Gracie

The demons numbers had dwindled not long after Andrew headed off towards Lawence’s burning barn. The few demons that Gracie spotted were too far to reach with her bow , and even then she counted maybe three. Heading closer towards them atop the roof. The rest, however, seemed to be distracted by something else and instead moved further away from the farmhouse to pursue it.

Exhaling a shaky breath, Gracie un-drew her bow as she went back to observing how Flynn was doing.

The man was a monster. He’d cut down a swarm of demons that came at him with a speed that she did not expect from someone so large. He had a few close brushes after Andrew stopped covering his back. There was one moment there demons fell upon him from on up high. Gracie was able to cover him one time thanks to her power, but to put so much of her energy into a single shot was taxing.

Shamefully, on three occasions, Gracie just did not have the strength to cover Flynn. On one of those occasions, Gracie thought the man had died. Having been knocked down by a demon that took the shape of some grotesque flying rhino beetle, Flynn got tossed several feet into the air. The impact itself would have taken down many other knights, but not Flynn.

Not only did Flynn get back up after the strike, he proceeded to cleave the demon in two by slashing a bladed arc of energy into the air and allowing it to try to charge him once again. 

She’d seen him do something similar to a large group of demons that came towards him and Andrew from the wheat field earlier, but unlike those demons, this rhino beetle’s thick beetle shell was known to be one of the toughest out there. Not many hunters had the strength or will to cut through it, instead they were taught to attack between its open gaps where the joints were. Even then, it is no easy feat to defeat. The demon, known to take a thousand well-placed paper cuts to beat, taken down directly with one. 

She’d known the knights of the rune smiths to be no pushovers, but this…

Are we so sheltered here? They had been so reliant on the alpha king’s strength and protection for so long that they neglected their own strength, and now she stands there awe-struck by these travellers’ display. Pushing aside her swirling thoughts, Gracie locked an arrow and shot another incoming horned-nose demon down. There were hardly any other threats left.

Maybe I should go back to the village and help my friends and sister… The old unwelcomed thought reared its head once more. Dispelling it had been a nuisance… but it felt a lot simpler once she and Andrew talked things out. She made up her mind. She was right where she needed to be. And besides, Natalie was down there with her people. Miss Emerson, a rune smith, was also there beside her. If they could not protect the village from the demon, then who else could?

A distant howl of wolves echoed upon the mountaintop beyond them. Giving pause, Gracie watched the powdered snow caps of Mt.Karaki become obscured as a tempest of thick dark clouds converge upon its very peak. Perplexed, Gracie watched with her as the halo-like clouds crowned its peak before the world grew darker. Before Gracie could make sense of what she witnessed, the storm clouds began to shrink onto the mountain like water drawn towards a skink hole.

As the clouds overhead parted and the feel of the rain stopped patting the rooftop, as the howls of the wolves atop Mt.Karaki descended upon her like an ominous message from the heavens themselves, Gracie watched in confusion as she witnessed the sun peek from behind the clouds as a gigantic hole opened up in the pit of her gut. 

Natalie…  she’d asked her to watch over her sister, practically begged her to go. If she was the one who was controlling this storm, then…

What does this mean?

At the corner of her eye in the forest by the foot of Mt.Karaki, she spotted something flicker.

“Traveller!” Gracie called to the silver-haired knight, gaining his attention. 

“Call me Flynn!” he shouted. He’d got done with the last of the demons and was heading towards her. 

“Something’s happening out there!” she pointed at the sliver orange glow peeking out from beyond the forest canopy, soon followed by smoke. Flynn looked in the same direction, puzzled. 

“I don’t see anything!” 

“I’ve got sharper eyes!” Flynn shrugged before nodding in agreement. As he continued to look onward, Gracie spotted another flicker of flame within the forest, followed by a sliced tree falling down. Gracie bit her lip.

This ain’t good!

“That’s down the same direction Andrew went towards, to reach Lawence’s barn, right?”

”I think your friend is in trouble!” just as she said it, she saw another slither of orange peek past the treetops and another. A moment after the second light faded, Gracie saw more trees collapse inwards, exposing flame. Convinced that it could be nothing else, Grace turned to Flynn sharply. 

