A month earlier on a long, silent night, a monster roamed free. On a cliff, overlooking the sea was a castle. The guards who patrolled the walls were nowhere to be seen. The courtyard was littered with bodies and blood. Swords were snapped and the finest plate armor was crushed and slashed open. With the fallen men, there were bodies of scaled creatures. With heads of dragons and bodies of men, they were neither. Simply known as monsters. For each of them that had fallen, the guards lost ten of their own. It was a slaughter, but the men stood their ground to protect those inside the castle.

Inside the castle, a lone lord ran. The guards which protected him were dead. Slain by the monsters which attacked. The monsters, mindless as they may be, fought with brilliance. The mages, the only ones that could fight them evenly, were the first to go down. But the monsters were mindless guided by a shadowy hand. The assassins guild as the commons would call it, or known to the king and his advisors as Omen.

Their war with the kingdom was drawing to a close. Many of their ranks had deserted or died. Yet even with this, they still fight with monsters from another world. Their target was the crowned princess, Cornelia Alwyn of the kingdom of Archsten. What they wanted with her was unknown, but Lord Lockheart, admiral of the king's navy, would not allow her to come to harm. For as long as he lived, no harm would come to her.

Running down the hall, the lord thought of his wife and child. They would be safe as they were far away in the capital, but that was not his worry. His worry would be if he would ever see them again. Shaking his head, he pushed those thoughts out of his mind. He had a task to do, and he would see it to its end. Passing the bodies of soldiers he desperately looked for bodies of those who were attacking. One, with many swords stuck in it, and the second had its body covered in ice. A mages doing. Not far from it, he saw the mage laying face down. Two small holes in his armor. One in his back and a second in his head.

These holes were not from magic, but from guns. The newest weapons of the world. Magic still far outclassed them but they were far simpler to use and were rapidly becoming the weapons of the king's army. Very few outside the army held such weapons. The assassins were part of that few.

Moving past the bodies, he saw a heavy oak door with two royal guards fallen on either side. With his sword in hand, the lord pushed open the door, worried that it gave no resistance. The creaking hinges and the sounds of distance fighting were all he heard. Peeking inside, he saw nothing. No monsters, no guards, no assassins, and no princess. His despair grew as he worried for her safety. Pushing in the door, he checked the secret passage. There were signs of it being used. Hopefully by the princess, but he could not say it with confidence. Before he could go through the passage, he heard heavy footsteps outside. One of the monsters was near.

Accepting his fate, he decided that his last action would be to slay the monster or die trying. If the princess was to escape, she would need as much time as he could give her. Charging out the door, he faced the creature. However this was a mistake. What he faced was a monster, but not the one he had expected. Unable to even make out its form, he fell to his knees. Its glowing white eyes bore into him. His ears started ringing in a strange tune as his vision grew hazy. His head hurt and his thoughts grew muddy.  He heard screaming unaware that it was his own. He grabbed his head and started scratching in hopes of reaching the pain, however was unable as bone blocked his way. It was only when blood dripped down his face did he realize that the screaming was his own. Managing to make it to his feet, he looked at the creature once more. This thing was not something that he could fight. It was not something that one should even gaze upon.

With this thought, he turned around and ran. He ran as fast as he could away from the monster. His screams grew louder as his face tore. His armor felt tight and his limbs seemed longer than normal. The skin stretched and tore, but that did not matter. He needed to escape, to run away, but where to. Every bone in his body ached, but this did not stop him. He ran faster and faster as his screams grew louder. Tears streamed down his face and his vision grew dark. Hearing his own screams, his last thought was that of a shadowy figure, one that he needed to find. He wasn’t sure why, but this individual must be found and brought back. His mind however corroded before he even knew who he was to look for. That however didn’t matter. He would know who it was when he found them. All he needed to do was head towards any individual in his search. Assassins or Rangers, he would not be stopped. Any who got in his way would need to die.

 

With a rifle in her hands and a sword at her side she, along with other rangers, shot down one of the many monsters in this place. A group of eight rangers were the first to respond. The ranger who was guarding the princess was found dead, taking two monsters with him. Rangers were widely considered to be the best of the best. Both with magic and without. However even this was not enough to slay the monsters.

Looking at her fallen comrade, the girl cursed at the assassins who brought the monsters here. She was not alone as those with her thought the same. However they had a mission, one that they needed to see though. The princess was missing and they needed to find her before the assassins did.

 

“Lucy, Athena you two search the west wing.” Their leader said. “Douglas, Syria take the east. Dyson, Author guard the entrance. Tony and I will search the north. We’ll meet back here in an hour.”

“Yes mam’.” Lucy and the others said.

