A Soft breeze rolled across the water carrying a hint of salt as it passed, Twin white moons hung on the horizon whilst a third, smaller moon, hid behind a veil of clouds in the distance.

During the day, when the suns warm rays blessed the sandy shores with its might, the view would be described by those that witnessed it as ‘peaceful’ or ‘majestic’. The Tall trees would sway softy in the wind whilst waves of crystal blue water crashed upon the shore.

In a secluded spot, bordering on the edge of the water and a forest of lush green trees, a small clearing had been made for those that came to bare witness to natures beauty.

A small, stone rimmed fire lay in between three tents, a wooden dock extended out to the sea only several foot away.

Six chairs had been lined up to watch as the sun set on the horizon.

It was truly picturesque… or at least it had been.

Now the chairs had been knocked over and the fire had gone cold, a car parked to the side had its windows smashed in and one of its doors was almost ripped from its hinges.

The tents had been slashed open whilst the occupants had been lucky to flee into the night.

They had tried to run.

They had tried to hide, but now they had been found.

They were surrounded, trapped within the backroom of a lodge they had come across as they ran.

They had barred the door and piled anything and everything that wasn’t nailed down against it, but it wouldn’t stop them from getting in.

The room was dark but for the soft light of the lit candles, and the eerie glow that emanated from the runes that had been hastily carved into the floor by the girl that now prayed by their side.

The door creaked and waned as the monsters on the other side desperately sought to get in, they wailed and shrieked as they slashed their claws and rammed their bodies against the wood. With each hit it came that much closer to breaking, the young lad that held the door could now see the monsters that sought them through the gaps that had been made, and as he witnessed their unhinged madness, he paled in fright.

Seeing the look in their eyes, he saw no intelligence, he didn’t even see hunger, only unbridled malevolence.

Suddenly the room glowed brightly as if day had turned to night, the candles on the floor flared like fireworks whilst the runes burnt and charred the hardwood floor as pure power coursed through them.

The light died down and in its space, was Bryn.

Bryn passed by the girl that knelt on the floor and quickly made his way over to the door the monsters were trying to get through, he drew his pistol and aimed.

*Click*

*Click*

Bryn Tried to fire his pistol but only the sound of him pressing his trigger was all that was heard.

“Damn, that’s not good” Bryn spoke aloud before holstering his pistol and instead drew upon his power to birth a [Mana Bolt] from his palm, he gave a quick peak through one of the holes to see what he was aiming at and he had to resist the urge to take a step back with fright, steeling his resolve Bryn aimed through the same hole and fired, the wail of the monster a good sign that his aim had been true but the banging on the door testified to the fact that it hadn’t been enough to take the monsters out.

Bryn fired three more times before the monsters withdrew, no doubt to lick their wounds but Bryn had no doubt, they would be back.

Taking a step back Bryn now noticed that everyone in the room was looking at him, but it was in a way that he had never seen before, they were looking at him as if he was a saviour that would lead them to the promised land, and it was only at this moment that he realised, he was.

Bryn was stunned for a second by that thought before shaking it off and taking in his surroundings, he didn’t have the time to lose focus, the academy had drilled it in to them that was how Heroes died.

With a quick look the most obvious thing he observed was that whilst the people in the room looked human, they were not. They were aliens of some sort, another race of beings than his own.

The way they looked was as if a normal human had been touched by frost, as if it had become a part of their very core.

Their skin was as white as snow with a subtle tinge of blue, their hair was muted and made from soft colours, but It was not as if the changes stopped there.

There was a distinct difference between the males and females of their race as far as Bryn could tell, the girls in the room were far smaller than the males in both height and size, whilst their faces seemed more feral, or maybe it was better to say, predatory, compared to the snub-nosed look of the males.

Apart from that they were the same, Hell, the fashion sense of the guys in the room was very similar to his own and he would quite freely wear what they wore back on earth, it just showed that whilst they may live a galaxy apart, some things were universal.

Bryn quickly shelved that line of thought as he had better things to think about, like how to get this lot out of here and to somewhere safe.

Well, more specifically, one of them in particular and he was pretty sure which one it was.

With a quick [Identify] of the girl by the summoning circle, he confirmed his thoughts.

Cordesh Navi (VIP)

Race: Nakesha

Age: 18

Yep, that was her, the person whose life would decide whether he would be recognised as a Hero or not, the one who he had to save or risk the chance of becoming stranded upon this alien world until his debt to its god had been repaid in full.

“Cordesh right? Don’t suppose you can tell me what those things are out there?” Bryn asked as he made his way over to the two injured guys.

