War of Dark Ages: A Unicorn's Journey

Commander Kail walks out the door of the old building seeing Uri pacing back and forth in front of him.

Uri halts gazing at him with a perturbed expression. “You’re coming with us then?”

“Yes. I will bring a few soldiers, but I can’t bring many. Seems there is more than one that needs to be saved here. And my men are already spread out a bit thin at the moment. So, we are going to tackle both of them and do our best.”

“More than one?” Uri questions.

Giving Uri a nod, he turns towards the guard standing behind him, “Gather at least ten soldiers from the Barracks and bring them to the teleportation circle beside the stables. Have them join us at the Town of Isitural.”

As the guard rushes down the lane towards the Barracks, Both Commander Kail and Uri, Captain of the Royal guards, start walking down the path.

“Mind if I ask what other creature needs to be saved?” Uri casts a side glance at him.

“You can ask Uri, but I would rather not speak of it at this moment as we are trying to save lives and not hurt them. Can it wait till we are over there?”

“Of course.” His voice sounds slightly agitated about not revealing his current work noticing a slight change in the commander.

They turn left continuing down the lane and approach the stalls with a large circle at the front on the right side. There are eight small pillars in an octagon shape outside the circle with crystal gems on each of the pillars. They walk inside the circle and it lights up green for a few seconds as they both disappear.

Reappearing in another circle close to the town of Isitural, they mount on horses and ride fast to the west. Upon closer approach to the town, Commander Kail saw it was completely in ruins with not even a building remaining. Pieces of walls rose five feet high extending out to a few areas with dust and no plants as if this place had been completely destroyed. He frowns as they turn left and ride a few more feet. They halt and dismount spotting quite a few people spread out in different groups.

The Count meets them and gestures to people, “I’m glad you came. The Duke is already here and is trying to help the others. But I can’t even determine who they are or what they are.”

“Count, I am going to give you an order and you’re not going to like it. But it’s for the protection of everyone and don’t argue.” Commander Kail looks directly at the Count as he places one hand on his hip.

Uri looks at him in surprise.

The Count replies, “Of course.”

“I need you to place every person or creature you have found into separate cages, and make sure they are ten feet apart from each other.” Both of them gaze at Commander Kail in astonishment as he continues, “Then I need to make sure your soldiers are safe at all costs. Keep their distance from them.”

“You’re acting as if they’re Monsters! They are our people!” Uri yells and clenches his fists beside him.

“You learned something, didn’t you Kail?” The Duke approaches, standing beside Uri.

“Yes.”

The Count, recovering from shock, starts issuing orders. As they follow the orders given, the soldiers are very angry. In an hour, every person is in a cage ten feet apart from anyone. Some have strange ears that are green or pointy while others look as if someone has ripped them off. Quite a few others have their legs cut off, while others look like it was changed to some other legs that were not of creatures they were familiar with.

With intense sorrow gazing at them, Commander Kail could tell none of them looked normal and had an awful feeling of their impending doom. Remembering what San told him, he has an impression of how this was swept under the rug for so long.

They walk to the tent and sit inside at the table.

As the Duke leans forward, “Judging by your reaction, whatever you learned is bad.”

“Yes, it is.” His posture is still with his eyes lowered. “I need you to listen carefully as I explain this and what might need to be done.”

They listen intently as the story unfolds speaking of the different ranks, and how one rank is responsible for this. He also speaks about how the different ranks work and possibly the experiments that are going on here.

One Commander Kail finishes, and the Duke sits back with arms crossed with a sour expression.

The Count is looking down at his hands that are on the table with his ears twitching.

Uri has his eyes closed with his hands clenched.

“This is the real threat we face. Even though it’s not this person called The First, it’s just as bad.” The Duke glances at the commander.

“Yes.”

With a frown on his brow, the Count sighs gazing up. “It would explain how this has been going on for so long. Even with us being next door to this town, we never really knew what happened. We also don’t know whether we can save those people out there or even if we can call them people.”

Uri suddenly stands up and marches out of the tent.

“Uri! Uri!” The Duke stands up. “I’ll go after him.” He steps around the table parting the tent and chases after him.

The tension in the tent doesn’t change.

“There is not much we can do but there should be a place around here where the experiments were done. I’ll take care of dealing with the people as my soldiers will not like what they have to do,” The Count replies with a hint of despair in his voice.

“Have you been able to do anything about the chains on their wrists and ankles?”

With a shake of his head, The Count remains silent.

“Mmm, unless we do something about that first, it would not be a clever idea to do that. I know of someone that might be able to help there.”

The Count gazes at the commander with interest while walking to the front of the tent beckoning a soldier. “Go back to Runbay and ask Gringel at the Forge that we will need his help in destroying some sigils. Ask politely if he is up for the task. Let him know Commander Kail asks for his help.”

As the soldier withdraws, the Count walks towards him, “You know how to destroy them?”

“Well, Gringel might. Seems he has a book of stories from the old world. The Duke has read them and a few others. It’s dark and horrifying to read. But he was able to destroy two devices of the old world without using magic,” Kail replies.

With a grief expression on the Count as he looks towards the people, “Let’s hope for their sake we can figure it out. I would not want them to suffer anymore.”

Commander Kail looks in the direction of the people sitting in cages, “Nor would I.”

San moves away from the creature with a thoughtful expression on her face. Her hand raises to her chin gazing intently at the imprisoned creature.

“You learned something, didn’t you lass?” Granger looks up from his book.

Lowering her hand, turns to look at Granger. “Yes. This prison around them is extraordinarily strong. I think I can break it if we find a lot more of them. It seems the connection they have is also proving to be a barrier.”

Torin glances to the side with his hand on his chin.

Granger snaps the book shut, “A barrier, eh? Perhaps in this instance, we might have a good chance at freeing them so let’s keep our fingers crossed.”

“We probably have a very good chance at that.” They turn and gaze at Ragnar approaching them with a smile on his face.

Granger taps the book in his hand, “You found it, didn’t you?”

“Yes, we did. There are a few sigils, so we called for Gringel’s help. However, it seems Gringel is over in the Town of Isitural as we speak. Brooks is going to help us over here.”

“Well, shall we head over?” Torin walks over to San and extends his hand outwards.

San looks at his hand for a moment, not sure what to do. Despite that, a kindle of hope grew inside that perhaps one of the species destroyed a long time ago will be able to become free.

