Night fell.

Within a pitch dark chamber she sat.

The ceiling above her head formed a vortex out of a spiralling milky white aura, her head lay beneath the eye.

Someone, somewhere, had just died. Ten people followed, then a good thirty. Before long, ninety six lives left this world.

She pursed her lips and then waved her hand.

The milky white aura formed a vortex before her.

The eye of that vortex expanded by ten, and she beheld the scene within.

“Found you,” She said as she rose to her feet.

Her black boots clapped their heels against the ground.

She dressed boyish, with a white coat and even trousers.

Her long hair was tied behind her back, to be hidden by her coat soon after.

Black paddings of armour covered her attire, but it was not steel, instead it was something closer to leather.

She had rose red lips, black lashes of healthy length and milky white skin, a beauty from all angles, yet a frightening one to behold.

She swung her hand forward. The milky white aura gathered to form a sword as long as she was tall. For those who knew their weapons, it was an Odachi, for those who did not, it was a type of oriental sword similar to a katana but quite a bit longer.

With a casual cut, she scattered the image of that unwholesome slaughter.

She stepped forward, her body slowly but surely fading into the mist all around her.

“This time, you will not escape...my other half.” 

____________________________________________________ 

True to his word, Rudolph left the City of Apollo at the first sign of morning light. He walked the western mountain region beyond the city’s gates for three days, and then he came across a small settlement which lay in ruin on the road.

Burning buildings and blackened corpses littered the landscape as the raging wind whistled through. This was a scene of chaos, the aftermath of a terrible slaughter.

The village was only small, less than a hundred people lived here, about as average for a Bronze Class Settlement you could really get. The man looked around with a solemn expression. The mountainous raging wind blew heavy on his hooded form.

He raised his hand, a tiny figure appeared before him. Her dress was black, her hair too, her ears were long and pointed, her eyes were large and alien, her skin was white as snow and two insectoid wings adorned her back. She was not alone either, but only one member of the brilliant swarm that covered the sky over their master’s head. The man flicked his wrist gently, bidding her to take flight. Then he turned his attention to the most intact of the corpses that lay sprawled upon the ground.

Rudolph knelt down, reached out, and then he stopped. The ground clacked with the sound of a stone striking its surface. He removed his hood gently and turned to face the origin of that stone. He caught the second rock that was thrown his way and looked forward to meet the eyes of the child who threw them.

He crushed the rock in his grip, turning it to dust as the child glared at him. He had the look of a berserker, despite his youth. Clearly this child had been through hell, there was no doubting that. The shrouded man turned his gaze upon the desolate wooden building behind the boy.

There were many children, few older than ten, between thirteen and fifteen stood the oldest of them. The shrouded man’s frown deepened, yet his anger subsided completely. This boy, at around twelve, was one of the oldest survivors.

“I mean no harm,” The hooded man said as he faced the children, “My name is Rudolph of Mars...what are your names?”

“Don’t,” The young boy in front of him said with venom, “Don’t touch her.” Rudolph frowned, then he turned back to face the corpse at his back. His expression softened exponentially. He sighed and then turned to face the children all.

“To let her rot like this is disrespectful...let me tend to them.” The children looked towards the oldest three. The first of them glared daggers towards Rudolph, but the other two only showed expressions of exhaustion and sorrow.

“Gavin,” Said one of them, “Let him.” The first boy, Gavin, frowned all the more. His eyes began to water, he didn’t want to do it, didn’t want to let it happen.

“Don’t...touch-” He started to say. However, Rudolph wasn’t the kind of man to tolerate nor endorse the selfishness of a child. He was a father himself, but he played the role of her mentor all her life and not once did he coddle her.

“Then you do it,” He said, glaring down upon the boy. Gavin froze, he felt as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders as he looked into those cold eyes. Rudolph scoffed at the child, then turned his back on all of them. He turned to face the corpses. “If you can’t, then stay there, let me work.”

The other two oldest children stared blankly for a time, but then they resolved themselves. They followed Rudolph and passed Gavin by. Before long, more and more children followed suit. More and more rushed to help.

Before long they had a proper pyre, a shoddy stack of wood with bodies laid for the fire. The bodies had already burned once, but the pyre was a proper means of seeing off the dead in this world. More importantly, it would help them cope with their trauma.