“Huh, how do you know my name?” Cordesh Asked in confusion but Bryn just clicked his tongue, “that’s not important right now, do you know what those things were or not?” Bryn asked as he looked to the girl whose hand was glowing above a guy’s bleeding stomach.

“You…” Bryn stopped for a second to [Identify] the girl.

Racie Athanse

Race: Nakesha

Age: 18

“…. Racie, You some type of Healer?” Bryn asked whilst the girl he identified as Racie wiped several drops of sweat from her forehead, it appeared whatever spell she was using took a lot of effort to cast.

Racie nodded and Bryn was quick to follow up, “…can you save them?” He asked and from the steely look she got in her eyes as she looked at her friends, he knew the answer.

Bryn looked at the two that were injured and he had to say that he was amazed that she had kept them alive this long already, one of them had his stomach torn open in what was likely a surprise attack whilst the other looked like he had tried to go toe to toe against one of the monsters and had the wounds to prove it.

If he tried to move them as is, he had no doubt that they would die in transit.

Bryn hesitated for a second before drawing two of his [Emergency Stims] from his ring, the clear condition for the mission may have been Cordesh’s safety but he had been called to save all of them, not just for the Additional rewards as the mission stated, but for the simple fact that they needed his help.

Bryn injected the two injured guys and tossed the used stims away, if there came a time where he suffered for this decision then he would deal with it then, he would not regret this choice.

The alchemical potion inside the stims quickly went to work and Racie who watched from the side went wide eyed as the wounds began to heal at a visible rate, it was to the point that she even stopped casting her spell.

“Erm, Sir, about what you asked before, I don’t know what they are?” Cordesh called out from where she had knelt and Bryn quickly turned to her.

“The names Bryn, what about the rest of you?” He asked as he looked to the rest of the people in the room, but everybody that was of sound mind simply shook their heads, even the two guys that were injured and on the edge of consciousness, only the girl who was having an obvious mental breakdown in the corner didn’t respond.

Bryn noted that as something he would have to deal with if he ever wanted to get her out of harm’s way.

As for the answer the group gave, he was unsatisfied, in a situation like this the more information he had meant the better odds to escape, without It there was simply too much they didn’t know and by that reasoning, a lot of things that could come back to bite them in the arse.

“Damn, then how about you all tell me how you got yourselves into this situation?” Bryn asked and Cordesh was about to respond when the guy that had been holding the door to walked past her to confront Bryn.

“It doesn’t matter what’s happened, you just need to do your job and get us the hell out of here” He demanded as he poked Bryn in the chest with his finger and Bryn instantly knew this guy was going to be a problem.

“Look…” Bryn stopped to identify the guy but before he could he quickly introduced himself.

“Andrax Hashon” He said to Bryn with an emphasis on his last name, obviously alluding to the fact that it meant something in this world of theirs but to Bryn it meant jack.

“Look Andrax, I don’t care who you are or what that last name of yours represents, my mission is to save you and every little piece of information you can give me, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, could potential help me in achieving this, so unless you have something important to say, shut up and stand to the side like a good little boy, oh, and if you poke me like that again, I’m taking the finger”

The Group was quiet as they watched Andrax face visibly contort as he fumed in anger over how had had been spoken to but Cordesh came up behind him and pulled on his arm to guide him away from Bryn before coming back.

“I’m Sorry about that, he’s not handling the situation well” Cordesh tried to apologise but Bryn just waved her off.

“I’ve met many people like that before and its not the situation that’s the problem, the guys just a dick, Now tell me what going on?” He asked and whilst Cordesh wanted to rebut what Bryn said about Andrax, she knew it was not the time.

“Honestly, there isn’t much to say, we got here a couple of hours ago and everything was fine, we set up camp before heading into town to do some shopping, everything was fine until the sun went down and then…and then…” Cordesh tried to go on but tears started to gather as the memories of what had happened were brought to the surface and everything that she had pushed down rose back up.

“Calm yourself Cordesh, it’s okay, I’m Here, and everything is only going to get better” Bryn said as he tried to reassure the girl and whilst he fumbled his words, it seemed to work.

“Okay, sorry, erm like I said, the sun went down and we all started partying…”

“Oh, so it was ‘that’ type of getaway” Bryn interrupted with a playful smile to which the girl Blushed.

“Idiot” She muttered under her breath before turning away from Bryn in an attempt to hide her face.

“haha I’m sorry but I bet you feel better now” He said to which Cordesh agreed but adamantly refused to admit.

“anyway, like I said, it happened as we were about to…” Cordesh said but tapered off towards the end of the sentence,

“about to…” Bryn Mirrored her last words in an attempt to prompt her to continue but he had a fairly good guess as to what she was going to say by the growing blush on her face.