 

Having her orders Lucy turned to Athena and headed to the west wing. However they did not make it far. An inhuman screech was heading their way. Aiming her rifle at the door, she and Athena backed off. The other rangers joined them. Glancing at her leader, she received a signal to open the door. Before she could however, the door was sent flying at her, knocking the gun from her hands and throwing her across the room.

 

“Lucy!” Athena called out worried.

 

Pushing the door off of her, she saw as the fight began. Gunshots sounded out and impacted the creature, but that did not stop it. Wearing the armor of the admiral, it cried out. Its long limbs reached for the nearest ranger. Athena tried to move, but it was too fast. Picking her up, it took a bite out of her side, making her cry out. Despite this, she managed to pull out a knife and stab it in its eye. Reacting violently, the creature thrashed her about, throwing her aside, where she landed unmoving. A pool of blood started to form around her as Lucy pushed her to herself to her feet. Pulling out her sword, she rushed to Athena’s side.

 

“Forget about her!” The leader said. ‘Go find the princess!” 

“But-” Lucy started.

“We’ll deal with this. Find the princess before it is too late!” The leader said firing another shot.

 

The creature screamed even louder and swiped out its claws, catching Dyson on the neck. His head flew off without him even realizing what had happened. As his body fell, Lucy grit her teeth and ran past her friends in search of the princess.

Walking through the corridors of the dead was a lone masked individual, with black hair, that looked almost shone like silver under the moonlight, poking out from behind its mask. At its side was a handgun, a knife, and an arming sword. In its hand was a curved, bloodied, dagger, and it wore a gray robe, not too dissimilar to the assassin’s guild. Its job was to find the princess, and with its power, that was not difficult. Currently, it knew where every living creature was in the castle. From the rangers fighting the former lord Lockheart, to the handful of soldiers fighting the remaining monsters. It even knew where the assassins and the princess were. That was the reason it walked.

There was no rush or worry for it’s life or the princesses. Anything that came up on it would swiftly die should it wish it, but where is the fun in that? Making its way to the cellar, and pushing open the door, it peered into the darkness. Huddled in the far corner, in a blue, blood stained nightgown was the princess.

 

“Look at who we have here.” Etrius thought.

“It’s the princess. We already know this.” Etrius replied.

“Look man, I’m just trying to have some fun.” Etrius sighed.

“Just hurry up and grab her. I wanna go to sleep.” It said.

“Fine.” It groaned.

 

“Hey, princess.” Etrius called out in the dark, voice deceptively feminine.

“A dream. It's a dream. This is all a dream.” The princes muttered.

“Nope, you are totally awake.” Etrius said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Ah! No, please don’t hurt me!” The princess recoiled.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Etrius said. “I’m here to get you out of here.”

“What?” She looked at it in surprise. “A-are you a ranger?”

“Not exactly. But that doesn’t matter right now. The soldiers are being overwhelmed by the monsters and assassins.” Etrius said, extending it’s hand. “We should get out of here while we still can.”

“R-right…” She said taking it.

 

Leading her out of the cellar, the two passed through the dark halls and burnt walls. It was a strange sight. A masked and heavily armed child leading the much older, bloodied, crowned princess. The princess, however, was too shocked by the amount of bodies to put much thought about this. The knights stood no chance against the monsters. Their armor was sliced open and crushed by sharp claws and heavy impacts. Although seeing this, she did not wonder how her savior managed to get through.

In truth, many of the fallen were due to Etrius. Luckily for it, it managed to catch the guards right after they had killed a monster. With a knife and the element of surprise, they were easy prey. But that wasn’t something that the princess needed to know. Reaching a broken wall, Etrius climbed over the rubble guided by the light of the moon and clouds, when suddenly the princess stopped.

 

“You!” She said, pulling her hand away. “You’re an assassin!”

“If I was, do you think you would be alive?” Etrius asked.

“You want to capture me and defile my body!” She said. “Performing some sick ritual!”

“Then why wouldn’t I knock you out or tie you up to prevent you from escaping?” It asked.

“Uh, because you can’t carry me.” She said only now realizing she was speaking to a child.

“I could just use magic to get us out of here.” It said. “Oh yeah, I could use magic to get us out of here.”

 

Etrius quickly reached out and grabbed her hand. Before she had time to scream, the two disappeared from the castle to outside the walls by a saddled horse. The princess, rightfully confused, looked at the horse and then to the castle behind them. For a moment she was silent as she thought about her predicament.

 

“So, you aren’t going to kidnap me?” She asked doubtfully.

“And why would I do that?” Etrius asked.

“... Because I’m a princess…” She said.

