A blaring siren woke Charles without remorse.
"Ah!"
Pain gushed to his head the moment he hit the bed's railing. Panting, he lifted the blue blanket from above him and widened his eyes.
Sweat… Everywhere!
His hair was damp, and the back of his shirt soaked. He placed a hand on his chest and measured his heartbeat.
'It's so fast… Did I have a nightmare?'
Even if he did, Charles had no time to recall what had happened due to the boisterous alarm.
Immediately, he focused and ran to Emory's nursery. The baby was wide awake and gazing at the white-painted roof.
Charles picked his son up and sprinted (carefully) to the hallway, disregarding the previous plan he had made of kissing and hugging Emory every morning.
Now was not the time to engage in loving affection!
Woop! Woop! Woop!
The alert sounding across the city wasn't stopping anytime soon, and it made Charles's back shudder.
'The sky cracked? It's been so long since a monster spotting…'
Fiddling with the center floorboard in their narrow hallway, he mustered all his strength and lifted it, revealing a chilling entrance to their basement.
Descending the steps urgently, Charles placed Emory on a ragged bed and dug inside a small chest.
The basement was dark, humid, and covered in cobwebs. It was constructed with cement and hid many of the things Isabelle and Charles never used, like old bedframes and paint.
Woop! Woop! Woop!
Charles's movements sped up. He fumbled with the night-black trunk and withdrew a flimsy sword.
'Is it an Iton? Or maybe a Lane? Please have mercy on us, I have a child!'
Throughout the history of Houtis, a spontaneous phenomenon plagued the country. The vast blue sky cracked, as if it was a mirror, and black haze leaked out. Subsequently, vicious monsters rampaged and tore through the opening, feasting on the citizens of Houtis.
Charles only knew three of the four variants: The Iton, Lane, and Firio.
Mandated on schoolchildren was the ability to recognize three of the four variants and what followed after their arrival. The Iton were mindless beasts, coming in colors of red or purple, and had multiple limbs alongside incredibly muscular bodies.
The Lane were a bit smarter than them, reaching a pre-schooler's intellect. They were weaker than the Iton physically but made up for it via element manipulation. They only came in dark blue and had two limbs, like humans.
Although, that wasn't to say that the normal human could face the normal Lane. Sightings of Lanes and Itons ripping arms and legs circulated through Houtis periodically.
The Firio had the intelligence of a high-schooler and masterfully wielded the four elements. They also had the ability to disguise themselves among regular humans.
The fourth variant was one no civilian knew, obscured in government documents. It was said, though, that their powers had a magnitude greater than the other three combined.
Charles had never come across a monster, and he hoped he never would especially now that he had a son. The last spotting had taken place a couple of months ago in Maylor Precinct.
Unlucky for the monster, many of Houtis's strongest sorcerers and sorceresses were present and handled the situation with ease.
In the basement, the father and son waited silently. They wished that the beasts would be eradicated, and Houtis could be safe again.
Not all wishes come true, though. Imagination was only a concept of mind.
. . .
Saint Precinct:
A jagged-looking creature rampaged through the streets of Saint Precinct, leaving destruction and horror after every step.
The bulging muscles on its three-meter body ruptured any proximate building unremorsefully. Unfortunately for the hungry fiend, the streets deserted the exact moment the siren blared.
Saint Precinct was the second nicest area in Trila, quartering the Houtis Land Military base. While not as developed as Maylor Precinct, it was known for its surplus in sorcerer academies and trials.
Not a very smart place for this barbarian to cause chaos.
Hurtling with four arms on the floor, the red beast crushed a small phone booth in its way and threw it against the wall of a building nearby.
Smash!
The result: A sizable dent, and hundreds of screaming civilians who had taken shelter in the now-destroyed haven.
The monster licked its jagged teeth and sped up. Currently, it was treading Xol Street, a couple of blocks away from the military base. Its protruding mouth oozed foam and saliva, and its hulking body was so large that every footstep left deep indents on the road.
Woop! Woop! Woop!
The siren continued. It paid no attention and began to look for food—humans.
Pow!
A piping blast blew up the area. The monster jerked its head, and with its four eyes, scanned the proximity.
Two figures, male and female, were standing before it. The man wore a white suit, embellished with awards, and a yellow cape that hung by his shoulders. His gleaming yellow eyes matched the sun-colored hair he parted down the middle.