“…go to bed” she finished whilst shooting a glare at Bryn who was enjoying the situation way too much, “they just suddenly attacked, there was no warning, there was no sign that something was wrong, it…just happened”.

Bryn frowned as he finally heard all of the story but he was once again unhappy as he still lacked a reason for why they had been attacked, it wasn’t like they had been attacked by a wild animal otherwise there was a good chance they would have known what it was, if they hadn’t done anything to bring this situation on to them, then maybe it was this place.

“Hmmm, what about this place, you said that there was a town near here?” Bryn asked and Cordesh nodded.

“Yeah, Tabali, It’s the only town on this island so it shares its name, I’m not sure what its like where you come from but here, there are few Islands such as this so they have become the playgrounds of the rich and famous, this one isn’t as bad as the rest as they built It as a luxury retreat but still, your only allowed to visit the island if you know the right people” She said to which Bryn had a feeling he knew as to who her connection was.

“I’m guessing the right person happens to be Mr. Hashon over there” Bryn said to which Cordesh nodded in confirmation, it looked like his family name actually carried a bit of weight after all.

“I’m guessing that a town like that must have some good security” Bryn asked in hope to which Cordesh Eagerly confirmed.

“Yeah, they even have their own Guard outpost there” She said and Bryn figured that was this worlds form of a police force.

“Then it looks like that is our next Destination, Alright! all of you get up and grab what you need, we’re moving out” He called out to the group and watched as they absorbed his words before rushing into action.

Well, all but two people.

Racie who had been looking after the injured guys before Bryn had fixed them up had moved onto help her friend who was not handling the situation to well, she had tried to coax her out of spiralling but no matter what she did the girl did not respond.

“I’m Sorry, I Can’t get her to stop” Racie said to Bryn as she noticed him coming over to them, “and…and…I won’t leave her behind” She said in an attempt to steel her resolve in regards to refusing the abandonment of her friend.

“What type of person do you think I am?” Bryn Asked as he looked at Racie before moving past her, “Let me have a go” Bryn said whilst kneeling down to head height.

[Identify]

Mila Katya

Race: Nakesha

Age: 18

“Mila…Mila…Can you here me, I need you to get up!” Bryn Spoke softly but forcefully to her, he tried to nudge her and catch her attention by snapping his fingers in her face but it was of no use.

Racie gave him a worried look but he hadn’t given up just yet, “I’ve Got one last trick to try” He said to Racie who had placed all of her hopes on him.

Hopes that quickly turned into Surprise and confusion.

“Come on out Leena” Bryn said and summoned the small, weak, but overwhelmingly cute Leena into the dank and dreary room.

She yipped and strut about as soon as she appeared, she had grown in the last week but was still nothing more than a pup.

“Hey Girl, I need you to do something for me” Bryn said as he coddled and pet Leena when she ran up to him, “you see that girl, she isn’t doing great so can you do me a big favour and look after her for me” Bryn asked and Leena tried to bark like she was a soldier accepting her orders, but she was simply too cute and young so all it looked like was a puppy playing serious.

With her orders given Leena rushed over to her charge and jumped up against the girl’s side and marked her as her own, Leena roared to the world that this girl was under her protection and that if anybody or anything wanted to pick a fight with her charge, then they would have to go through Leena first!

Of course, to the rest of the world they only saw a little pup repeatedly lick and yip playfully at a girl that had been broken by the monsters that hid in the dark, but even the actions of those monsters could not overcome the sheer joy and warmth that Leena Brought with each playful act.

Mila stopped shaking and took Leena into her embrace, the small pup licked her face and replaced her tears with slobber, and whilst that might not sound attractive, the smile on mila’s face spoke as to the untold relief it provided her.

“Mila, I need you to get up now” Bryn asked calmly from the side and for the first time, she heard his words.

Mila got up and looked around the room and was distraught to see that they were still not out of danger, it looked as if she was going to spiral again but Bryn quickly grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Mila, I know that you have been through a lot but I’m here now, Cordesh called out to the universe for someone to help and I answered that call, I will get you somewhere safe but to do that, I need you focused, can you do that for me” Bryn reassured Mila and hearing his words she fought off the dread she felt inside and spoke, “Okay, I’ll try”.

Bryn smiled as he heard this and carried on, “Good, then I’ll leave Leena in your hands then, look after her and she’ll look after you” He said but Mila quickly called out, “What? Don’t you need her help?” She asked but Bryn just shook his head.

“Nah, I’ve got her big brother to help me” Bryn said and called out his second, newly tamed beast.