“So?” It asked.

“... Isn’t that what happens to princesses?” She asked.

“I mean I guess.” It shrugged. “Do you want me to kidnap you?”

“I think I will pass.” She said.

“Good, get on.” Etrius said gesturing to the horse.

“Before I do that, what did you just do?” She asked.

“Do you even want to be saved?” It asked.

“Hey, I’m the princess, I’m asking the questions!” She said.

“Well… Damn you got me there.”

“So, what did you do?”

“Long story short, it is a form of teleportation magic.”

“I’ve only ever heard of one person who knows that she has been missing for years.”

“That has nothing to do with me.”

“Well, can’t you just teleport me to the royal castle?”

“Yes, because someone dressed as an assassin appearing in one of the most heavily guarded places in the kingdom with the princess is a brilliant idea. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“I get the feeling that people don’t like you.”

“Occupational hazard. Anyway I could, but you wouldn’t survive the trip.”

“Right there is a barrier to stop any unauthorized entry.”

“That's not the problem, but okay sure. So do you want to be saved or not?”

“Just who is this sassy ten year old standing before me?”

“Wow, rude. Firstly I’m not ten, and secondly are we going or not?”

“Fine…” She sighed. “But just so you know, when we are safe, you're going to tell me who you are.”

“I don’t know about that, sounds dangerous.” Etrius said, jumping onto the horse.

“What is so dangerous about saving a princess?” She asked joining it.

“Well for one I look like an assassin, and if you knew my name, it would be enough for someone to throw me in jail.”

"I can assure you that I would not allow that." She said.

"Also those monsters behind us are looking pretty frightening.” It pointed out.

“Right- wait what?” She asked.

 

As Etrius pointed out, three monsters were heading their way from the castle. Larger than wolves, these dark blue scaled creatures moved with astonishing speed. Their hissing, carried by the wind, almost resembled laughter. Due to their bad eyesight, they rely on smell and because of the assassins, they were fixated on Cornelia.

Pulling out it’s gun, Etrius infused it with its power and took a shot at the nearest monster. Normally the scales would defend against lighter guns such as this, but with its magic, that was not the case. A black projectile shot out, leaving a glowing red trail behind it. The monster had no time to react as the projectile impacted it. However, instead of being pushed back by the bullet, the opposite happened. It’s body was pulled into it, stretching and ripping it apart. The bullet continued, now with a red ring around it, tearing into the trees with a similar result until it disappeared sometime after initial impact. With the next two shots, the other two monsters suffered the same fate.

 

“Right, so can we go or do you want to stick around and see more of them?” Etrius asked, returning the gun to its side.

“Okay I get it, we can go.” Cornelia said.

“Good.” It nodded.

 

Taking them through the forest away from the main road, Etrius rode at the edge of the forest overlooking the ocean. Glancing back, Cornelia looked at the castle for one last time and wondered if she was ever going to see any of the occupants ever again. Remembering the corpse filled halls, she thought that it was unlikely. Closing her eyes, she gave a small prayer for all the faces that she would never see again.

Etrius, on the other hand, didn't bother. It simply focused on the task ahead, and that was to get the princess to somewhere safe, like in the hands of the rangers. But the only ranger that was nearby was the one casting a spell at them. A spell that Etrius didn’t bother to dodge since it had the princess with it and it was unlikely to be anything dangerous. To both it and Cornelia’s surprise, the horse that they rode on exploded and imitated a horribly abused pinata. Flying off the horse, Etrius managed to land on its feet with the mask flying off from the blast. Cornelia on the other hand was not so lucky, landing face down knocked out.

 

“Okay, that could have been better.” Etius thought.

“Is she still alive?” It asked looking at Cornelia.

 

“...” Cornelia let out a long fart.

 

“Yeah, she’s good.” Etrius muttered.

 

Looking to the ranger approaching, Etrius put its hand on the gun. Jumping off her horse, the green cloaked ranger drew her sword and stood at the edge of the tree line, glaring at it.

 

“That was reckless, you know.” Etrius said. “I had the princess with me, you could have killed her.”

“It wouldn't be anywhere near as bad if she stayed with you.” Lucy said.

“I don’t know, killing her seems bad to me.” It said.

“I will kill you for what you did!” She glared.
“Well clearly I'm beaten.” It said wanting to avoid a fight. “How about I run and you take the princess somewhere safe?”

“How about I kill you right now and we call it even?” She asked sarcastically.

“I disagree. The princess is right there, it’s your job to save her, she is right there.” Etrius pointed her out. “You can take the princess, and I can go. Best for both of us.”

“You have crimes to atone for.” She said coldly and approached him.