They took wood from the houses and placed the bodies gently down upon the corpses. Rudolph watched it all, his Fey helped, guiding even the smallest and weakest of the children. Finally he turned around, he faced that first boy, Gavin, who still stood beside the corpse of his fallen mother. He walked over, his footsteps treading on the soft ash.

“Go away,” The boy said, not even turning his head, “Just...leave me alone.” Rudolph sighed. He stepped around the boy and then, to the child’s shock, he picked up the body of his mother in a very respectful manner. Regardless, however, the child screamed, “Put her down!” but it was fruitless.

Ultimately, no matter how many stones, punches and kicks he threw, no matter how he grasped onto Rudolph’s coat or tried to stab him with the splintery wood he found lying around, he could do nothing to stop the man.

Rudolph then placed the mother’s body down onto the wooden structure. The boy rushed over, but he stopped him. He grabbed him by the forearm, turned him to face him and then knelt to look him eye to eye.

The boy glared at him like a wolf full of rage, yet the man did not flinch one inch. With a solemn expression he released the boy, but Gavin made no attempt to approach the alter that was now already on fire.

“I know what you’re going through,” Rudolph said with a solemn tone, “It happened to me...twice even. My home was destroyed, the people I loved died. I lost everything...and it never gets any easier.” He looked at Gavin, then the many, many children. His humanoid companions descended, they surrounded the wooden altar. The children, Gavin included, could not but watch it burn.

“I will not preach to you, I’ll only provide you a safe route towards the nearest city. However, I have to know what happened here...who did this, and why?” The children fell silent, they faced the burning altar with emotions ranging from complete emptiness to sorrow. Rudolph sighed, he turned to walk away, leaving only a few of those tiny winged humanoids behind to act as the children’s guide.

“They will escort you to Apollo,” he said, “you’ll be safe there.” He was but a few moments away from leaving then when ultimately he was stopped by that lad’s, by Gavin’s, words.

“It wasn’t a person...it was a thing...something that looked like a living fog.” Rudolph trembled then, his heart beat wild inside his chest as he formed an educated guess.

“It did nothing at first...just stood in the same spot. It’d look at you if you got close but then it’d go back to ignoring you if you walked away from it.” Rudolph frowned, he walked towards that spot, the one where the creature of fog had stood, and then let his shoulders drop at what he saw on the horizon.

That direction was also his destination, but there was a mountain or two between them. His suspicion only grew from there.

“One of the adults tried to get it to go away...that’s when it happened...” the child couldn’t bring himself to speak anymore, his voice collapsed into sorrowful sobs. Rudolph waved his arm in haste. His winged companions spread out in all directions to look for any traces of that creature.

‘Is it really you?’ He asked himself, for when he too was but a child, same as these kids in every respect, he had seen it.

He and his sister had been from a small town, and they’d been nobodies. Then a creature made of fog showed up and, though it was initially passive, it killed everyone above a certain age.

The men who threatened to drive it away died first, the women who raised weapons to protect their children died second, only the children didn’t die. They never threatened it.

‘Can it really be you?’ When the slaughter ended, that thing had found him and his sister hiding in a nook, it did not kill them, instead it even granted the two of them strength they never should’ve had.

The winged humanoids found a trace, they swarmed about and then finally saw it.

That figure was made of fog but still humanoid in shape, it had two pitch black eyes as it turned to face the swarm in alarm. After that it fled into the far distant horizon.

‘It is you!’ This settlement’s misfortune had now for him become a tragic godsend, he knew it, but he could not deny how it was an unpleasant truth. ‘Am I strong enough?’ He asked himself. He could not let this go on.

The creature wasn’t malicious, it just killed when it felt it was in danger. Unfortunately, as it was itself a frightening thing to behold, people could not be blamed for resorting to fight or flight before it.

He had to put a stop to that, he had to bring this thing under control for the good of others, even if it was his benefactor from back then. The man leapt forward, he left the children behind. They looked to him in a panic, clearly thinking that he was going to abandon them.

“Follow those little friends of mine,” He said to them, “They’ll lead you to the city, look after each other!” The children stared blankly, a winged woman then fell upon each of their shoulders, two or even three per person. Just as their master said, the little Fay pointed the children towards the distant horizon; the City of Apollo that from now on they’d call home.