“Hopper!”

Just like Leena, Hopper was a Carolina Island Hopper only unlike Leena, He was a boy, but most importantly, he was no pup.

If Leena was the size of a Terrier, then Hopper was a Great Dane!

He was still quite a bit away from being fully grown like the Island hopper Bryn faced in the taming class was but it was on its way. It may only be a juvenile that had peak tier one strength if not low tier two strength when he first tamed it but Bryn knew it wouldn’t be that way for long.

Unlike a fully grown beast a juvenile like hopper would be young enough to willingly follow the orders of the alpha, in this case Bryn, whilst it was old enough to be of use in combat unlike Leena, it was the solution that Bryn had thought of when he decided not to give up on being a Tamer and if he was honest, he was quite proud of it. Hopper being the same species as Leena meant that not only would they belong to the same pack and be able to work in tandem, whatever skills he bought to use on Leena, being of the same species and elemental type, he could use them on hopper as well.

It was a literal case of ‘hitting two birds with one stone’.

Bryn, with the aide of Andrax and his two friends, Derraf and Quinant, they were able to quickly move the makeshift barricade from the door before easing their way out silently just in case the monsters that had attacked them had doubled back for a second round.

Luckily, the coast was clear.

“Don’t suppose you have any torches?” Bryn asked as he looked down the dark hallway of the house, the soft Candle light from room was barely enough to light a couple of meters into it the hallway before fading into black.

“We found a couple of torches but none of them work, it doesn’t look like anything electric works at the moment” Cordesh came up from the side and answered only for Bryn to look down on at the Holo-watch on his arm to see that it too was dead.

“yeah, my gears dead too” Bryn said in annoyance before carrying on, “Don’t suppose any of you know how to make an actual torch” Bryn asked hopefully to which Andrax scoffed but quickly wilted under the admonishing glare of Cordesh.

“I can probably put something together, just make sure the house is safe for us” Cordesh said to which Bryn agreed and headed off into the dark by himself, only stopping for a second so Hopper could get the monsters scent.

As soon as Bryn was out of sight the small group closed and blocked off the door, they spent a few tense filled minutes waiting for either Bryn to get back, or to hear the scream of his grizzly demise, but it seemed luck was in the favour and he returned without incident.

The House was clear, the monsters gone.

The group gave a quick search of the house, finding items from the shopping list that Cordesh requested until they had enough supplies to create the makeshift torches that would illuminate their way.

With the torches in hand, they left the relative safety of the house and headed out into the night.

The world was silent but for the wind blowing through the trees, an eerie feeling passed over the group as the world was too quiet.

Usually, they could hear the soft sound of birds in their nest, small critters as they made their way through the forest floor, or the slight buzz of a bug as it flew by, but now, there was nothing.

Not a creature stirred on this night, as they all knew better.

When a predator is on the hunt, you hide and hope they do not find you.

Under the torch lit light, the group made their way down the costal highway, following the curve of the cove they kept their wits about them and their heads on a swivel, reacting to every cracked branch and blown leaf as if they were monsters jumping at them to attack.

Racie and Mila stuck close to Derraf and Quinant as they walked down the road, they still weren’t a hundred percent but they didn’t run the risk of dying in the next five minutes like they had before Bryn helped them, and from what Bryn overheard, the injuries they suffered weren’t for naught.

Quinant had took a blow to the stomach when he pulled Racie out of the way as the monster attacked her, saving her life, whilst Derraf had straight up charged the second monster when it had cornered Mila, he pinned the beast whilst screaming at Mila to run.

The only reason he was still alive was because Cordesh had cracked the beast over the back of the head with a log they had found to put on the fire.

As for where Andrax was when all of this went down, well, at the first sign of trouble he had made for the car and locked the doors, they had no doubt that he would have left them if not for the car not starting, it was the reason why Derraf and Quinant were giving him a hate filled look as they walked behind him and from the way their silent whispers were getting louder, it wasn’t going to be long before they broached the subject with him and when that happened, all hopes of quietly escaping this place would go out of the window.

Bryn could see the mounting anger on their faces and when it looked like they were going to act on them, he made his Prescence known, he stopped walking at the front of the group and motioned for them to not only be quiet, but to calm down.

Derraf and Quinant took a deep breath before giving one last look to Andrax who was scoffing at them, acting as if his actions were entirely justified and anyone in his position would have done the same thing.

That look had almost set everything off like a keg of beer at an AA meeting but Bryn was able to Grab Derraf’s arm before he could throttle Andrax to death, he put his finger to his lips and motioned for him to be silent but just as he through he was getting through to them, he heard Hopper Growl.

