of the church. Monstrous teeth protruded from inhumanely wide maws, their bites strong enough to tear through flesh. The priest rushed into the fray, his sword cutting through the first of the monstrosities with a swift cut. The flaming blade burned a trail of vengeance through the creature and slumped over in two, its bloodied flesh already cauterised as it collapsed.

One of the creatures broke away from the pack and leapt at the older sister, the girl nearly bisected into two when the creature’s vicious claws swiped at her. The older girl feebly chucked some wood at it before her brother ran around to pierce its chest with a broken piece of a bench. He smirked triumphantly before a shadow loomed over him. Unable to hold herself back, Sophie finally intervened.

“Boy! Duck!” She yelled at him.

To her relief he ducked, though a curious look was shot her way just as the other creature tore its own brethren in two. Shocked, the boy looked up and froze in terror, the creature roaring in fury at its slain brethren before turning its attention back to him. Sophie felt her stomach drop as she judged the distance, knowing that the gap was too far and dangerous for her to bridge at this point, the monsters cut her off.

Thankfully the older sister recovered fast enough to tear the makeshift stake out and ineffectively slapped the monster with it, delaying her brother’s execution by a moment. A low growl drew Sophie back to her own situation; frenzied eyes trained on her. A four armed monstrosity with most of its other limbs forcefully stitched on. It twitched and jittered with every step, the unnatural movements bringing about a sense of unease. Taking deep breaths, she waited for it to lunge and it waited for her. Though the creature had a dozen odd eyes stuck on, she narrowed hers at the two center ones, the only ones that seemed to move with the monster.

One twitch of its eye was all it took before it launched itself at her, arms outstretched in an attempt to rip her apart. Yet on some level she had expected this, and the moment it seemed to push back on its hind legs she launched a counter attack of her own, throwing herself directly into the creature’s arms. The unexpected attack had caught it off guard as she felt her shoulder ram into the creature’s waist. With a carefully planned heave she let it roll over her and jammed her sword into its chest as it fell.

A hideous wail emerged from its maw of a mouth and Sophie quickly snatched up some nearby debris and began bludgeoning where its central eye was in an attempt to shut it up. Blood, eyeballs, and flecks of flesh flew into her with every strike, her own hands covered in the bloodied pit of face that she smashed the stone chunk into. Fortunately, one last throaty gurgle was all it managed before it ceased its struggling and Sophie yanked the sword out of its chest to take a look around.

The situation was, in essence, not spectacular. The priest had been impaled and then promptly discarded by one of the armoured figures. One was slender and almost lady-like despite the various spikes and trophies that hung grimly on her armour. Another was more like the warchief, his horned helmet and thick blackened armour giving the impression of a menacing giant, his spiked axes added to the impression as he popped the skulls of his victims with a single blow. The last seemed wilder, crazier, it too was clad in blackened armour like the others but Sophie could spy some bloodied furs draped over it. Sophie almost gagged when she saw the leathery scarf wrapped around its neck like a cloak, a human skin scarf.

Past them, the two siblings were backing away alongside the other survivors, the third nowhere in sight and Sophie prayed Mila was under the rubble, hidden as she should be.

Her moment of calm was not to last however, and another of the abominations had turned her way, this one with only one eye but far too many mouths. What terrified her was not the creature itself, but the eerie way in which all seven or so mouths collectively jumped into an upturned grin at the sight of her. "I hope I taste terrible," Sophie managed to murmur.

It broke into a sprint and practically clambered over the debris in a mad dash for flesh. Sophie readied herself and waited until the last moment to pivot to the left, the slight shift in position enough for the creature to run past her. The second it smashed its mouths into the wall, Sophie slashed wildly at its back, hoping to injure it enough for it to back off. All seven uttered guttural grunts of pain and Sophie staggered backwards from the ear piercing sounds when she suddenly felt a lance of pain shoot through her.

She looked down and found a spear tip protruding where her ribs were, before being forcefully ripped out from behind. Collapsing to her knees, she gasped in shock and turned around to find the slender dark knight readying for another strike. For a moment their gazes met and the knight froze. Sophie saw nothing more than a figure in blackened armour, the knight’s dark steel plated helm blocking her from analyzing their reactions, but clearly they saw something in her. Weakened, she tried for one last feeble attempt to push herself upwards but only succeeded in earning herself a kick to the chest as she dropped to the floor.

Fuck, she rasped, her body trembling in agony. She tried to reach for her sword when saliva dripped onto her cheeks. No…no, no, no. She thought when she felt the abomination stand over her, no, no, not like this. To her surprise, the subtle squelching sound of flesh being pierced did not go unnoticed. Black-red ichor-like blood began spilling over her, the warm liquid crashing over her as she tried to sink into the cool marble floor of the church. What?

Her breathing grew ragged and she could feel the tug of darkness begin to embrace her, her body quivering slowly as what little energy she had left ran out.

“I’m sorry.” A distorted metallic voice echoed from above.