“It’s the assassin! Some insanely powerful flame knight. You need to catch up with him now he’s in trouble!... Flynn?” Flynn just froze there looking at the ground, unresponding. 

“Flynn!” he blinked out of his daze to look at her, but his eyes, however, held a dark shade to them. Gracie was about to question him until he remembered what Flynn was capable of doing. 

“Sophie gave you news of the battle,“ she said. Flynn just looked at her with no response. The knot in her gut beckoned. She knew before the words came out.

“What happened to Natalie?” Flynn’s face only betrayed a fraction of surprise before he sighed. 

“She broke from the plan,” he said.  

“What do you mean?” 

“In an effort to protect everyone, she tried to face the full brunt of the Famine Fissure alone… it didn’t go well,” he grumbled. The Famine Fissure had taken down someone who could harness the power of the very heavens themselves. Gracie recalled what they said about the Famine Fissure, how spiteful it is in its vengeance, how persistent it is in its hunt to kill all that pose a threat to it. 

“So Natalie is-”

“-she’s alive. A group of young hunters swooped in and distracted the demon. Thanks to them, it’s vengeful heat is off of Natalie for now. Right now, the Famine fissure is running rampant, trying to kill the ones who interfered. I think your sister is one of the people mixed up in all of this.”

“Isabella…“ her chest tightened at the thought. Willing herself to calmness, she forced her back straight and looked Flynn in the eye. If they were going to involve all these outsiders in their affairs, then the least she could do is show a little pride!

“Did she leave a message?“ she said. Flynn grinned to himself at hearing this.

“She’d expected you to ask as much,” he said. ”Isabella said, ‘We owe them a debt, it’s the least they could do’...”

Gracie nodded, so her sister was not only the vanguard, but was now in the eye of the storm’. As the clouds continued to converge upon Mt.Karaki, Gracie just remained there, trying to mentally accept it. Her sister was there on the front lines. Of all places for her to be, it had to be-

The howl of the wolves broke through her snowballing thoughts. As the seconds ticked on by, an echoed thunder boomed overhead. It was as if it was in response to the wolves’ cries. Flynn looked at the mountain as well. Just as Gracie was about to ask him what was happening, her mouth went dry, for she already knew the answer just by looking at him. Once again, Gracie felt a bad omen stem from the wolves howling. They were about to enter the battle.

“You better get going,” Gracie had said the words before she could take them back. Despite her inward panic, a smile found its way on her face. Flynn looked at her a moment before turning back down the direction his friend went. “You’ve already helped me handle most of the demons. I see no more spawning. I’d count that as a job well done.”

“I won’t be convinced it’s over until we’ve done the cleanup,“ Flynn said. Gracie could not help but smile at that one.

“I appreciate your effort,” she said. “but I think it’s high time you guys stop covering for strangers and start worrying about your own,” Flynn smiled at her gratefully.

“Those who watch my back are no strangers!” Flynn said.

“Then I shouldn’t even have to ask, should I?“ the two of them looked at each other for a while before smiling.

“Your right, him not being here now is like him trying to skip clean up duties,“ Flynn nodded to himself. “Sit tight friend! I’ll be right back with that rascal!” giving a thumbs up, Flynn made his way towards Lawence’s barn. Despite the turmoil, Grace could not help but smile at that.

“Are they all gone?” Gracie almost jumped out of her skin at hearing Chase’s voice. He looked tentatively out of the window now. His training sword gripped firmly in the other hand. Releasing her hand off her bowstring, she fixed the boy with a stern glare. 

“What did I tell you about opening the window, Chase?!” she hissed. He did not turn to her, too busy staring at the smattering of demon corpses spread along the field. She sighed. “Never mind that. Where’s mum and the others?”

“What happened to the rain?” Chase asked. He was like a weary cat after the dogs had left. Gracie pinched her nose then.

“Still ignoring me?” she mumbled to herself. Looking up at the still-reseeding clouds once more, Gracie closed her eyes and shook her head. “Natalie has got herself into a bit of trouble… honestly starting to wonder if it is all my fault-”

“-Gracie look! What is that?”

“Chase! By the cycles! Ignore me one more time and I’ll…” Gracie’s mouth hung open as her eyes followed Chase’s finger. He pointed up to the sky just left from where the sun was. The sunlight made it hard to see at first, but looking at it now, there was no mistake. 