Without getting a response, Torin grabs her hand and pulls her towards the stairs with others right behind them. They went upstairs and stepped outside of the old building.

Rangar spread his hands wide and cast an instant teleportation bringing them to the fields east of town.

As Torin lets go of San’s hand, she looks around her as a presence is felt nearby. “Where is Riley?”

“He is bringing Brooks here and wants to make sure the Winged Pegasus is transported safely here.” Stepping forward Ragnar points downward. “The sigils are here.”

“Let’s get to work then.” Granger hands the book over to Torin and they move to the sigils sitting down past Ragnar.

With a glance and a smile towards her, Ragnar continues in a voice as calm as the soft breeze, “Knowing you, you will want to make sure she is safe. Both of us thought it would be best if she was brought here while we worked on getting to the other Winged Pegasus.” He raises his hand to his chin. “I’m aware you destroyed that one device from your past, can you destroy sigils?”

“Yes, I can, but not without harming the person or creatures they are on. Back then things were…. Different.” An intense look of pain echoes in her eyes gazing at the sky above.

The sound of a few footsteps catches their attention as Brooks appears with a few more guards carrying a couple of chests. The guards set them down as Brooks bows to her. “Hello, Miss San.”

“Hello.”

“Don’t you worry, knowing me and my father we will do our best.” He walks to the first sigil, kneeling placing a device over his eyes.

“What is that device you are using?” San gazes intently at the item over his eyes.

Without looking up, Brooks replies, “This is a Lynstil. Most people in forging have one.”

“You do realize how expensive they are?” Granger remarks sarcastically, glancing in his direction.

Brooks snickers. “Yes, they are pricey. This one has been in our family for quite some time. At least 1,000 years dating back.”

With a dumbfounded look, Torin sits back on heels staring at Brooks. “That old? And it still works?”

Brooks smiles while continuing to work on the sigil, “My father would die of laughter if he heard you say that as he takes whatever it is he is forging very seriously.

But yes, it still works, and it is that old.” He glances, noticing San is looking at the device with a perplexed expression. “Would you care to see how it works?”

A few seconds pass, “Yes.”

Together they kneel at the Sigil and Brooks hands her a Lintel to put over her eyes.

San puts the metal frame with two clear lenses inside it to her eye and blinks and draws it away. Putting it to her eye again, looks down at the sigil spotting springs attached to the sigil. It was strange. Even with her eyesight, these things couldn’t be seen. The sigil looks more like a winding clock to her with this device than a symbol. “How am I able to see this? It looks as if something is causing it to wind going left and then moving back right?”

“You would be correct. Seems these sigils are mostly mechanical with the ability to seal any magic that is stumbled their way. Whoever created this, had no care for the world or the creatures in it.”

San hands it over to Brooks and wonders if they could break this sigil.

“I think we can unlock it safely, however, I don’t have the hands needed to perform this. I have the devices, but we would need someone good at manipulating his hands.” Brooks simply states.

San stands up as Ragnar and Torin look at Granger sitting on the ground.

Granger groans, “Alright! Alright! Quit looking at me both of you! I already said I would do what I could to help. Honestly.” He stands up brushing the dirt off his pants and walks over to Brooks.

“You can do it?” He glances up at him for a moment.

Granger has a sarcastic twist of his lips, “Don’t ask what I used to do for a living.”

They watch as Brooks walks toward the boxes and kneels in front of one of them. He comes back with a device that looks like a small square with a half-circle pale blue gem on top.

“Could you explain the devices to her?” Ragnar glances at him with an eyebrow raised.

“Sure, Let me know if there is anything you don’t understand?”

“Okay.”

Granger and Torin meet with Brooks standing in front of her. “This device is called a Machitar. This little contraption allows you to grab any sigil or symbol and manipulate it. Allow me to demonstrate. Torin if you would be so kind?”

Instantly to the side, pointy ice shards appear. Torin lowers his hand stepping to the side as Brooks steps forward placing the Machitar over it. A clicking sound is heard as the pale blue gem lights up. Blue tentacles extended outwards forcing the symbol to appear and wind itself through them stopping at the edge.

Upon looking at this device, it reminds her of a creature she once knew in the sea. “How does this help you manipulate it?”

“Ah, this is where good hands come in handy. Watch carefully.” Granger starts to move his hands over the symbol and takes one part of it moving it up and crossing another line. The shards of ice become flat. Then, he moves his hand upward picking up the line and moving upwards across two more lines. The shard of ice split into four pieces stretching a little bit taller than before. “This allows us to manipulate any symbol to how we need it, it’s great for crafting, forging, and breaking locks on places.”

“This will help us break the sigil without hurting the creatures inside?” San questions.

Granger nods, “Correct.”

“And this device will help connect the other three sigils to the first one. So, while he is working on one of them, he is actually working on all four of them at the same time. This helps us do this project much faster.” Walking back from the chests, Brooks has four devices in his hands.

“Mushrooms?” San’s expression grows more confused.

Granger and Torin start laughing.

Ragnar shakes his head placing one hand on his hip. “Shrooms is the name for them because when you’re hunting if you want to find prey or get lost, you will see mushrooms in certain areas weaving a pattern. You follow them because they are connected in a pattern that can lead you to a place to get out of certain dangers.”

Brooks smiles and places a machitar on the first sigil. “Yes, although I remember several kingdoms changing the name because they said it was too boring. I’m sure you will find this device called several different things.”

San wonders if there is anything that can be done to help, but at the moment isn’t needed. It leaves her feeling a bit strange. Unsure of herself, turns away, spotting Riley in the distance with a wagon and the crystallized Winged Pegasus inside, walking over to him.

Riley smiles. “Seems I got here just in time. Took me a bit longer as I wanted to make sure the Winged Pegasus was safe, and I also wanted to make sure the building was secure before we left.” Lifting his thumb behind him pointing at the creature, “If you want, you can check her to make sure she didn’t get hurt.”

“She didn’t get hurt, thank you for taking care of her.” Glazing around at her surroundings, “Is there anything I can do?”

“No, I feel like that sometimes. That I just stand here because there is not much I can do.”

San ponders that for a minute as they walk towards Ragnar standing a few feet from them.

Granger is sitting on the ground in front of the sigil with a pair of lynstils over his eyes.

Torin is crouching beside him, listening to any instructions given.

Brooks is on the other side of Torin handing a few other items to Granger.

A thought dawns on her glancing at Brooks but unsure if she should disturb them.

