Chapter 2

There was a nearby human city by the name of Mabiss, which the faeries had always watch it carefully, as it was located uncomfortably close to their own city. The army of goblins, which seemed to have been advancing half-blindly toward Nalya, turned unexpectedly toward this city.

Goblins were small ugly creatures with long spindly legs and arms. When running, they moved on all fours. They used their claws, their knives, or any other nearby object they could find when attacking. They swarmed over the city like a mass of giant spiders.

Three goblins concentrated on a black-haired human who dashed down the street. He saw a corner ahead and knew it turned into an alley. He turned, and crashed into a black-cloaked figure. He snatched a knife out of his boot.

"Hey, wait!" the figure protested. He tossed his scimitar aside and raised his hands.

The black-haired person lowered his knife. "Grab your sword and get over here," he snapped and ducked behind three large barrels that ran along the side of the building.

They heard the hissing breath and scratching claws of approaching goblins. The goblins suddenly went silent, and their quarry held their breaths.

The goblin screeched. A flash of a sword cleaved one goblin's head in half. The goblin that leapt over the barrels landed on a knife. The cloaked person stood up and skewered the third goblin.

"Thanks," he said when his black-haired companion stood. He held his hand out to be shaken. "My name is Flenn."

"Yeah, thanks." He was looking about warily and did not shake hands.

"Heh.... You don't have a name?"

"...Kolkil."

"It'll be a lot easier to fight these things off if we stick together."

"Maybe so, but I have to go find my friend."

You're friend's corpse?" Flenn asked. He dodged the kick Kolkil aimed at his head.

"There are still plenty of people alive out there, and if those weaklings and their filthy, pathetic little offspring can survive this long, Rotebi will be safe…."

* * *

Another part of the city was engulfed in chaos. There was one blond fur-clothed half-elf in the middle of it all whose sole intent was to get out... until he saw a little girl out of the corner of his eye.

He lunged at her. The goblin that would have sliced him open had he kept running straight hit the ground harmlessly and was killed with a townsman's shovel. He collided with the girl, knocked her down, and landed on her. The goblin about to attack her missed and passed overhead. The half-elf sat up, spoke string of strange words, and hurled a fireball at the goblin. He picked the crying girl up and ran, leaving the goblin to screech as its rag clothes caught aflame.

He dodged around all obstacles without any care as to what they were. The world blurred, and he tripped, landing in the midst of several goblins. They came down on him, but a shrill neigh ripped through the air. His vision was eclipsed by the form of a great white horse, and hooves clashed against the goblins' heads and backs.

Unicorn landed awkwardly, being careful not to crush the half-elf and the little human girl that were on the ground beneath her. Something had struck the half-elf in the head; he was unconscious with his arm still wrapped protectively around the girl.

Yousei was on Unicorn’s back behind Kyri. She stabbed at the remaining goblins, skewering those that didn’t back away in time. She and Kyri dismounted and lifted the half-elf, the girl, and two more people that didn’t look like they could walk onto Unicorn’s back.

"Here! Here! This way!" Kyri shouted to the other townspeople. They followed her, dragging their wounded loved ones when necessary, because she seemed to be the only one who knew what to do. The strong but kind-looking steed at her side foretold of safety.

A group of five faeries appeared in the sky armed with crossbows. They shot at the goblins that got too close to the townspeople, and they pointed a path out to Kyri. More faeries led them on a winding hard-to-follow path through the forest and shot any goblins they saw.

Aikel and Himeki, who both rode Pegasus, were still in another part of the city. The Sea Orb’s magic had created a long blade-tipped pole arm with which Aikel chopped down the swarming goblins. Pegasus leapt and flew over a mob of them with ease. Aikel sliced at their backs.

He worried that Himeki would fall off with the erratic way Pegasus jumped around, but the hand she gripped his shoulder with never even tightened. He could hear bits of her spell incantations, "Seyeney… kari…."

Her voice rose loud, clear, and unmuffled over the sounds of chaos. "Hiyarka!" She thrust her hand out and emitted a glowing beam. The beam hit the ground amidst a swarming mass of creatures—goblins and townspeople alike—and erupted into a dome of blinding light.

The wave of light pushed everything back. The humans were pressed against the walls of buildings, mostly unharmed. The goblins were thrown down, and they screeched and screamed as their skin burned. Pegasus reared up, and his riders were unaffected.

Aikel turned to look at Himeki over his shoulder once Pegasus was on all fours again. She shook her head as if trying to get rid of dizziness. When she looked up, he eyes widened.

"Such improvement…." The whisper was heard as clearly as Himeki’s voice had been.

The only creature standing among the writhing goblins was a pale elven man dressed in dark robes. He had shoulder-length black hair and a white stripe in the bangs.

Pegasus snorted. It seemed like he would take a step back, but he turned it into a hoof stomp instead.

"Who are you?!" Aikel blurted. He felt Himeki tense.

"A name? I am Ahrimel. Maybe you’ve heard of me, maybe not." The man had a light smile on his face, but he looked at the goblins with disdain. He kicked one of them. "Get up! Get up and fight, or you'll find yourselves in Niflheim! Niflheim!"

The crawled up, grabbed their weapons, and staggered toward Pegasus and his riders. Aikel instinctively leaned back, and Pegasus took it as a sign to back up.

"Run," Himeki whispered.

"Ahh…?" Aikel asked, worrying too much about the goblins to hear her.

