4

Teresa stood in front of a large screen. Around her various people were hurrying about and doing their own jobs. On the screen it showed a group of armed people running through a shopping mall and shooting everyone in sight.

Teresa grit her teeth, held up her arm and dailed Clara. “Clara, you there?” she asked.

A groan answered, making it quite obvious that Clara was still very much asleep.

“Sorry to wake you Miss. But we’ve got a situation.”

“What is it?” Clara grumbled.

“The TV should still be working. Go to the news.”

Clara stood up from her bed and switched the TV on. She was already on the news since she liked to listen to the repetitive talk while she was thinking. Like some sort of meditative ritual.

What she saw on the TV was anything but pleasing though. ”Those bastards!”

The news highlight read, ‘Authorities nowhere to be found. Who will save us now?’

The TV was showing people running on the streets and people, hundreds of them, running through and shooting anyone in sight.

“Do you see it?”

“Yes.”

“That’s happening all over the country. I’m sorry, I had no idea…”

“No, you aren’t to blame for this. You did you’re best. But...I wasn’t expecting this.”

“Neither was I. What…What should we do?”

“Nothing we can do about it…You know our situation.”

“…Understood.”

“…” She hesitated for a while. Should she do something about this. It was certain to put her clan in the spotlight and that wasn’t really somewhere safe to be right now…

She couldn’t afford to put her clan in danger.

But did that mean that she could afford to let this go?

She grit her teeth. “Teresa.”

“Yes Miss.”

“Send out our forces. Make sure to send your spies out as well, I want them cleared out to the roots.”

“…Will do…”

Clara closed her eyes and went back to sleep. Nothing she could do about this now. As she drifted off to sleep she could hear the sound of explosions and gunfire going off in the distance.

Teresa ended the call then dialed Amara, Clara’s mother, and the current leader of the clan’s soldiers.

“Master, we’ve got a situation.”

“The news right? So you going to do something about it?”

“Clara decided to. I was hoping to ask you…”

“Can’t right now… We’ve got a situation on the border.”

“What-“ She was cut off by a loud roar blasting through the comm-ring. The room went silent, the rest of the staff in the room looked away from their screens and looked over at her before returning to their work.

Amara spoke again, “It’s back, I’ll have to go now. Don’t worry about this, I’ve taught you enough that you should be able to do this.”

“Right, Goodluck with whatever that was.”

The comm-ring beeped as Amara hung up from her side.

Teresa looked at the other handlers in the room. “Right! Everyone get ready we’re going on a counter attack.”

The room started boiling over as the handlers started calling the agents they were in charge of.

She used the terminal to connect to the clan’s military. “All forces, prepare to deploy. This is not a drill. All enemies are to be shot on sight.”

The other commanders from the military signaled their acknowledgment. Teresa sat on the main chair of her little kingdom of intelligence gathering that was now going to serve as the center of command for the military.

Choppers and Vans carrying soldiers scattered from the Harcourt clan’s territory. They approached the areas were the shooting was happening. There had been no response from the police, neither from the joint military, as if someone was blocking any attempts at interfering. Or as if none of the other clans had any desire to interfere.

The vans sped through the streets. Teams of two dropped off at every crossing and made their way into the center of the urban areas. They shot any cultists they spotted while the citizens, those that that had managed to run to safety, stayed in their homes.

The cultists didn’t put up much of a fight. They weren’t equipped and were also not trained to handle anything more than an unarmed civilian. The teams went through the homes and killed any cultists they found.

[Amere TV, now playing: Once on a shooting star.]

[Broadcast interrupted]

[Now playing: Amere TV News (Emergency bulletin)]

[Shooters have been spotted firing on residence in the central Crotona district. All residence are advised to stay within their homes and set up a barricade.]

[Reports of shooters in other residential areas.]

[Attempts to get in touch with the police have been unsuccessful; Amere correspondents are investigating the issue as we speak.]

[Small pockets of resistance forming all through the country.]

[Show live view]

A group of masked figures are surrounding a small shop. One of the masked figures steps out of hiding and slowly approaches the entrance. There is no sound, but you can see two blasts pass by the masked figure before a third smashes into his side sending him sprawling onto the ground and blood pooling onto the street.