Catching her expression, Riley speaks softly, “Is there something you want to ask Brooks?”

Brooks looks over at them sitting back on his feet.

“Do you have the book with the stories from the old world? I was wondering if I could read it.”

“Sure, it’s in the box to the left. Should be right on top.” Brooks points to the chest.

San walks towards the chest lifting the lid, revealing a few other books and parchments inside. On the top, a large red book with a strange pattern on it with words displaying, “The War of Dark Ages.” Picking the book up, she closes the lid and walks a few feet to the left of the boxes before sitting down. Her hand trembles slightly and opens the book to reveal the first page. Standing tall and drawn on the page is the creature called “The First.” The picture displays him shooting a blight up towards the stars.

The next page describes how he arose from a destroyed laboratory casting darkness across the land. Her hand trembles at how he captured creatures and people alike turning them into a being like him. Her eyes close for a brief moment as memories from her past flood her thoughts.

Riley kneels beside her and places his hand over hers. “I take that the first page is very real.”

She gazes up at him with fear and sorrow in her eyes. “Yes. It describes him exactly as I remember. Someone else was there that day he was created.”

“The First.” Riley sighs. “From what else I read, he sounds like an absolutely terrifying person. But what did he want and why was he created in the first place?”

“I don’t know. I do know he kept mentioning me and the final phase. But as to what that means, I don’t know. It was the main reason he wanted me broken.”

“I’m sorry.” Riley looks down at the book, squeezing her hand.

San gives a small smile. “No, these are memories of the past. I can’t undo them.” Not wanting to read anymore closes the book and stares at the sky as night starts to fall.

A small light shows up beside her floating in the air.

“These are lanterns.” Raising his hand, he turns the lantern off revealing a small, green gem. He grabs the gem and brings it towards her. “These have natural light in them, so they are mostly used as lanterns to help us see in the dark. Here, why don’t you touch it and see for yourself.”

San reaches out to touch the gem. “It has a natural light element.” “Light element?”

Riley gives a bewildered glance curious as to what she meant by that.

“Yes, all things in this world are connected through their natural element. The gem is of three elements. They are Earth, Crystal, and Light.”

“Now that is interesting. I know of the earth element and light element, but I have never heard of a crystal element. I always assumed elements are magic?”

“Magic exists in all things even if you can’t see them.” San raises the gem and it lights up again.

“So, there are Guardians of all these elements throughout this world? What is the Guardian Carbuncle element?”

“His element is Heal and yes, there should be a Guardian for every element. But I don’t know how much has changed or has stayed the same.” Her gaze looks up at the stars.

“Well, let’s hope we can change that around now. I for both them and for us,” Riley smiles and glances in her direction.

San gives Riley a small smile and nods.

A loud click is suddenly heard. “Everyone stand back!” Granger warns.

They move backward as the ground starts to tremble.

The sigils light up a dark ashen aura as they turn to the right. The springs start to disappear and at the same time, a white line appears slightly above them moving the wall backward quite a few feet. A large rectangle hole stands before them unable to pierce the darkness below.

“Wonder how deep it goes?” Granger peers over to look down.

“One way to find out.” Riley looks back at the soldiers, “Bring those ladders over here.”

Simultaneously, San looks down the hole and walks off the edge falling below.

“San!” Riley screams.

After a few seconds, they hear a loud thump.

“San Lass! Are you alright down there?” Granger yells down below.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” Torin yells bending over.

After a few moments, they hear, “I’m alright.”

While Granger sits back swearing, Torin with Brooks laughs glancing at him.

With a groan, Riley puts his head in his hands.

“You shouldn’t be surprised by now that San didn’t get hurt that way. I had a feeling she would be alright.” Ragnar throws up both hands in defense as Riley, Granger, and Torin scowl at him. Brooks starts laughing harder as he casts wind magic on his boots letting him glide down the hole.

Going down to the ground level, a passageway curves around to the right showing an impossibly huge cavern with tons of crystalized statues. San is ahead with her hand gently stroking one of them.

Ragnar approaches her. “There are over 500 species here, do you think you can free them?”

“I don’t know but I’m going to try.” She looks up gazing at the ceiling above. “But I’m afraid it will hurt them because of the ceiling above. Is there a way we could remove that safely?” Her gaze turns to Ragnar.

“Yes, we can. Riley?”

They look at Riley who is standing slightly behind them.

“Yes. Brooks can take care of the wall and get it removed safely. We can bring the winged pegasus down here while they do that.”

“I’ll go get Brooks.” Ragnar bows and takes his leave.

Granger appears staring at the sight before him. “There are so many of them. Are you sure you can free them?”

San turns to gaze at the statues. “I think I can but I’m still unsure. I do know their connection helps greatly.”

Riley places one hand on his hip, “Their connection?”

San ponders a minute as Granger walks forward toward her. “Magical creatures, such as winged pegasus and carbuncles have a connection to each other. It’s how they can talk without words as your kind does.”

“That’s why you said if there was more, it would be easier to break the chains on them.” Using his hands, Granger kneels noticing a large sheet of crystal underneath all of them.

“Measuring the room will take me a bit of time.” Brooks gazes around the room.

“Why don’t me and Torin help you out with that?” Granger spots Torin appear behind him. They move around the room measuring the structures. Once they finish, they depart. ​​

Both Riley and San watch the ceiling. A white barrier appears underneath the ceiling from the entrance extending down to the end. It pulls the rocks up separating them from the sides. Pieces of rocks crumble and start collapsing only to disappear as they hit the barrier leaving a night dark blue sky above.

While they continue watching, San glances at Riley. “How are they making it disappear?”

“When forges need to collect materials, there is a device called Transpeto that allows us to transport items or materials safely.” He crosses his arms.

Brooks waves down at them.

“The materials are sent to a warehouse.”

“Thank you.”

Riley raises his eyebrows, “For what?”

Shaking her head she continues to look ahead hoping to free them.

Lieutenant Knox and a few other soldiers bring the other Winged Pegasus safely into the cavern. They set the creature down gently in front of the others.

“Let’s go back upstairs. I don’t want anything disturbed as San is trying to break the chains.” Riley orders and everyone disappears through the pathway going back upstairs.

Approaching the creature they brought down, San kneels with her hands on the ground closing her eyes. Darkness shifts around her with the chains surrounding her in a magical field opening her eyes to see a magical vision ahead. Glazing behind her she is still kneeling with her hands on the ground.