"Run!" she repeated. "We can beat a mob of goblins, but not an army of goblins! The difference between a mob and an army is a leader! But this leader could slash us down all alone!"

"What’s that I hear about running?" Ahrimel asked coyly. "That doesn’t sound like something a hasuco should say…." He laughed, put his hands together, and molded a ball of blackness from the air. The goblins closest to Pegasus leapt. Aikel swung his blade. A pair of heads hit the ground.

Ahrimel drew his blackness-filled hand back and prepared to throw. Another black-clothed shape collided with him, and out of start, he threw his ball of darkness at this new attacker. It grazed the target’s shoulder as he received a slash over his own midsection.

The magic ball hit a building, melted through the wall, and exploded within. Any creature near the it was shoved away by the force. The humans who could still stand picked up anything that could be used as a weapon and charged at their enemies.

Pegasus leapt and flew over a mass of goblins—disregarding the ones he had to land on—in an effort to be near Ahrimel.

Flenn, the one who had attacked him first, sliced and stabbed with his scimitar; his cloak was pulled down to obscure his face almost completely. Ahrimel blocked Flenn’s blows with just the palms of his hands, only to be punch and kicked by Kolkil from the other side. Ahrimel flung a fireball as Pegasus approached. Pegasus reared up and kicked it in flight; he neighed in pain from the heat. As he landed, Aikel brought his blade down. A kick in the ribs prevented Ahrimel from dodging, but he stumbled back with only a line of blood down his body. He shoved his attackers away with a slash of magic. He turned, pushed through the goblins, and disappeared. A wave of panic went through the monsters once he was gone. Some scattered and hid. Some were slashed down by the humans.

"This way!" Aikel shouted, waving his arm.

* * *

The faery crossbowmen skewered some odd flower on their bolts and shot them around the forest. Each punctured flower released an over-powering smell of sweetness that would cover up the scent trail of the fleeing townsfolk. The randomness with which they were shot prevented the flowers and bolts themselves from offering any clues, but the human refugees twitched and cowered whenever a bolt hit a nearby tree.

Aikel left Himeki to steer them in the direction the faeries indicated while he stayed in the back of the group to make sure there were no stragglers. Once he was no longer being shoved along, the black-haired fighter tried to turn around, only to have Aikel’s hand on his chest to hold him back. The anger that shone from Kolkil’s icy blue eyes made Aikel readjust the grip he had on his weapon, but that anger didn’t completely mask the look of hopelessness and fearful searching.

"The faeries are going back to look for anyone who’s still alive, just incase we missed someone," Aikel explained stiffly, "and there are already people waiting in the cave where we’re headed. So… if you’re looking for someone, it’s best to keep going in this direction."

Kolkil smacked Aikel’s hand away, turned back the way he was supposed to be going, and stomped off to hide himself among the others.

The cave was off the sort faeries call a root-cave. It was a large hollow under a huge tree. Its entry was framed by large woody roots and hidden by bushes. When the second group of townsfolk were heard, Kyri left the cave and climbed onto the higher ground near the tree trunk for a clearer view of the crowd. Even from the distance, the sigh of relief she emitted upon seeing Aikel was visible.

A faery flew over the crowd to talk to him. "Those who can walk have already been sent toward Nalya, as the cave is small," she said. "Those who remain are those who are wounded or unconscious, or those who refuse to leave the wounded and unconscious…. We are using our magic to heal them as fast as possible."

Aikel only nodded wearily. He looked back up to where Kyri had been standing, but she was gone, already back to work.

Once everyone had crowded into the cave, Aikel saw Kolkil dash to where Kyri was sitting. He moved over to them, dodging around people, as inconspicuously as possible

"Don't worry," he heard Kyri say. "He's just unconscious. A little while ago, he came to for just a moment. Just let him rest until he wakes up again."

The person in question was the unconscious fur-clothed half-elf who had Kolkil's arms around his shoulders. His dark-blond blue-tipped hair and headband of dark-brown fur were pushed back so that Kyri could run a wet rag over his forehead. She got up and moved on to someone else. Kolkil complied, though he kept his defiant look.

A sudden fierce hug stirred Rotebi. He opened his eyes just enough to Kolkil.

He smiled lightly. "Did I fall out of a tree again?"

"Yeah…" Kolkil answered quietly. "Don’t worry about it."

"Aikel!"

The loud whisper from behind made Aikel jump. He spun around and stared stupidly at the person in front of him. Flenn, whose cloak was removed and draped over one shoulder, grinning at his expression. He brushed his green bangs out of his eyes just before Aikel tackled and clung to him.

"Hey, hey!" Flenn protested. "I’m glad to see you to, but, but…! Don’t hug me! People are giving us weird looks!" He finally succeeded in squirming out of Aikel’s grasp, and Aikel stood looking at the floor of the cave.

"Where are the others…?" he asked quietly.

"Linness and Terdoan…" Flenn began. He drooped, and the cheerfulness drained out of him. "You can probably guess… and I saw it myself."

Aikel nodded slowly. "…Mirran?"

"I really don’t know about him," Flenn admitted. "We managed to stick together up until an hour ago. I lost him in that town, in that chaos. I… I think… it’s… safe to say that, that he’s gone too…."

Aikel was silent, and his sweaty hair hung down to hide his face. After several seconds, Flenn was about to ask if he was okay, but Aikel straightened up and said, "Well, it’s good that you’re alright…. Let’s go see if Kyri needs help."

"Heh… never thought I’d hear something like that last part coming out of you…."

"Hmm, crazy situation, you know…."

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