“Grrrrrr”

The group turned to look in the direction that Hopped growled and for a few seconds they saw nothing askew in the forest that ran beside the road, but then they noticed a number of bushes move, luckily, they moved in a way that told that whatever was stalking them, had backed off.

“Enough…we need to get into town now, you can settle whatever this is later” Bryn told them all before making his way to the front of the group again.

The minutes passed in silence as they made good time down the highway, there was a couple of instances like before where Hopper caught the scent of the monsters that were stalking them but without fail, they would back off before Bryn could make out what they were.

It seemed they were content to let Bryn and his group reach their destination, and after a few minutes they reached the edge of Tibali and realised why.

A car lay crashed into the side of a tree, the drivers side door had been ripped open whilst the signs of a struggle were obvious from first glance.

It appeared that Cordesh and her group hadn’t been the only ones that had been attacked that night.

Andrax gave no sympathy to the crime scene and quickly got into the driver’s seat where he repeatedly tried to turn the engine over but it was having none of it.

Finally, he repeatedly smashed his fist into the driving wheel whilst crying out “GOD DAMN IT”.

“Andrax, you have to be quiet” Cordesh said as she came over to him and tried to calm him down in an attempt to not draw the monsters to them but he didn’t take it well.

“NO, YOU SHUT UP! You fucking Idiot! I’m trying to get us out of here!” Andrax said as he got out of the driver’s seat and stroppily made his way to the front of the group before he started to walk further into town by himself.

The group shared a look between each other before following after him but Cordesh naturally found herself drawing closer to Bryn.

“So, I’m guessing from how Racie and Mila are acting around Quinant and Derraf, that you came to this little get together with him? Care to explain?” Bryn asked in an attempt to make small talk whilst he kept his focus on his surroundings.

Cordesh watched Andrax in the distance as she thought on what to say, “He’s not usually like this, he’s just got a lot on his mind, he doesn’t deal with stress well” She said but Bryn wasn’t believing a word of it.

“Making excuses for him, wow, you must be in love” Bryn said sarcastically in response to which Cordesh actually punched him in the ribs.

“OW” Bryn responded whilst rubbing his side, half mockingly, half serious.

“Wow, you’ve actually got quite an arm on you” Bryn praised as Cordesh smiled and flex her arm muscles.

“And don’t you forget it, you don’t grow up in a garage with three older brothers without learning how to throw a punch”

“So, you’re a grease monkey?” Bryn asked but Cordesh just looked at him in confusion.

“Sorry, I’m still not used to people having the same language as me but not the same slang terms, it basically means a mechanic” Bryn explained to which Cordesh nodded.

“Yeah, I practically grew up in my father’s garage, I knew how to rebuild a stratomaster before I knew how to drive” Cordesh bragged but it was Bryn’s turn to give her a blank look.

“Sorry, it’s a type of engine” She explained but was still embarrassed.

“So, you plan on following in your dads footsteps?” Bryn asked but Cordesh was quick to respond. “No, my dad actually works on Andrax’s fathers personal collection and when I was younger, he noticed that I not only had a talent for working with tech, but in runes as well, and since he knew my father and was good friends with him, he offered to send me to a top school to get a proper education so I could be more than just a mechanic”

“…and that’s where you met Andrax” Bryn finished to which Cordesh confirmed.

“He’s a good guy you know” Cordesh said as she could see how Bryn felt about Andrax but Bryn didn’t care, “Cordesh, I’ve known you lot for barely an hour, after this mission is done I’ll probably never see any of you again, you don’t need to convince me he is a good guy, it doesn’t matter…unless I’m not the one your trying to convince” Bryn said but it seemed he had said too much as Cordesh was no longer in the mood to speak, It was probably for the best though, as they had reached their destination, they had arrived at the town of Tabali.

Only, it was not the safe haven they were hoping for, instead, it was a ghost town.

The small group made their way down the town’s main road, they would use their torches to peer into the dark and empty shops but no matter where they looked, they didn’t find a single person.

Here and there, they found signs of a struggle and whilst there was blood in some cases, there wasn’t enough for the person that had lost it to have died.

They should have at least found bodies by now, but there was nothing.

“What is going on? Where is everybody?” Racie asked as she finished looking in another shop but no one had an answer for her, Cordesh could only keep them focused “The guard outpost isn’t far away now, I’m sure we’ll find some answers there” She reassured her friend but unfortunately, she was wrong.