Ahead are a lot of crystals chained together with dark chains surrounding them. Walking through them spot many in different shapes and sizes. One slightly ahead looks different as the others are circling this incredibly large crystalized object. Upon closer examination, there are springs all around it going in different directions connected to the others. She turns slightly only for a brief flash to catch her eye as a hidden door knob appears on it.

Her hand raises and pauses hoping what she is sensing is the truth and starts to turn the knob. Dust particles fall from the knob as it continues to turn while the grinds screech and scream resisting the process. Her magic tells her to keep going even though the illusion keeps screaming at her. The knob falls off and the crystals start to disappear and fade away like dust being blown away.

Her eyes open to spot a huge circular symbol appearing underneath all of the crystalized statues glowing a light blue. Crystals on the beasts start to disappear like diamond dust rising above them. After a few moments, beautiful horse-like creatures with wings appear before them moving back and forward, spreading their wings. Many of the winged pegasus come in different colors ranging from white, black, red, blue, and orange with different colored manes. They rear up high, stretching their wings causing white magic particles to spread inside the cavern.

As if in a dream, she gazes at quite a few in the back who have not risen and look quite weak. With her hand trembling reaches out towards them and pauses, feeling a familiar presence to the side.

The Guardian Carbuncle appears up top gazing down at the sight. He lifts his tail and his amber markings start to glow. At the same time, the winged pegasus below glow an amber color healing them of all their wounds. As his spell finishes, the creatures make several neighing sounds as they move forward spreading their wings and flying off the ground into the sky. Magic particles flow from their wings casting a mysterious white aura around the field.

A startled expression crosses San’s face as she starts to float upwards. The Guardian moves her and everyone else back, destroying the remaining sigils and leaving a large crater in its wake. Water flows upwards creating a lake with small flowers blooming around it.

San lands beside Riley who is staring at the Guardian Carbuncle in amazement with a smile on his face.

Granger is sitting on the floor with a grin beside Brooks and Torin gazing at the Winged Pegasus before them.

“You will never see a grander sight than this.” Granger remarks with pride in his voice.

Ragnar agrees, “They are beautiful creatures. But how will we protect them?”

With a turn of the Carbuncle’s head gazing at them, “I will create a domain for them to rest in the physical realm. They will still come out once in a while from that place, but it will give them a haven for the time being.”

“Thank you,” Riley simply states and continues to watch the creatures above.

“Thank you, all of you. Never in my mind would I have believed these creatures could be saved. I know she would be happy as this was one of her creations that was saved in this world,” the Guardian Carbuncle replies with gratitude.

A winged pegasus all in white descends and stands on the water before San. The creature moves forward and she frowns, hesitating to move.

Riley places a hand on her back pushing her a few steps forward facing the Winged Pegasus in front of her. It lowers its large head and nuzzles her.

San raises both hands around the creature’s neck and buries her face in her mane. Everyone watches the beautiful sight as she lifts her head and places her hand on the winged pegasus’s cheek. Giving it a last farewell steps backward.

The winged pegasus spreads out its wings giving a neigh to the others and rises high in the sky. Following in pairs, they proceed to enter the portal on the other side of the lake. As the last of them disappear, San glances to the left, noticing the Guardian is no longer there.

Riley looks up at the night sky, “As it’s late shall we head back and call it a night? I’m sure everyone is tired.”

Brooks lays back stretching his legs out. “Can we just stay here for a little bit? It’s very lovely here.”

Everyone continues to sit in front of the beautiful lake watching the night sky pass over for the next hour. As they started to rise heading back to the town, Brooks questions a few feet behind San, “Quick question about something that has been bothering me. How is it that you speak our language so well? If magical creatures don’t speak our language, how can you?”

San gazes at her hands.

Riley glances back at Brooks. “You saw the Guardian speak our language?”

“Well yes, but he has not been imprisoned for a time.”

“Creatures that imprisoned me spoke your language even though there were some words I didn’t understand. My magical ability to take in other languages and form them into my own allows me to understand them, mostly.”

“That makes sense. I couldn’t figure out how you could talk to us.” His hand raises to his chin pondering another question. With his hands on his hips, Torin purses his lips together. “You mentioned that there are words you can’t understand?”

“Your customs are different and the phrases you use are strange. An example would be this person I call an upside-down Clus-,” San stops and remembers they said that is an insult.

Riley stops and starts to laugh, bending over and clutching himself.

Ragnar puts his head in his hand and starts to shake it back and forth as if he is desperately controlling something.

“Perhaps I should not say anymore, Commander Kail said that this was considered an insult and I’m still trying to understand it,” San tilts her head to the side with a confused expression.

At that moment, Riley stops laughing and stands up with mirth dancing in his eyes, “I think that is for the best.”

San starts walking forward towards the South Gate.

Everyone else follows as Granger mumbles, “Now, I’m damn curious about this.

Seems they got a good story, and we missed out on it.”

Torin smiles, “I’ll see if I can find out later what this is.”

Granger grumbles, “You better tell me all of it, you hear?”

Upon reaching the south gate, everyone went in different directions. Walking north to the tavern, Granger departs to go to sleep at the Meat Market. Riley, Ragnar, and the soldiers separate a bit before the forge and head towards the Barracks. Upon reaching the forge, Brooks gives a bow as he leaves to sleep for the rest of the night while they walk up to the tavern.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, San. Rest well.” Torin walks behind the counter talking to another person.

As Dawn rose, San lay quietly in bed staring at the flowers beside her, still feeling it was a dream; waking up thinking of this as all a nightmare. Her hand reaches out to lightly touch the flowers as they dance a bit to her touch. A knock on the door causes her to look. “Yes?”

“It’s me, Miss San,” Natasha replies from the other side of the door. “Could you come downstairs, it seems there is The Count of Nesis wanting a word with you, if you don’t mind. I can send him away if you do not want to talk to him.”

Sitting up, San thought for a moment who the Count was and remembered their meeting was brief. The Duke is not a bad person and therefore, should give the Count at least a moment to talk to her. “Give me a few minutes.”

“I’ll let him know downstairs.”

Hearing her footsteps go down the hallway, dresses herself walking to the door, casting a glance at the flowers before proceeding to meet the Count. The Count is standing at the counter with Torin on the other side with a frown.

“I wish you didn’t need her help, San has already done enough,” Torin glares at the Count.

“I wish that were so, but we need her help with this last step. As it’s from her time,” the Count replies.

Torin swears.

