Dawn- An age of Darkness

Before we could set out Gorgan grabbed me from behind. "Back then what you said…. was it true?"

"I think you need to see this with your own eyes to believe it." I didn't want to burden him more than he could chew. There were some things in this world that you needed to see with your own two eyes before you could believe it.

He didn't protest and we moved.

We headed to the west gates. Undead mermaids and mermen were literally raining from the heavens. They had feet covered in scales. Some had tentacles, some had fins, some had giant claws, and some even had blades for limbs. Some looked humanoid, some were fish-like and some were monstrous. They all had one thing in common and that was red burning eyes. They were the undead.

When we actually reached the other half of the city, all we could see was red: a metallic smell lingered in the air. The smell of rotten human waste was replaced by fresh blood. Crimson blood, intestines, splattered limbs, and so on. Most of the people were behind locked doors. The unlucky few who were outside met their brutal and cruel fate. The ones inside weren't safe either, as the mermen were breaking walls, doors, and charging in. And people of the slums had it the worst.

"Sa-save me," a small girl by the road screamed.

There were two piles of flesh right next to her, drenched in blood.

I, with my sword, rushed. "Argghh!"

Her head was cleaved off by a large shark merman: entrails of blood became visible. I was too late. Stunned by my powerlessness, I could do nothing but watch.

Her murderer had shark-like features and very sharp teeth. He ate her like men eating a slice of cake.

Infuriated by guilt I went straight for this thing's head, only to be flung in the air by it. My whole body quivered, my heart throbbed.

Meanwhile, Lianne shot arrows that pierced its skin (she got a bow from the knights).

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The elf boy shot a stream of lighting. The lighting paralyzed the mermen. "Now!" elf-boy shouted.

Both of their attacks were effective and the shark fell. Afterward, I struck a serious blow on his chest. He died, but I didn't stop. I sliced his head off just like he'd done to the poor girl. My rage didn't subside. I kept stabbing it until I could stab no more.

I panted and tears welled up.

"Don't charge blindly," Lianne screamed.

The elf-boy stared at me emptily. "Was it really necessary?"

"Sorry, couldn't help it," I said in a low voice. I stared at the corpses…. Farewell.

"You knew these three?" Lianne asked, grabbing my shoulder.

I got up and controlled myself. "Yeah. We met this morning. I met the boy last night."

The corpses didn't resemble anything human, not anymore. I'm sorry, I'm so powerless.

Similar screams were coming from all around us. The world was really cruel.

"I see." Lianne didn't say another word and we just stood here.

"Heal!" Suddenly a restoration spell rejuvenated me and the elf boy: it's funny how I still didn't know his name even now. It was a voice I heard before, a very soft and warm voice. Even some of Lianne's wounds healed, but only a little.

"The nun?" I said in confusion

"This is no time for reunions. Focus on the things in front," she said.

It was the same nun from the church who had helped me before. I couldn't delve into sorrows now. I had to do something. I couldn't let the lives of these three go down in vain.

The nun would be in danger too. I didn't want her to die for me. "But-?"

"Don't worry about me. And the church is in good hands. I can still help. If I couldn't, I wouldn't be here." She healed the elf boy and tried to heal Lianne. Maybe she knew high-level spells for such feats? We didn't have time to dwindle with the details so I didn't bother asking. Besides now that Lianne moved in pale starlight, her blazing red eyes were perfectly visible even in the dark. And I could tell, she was feeling at least a little better.

We marched deeper into the enemy territory. Meanwhile, Gorgan and the men he brought were busy saving the people. But all I could see was blood and flesh everywhere. Those mermaids were hunting humans and eating people alive. I clenched my teeth hard.

Gorgan and the knights were doing their best to save as many as they could but it was nothing but a bloodbath. Some mermen were even taking trophies out of the corpse: just slicing their head off wouldn't extinguish this rage. The metallic smell of the air was far greater than before and I could guess why. Tears welled up seeing what I saw. How could something do this to living beings?

