The figures stood around them, blades raised. The men were covered head to toe in armor and tabards, their insignia a flame coiled around a quill matching the man they had found on the street.
They looked weary, the air filled with groans and hushed whispers behind them. Adam said nothing at first, eyeing them all, but before he could speak, Sophia stepped forward.
"I am questing knight Sophia. I bear no surname worth mentioning, but I am on a quest to assist in resolving whatever issues have arisen in this land, sent from Bant."
The knights paused, glancing at one another. Finally, one with a purple plume on his helmet spoke.
"Bant is still too young a colony to send any aid. But all is lost regardless. Eneris has fallen to the broken horrors from the north. Our orders from the general are to find a safe route out of the city and bring as many as we can to safety."
Adam and Sophia exchanged a look.
Sophia spoke again.
"Do not fret. My loyal companion Adam is a holder. We are here to help in expunging whatever forces threaten you and your people."
The men stiffened in shock.
"You carry a holder with you? Adam, brave child, you are one of very few left. Take my dagger. It is a mark of position, proof of my role as captain of this squad. Deliver it to General Talien he will want to see you immediately. This is good news. He may know what to do next."
Adam nodded and accepted the captain's dagger.
"Thank you, captain. I'll help where I can."
The captain replied flatly, "Follow the gardens behind this house to a door in the walls. A scout waits there. Show him the mark, and he will let you through."
Sophia looked past him into the crowd. Many soldiers bore the same festering wounds she had seen earlier maggot infested gashes writhing beneath the hands of patient healers who whispered anxiously among themselves.
She bowed her head slightly.
"May the gods watch over you, captain."
He nodded in return.
"May our names be written among the pages of Mystis."
The crowd dispersed as Adam and Sophia made their way through the house. A back door opened into sprawling gardens stretching from inner wall to outer wall.
"We should hurry," Adam said.
Their journey was quiet. Behind the houses stretched rows of trees, serene ponds, and crafted beauty unlike anything Sophia had ever seen. Her own city had been built only to withstand the harshest elements and the fiercest invaders never for beauty.
The morning sun rose high, shifting into the harsh heat of afternoon. In the distance, shrieks of strange creatures and human screams echoed. Still, they pressed on in silence.
At last, the door appeared before them, but the scout was nowhere in sight.
Sophia approached cautiously. Shadows from the towering buildings cast the door into darkness.
Adam watched her slow steps. At first, everything seemed fine. Then Rain's voice stirred in his mind.
"Adam. Be wary. The city has gone quiet. Something is watching."
His head snapped toward Sophia, then scanned the rooftops. A creature of black stood above a horrifying shape with a skull-like face. Its gaze locked instantly on his.
It pounced.
A piercing screech tore the air as its clawed hands reached for him, maggots dripping from its body as it dove.
Adam threw himself to the ground. The creature's claws ripped through the wall and bushes where he had been. It crouched, ready to lunge again.
Adam scrambled up and hurled himself through a window. Glass cut into his skin as he hit the floor, but he didn't stop. He couldn't stop. Stopping meant death.
"SOPHIA! ARE YOU THERE?!" he screamed.
The creature slammed through the wall behind him, tearing apart the house in its pursuit. Horrid whispers filled the air a sickly sweet chant that pressed against his ears as it chased him.
He bolted up a staircase to the second floor. For a moment, he thought he'd lost it. But he knew better. He had to keep moving. He darted left, into the nearest room
and froze.
A family huddled in the corner, parents shielding two young girls. The man shouted at him.
"PLEASE, LEAVE! KEEP THAT MONSTER AWAY FROM US, YOU FOOL!"
Before Adam could respond, the creature ripped through the wall.
What followed was a massacre. The screams of the family echoed as the maggot-ridden beast tore them apart, feeding upon their corpses without hesitation.
Adam stood frozen. His mind blank. He felt empty. The bodies of innocents sprawled at his feet, dragged into his stupidity.
In the floor's blood reflection, his cold green eyes stared back at him. The creature feasted behind him, the sound wet and ravenous.
Then something inside him broke. His rage burned through the silence.
He roared, grabbed the beast, and pressed his hands against its back. His eyes glowed bright with green light, and the word forced itself from his mouth.
"Words."
The lexicon surged. Sparks of green burst into the air, flooding the room with searing light. Pain ripped through his body. His blood bubbled. His muscles strained.
He didn't care if it worked. He didn't care if it made no sense.
He just had to do something.