Glancing at both of them with a bewildered expression, “What is this about and why are you upset Torin?”

Torin looks down with his hands slightly twitching, expressing his annoyance.

“He just wants to protect you from this. Torin told me how all of you rescued magical creatures called Winged Pegasus that you thought had been wiped out a long time ago. Since you have already faced that darkness, he doesn’t want you to come with me to help us with another problem.”

San lowers her eyes, hiding how those words warm her inside. “We do what we can with the time we have.”

They gaze at her in astonishment.

Torin sighs and shakes his head.

Meanwhile, the Count sets the teacup down with a smile. “Then shall we?” They both walk out of the tavern.

As they proceed down the lane passing the forge, San casts a side glance towards him. “Where are we going?”

“To the Town of Isitural or should I say what remains of it.”

“You mean it was destroyed?” Turning right towards the center of town, she wonders why these emotions are mixed inside of her.

“Yes, it seems that the people there were being used for experimentation.” The

Count casts a glance and continues when he doesn’t see the expression on her face change, “We also were able to destroy the chains holding them prisoner and found the place underground where the experimenting was done.”

“Did you have to destroy the people?”

Crossing his arms, the Count sighs. “Yes we did, and it wasn’t much of a choice.”

“No, I imagine not. At least they are free now from their prison.” Was it right or wrong that those creatures were not able to be saved from the experimentation as the Wing Pegasus had?

They reach the end of the path and turn right heading towards the stalls. Elizen comes out of the building next door with a group of smaller children outside playing with a ball.

Up ahead is a teleportation device and they both walk through it teleporting to the other side. Stepping outside, the Count glances at her with confusion in his voice, “You seem to be aware of what those do?”

“They are not the same but similar. In my prisons, they would transport me from different areas using something akin to this device but without the gems.” Her gaze looks around her. “Where is Commander Kail?”

“He is waiting a bit further down at the tents.” He points in the direction west. “I,” He casts a glance at her. “I wanted to meet you for myself to see what type of person you were since Commander Kail is very protective of you.”

Observing the Count, “What is your perspective?”

“I have yet to make a judgment on that. Shall we proceed ahead?”

Giving him a nod of her head, they move towards the horses just standing ahead. He mounts a horse extending his hand down to her. Giving him her hand, he gently pulls her gracefully to sit side saddle in front of him. They slowly trot down the path. “Does this make you uncomfortable?”

Staring straight ahead, “No, should it?”

The Count motions for the horse to move slightly faster, “I guess not.” With a slight turn of her head glances at him. “Sometimes people find it unbearable since they are sensitive to the creature’s movements. It seems it doesn’t bother you.”

No reply is heard as they draw nearer the tents ahead. The anger in the area is greatly felt by soldiers moving around. As the Count halts the horse, Commander Kail steps forward reaching up to grab San by the waist and setting her down on the ground.

With a smile on the commander’s face, “Your trip wasn’t painful?”

“No.” She looks around, spotting dead terrain. “There are devices here from my time?”

His smile fades. “I had hoped we could accomplish it without your help. But with what we found, you might know more about them than us. Follow me.” He turns towards the tents passing quite a few soldiers and stops to meet Uri and the Duke.

With a glance from the Duke, “Uri, I want you to go with them. Don’t argue with me. I’ll stay here.”

They continue past the tents entering the dead town. San casts a glance at Uri, noticing for some strange reason he is incredibly angry.

With the Count following behind them, “Uri, why don’t you introduce yourself to her.”

“I’m Uri, Captain of the Royal Guards,” His voice sounds hard like granite expressing a lot of hatred.

Confusion resonates in her voice, “Royal Guards? Is that a title ranking for different guards?”

Uri stops dead in his tracks gazing at her in absolute astonishment.

At the same time, the Count raises his hand to his mouth, coughing a couple of times. He lowers his eyes, hiding his expression.

After a brief pause, Commander Kail turns around with a grin on his face placing his hands on his hips. “Let’s see if I can explain this. In the Guards exist a few different factions. Each town in this kingdom has its own Lieutenants that patrol the town ensuring its protection. They have guards, rangers, spellcasters, and sometimes tamers to help in patrolling the town.” He spots San not understanding any of it.

“Why don’t you let me try? Over here.” The Count walks to the left a few feet and pulls out a card which transforms into an orb. It lights up a brilliant white color and changes shape to become a chalkboard hanging midair.

They turn towards him and listen.

“Give me one moment as I write all this down.” He stands before the chalkboard as a white item appears in his hand and starts writing on it. Afterwards, he stands to the side displaying his work. “Let’s start at the top with the Royal Guards who are directly under The Duke’s command.” His hand points to the list. “The Royal Guards have their Captain as their leader with the guards underneath him. Every guard in their command helps defend the kingdom from lethal attacks that might threaten the kingdom. Following so far?”

“You attacked me and the baby Carbuncle because we were a threat?” Her gaze rests on him for a moment.

“Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that, I’m afraid. It seems an outside source relayed another message hinting at the fact you were dangerous. That is still being investigated because the person who said that disappeared without a trace. That is how the Duke and I knew we were being used when the Carbuncles showed up and I’m grateful they did.”

San lowers her eyes for a brief second before raising them to look at the Count with no hint of hatred or malice in her eyes, just confusion.

“Shall I continue?” Giving the Count a nod, “The Commander’s position is similar to the Duke’s position as he can request anyone to be of assistance in his investigations. He deals with threats to the town as well as threats from other kingdoms and ongoing investigations.”

“Is that why Commander Kail is in the Town of Runbay?”

“Correct, that investigation has been ongoing for at least ten years, frustrating a lot of people including him. But as we have witnessed, there is a lot to take in not only in that town but across the world. This is why we have our other helpers to help out when our Commander and other people in charge are busy taking care of the main problem. An example is while Commander Kail is investigating the Town of Runbay with a group of rangers. Riley as their Sergeant who commands them and Ragnar as their assistant in charge taking care of issuing orders or other matters of importance.” He points to the board as he goes down the list. “The Commander sent three groups of people consisting of Spellcasters, Guards, and Tamers to explore these towns while he was in the Town of Runbay. They send him reports of anything pertaining to his investigation.”

“What are spellcasters?”

“Let me go into detail on that starting with spellcasters.” He points to the spellcasters tab on the chalkboard below the Guards. “Spellcasters fall into 5 categories, we have our Elemental Spellcasters, Clerics, Wizards, Sorcerers, and Necromancers.” He moves his hand to each name written below the spellcasters. “The Guards can be requested from the capital. The guards fall under a different category as there are a few different types.”

