It took an hour for a fleet of Vanguards to come, but chaos quickly proceeds this sign of hope. Their airships raining down hellfire on to the horrific monstrous mass while ground troops moved to drive the other monsters away. Explosive sources of magic creating a variety of destruction on the fields beyond. Towering spikes of ice, craters of singed stone and fire, and even bright dome like barriers surrounding groups of heavily armored soldiers and cloth lined mages and archers. An orchestra of screams and wails from the Cloaked and the soldiers echoed through the dark abyss. I could still see nothing but hear everything. Mages in the distant hills and on the airships speaking and yelling in a language I could not decipher, a dialect that was not familiar to me or anyone I could have possibly known. When they finished these chants, I could eventually see streaks of light from beyond the fog before joining the swirls of varying hues and shapes that cover the sky and scatter on the shape of the amalgam. Warriors on the fields, with their generals barking orders at the footmen that soon disappeared into the darkness. The first thought that had crossed my mind was how foolish it was to willingly rush into this hopeless scene, but at the same time I could not help but admire the bravery of these soldiers willing to do anything to push back this evil. As I started to get on my feet, my eyes dart over above me as an orange glow comes into view along with the warm rush of wind. Fire hugs the hull of the crashing Airship as the people on board scream and cry out in a panic. The fires only concealed by the crawling entities that surround the ship. It did not take long before it faded into the dark, before expanding in a wide fireball that had pushed back the dreadful night for but a mere moment.
I could only freeze as I listened at this chaos, not even knowing how far or how close this battle could possibly be.
Should I run? Run where? Back to the mines? Into my home? Into the church? I need to find dad...
Should I hide? Does that even matter at this moment? Will the soldiers find me? Or will the Cloaked?
Should I fight?...Yes...
No. I can't fight. All I know how to swing is a pickaxe, and my muscles lock up at the moment I even think about facing those things ahead of me. My nerves simply couldn't allow it. However that choice wasn't mine to make.
A claw reaches out to me from the darkness, clutching against my shoulder as another clutches against the side of my head. I try to scream from the pain but my mind has not yet processed this situation. Lost in the confusion, my eyes seek to find the source of this pain as it saw a shadowy figure clinging on to my back like a parasite. It's haunting and cold breath growing into this guttural and deep moan as it expands its mouth into an unnaturally wide form. It's bony maw revealing sharp and jagged teeth unlike any human nor animal could ever have as it was like glass blades and shattered metal covered by flesh. Deep black tar-like saliva drips from the maw and into my skin and clothes, burning holes into the spots they fell on. From beyond this frightening sight were eyes, or at least I thought they were. They were simply white dots of light from under the cloak of darkness that covers the rest of its form, but the chilling sensations whenever I stare into these dots of light makes me feel as if they were staring back at me. Like a predator locking it's hungry gaze on prey. However in this current moment, it was not just a feeling. It was real.
My mind soon realizes what is going to happen, but I had realized too late. It did not take long until the monstrous shade closed its jaw and pierced my stone skin like it was nothing, reaching the flesh and muscle underneath as it began to thrash like it was trying to tear the part it had a grip on off of me. My voice finally catches up as I scream out in pain. The feeling shooting out violently across my body like strikes of lighting. I couldn't think of anything other than this as the pain was enough to sap the strength from my body, causing my knees to buckle as I trip and fall into my face down into the mud and dirt. The creature eventually opens its mouth again, its claws seeking better grip, striking deeper into the cracks of my skin before it bites down again into a different spot, thrashing and ripping just as violently as before. The hot feeling of the pain now coming to a cool as my body starts to sit in a small puddle of my own blood. My body slowly losing the feeling of its strength as the creature continues to bite down into my flesh.
Was I going to die here? Is this really it? My death at the hands of a Cloaked One because I did not have the guts to run? Or even fight? Will I die a coward? Oh Lady Enes. Why must you forsake us like this? Why would you make these creatures? Is this a punishment? If so, what did we do wrong? Please...You've left us for so long...Save us!
No...I cannot pray for mercy. I cannot die here. Not now. That would be an insult to myself and my father. It would be a dire disrespect to my own mother. If I were to die, it would be on my own terms.
I snap myself back to reality, the horrific snarls and hungry growls of the creature now filling my hearing as I stare back at its terrifying form and actions. The sight of my own blood and muscle still has my mind wrap knots around itself but that does not matter now, I need to get this thing off me. With renewed vitality, I force my free arm to move as I scream through the pain. Screams turn into desperate roars of rage as I lift my arm and grab the head of the monster with all the strength I could muster. It screams, clawing against my grip like an angry animal. Each scratch ripping and tearing apart chunks out of the stone plates along my forearm. I could still feel the pain, but pain is but a reminder to keep myself alive. I keep my grip against the skull of this creature and with a brutal pull, I managed to throw the shade on to the floor in front of me where it wriggles and writhes on to the grass, trying to reclaim its stability.
With the creature off my shoulder, I begin to stand. Eyes locked on to the thing as it twirls and hovers at eye level just as I stood upright, albeit with a slight hunch due to the manner of how my wound was on the back of my shoulder. I was will weak from whatever leeching it had done to my strength but that did not matter now. I wanted to live. I needed to gather any strength left if I wanted to survive. The creature screams, clearly angry at the fact that its prey decided to fight back, but I did not care, yet my knees still tremble at this incomprehensible horror hovering in front of me, seeking nothing but my death. I reach over for my pickaxe, the only weapon available to me at this given moment and wrap my hand around the leather grip with all that I got. Sweat and blood now cover my very person, causing my grip to slip, but I clutched on to this tool with my life. Even deep breaths were a pain to do as I felt more of my vitality escape out of me through the form of viscous red liquid dripping from the wound in rivers. I could only endure for so long.
With adrenaline rich in my veins, I could only think of one thing. I wanted this thing gone. With a long and deep breath, I let out another guttural roar where the creature met the same. I had no time to think further. All I could do was act, and so I did. With a twist of my body, I swing the pickaxe at it, hoping it would reach but the creature was fast enough to slide under the swing and pounce. Its bony arms and sharp claws reaching out for whatever it could grab, but I was not going to let it. Biting my tongue to stop myself from screaming bloody murder, I lift the injured arm up and grab the creature by the face. The palm of my hand burning with the chilling touch of this monster. The dark cloak that covers it freezing my fingers close to frostbite, but I did not care. Flexing my arm and pushing it forward, I kick off and slam this creature deep into the ground, cracking the very earth where its skull impacted. Not knowing if that fall had already killed it or not, I could at least hoped it stunned the creature, so I let go and with both hands, I wrapped my grip around the pickaxe and pushed the weight of the tool and myself down on to the head of the monster. Striking the thing with the pommel again, and again, and again, and again. Until I could not attack anymore.
My arms fall limp against my sides, my grip now failing to hold on to my pickaxe, it falls to the side as well, resting on the ground beside me. On my knees, bloody, and tired, I looked down at the creature, wondering if it was still alive, only to see top half of skeletal remains with a shattered skull as if it was a broken ceramic pot, with faint hints of crystalline veins growing at the ends of the shattered pieces. The cloak of darkness that covers it now fading into the storm of darkness looming above. Following the stream of energy, my spine chills with a deathly cold as I see a cloud of those creatures looming overhead. Their flight making it seem like they were only one creature. I could only gasp before I shake my head and seek what lasting strength I had and picked up my weapon whilst I got on to my own two feet. I cannot die here. I will not die here.
With one last scream of desperate rage, I welcome the hunt that is to come.