One of the masked figures stands up and seems to shout at the others, They all start running to the entrance. More shots go off, each hitting a cultists and seeming to drive the rest into an even greater fury. A cultist shoots into the entrance as he enters.

The next moment the camera wobbles as it abruptly turns to the side. Two vans are seen speeding to the group of cultists. The first slams into a woman and rips her body apart as it drives over her and comes to a stop infront off the shop. A large group of soldier pour out from the back and start shooting on the rest of the cultists. A team of two approaches the entrance, wasting no time they throw in a small container. A flash of light and they enter a moment later they return to the van and the van leaves the scene.

[What appears to be a group of private soldiers have stormed the residential area and started killing the assailants.]

The camera stirs. And looks into the distance flashes of light can be seen in a far off industrial district.

“Miss, you better see this.”

“What?” Teresa turns and looks at the images taken from the helicopter.

“Damn, okay, send out a small group of elite. Something definitely up.”

“Miss, We’ve got a situation from the Elare clan, our agents have informed us that they’re going to start attacking us.”

Teresa grit her teeth. She didn’t want to use her trump card just yet, but the situation meant she had no choice.

“Fine, if they want to play it that way. Kick us while we’re down…” She turned away from the other intelligence officers and focused on her terminal. On the screen it showed a burning building. Two soldiers came out of the building each was dragging an unconscious person behind them. One pat his partner on the back. The partner stood over the two figures, checked their pulse, then scanned the area for danger.

I should make note of those two. But for now… “Send out the mercs. It’s time for them to earn their pay.”

“What are their terms?”

“Harassment. We can’t be sure that we can take them over, and it would be too much trouble even if we managed.”

From the Elare clan a convoy was approaching the Harcourt clan’s border. There were 10 military grade trucks, likely filled with soldiers.

Just as the first car crossed the border an explosion ripped out the front wheel spun it onto its side, the truck skid a distance before finally coming to a stop. Its wheels were still spinning from the momentum.

Groaning and disoriented figures came clambered out of the truck, their guns held out, waiting.

The other trucks behind them slowed and stopped. With the overturned truck in their way there was no way they were making it further. And even if they managed to make it past, who’s to say there weren’t more of those traps?

A chuckle came from the front. A man appeared on top of the truck. “Too, easy.”

“You!” A man shouted then turned his rifle, preparing to fire.

“Ah, this is the feeling.”

The gun went off and the man smirked.

In front of the man was a bullet. It was floating and spinning in midair as if it was being held up by an invisible force.

Another voice came from the side. “Chief! You promised!”

The man frowned. The other people falling out from the over turned truck lifted their rifles.

The man who’d been the first to shoot screamed, “Fire!” and held the trigger. His gun jumped in his hands but he held firm. The rest of the soldiers around him started unloading their rifles not a moment later.

Bullets passed by the man. But the bullets that made it within a meter of him slowed suddenly and stopped, causing a black cloud of bullets to hang around him.

“Hahaha!” Chiefs laughter had a slight tinge of mania to it. “This is way too easy! What the fuck is this?” He asks, he breaths then shouts out, “Why am I even standing here?!” He sighs before waving his hand. As he waves his hand its as if a ripple goes through the hovering bullets and they shoot outwards with him as the center. The truck beneath him was torn to shreds the ground was dented, some of the trucks to the back had new decorative art on their frames.

The bodies of the soldiers that had been shooting at him a moment ago now lie dead beneath his feet.

It would be better to call it blood and viscera than anything else. Almost nothing remains of their former humanoid appearance.

The man sits on the wreck at his feet. He doesn’t say a thing, just looks out at the trucks and the soldier standing further in the road as if their already dead.

A moment of silence passes. Birds scatter in the distance and start shrieking in fear.

A purple fire slams into one of the trucks, the driver in the front falls out of the window and starts screaming as if his soul was being torn apart, which it was.

A white haired man appears in the middle of a group of soldiers and the next moment they fall to the ground.

“Hmm.” He humms and frowns, looking very similar to Chief sitting on the truck. “Too easy.”

“You said it.” A woman steps out and stands beside him.

She looked over the corpses as if they were nothing more than fallen fleas, “If they’re this weak. Why…?”