She wanted to look up, to turn her gaze skywards but it was too late. With one last twitch, she died on the marble floor.

“Gah! Shit! Fuck! Agh!” Sophie screamed from shock, her hands running all across her body in an attempt to stem the pain. Her body ached and she looked over herself, only to find no wound in sight.

Still in some amount of shock, she panted as she furiously searched herself for wounds. Relief only came after she looked up to find herself looking over the town again. The tower? I’m back on the tower! The crystal was missing but when she looked down at her wrists, the bracelet sat there, almost like a part of her. What the saint damned hells was all that?

Her breath stilled slowly when a modicum of calm finally took hold, her eyes squinting from the red sun overhead. Wait, the red sun? To her horror, the sky was slowly being tinted blood red as dark clouds began surrounding the city, the entity nowhere in sight.

Blasted bastards, then this means the city will be attacked again. She scrambled to her feet and surveyed the landscape around her. Amorphous dark blobs hugged the outskirts of town, launching boulders into an unsuspecting city. Walls tumbled down under mighty blows as abominations larger than a townhouse crashed through them. Legions of stranger creatures, their limbs entangled amongst each other, rushed forth like a tidal wave of death. Their appendages ripping the city guard to shreds.

Just like her dreams, black talons jutted out of the ground behind the monstrosities. Demons that cut down fleeing townspeople would then drape their corpses over the almost obsidian like talons, slashing violently into the bloodies as they bathed the strange claws in blood.

By the Goddess, how did Mila even survive this?

“By not being so feeble.” Her bracelet quipped.

Sophie stumbled backwards, startled at the sudden interruption when a primal screech drew her attention upwards. Two leathery winged creatures circled above the tower, their bodies so starved that she could almost see the entirety of their exoskeletons. Sharp talons poised to strike.

Sophie dashed into the tower and one of the creatures smashed into the doorway, its beak filled with razor sharp teeth snapping at her as it squeezed into the tower. She sprinted down the stairs in record time and her attention far down the street towards the town square that bordered where the palace once was. Huh…that disappeared too.

Ignoring the discrepancy, her body tensed at the sight of the three figures, the three armoured marauders that seemed to be decimating the few guardsmen trying to stand against them. Monsters and other mutated monstrosities surged forth from behind them, breaking into homes, storefronts, and hopping from house to house, tearing their occupants asunder.

Down the other end of the street was the church, and only now did she draw in a small breath at the horrid realization. Astralis’s mercy, a town like this…of this size was completely wiped out? I…I’ve been seeing this town die the whole time? But why?

“Blood of blood, kin of kin.” Her bracelet whispered ominously.

“Huh? What does that mean? But what…why? Why all this? What does it-” She began before it interrupted.

“Time’s up. Run.”

A nearby house exploded into pieces of rubble as an abomination burst through the window front with a half eaten person dangling through its mouth. The creature and body skidded to a halt on the pavement outside when it finally spotted her. It spit out the person before letting loose a guttural growl, running at her.

Too confused to move, her muscles only tensed up as the creature neared her. In but a moment she was thrown backwards, her body crashing into the ground from the creature leaping onto her. Bulbous pus covered flesh pressed against her body as elongated and deformed teeth snapped at her. She struggled to hold back the creature, its three eyes staring hungrily at her, when it suddenly jerked to a standstill before roaring in pain. Then its eyes were simply no longer there, the stump that was its head now coating Sophie in a bloody ichor. Still too shocked to react she felt someone forcefully drag her to her feet.

“Are you still alive? Move! Civilians rally at the church!” A town guardsman yelled at her.

Slightly unnerved by everything, Sophie wordlessly nodded and followed the man as they joined the other townspeople in their escape. Despite the life threatening situation, Sophie’s thoughts raced around trying to decipher the words the entity said. Blood of blood, kin of kin…is it trying to say I should know something about this? I mean Mila lives but is that really it? And what’s special about this town? Why am I seeing it?

She growled in dissatisfaction at herself, knowing that the entity was trying to show her something but she was too stupid to understand. Think, Sophie, think! She knew that at the very least something spooked the dark knight that struck her down, that the monsters and demons seemed to be sacrificing the people here, and that most would perish besides for Mila. So a dark ritual, perhaps find out the reason? But that would mean somehow surviving this ordeal, at that thought she groaned. She had finally understood that this was all just a test, a test by the entity to see if she would succeed or fail. At what, she still did not know for certain, but a test nonetheless.

Finally arriving inside the church, she scrambled into her corner and began contemplating her path forward, ignoring all the heated words from people glaring at the half elf joining their refuge. A grim thought clawed its way into her heart. If the entity thought her feeble and wanted to train her then there was nothing she could do to resist. If it wanted her to find the truth behind this then she would have to as well. After all, what could one even do to an entity of that magnitude? Hells what could even a civilisation do? When the priest began preaching once more, all she could think of was, how many chances do I get?