Just like the rest of the town the guard outpost was empty, the only difference between it and the shops that they had passed was that whilst they had seen signs of a struggle here and there previously, the guard outpost was a battle site. Doors were torn off their hinges whilst claw marks were gouged into the walls, fresh blood was the new paint theme whilst despair was the given atmosphere, in other words, the outpost was a mess.

This was not the safe haven they were searching for and the group was not handling it well.

“What are we going to do now?” Mila asked in a quiet voice as she hugged Leena tightly and all eyes turned towards Bryn, “The plan hasn’t changed, only the destination” Bryn answered without a pause, “You lot know this area better than me; the guard outpost was a bust but where is the next best option?” Bryn asked but instead of answers he was met with silence.

“c’mon seriously, there must be somewhere?” Bryn asked but they just looked down at the floor, only Andrax had a different response.

“Are you too stupid to understand, we’re on an island with a single town on it, there is nowhere else” Andrax said as he got in Bryn’s face again.

Bryn wondered whether Andrax was going to push it any further but he didn’t care, he had gotten the answer he wanted.

“There you go buddy; you can be helpful if you try” Bryn said in a condescending voice as he slapped his shoulder sarcastically before brushing past him to address the rest of the group.

“You heard the man, there is nowhere else to go on the island, so how do we get off it?” Bryn asked and waited for options.

“There’s only one way on and off the island, the great Kanta Bridge” Quinant offered from the side but Andrax was quick to shut him down.

“The Bridge, are you stupid, it takes hours to reach the next island using a car, walking would take days” Andrax explained but it was surprisingly Cordesh that offered a solution.

“I saw a garage on our way here, I think I may be able to get a car working if I have the right tools” Cordesh said to which Andrax scoffed much to her hurt feelings.

“Sounds like we have a plan, unless you want to go by boat” Bryn asked but it was Derraf who quickly turned him down, “Unwise, you’re fine going out on the water close to shore but when you reach open water, the local wildlife is what you might call ‘precarious’ at best”

“Alright then, the bridge it is, if you don’t mind leading the way Cordesh” Bryn confirmed and prompted Cordesh to get moving, there was no point in staying here any longer, it would only serve to draw unnecessary attention and Bryn was pretty sure the stalkers from the forest were still on their tail and whilst they were happy to let them walk further into town, he didn’t know how they would react when they turned back on themselves.

With a plan of action the group left the outpost and headed back the way they came, practically nothing had changed on the path that they had tread but it didn’t make the journey any less creepy, only the thought of escaping from this island was able to suppress these feelings, but there luck was not to last, Bryn’s instincts had been right, the monsters that had been trailing them from the campground were still on their tail, they crawled and crossed atop the roofs of the buildings that ran down the main street, watching as Bryn and the rest of his group made their way towards the garage they had passed from the shadows.

When they watched as their prey headed further into their territory, they held back on their desire to attack, if they wanted to willingly head to their deaths then why should they stop them, but now they sought to leave the town, this was something they could not abide for it went against his orders.

They creeped and crawled as they closed the distance between themselves and the group, their bodies splayed out as they claws dug into the soft brick the buildings were made out of.

Their prey was unaware of their presence and better yet, they were starting to spread out as the more eager ones unconsciously moved faster than those that had let fear take route in their heart.

Mila was starting to lag behind the group, her partner Derraf was trying to urge her on but she was too scared and unfocused to hear his words, her eyes kept on darting about as she saw monsters in every corner that she looked.

She tightened her grip on Leena as she tried to overcome this fear and listen to Derraf, but it was hard and she was scared, all she wanted to do find a hole to hide in and wait for all this to be over, but she knew that wasn’t an option, it was suicide, but no matter what her mind told her, she could not suppress these feelings, every time she turned, she felt like….

“…AAAAHHHHHHH” Mila screamed as she watched as the monster pounced from its spot from atop the roof and reached out in an attempt to slash at her face, she had barely noticed it as she turned in fright but there it was, her nightmares made real.

“Mila!” Cordesh cried out but there was nothing she could do to help her friend; she knew that her friend would die within that monsters grasp and then it would be her turn.

“[Ethereal chain]” Bryn called out and summoned his chains, He slashed as the monster that was unable to dodge whilst it was still falling through the air and bisected it in a single sweep.

Bryn turned and span, looking for the other that had been tailing them from the beginning and found it pouncing at Cordesh that had been focused on Mila.

The monsters were smart, it had been a pincer attack, proof that they were no simple beasts.

His chains flashed and the beast fell much to the groups surprise, its injured body bounced across the floor but it was quickly back on its feet and poised to attack, but Bryn’s chains were quicker, they impaled themselves within it chest before he tugged hard and brought it close not for him to finish it off but Hopper.