The man shrugs. “No idea. Maybe this is like the weaker members? You know like Lucresia…”

She kicks a corpse over so that it is lying on its back. “I don’t think that’s what’s going on here. There must be another reason the elders always warned us of this place.”

“None of our business… Besides, I don’t want to mess with Lady black.” He shudders. “Let’s just do our job and leave. There’s nothing for us here.”

The girl hums and looks at the trees at the side of the road. A hint of longing passes through her face. “As you say.”

She spins towards a group of soldiers shooting at a large muscular man swinging around a sword big enough to decapitate a dragon, never mind a mob of inexperienced soldiers. Most of the shots pierce his skin but the wounds heals within an abnormally fast time, pushing the bullets out and closing the wound.

The man shouts and slams the monster blade into another soldier. The blade is so thick and the edge so dull that it doesn’t even cut through them but rather smashes into them, acting more like a large club rather than a sword.

Blood flows none the less. Those that aren’t dead, are well on their way there in the most excruciating manner possible.

The girl raises her palm in front of her. She leans forward and blows onto her palm. A shining dust settles on the group and their eyes slam open as their flesh starts tearing and eating itself away.

Muscle man shouts in frustration, and turns to the woman. “What did I say about stealing my kills Sansha?”

She giggles, “Why are you playing with your food, Arkad?”

He spits on a bloody wailing figure by his feet. “This is nothing. These things wouldn’t even be fit to leave the crib.”

A struggling soldier throws a grenade at Arkad, before he can react the blast goes off.

The blast stops right before it touches Arkad’s face.

“Be careful. This isn’t a place to mess around. Now that the clan’s have been made aware of us they won’t be caught unprepared again.” Chief’s voice sounded from next to Arkad. He was gone from the truck and had approached without anyone noticing, or he might just have been much too quick for anyone to notice.

The explosion was frozen in front of Arkad. There was the usual cloud of light that came from a blast, but within the light was a thorny red stream. Arkad, and the rest of the mercenaries, felt danger from that small piece of red.

Sansha gasped as she saw the red, “Blight…” Her eyes constricted and she stepped back.

“No reason to worry. This is nothing, much too little to cause a permanent injury.” He waved his hand as another ripple passed through the frozen blast as it faded slowly then disappeared. “But it seems the clans have made great strides since I’ve last been here.”

Chief starts walking down the road leading to the Elare’s territory and headquarters. “Everyone, time to stop playing around, pick someone and end it.”

Most of the group wasn’t interested in killing weaklings and started following the chief immediately, only three people remained, the third stepped back as soon as he saw the other two. He grumbled something as he leapt away.

A light-green skinned girl with short thorny horns growing from her fore-head and temples with two long horns growing in the back of her head and pointed leaf-shaped ears. A tall, thin purple skinned man stood in front of her, he wore a mask large enough to pose as a shield and carried a simple spear.

“Best out of three?” The gruff voice of the man asks the girl.

“Heh, fine.” She says and readies her hand.

“Rock. Paper. Scissors.”

“Rock. Paper. Scissors.”

The man nods and walks away.

The girl looks over the tortured soldiers with cold eyes, the evil grin gone, only the wrinkles from her constant smirking remaining.

Fire, oh flame. Head my call. Obey.

Purifying flame, Flame of corruption. Head my will. Submission or death.

Ever-flame, mother flame; neither holy nor vile, simple yet complex; I listen.

But there will come a day when I no longer shall.

Flames sprouted from her skin and covered the ground. The smirk was back. And now she was laughing. It was a hysterical laughter. One of a girl lost in her own world. As if she was cursed with something that was all too much for her to bear.

Soon the flames covered all of the trucks and the even the soldiers that had been crawling away were consumed in the ever burning flame not even a scream escaped them before they were no more.

With a burst of flame the horned girl appeared among the group. The masked man nodded to her as she fell into step beside him.

The group wasn’t traveling quickly. There wasn’t really a need for speed.

In the distance a pillar of smoke rose.

“Did you remember to limit your fire?” The chief turned to her and asked.

She nodded meekly and looked down as she blushed a deeper shade of green.

When she looked back up the chief was already looking ahead of them.

She scowled. He never looked at her the way she wanted him to.

Someday… She assured herself