Moving his hand away, he casts his orb displaying the Town of Runbay on a small map spread out on the ground. “This is to help you understand.” The Count points to the Barracks, “Each town has a barrack with a Lieutenant and his men under his command. Each town has guards patrolling, standing watch, or working in a certain area designated to them.” Glancing up at her, “Does this help you out a bit better?”

San is bending over to look at the map and looks at the chalkboard thinking over his explanation. “I think so. It sounds remarkably familiar to the Guardians and their job of protecting the balance.”

The Count gives a thoughtful look at Commander Kail, “Shall we be going?”

As the three of them walk towards the center of town, a few guards stand at the ready awaiting orders. “At ease, is Gringel still down there?”

With a salute, “Yes, Sir!”

“Follow me.” Commander Kail descends the steps leading down into the dark tunnel. The Count’s orb lights up the path as the stairs turn in a U shape leading downward again. After passing another U-turn the entrance appears with no doors surrounding it.

San glances around smelling the same nauseating scent from the place in Runbay at the wall. With a brief stop, inside the room are cylinder containers looking remarkably similar to the ones she previously observed. A shiver runs down her spine causing her to stiffen remembering the sight inside one of them.

“Are you alright?” Commander Kail steps in front of her blocking the view.

With a swift glance, San gives him a shaky nod of her head. “Yes, I remembered something. But these are different, not quite the same.” He steps to the side letting them pass inside.

On each side of the wall stretching down are cylinder containers in a row with no pipes connecting the bottom. On the top resides a clear flat surface a small creature could fit on top of. As they approach the end of the hallway, she notices there isn’t another room. Her thoughts become a whisper under her breath, “Strange, the smell is down here, so where did creatures get held?”

“Well, hello there, San, correct?” a voice sounding oddly familiar to her comes from right below her. Gringel is lying down on the ground by a cylinder, and waving his hand up at her with two lintels over his eyes. He removes the lintels and sits up. “Didn’t want you over here, looks like these things frighten you?”

“In a way. I can’t say for certain what they are used for, but I do know they used them to experiment with humans.”

“Humans?” Uri crosses his arms, and taps his finger on his arm.

“Yes, in these chambers. I don’t know what they were trying to create. They do look similar and yet there are differences.” She walks over gazing down as the buttons are not lit up and a pointy sharp blade at the end of the stand.

“In what way were they similar?” Gringel stands beside her gazing at the stand.

“There wasn’t a stand in front of them but something else. It displayed the image with words on it in front of the cylinder. And the liquid inside was different.” San tilts her head, switching her gaze to the cylinder.

“An image with words in front of it? Do you mean like the chalkboard I wrote earlier?” Standing behind them, the Count gazes at the cylinder.

“No something else. I’m sorry I can’t describe it better.”

“No worries, I’m sure we will figure it out. You also mentioned something about the liquid being different?” The Count reassures her by giving her a small smile.

“The liquid from before was a blue glittering liquid that looked similar to a gel liquid. This liquid is stale and doesn’t give off the same feelings.”

Gringel places his hand on his chin as a thoughtful expression crosses his face.

A voice from behind her resounds with anger, “And how do we know if you’re telling the truth?”

As San turns around Commander Kail yells in a soft voice, “Uri! That’s enough out of you!”

The Count raises his eyebrows at Uri with a disapproving look.

“What is your reason for hating me?” She gazes at Uri with irritation, unsure of the reason.

“You’re just wrong, you are not even supposed to exist. Here you are making friends and acting like nothing happened to you with that damn innocent look on you.” Uri gestures his hand towards her glaring with anger.

Her eyes lower trying to control this rage building up inside and stiffens with a glance of astonishment towards the end of the room. Ignoring him as he clenches his fists, approaches the wall noticing the smell is stronger. Raising her hand, uses her magic to sense behind the wall.

Behind her Uri starts to draw his sword as the Count lays his hand on it shaking his head. Gringel glares at him with anger in his eyes. Commander Kail stands before him as a shield with his arms crossed in front with the expression, You shall not hurt her, on his face.

As the spell ends, San lowers her hand and turns around with hatred in her eyes. “If you wish to know a bit about my enemy, look behind this wall and you will see a small portion of what they can do.” She walks to the cylinder on the left bracing up against the device with her arms crossed lowering her eyes to the ground.

Gringel walks forward placing a lintel on his eyes and examining the wall.

Simultaneously, the Count raises his hand and slaps Uri on the back of the head hard.

Uri glares at him, refusing to back down.

Quiet footsteps come closer to her as Commander Kail approaches. “San?”

She looks away and presses her lips together.

“It’s okay to be angry and rageful. Uri had no right to say those things. Unfortunately, there will be people that will say things like that.”

Her head snaps around glaring at him. “I know, but why did he make me angry? To me, he is just another stupid creature who doesn’t know the truth about this world! And yet, I am angry at him. Why!”

Grief overcomes him and he stretches out his hand grabbing her by the shoulder and pulling her into his arms. His chin rests on top of her head. “I wish I could give you answers to that question. You will figure that out for yourself in time. I’ll be here to help when you struggle or fall. Told you, I’m going to be your protector because I just want to. No questions asked.”

A minute or two passes while she rests in his embrace trying to swallow this rage. She raises her head off his shoulder and steps away a couple of feet.

“Well now, first time I’ve seen anything like this. Here we go.” Gringel remarks as he places the lintels in his bag hanging on his side. He reaches out his hands and starts pressing the blocks in a circular octagon pattern. The blocks light up as they make soft whistle sounds causing different sigils to light up on the wall. Once Gringel finishes, steps backward a few steps as the door unfolds before them with an intense smell of rotting corpses inside.

Commander Kail walks over to the doorway without looking back. “Come over here you two. You will want to see this. San, remain by Gringel. I realize you have seen this before, but I would rather you didn’t see a sight like this yet. Please?”

After a moment’s pause, “Alright.” San walks to Gringel casting a worried glance over to him.

“I’m al’ight missy. Just a very strong odor.” Gringel replies and looks up at her and back towards the door. Both waiting for them to return.