The hound was ready and waiting for it as it drew close, the strength of Bryn’s pull was enough to knock it off its feet again and as it struggled to raise itself from the floor, Hopper dove in and ravaged its neck until it broke with a snap.

Bryn whistled to call Hopper off but he was proud of his companions first kill, it may have been assisted but it still counted.

It was Bryn’s first time seeing the monsters and he had to admit, they lived up to the name.

The monster was humanoid in nature, two arms and two legs, they were completely white like the Nakesha but unlike their counterpart they lacked hair and instead had a layer of clear fish scales covering their bodies which Bryn could only equate to looking like an anorexic weightlifter’s.

Bryn could see the outline of the monsters muscles but it seemed unnatural, like all the fluid within its body had been drained and now it feasted upon itself for sustenance.

It eyes were eerie, the pupils far too large for how big they were, they were like the one’s fish have.

As for their mouths, they were what nightmare were made out of.

When it was closed it looked like a normal person mouth but when it was open, it hid a monstrous visage of teeth and flesh much like that of a lamprey.

Bryn poked and prodded the dead ones mouth as he took it all in, it was disgusting but he couldn’t look away, it was like the viral videos that spread across the net showcasing people popping spots or cutting fishing line from the necks of turtles.

Bryn was content to sit there and examine the monster but he noticed the first one that he had struck was still alive even though it had been bisected.

It was crawling in their direction, still determined to attack.

Using its arms, it drew near to Cordesh who only saw it as a maimed beast, she had let her guard down and Bryn had no doubt that was exactly what it wanted, “Cordesh, get away from it” Bryn called out to the girl no sooner than it struck, its mouth extending several feet as it attacked.

“AHH!” Cordesh screamed out as she stumbled away from the monsters outstretched mouth but simply by falling to the floor and scuffling away, she was able to escape from its mouths toothy grasp.

“[Mana Bolt]” Bryn struck the base of the monsters mouth and tore it from its body, it fell to the floor but even though it had been separated it still wriggled like a headless chicken.

Bryn quickly moved through the group before drawing a knife and impaling the monsters skull, ending it there and then.

“Is…is it over?” Mila asked from the side, her words not only aimed towards the fight but the danger they faced in general.

Bryn retrieved the knife from the monsters skull and gave the blade a once over before directly placing it back in to its sheaf, usually he would wipe it off beforehand but he didn’t as it confirmed something that he had noticed during the fight.

These monsters did not bleed, somehow, someway, these monsters were able to function without Blood or maybe even any fluid of any kind running through their system.

So much for the saying ‘If it bleeds, it can die’, as these monsters die but they don’t bleed.

“I’m sorry, but there is no way these monsters have the strength to take out this entire town…there is something else out there, the plan remains the same, we head for the garage and then get the hell out of here” Bryn said as he stood over the monsters body whilst the group turned to carry on walking, only Cordesh stayed behind.

“Do you know what they are?” She asked and Bryn didn’t know what to say, he had used [Identify] on the monsters just as she asked, and he now knew what happened to the citizens of this town.

Dweller [Tier 2]

Patron God: Dagon

Dwellers are born when the spirits of the deep inhabit the corrupted bodies of those sacrificed to the old god Dagon.

They know no hunger, no fear, no love, no guilt.

They only serve at his pleasure

“Their bad news, let go” He said and pulled Cordesh along with him as his eyes scanned to the rooftops, searching for anymore of them that may still be hidden and poised to strike.

The group passes through the rest of the town unmolested and make it to the garage, after a quick sweep by Bryn to confirm the building is secure only then does he tell them to go in.

“Alright, the buildings empty but that doesn’t mean it’s safe, whilst Cordesh works on a car I want the rest of you to secure every door and window you can by any means necessary, understood” Bryn asked and whilst Andrax wanted to argue with him a quick shove by Quinant was enough to let him realise they were done with his shit, now he just needed to shut up and do as he was told.

As those lot went off towards the rest of the building, Bryn followed Cordesh as she entered the garage.

Luckily there were two cars already being worked on in the shop and whilst they had their parts spread all over the place, by the way Cordesh was fangirling over them, they weren’t exactly common.

According to her due to the local geography cars needed to be just as good, if not better on the ice then they did on land.

Apparently, that equated to them essentially being luxury rally cars, and these ones had supposedly been featured in a magazine as they were apart of some famous guys collection, whilst Bryn didn’t care who they belonged to, he had to admit they were works of art.

One looked like the rally version of a Pontiac trans-am, whilst the other like a stretched corvette, designed to seat four in stead of the two that the ones created on earth were.