In front of me was a pile but not just any pile; it was a pile of heads. The apparently mermaids liked to eat the body of men but not their heads.

Granted they were undead, but that didn't justify such outrageous and cruel acts. As tears fell, my hands became raging fists waiting for a chance to break loose.

"Are you okay?" Lianne placed her hand on my shoulder.

"I'm fine." I was not fine. I was about to explode.

"There's something up ahead," The elf boy said.

The nun's voice shivered. "Yes, something, unlike the rest."

A shadow was in front. Before I could realize the area was covered in fog. The smell was familiar. The salty smell of the ocean couldn't even compare. There you are!

There was a shadow within the fog. It was a woman's shadow. And a very familiar floral scent lingered in the air. It was her. She looked just like when I met her inside the forest. It was- the princess.

I clenched my teeth and suppressed my rage as much as possible. "So this is where you were hiding-"

"Hiding? From what? You?" she said with a wide grin.

I chuckled. "Me? Oh, you give me too much credit."

I was shivering. Shivering with rage. And yet I smiled, to control my anger but it still slipped out, just a little. My rage boiled. No, my whole body boiled.

"That was not a compliment." She giggled.

Her laugh made my stomach crawl. Even after killing so many innocents, how can their ruler laugh like that? But then again if she was being controlled then she wasn't their leader anyway.

"I don't get one thing." I started.

Her vulgar grin widened. "Very well then. I will answer one of your questions before killing you."

How generous. I ground my teeth. But in a matter of seconds calmed myself down. "Oh thank you. So please answer this. What would be the best way to kill you? Rip your guts and feed them to fish or hang you with your intestines and fish with them? After all, you seem to love all these bloody fish! Oh yeah feeding you to the undead is an option too. But I really like the fishing one. Recently I've become quite adept at fishing. " I grinned.

"Imagination can be quite a thing," the elf boy mumbled.

I heard that! Even I couldn't get what I just said, as my rage got the best of me. But I didn't regret saying that; not even for a split second.

The princess was dumbfounded. Maybe she was expecting me to ask her about her reasons, but honestly, I couldn't care less about her reasons. What she did was unforgivable, no matter what she'd said to justify it. But instead of going into rage mode like all the other demons I've met before, she just burst into laughter: laughter so hard, that she was almost in tears. "Sorry, sorry. Haven't laughed like that in a while."

"This guy's interesting," a guy said from behind her, with an ominous laugh. The fog was thick so I hadn't noticed him. Or maybe he was an expert in concealing his presence.

The voice was low-pitched, deep, and made my body instantly get on the defensive. It was trouble and I knew it.

A guy with a long sharp neck, horns on his forehead, two wide crimson eyes, and a shivering smell of blood emerged from the fog. He looked fairly humanoid yet something about him was not human. He also was fairly built, definitely much better than me. What was worse, he was shirtless. Honestly seeing his muscles only made me more terrified if not jealous.

I was immediately on the defensive and so were the two elves. Just the voice alone was enough to jump-start my heart and all the senses.

"I'd assume you're the mastermind?" I asked, barely containing my hostility.

His pale white hair flowed freely with the breeze. "Oh, you catch on quick!"

Yes, but that was just a guess.

"One word of advice, wanderer," he paused. His eyes shimmered in golden light. He was probably different from the ones I was used to.

Wanderer? Was that a common term or something? This guy knows about my identity.

With just one word he established quite a few things. First, he knew about me. Second, he was not any normal undead or mermen. Third, he really was the mastermind and probably knew how to stop the undead and mermaids.

"Why don't you pretend you saw nothing and walk away? Injuring you or killing you will definitely upset his highness and I might even get scolded. So can't you just go away? I'll even spare your friends and give you loads of cash to spend on stuff. What do you say?" He had a dubious smile. What was this?

I couldn't tell if he was serious or cracking a stupid joke. Wait, what?