They walk in after the commander and The Count grabs Uri’s arm dragging him forward. “I’m angry at you for not behaving in the manner I expect a Royal Guard should. Do this again and I’ll permanently see you removed from your position, Uri.” The Count’s voice resonates with anger, his aura trembling forward. He usually doesn’t get angry, but this time he was. “I don’t expect you to like her at all. But you will uphold the Royal Guards honor and do what needs to be done, am I clear on that?”

Uri glances at the commander. “Yes, Sir. I just don’t like the fact that both of you got smitten by her.”

​Commander Kail turns around facing him as the Count lets go of his shoulder, sighing exasperation, and places his hand over his face. “I’m not asking you to like her either, but which is more important to you? A personal grudge for which you have no excuse, or the protection of the Kingdom of Feldorea which you swore an oath to protect?”

​Uri casts a sour look on his face as if he had forgotten the oath taken when he became a Captain of the Royal Guards. “Alright. I stepped out of line. I can apologize for that.”

“Good, brace yourselves for what is up ahead.” Commander Kail turns around and faces the room.

They both walk up standing beside the Commander.

The room is large, extending quite a distance. On the floor is a large amount of blood with scattered body parts of both humans and other creatures of this world. Pieces of fingers, organs, and dead skin are scattered across the floor.

“What in the world happened here?” Uri gazes around the room shocked by the sight.

“Probably more than you want to know.” Commander Kail crosses his arms in front with a look of disapproval on his face.

“How in the world did this manage to pass us by for so long and we did not even become aware of it? There must be some clues or answers here.”

He turns to gaze at the Count. “I imagine this is just the beginning of the nightmare yet to come by those beings rivaling The First.” His gaze turns towards Uri. “I don’t want San seeing this yet. Is that alright with both of you?”

They both look at Commander Kail and give a nod of approval.

While walking back, The Count glances down at his hand. “I’m pretty sure we will need to keep this hush for now as it would spread a lot of chaos.”

“Agreed.”

As they approach, a conversation catches their attention.

“What is this? Ectoplasm?” Gringel’s voice sounds troubled.

“I don’t know, I’ve never heard that term before. I have heard of Tainted Mors, but I don’t know what it means.”

“What are you two talking about over there?” Commander Kail walks over to the stand in front of the cylinder lit up with fresh blood over it.

With a scratch on the back of his head, Gringel glances at him. “Well, we got talking and it seems because she is of the damned as they are, her blood woke up the device. But we can’t seem to make out any words on them or even understand what they mean.”

All three of them gaze down at the device while San steps backward moving to the other side of Gringel.

Uri casts a glance at her and sighs inwardly.

The stand displays a large button on the left with an arrow on the button pointing upward from the word Ectoplasm and an arrow down below that word. Next to the device is a small dial you can turn left with the words above, “Injecting Serum.” Below has two buttons the first labeled, “Toxic Blood” while the other was labeled “Tainted Mors”.

Commander Kail looks up at Gringel, “I have never heard of these terms. Ectoplasm? And what does it mean by Toxic Blood? What is Tainted Mors?”

Gringel throws up his hands, “Don’t look at me! I’m about as clueless as the rest of you!”

“Then perhaps until we find a way to understand this technology, it is best to be destroyed,” The Count remarks with his hands behind his back.

“I agree, but how do we destroy this technology?” Uri glances at him.

After a few moments of pause, “I can do that.” Her eyes are downcast with no emotion in her voice.

Commander Kail looks over in her direction. “Are you sure? I am aware you can destroy the trees; I want to make sure you are ok?”

“I’m fine, I’m the only one who can destroy this taint. Unless there is another way, that evil magic inside me is the only thing that can erase it.” Her eyes display intense grief with a heavy burden on her shoulders while she turns to leave the room.

Gringel, Uri, and the Count stare after her in bewilderment.

“Let’s go.” Commander Kail follows upstairs gazing at her walking a few yards away from the sight. Looking at the soldier, “Get everyone away from the town.”

As they move away from town, Commander Kail approaches her, “It will not hurt you, will it?”

San looks behind her and notices he is worried. “I’ll be fine, this is a much easier task than the trees.”

With that answer, Commander Kail walks away to stand beside the Duke.

Spotting the Counts’ aggression, the Duke leans forward whispering to him. “Something made you angry. Everything alright?”

“I’ll tell you about it later.”

In the distance, San closes her eyes and raises her hands focusing on this tainted magic. A minute passes and the sky suddenly turns dark, casting a slightly red aura in the sky while the clouds vanish. Down below in the town, small black globes appear in an octagon pattern. Sizzling dark thunder clashes across the field emitting a high wind blowing in their direction. After a few seconds, the globes vanish with a large pillar of dark light stretching up to the sky above with ripples of dark aura sweeping almost past her. The dark light fades in the distance as all that can be seen is an impossibly huge crater with nothing remaining alive. It was as if this magic completely erased all items in a single sweep.

She lowers her hand, her steps treading ever so softly forward and stops at the edge looking down. With her head held up high, her knees give way falling to the ground; With her hands grasping the grass, crying, and begging for forgiveness for the crime committed.

They continue to watch as her sorrow and grief surround her.

Hesitating for a moment, Commander Kail takes a step forward.

“Leave her be Kail, right now she is hurting and must have felt frustrated using that awful magic to erase that technology,” Gringel places his hands on his hips looking down with his shoulders sagging.

“I agree, Let’s wait, and we can catch her after she finishes crying,” the Duke confirms.

Uri doesn’t know what to make of it and stares at her in confusion watching her cry.

Continuing to beg for forgiveness, San wishes with all her being there was something that could be done here. In that moment, a magical vision appears before her and the hazy mist disappears for a brief moment allowing her to see an incredible tree. Reaching her hand out touches its branches and remembering something a long time ago.

Her body rises off the ground as her clothes disappear casting a multi-colored aura around her. Her form changes as a small pearl white horse-like creature with a horn on her forehead and a thin tail stands on the ground. Winking stars surround this mysterious creature as she gracefully lifts her forelegs off the ground. Her horn emits a beautiful glow as winking stars gather to her horn and spread ripples upon ripples across the land stretching past them quite far.

The crater before them turns into a deep lake with creatures of the sea forming a river leading south to the sea below. Unknown flowers and trees bloom in the fields with different creatures blooming from their leaves and flowers frolicking across the land.

The mysterious creature gracefully lowers herself with the wind blowing her silver mane backward. She turns her head glancing in their direction with an intense look of sadness. Suddenly a bright light envelopes the field blinding everyone.

