“WELCOME TO THE FESTIVAL!” The cult leader announced loudly. Everyone started cheering, but I could feel like something was wrong. “My name is Priest Keres Norwood, I am here to announce that you all will get to be the first ones at Lunae Lumen to swear your allegiance to our religion,” Everyone went silent for a moment, then there were some confused chatters among the crowd, which then turned into an angry mob. They were yelling at Keres to get off the stage, some even throwing rocks up there, yet Keres was not fazed.
“Cevine…Had a similar reaction. So in the name of our Goddess Leora, we TOOK that city by force. We punished the non-believers and rewarded the faithful. JOIN US NOW, or suffer our Goddess’s wrath,” He continued as he held out his hands. A man jumped up to the stage.
“SHUT UP! AIN’T NOBODY HERE TO PLAY WITH THIS LITTLE PRANK! GET OFF THE STAGE SO WE CAN START THE FESTIVAL!” He yelled out angrily at the cult leader. He reached out to grab him, but before he could, blood spilled from his hands. His hands separated from his body as a man with a mask ran up from the audience and cut it with a shining rapier. Someone screamed at the sight of blood, and people started panicking. My eyes were still fixated on the cult leader. The man who took Vesper is right there. I must come after him. I prepared to jump onto the stage, but Alberto stopped me.
“Stop! Look!” Hooded men in the crowd yelled out “For Leora!” as they frantically drank a mysterious green potion. Shortly after, they became grotesque monsters as they started to attack the town folks. The crowd was in chaos, with people frantically running to their houses, children losing their parents, some even tried to fight against the monsters.
“Whoever wants to join us, you shall be rewarded with your life. Come to the stage if you want to live.” The cult leader, Keres announced to the crowd.
“Remember the quest, we are bodyguards, the safety of the citizens come first,” Alberto ran to one of the monsters as he said that. I looked back at the cult leader, he didn’t notice me. I looked at the scene of chaos and monsters attacking the citizens, and I struggled to make a choice.
“They need help! Ivo!” Fayette screamed out at me. The mission always comes first. I looked back at the stage, there were people on the stage, begging for their lives. I ran towards the monsters. On the side of the street, a man was holding his torch, trying to hold his own against a monster. The monster glared at me, no sign of humanity left in its yellowish eyes. It left the man as it clawed at me with its long claw. It stood back on two feet and lunged towards me, I dodged it by a hair and dug my ax down into its chest. It screamed out in pain as it watered the ground with its blood, reverting back to its human form, dead.
“Werewolves!!” Fayette said as she flew onto my shoulder, chanting a spell. Pixie magic. Pixies were known to be able to cast spells without any type of wand or staff, but they can only cast support spells this way. After she finished with the short chant, I felt energy surge through my body, it was like magic was infused into my blood flow. I felt lighter, faster, as I dived into the sea of chaos. Some guards were trying to evacuate the citizens, others were trying to hold off the monster. Where is Alberto? I looked back and forth, yet I did not see him anywhere. A little girl fell in the corner of my eyes, running from a monster. I used the ax to make myself lighter as I ran as fast as I could towards that scene, as I barely blocked the werewolf before it killed her. This is a big one. A side-effect of making myself lighter was my strength being lowered as well, so I was knocked to the ground. The only thing that was stopping its fangs from biting off my face was the handle of my ax. As I struggled to get up, like a flash, a steel blade reflected the light of the moon went across my eyes, cutting the werewolf’s head off.
“You alright?” Said Alberto, holding his hand out. I accepted his help as he brought me up.
“Where have you been man?” I asked him, trying to control my anger.
“Sorry,” said Alberto. “I got news though. The city’s guards are going to barricade the Moonbright district, they are trying to keep the werewolves in. Lead the citizens to the west, where we came from, women and children first.” I nodded at him. I immediately ran towards a crowded area, to guide the people there. I looked to the sides of the street, there were already some bodies of people around, some…were even children. Damn it. When I got to the crowded area, I could see two werewolves, gnawing a person’s arm. The owner of that arm was already dead, lying on the ground. A young man looked no older than I was. I imagined the body to be Vesper, or Chelsea, as rage came over me. The rage and the magic flowed through me as I charged the werewolves faster than they could react, as their heads left their bodies in one of my swings.
“RUN THAT WAY!” Alberto said to the citizens as he pointed towards the west. People started to run as fast as they could. When most of the citizens have been out “We should head there with them, make sure they evacuate safely.” Alberto said. I nodded at him, as he led the way. We were guiding people there for a while with barely any trouble. Some city guards came into our aids as we evacuate the people. Some werewolves showed up, yet none of them stood a chance against me and Alberto. However, the easiness did not last for long.
“WATCH OUT!” Screamed Fayette as 2 fire bolts came towards the crowd. Mages. I ran as fast as I could to block one with my own body, stopping it from entering the crowd. IT BURNS! Fayette came over to me and cast Quick Heal, as the pain quickly faded away. What about the other one? I looked over to where the other one shot at, as I saw one of the guards have blocked it. I sighed in relief, but it was not over. I could see the mages inside one of the buildings on the side of the road.
“Keep evacuating them, me and Alberto will take care of the mages,” I said to Fayette, to which she nodded. “I will be right back, heal the ones that are injured!” I said as I signaled Alberto to storm that building with me. Alberto and I ran into that building. It was a two-stories tailor shop, with clothes still on the hangar. We ran upstairs where we last saw the two mages. To my surprise, it was not just the two mages up there, there was a man, with a mask, the same one we saw on the stage. It’s a trap.
“How wonderful, a touching reunion!” Said Stratford as he pulled the mask down, revealing his grin.