Neat and handsome, merciful on the eyes.
The lady next to him was nothing less. Her black hair was tied into a neat bun, and she wore the fairest skin. Clad in a bone-white suit with many black patterns around her abdomen, the white cape embracing her body fluttered as she took a step toward the enemy.
The lady unsheathed her black claymore.
"General Alanus," she said, a dignified voice escaping her lips. "It's an Iton."
Alanus scratched his clean-shaven face and sighed, "It is."
Poof!
Tearing through the fabric of space, Alanus teleported directly behind the Iton and slashed at its side with his sword. Blood splattered everywhere as the Iton fell to one knee and roared.
With its new handicap, the Iton rumbled and crawled toward its attacker, infuriation brewing behind every one of its eyes.
Alanus launched himself to the roof of a neighboring building and bent his knees. Instantly, he propelled at the Iton with hyper-speed and sliced its leg in half.
More screams tore through Saint Precinct.
After warping next to the woman, Alanus gazed at her and smiled. "Should we wait?"
She scoffed, "You didn't let me have a go."
"I can't let a beautiful lady soil her white clothes, dearest Lluvia, it's improper of me." He exaggeratedly bowed to her.
Lluvia rolled her eyes and faced the roaring Iton. "They wouldn't have been 'soiled' because I would've finished it in one move." She puffed up her chest and acted mighty.
Alanus had purposely left it alive due to orders from the higher-ups needing to study the phenomenon.
As the Land Military grew in power, Itons and Lanes weren't a threat to sorcerers as much as they were to regular civilians. This particular Iton was drenched in exuberantly pouring blood and rolled on the ground.
Gurgle!
Gut-wrenching squelches escaped its wound, pricking up Alanus and Lluvia's ears. They set their eyes on their opponent.
Pink flesh emerged from the wound in the stomach and the foot, completely replacing what was lost. In just a couple of seconds, the Iton had completely regenerated.
Lluvia didn't wait.
She gripped her obsidian claymore and spun it in hand. Spirals of light blue magic circled around the blade and covered it, elongating her weapon's range. She stared at the Iton with calm blue eyes and stabbed the ground.
"Aglana, my slave!"
The ground quaked and meekly replied, "Yes, Your Grace."
Suddenly, the Iton that had once charged at the pair fell inside the ground.
No, it would be more accurate to say that the ground enveloped it!
Sucking the monster inside, the floor quickly reshaped itself and covered the hole that the Iton was engulfed inside.
Lluvia ordered radiantly, "Crush it, with no remorse," and waited for the cosmic pressure underground to crack every bone in the beast's body.
A hand reached out and stopped her. Alanus glanced at Lluvia, then the ground. "No, Aglana."
Immediately, the ground shot up the Iton and whimpered, "I'm sorry, Your Magistrate."
Lluvia looked at Alanus. "What's wrong, General?"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to overrule your order," he said. Alanus stared at the beast. "It's just, that... thing... isn't an Iton. It wouldn't have died even if your command goes through."
Furrowing her brows, Lluvia asked, "Alright, what is it then?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. Must be a higher level than the Iton or Lane."
Lluvia dispersed the coils surrounding her blade. "That wouldn't make sense. Itons are the only beasts with multiple limbs. Lanes only have two."
She added after some thought. "Also, they're supposed to be mindless. I don't know about you, but that thing looked mindless to me."
Alanus scanned the area; He was glad that the streets had deserted as quickly as they did. "I'll ask Commander Saint. For now, we won't go near it."
Lluvia nodded and complied with the General. She sheathed her sword, hanging it on her hip.
The cloudy skies and rushing wind left an atmosphere she didn't prefer. It wasn't often that Lluvia went on missions with Alanus, and so she wanted to make the most out of this one.
General Alanus Diogenes was one of the most talented swordsmen and sorcerers in Houtis, second only to the Naval Military Commander Constance Wales.
Lluvia was excited, hoping that, maybe, Alanus would give her tips and teachings. In the base, he was always slumped with work and couldn't help.
However, judging by the look on his face, now wasn't the time to ask for pointers.
Alanus's expression was grim, like he had seen—or sensed—something he shouldn't have.
His tone was low. "Someone else is here."
He paused and apathetically added, "It's more than one, and the bloodlust exuding off of them is jarring."