Commander Kail looks forward, glimpsing San in her old form with her clothes on and lying on the ground. “San!” He rushes forward kneeling at her side and grabs her by the shoulders, raising her a bit. “San!” San!”

“Check her vitals, does she need another nourishment?” The Duke stands over them looking at her features.

“I think her vitals are fine.” He sounds a bit calmer and looks around in amazement. “What did we just witness?”

“I-” Count’s expression glances up, spotting several birds flying overhead.

“I don’t understand.” Uri looks at the critters on the ground playing with each other. “How can someone create life the way she did? What was that creature we saw?

Standing back a few feet, Gringel has a smile about him. “Perhaps it has to do with the creature she was before, the one she can’t remember.”

At the same time, Commander Kail lays her back down on the grass. “You don’t seem surprised by this Gringel.”

“Well, I guess I’m not. It was a small mishap I guess back in my old kingdom. I wound up in this maze and got lost. When I thought I found my way out, instead of going down like I thought, I was somewhere incredibly high. There was a field of these incredibly beautiful flowers I’d never seen before. Winking stars like we witnessed from her were there and I thought a creature bloomed from one of the flowers. But before I could find out, I stepped on a trap and went tumbling all the way down.” He glances at her. “That’s why I wasn’t afraid of her.”

They glance back at her resting peacefully. “I don’t think she will remember any of this when she wakes up.” His hand brushes back a strand of her hair.

“There is nothing more we can do here. Kail, will you stay with her?” The Duke glances down at Commander Kail.

“Yes. I’ll stay by her side.”

“Would it be too much to ask if we turn this place into the Meadows of Isitural? To honor those who died here.” Gringel walks forward glancing at the Duke.

A smile crosses his features. “Sure. I think we can handle that.”

The Count casts a look of relief at Gringel, “I think that is a great idea. We still have a lot to do and that is finishing up the Temple of Dierie. Shall we be off?”

They mount up the horses with the remaining soldiers and ride off to the Temple.

“Guess I’ll head back to the forge then.” Gringel starts his way back to the transportation device.

Glancing around his surroundings, is fully aware this will not be mentioned to the King or the Court. For many reasons.

A few hours pass and San opens her eyes to see Kail looking down at her with a smile. The fog surrounds her again, not remembering what happened. Sitting up, she gazes around her in astonishment, wondering what in the world happened here? An interesting feeling overcomes her telling that she somehow did something but can’t remember what it was.

“Are you alright?”

She stands up looking around her. “Will you turn this place back into a town?”

“No, it has already been decided that it will be called the Meadows of Isitural. To honor the fallen and all of those who suffered here,” He stands up gazing around them.

“Shall we go then? I still have to destroy the trees.”

A soft breeze flows around them. “You’re not tired or worn out?”

“No, I’m not. For some strange reason, I feel happy. It was as if I got to meet someone I had forgotten. But I still can’t remember who or what I did or how I did it.” a hint of loneliness echoes throughout her voice.

Commander Kail places his hand on her back giving a warm smile. “Give it time, I’m sure you will remember.”

They turn and walk toward the device teleporting back to the Town of Runbay. On the other side, no one is around. “I think I will go back to the tavern as I need some time to think over what has happened. Can I destroy the trees tomorrow?”

“I think that will be for the best. I need to ask Torin a few questions myself so we can walk there together.”

They walk in silence to the forge and turn right towards the center square. As they pass the Cafe, Trise stands outside sweeping the area with a broom. He spots them and with a smile waves at them.

Commander Kail waves his hand back at him.

San decides to do the same and Trise beams at them continuing to sweep the area.

As they continue back to the Tavern, Riley and Ragnar can be seen standing outside in the distance. Both standing with their hands on their hips with a silly grin on their faces.

She walks a few more feet forward and stops suddenly feeling a familiar presence, only this time it was a dark and foreboding presence. All color drains from her face and her eyes harden.

“San?” With Commander Kail stopping beside her, casting a worried side glance.

San lowers her eyes and senses the presence talking to Torin inside the tavern. The person stops and turns around as if feeling her presence. He is casting an illusion over himself looking slightly different. She flexes her right hand, extending her nails at least an inch. Raising her eyes, time begins to move slowly around them while she is in front of him in the tavern aiming her dark magic spell right at his head.

He deflects her with his left hand holding a device sending her slightly back and grinds his teeth.

She swings her left leg in a sweeping position causing him to jump in the air and at the same time sends a wind attack from the side knocking him across the room slightly above the tables; In the same instant, swings her hand from her left to her right in a sweeping arc, igniting several dark magical attacks at once sending him through the window causing dust to follow in its wake. Both are outside up high fifteen feet from the ground.

“San!” Commander Kail yells while he draws his magical scimitar.

“Dammit! I couldn’t see a thing! What happened!” Riley glances left and right and looks up at the dust clouds.

At the same time, Torin races outside as he hears a scream. In that split second, an arm flies past him landing on the ground a few feet away. Dark blood spills from the arm, caressing the ground as it looks ripped off.

“Look there!” Ragnar points above as the cloud of dust dissipates.

Up above fifteen feet stands San with her hands on her side preparing for another attack closest to the tavern. On the other side stands another person, only he looks slightly different with long ears like her and very pale skin. Blood drips down his right side falling to the ground.

“San! Let me help!” Commander Kail readies his weapon for an attack.

A scream is heard and everyone except San looks at the direction Natasha points to. The cut-off arm disintegrates and reappears on his arm as if nothing happened.

With a swear, Commander Kail realizes this is what she meant by killing even the lower ranks is hard to accomplish.

Narrowing her eyes at him, San launches herself at him charging a spell directly at his middle area. A shocked look appears on her face as something long and sharp pierces directly through her stomach causing it to paralyze her for a brief moment. She flies backwards hitting the side of the tavern smashing part of its walls down and hears a bit of commotion while kneeling forward coughing up blood.

The dust settles and she looks up at the person above, her vision becomes slightly blurry coughing up more blood. With an effort, her hand grabs the stake resting in her stomach.

Suddenly a larger presence is felt and gazes back up to see a different person standing there. The damned creature rests past Riley and Ragnar, burning to ash and cinder against the wall.

San pulls the stake out of her stomach causing blood to gush out leaving a large hole. Gazing up again at the figure, incredibly large black wings cast a dark shadow of sunlight over her. Feeling the darkness come up to claim her, the last thing she remembers is a few people calling her name while falling forward into a pool of her own blood.