A demon spawn. It looked small from where she stood, given its dark colour and the number of demons they had to deal with, it was possible that they simply overlooked its appearance since it was so small, it could also be possible that it only just now appeared. A demon’s power and size could be accurately gauged by the size of its spawn and how quickly it takes to break free from it.

Gracie, experienced in hunting demons on the outskirts of her village, had witnessed her fair shear of them freshly spawning. Having the sharpest eye on her team, they often relied on her to scout the grounds for miles on end before her sister and her team planned their next move. She had a good eye for demonic spawns. And because of that, something about what she saw on high bothered her. Stepping to one side to better judge its distance, Gracie’s blood ran cold.

The thing practically remained motionless as she walked from one side of the roof to another. This indicated the orb’s sheer distance away from her. It was very far away. Perhaps higher up than the storm clouds themselves. The thought of likely being there this whole time left Gracie in a cold sweat.

But that was impossible, unless…

“Chase, get back inside the house and keep an eye on your mum,” she said, her voice was trembling. With an effort, Gracie forced her shaking hands to stillness as she drew back an arrow and aimed. The spawn was too far away to fire at-she knew that, and there was little telling when the demon would appear, but she intended to make its arrival a short one.

If her fears were correct, the demon that was appearing was something that could be a national threat on the same level as that of the Famine Fissure. Hearing the roof window close beside her, followed by Chase’s hurried steps to reach downstairs to warn his mother, gave him a slither of comfort. But deep down, she was starting to regret sending Flynn off to check on Andrew. 

Honestly, what horrid timing! Should she call him back? Although he was out of sight in the tall grass now, her shockwave of arrows was loud. Her message could still reach him if she acted soon. Pushing the urge to call him aside, Gracie resolved to at least try to take it down herself. She had already got more help from them than she could have ever asked for.

She would have been overrun several times over had these people not shown up. The least she could do was to handle the straddlers whilst he goes to rescue his friend. 

Two seconds, she will instinctively gauge its power within two seconds of it, arriving with her keen hunter sense before she reacted.

As if to take her up on it, the orb cracked, crumbled and shattered into specks of crystalline light that faded like snowflakes descending towards a hellish inferno. In the orbs’ place emerged a bellowing, undulating form moulded from all that was wrong in the universe. And although the sun stood right behind it, the surrounding light dimmed around her to a cold hue. The shapeless form coiled and unravelled until Gracie could just make out two sinister scythe-like blades emerge and elongate between them. This was no demon… was it?

It was an unsightly blight upon existence itself; as the form descended towards the wheat field, she knew that fighting it was useless. Instead of fighting, Gracie aimed her bow skywards. Channelling her power into the arrow, she cried her plea for help before setting it loose.

With cold, numb hands, Gracie stifled back her disappearing sobs. Gracie looked back at the stealer of hope as it finished its descent upon the land. Pulling out her short sword and locking another arrow on her bow, she jumped off of the farmhouse roof.

The sun remained in the sky, yet the surrounding land still grew dimmer. It approached her from the wheat field, slithering along the land like a slow invertibility. The wheat before the thing thinned and withered at its passing. This spectre of death and decay-this anti-matter of existence moved through the world like it had all the time within it.

Watching the eternal being slowly approach, Gracie knew that her time was up.

This… creature’s powers somehow bent space in ways that even the very presence of light itself was being rejected. It steered at her now through its hollow abyssal darkness of a cloke, black mist bellowing around its nightmarish shape. Like the uttered words of death made into a physical thing, it slithered out of the cloak and crawled along its feet. It was then that the message that she fired overhead sounded. It was a howling cry for the wolves.

Gracie was scared, but that was not the reason why her eyes were now filled to bursting with tears. Nor was it from her sudden realisation that the thing that now marched towards her was going to be her demise. It was not because it somehow bent the fabric of the world around her and neither was it because of how it cleaved through her knight’s armour like it never existed.

It was hearing Chase and the other children screaming downstairs from merely sensing its presence, and it was knowing that she was powerless to protect them. It was all those things and more, coupled with the fact that she knew that she blew it. It was knowing that she failed and would never see them or her sister ever again that broke her.