 

“Fuck it, lets just teleport away.” Etrius muttered.

“Right.” It sighed.

 

Before Etrius could however, the air trembled and the breeze turned cold. Etrius’ ears started ringing as it looked around itself as a lullaby like hum drifted out of the forest. The ranger, noticing its behavior, stopped in her tracks in caution. Searching the area with its magic, Etrius tried to find the creature. This creature was not something that it wanted to leave in this world as it was not something that belonged. Simply existing it caused the world around it to change. Even worse, this creature was hunting someone with the ability to travel between worlds, and out of the three people here, Etrius was certain that it was the one.

Furthermore, teleporting away would not solve this problem. If it was to abandon the princess and ranger, they would surely be killed, and since its job was to save the princess, that was not an option. And teleporting with the princess also wouldn’t work. The reason being, the short range teleportation that it could do would not be far enough to keep her safe. And the long range teleportation was not something she could survive. So Etrius was stuck here. 

Discovering a cold presence in the forest, Etrius pulled out its gun and fired. Seeing this, the ranger jumped out of the way as a red haze shot past her. Enchanting her sword, she lunged at Etrius, with her sword glowing bright blue. With her blade still out of reach, the blue light shot down the length of the blade and momentarily extended it. Forced to dodge, Etrius still kept its attention on the forest as the presence grew closer. The shot that it fired tore through the trees and reached its target, however it was negated.

As the ranger jumped towards Etrius, it side stepped her, sending her stumbling past. Etrius then promptly created a barrier around both her and the princess, preventing any attacks from hitting them and from them seeing out of it. With them dealt with, Etrius could focus on the creature stalking it. From the tree line, a tall, bug-like creature emerged. A large spider-like head sat on its shoulders, unable to turn. From its log-like body were six legs with two arms folded onto its back. Each leg stood as tall as a man and its arms seemingly twice that length. Standing just over seven feet tall and eight long, this Wraith as it was known, had its eyes on Etrius.

Taking another shot, Etrius fired at its head, but the Wraith moved with an unexpected speed and dodged it. Still humming its eerie tune, one of its arms sprung out, and in its bony palm was a green light that activated a spell. Etrius jumped out of the way as a green ring appeared where it previously stood. The wraith clenched its hand and the ring shrunk as if to capture what was there. Seeing its spell fail, the wraith used another one, joining both of its hands together and making a glowing green cloud appear above it. 

Etrius created a portal in front of itself and one above the wraith. It let out its spell and five beams of green light shot at Etrius. However with the portal all of them were redirected back to it. Letting out an ear piercing scream, it collapsed under five heavy impacts and obscured by dust. Not moving from its spot, Etrius repurposed its portals, making one directly under the wraith and the other to another world. It was unlikely to survive the trip, but if it did, it would be in no condition to chase anyone anymore. However when it created the portals, it felt no presence moving through them.

At that moment, from the dust cloud shot out the wraith with its arms outstretched. Quickly changing its plan, Etrius, pistol in hand, concentrated its magic. The bony hands of the wraith grabbed onto it, but it did not matter. Although its main body was still some distance away, it would not be able to avoid this shot. Pulling the trigger, a white hot bullet shot out, detonation on impact. A burst of light sent out a cloud of blue, purple, and red plasma that vaporized anything it touched. Etrius managed to protect itself with a barrier but the creature was not so lucky as its body burned away. This did not however mean that Etrius was unharmed. The impact and high cost of using it's power left it exhausted. Furthermore as the blast hit it, and its body was sent flying, along with the bony arms. Unluckily for them both, they rolled over the cliff and into the cold water below.

Lucy, picking herself off the floor from the blast that shattered the barrier, looked around herself. A multi colored glowing cloud dissipated. The ground was scorched and nearby trees were burned and broken. The air around her was filled with magic that she couldn't quite understand. Looking to her left, she saw the princess, still out cold. To her right was the burned sand, some of which formed into glass. However, there was no sign of the assassin, nor what it was fighting.

Grabbing her sword, she stepped into the scorched earth. The heat rose through her shoes but it was not enough to deter her. Examining the magic, she moved to the edge of the cliff and looked down. Aside from the rocks and ocean, there was no sign of the assassin. However, looking down, she saw something stuck on the rocks. It looked like some sort of limb, but not that of any human. The air around it shimmered, her eyes hurt and her brain pulsed as her ears rang. Falling to her knees, she barely managed to keep herself from going over the edge. Falling on her back, she felt tears falling down her face as her vision turned red. Turning over, she vomited, most of which was blood. Her entire body hurt as her vision grew hazy and her consciousness faded away.