If they were going to get out of here then they needed to get both cars up and running as whilst corvette could seat more, it was a tight fit that left little room for any additional passengers, and the Trans-am was even worse as it was all engine.

Cordesh stripped off her top layer so that she was only now wearing a tank top with baggy pants, Bryn wondered what she was doing but noticed that she had moved towards a certain area of the garage where large backpacks were hung up.

She strapped herself in before heaving it off the wall, it was a big backpack and Bryn quickly realised the reason for its size as two big metal arms extended out from within it, the ends of which broke apart and cycled through numerous tools, some of which sparked whilst others whirled with power.

“How are you using that?” Bryn asked due to the fact that all items they had come across that required power so far had been useless but apparently this one wasn’t.

“Same reason you can blow those monsters to bits and Racie was able to heal Derraf and Quinant, it runs off mana” Cordesh said whilst flexing the arms as if they were her own.

“Damn, I’m impressed, is that type of gear standard in this world?” Bryn asked as he sat within the front seat of one of the luxury cars whilst Cordesh went to work on its engine.

“Oh god no, only specialty shops like the one we’re in can even dream of using these in their garage, Never-mind the fact that you need to go to a specific type of school to learn how to use them, you need to be born with the ability to use mana in the first place to even turn them on” Cordesh said whilst examining what was wrong with the car.

“And I take it you just happen to fulfil these conditions”

“What can I say, I’m a fully qualified Magitek Engineer” Cordesh responded with a bit of pride in her voice to which Bryn immediately responded with a sarcastic clap.

*clap*

*clap*

*clap*

“You joke now but the fact that I’m a Magitek Engineer is the reason we’re going to get out of here”

“Oh, do go on”

“I’m pretty sure the reason why no tech works is because someone or something has somehow managed to deploy a dampening field over the island, and if that is the case, then I may be able to set up a runic enchantment to resist it the effect with a bit of experimentation” Cordesh explained before moving away from the hood of the one car and towards the other.

“Sounds good, how can I help?” Bryn asked without hesitation as he knew that he had no way for them to get out of this situation by himself and if they were going to make it through this, then it was with Cordesh’s help.

Hell, it may be the reason that the system classified her as a VIP as without her it was impossible to complete.

“I can do all the tech work with the cars and the rune carving to resist the dampening field, but I need ingredients to empower the runes, alchemical ingredients”

“And a garage like this isn’t likely to carry what you need”

“Exactly, luckily there is an apothecary in town that should sell what I need”

“Great, write me a list and I’ll go shopping” Bryn said as he hopped out of his seat and walked towards her, but Cordesh gave him a wary look.

“erm, do you know anything about alchemy? Botonny? Geology? Anything?” Cordesh kept asking to which Bryn shook his head, Armarni may have been perfect in this situation but he was completely uneducated in these areas, and truthfully, he was going to depend on the system to identify the items she needed but as he looked at the listed items a thought popped into his mind.

‘What If her people have different names for items than the system?’

Cordesh held her head in her hands as she contemplated life, “I thought so, you don’t seem like the type that’s into that type of stuff”

“Hey, Rude” Bryn joked but she was right.

“There is no other choice then, you’ll have to take Mila with you”

“Mila, how will she help me?” Bryn asked in confusion as before he could just lock them all up in this building and rush to the apothecary but now, he needed to look after a girl that had a very tenuous grasp on reality there and back again.

It was guaranteed to make his task both harder, and longer to complete.

“Don’t look down on Mila, her family runs one of the biggest apothecary chains in the world and she knows more about botonny and geology that either of us will ever know” Cordesh said with a hint of anger as she defended her friend, she may not have been handling this situation too well but who could say they wouldn’t have the same reactions as her if they were suddenly attacked by monsters.

“…will she even be willing to help?” Bryn asked as he seriously looked at Cordesh who let out a sigh.

“…She doesn’t have a choice”

Bryn waited in the front seat of the Pontiac whilst the rest of the group finished securing the building, the two cars had been taken apart before this disaster had happened so Cordesh needed to put them back together before they did anything else, so they had time to waste.

When they were all finally gathered in the garage, he told them the plan.

“Alright all of you, here is the plan, Cordesh figures that all the tech around here doesn’t work because of a dampening field, the plan at the moment is to get these two cars working by making use of a runic enchantment she knows” Bryn said and the group physically perked up at the prospect that they may actually be getting through the night.

“However, there is a problem, Cordesh doesn’t have all the ingredients she needs to get the enchantment working so I need to go out and fetch them for her, only that isn’t my area of expertise so I’ll need your help” Bryn said and for a moment each person in the group thought Bryn was speaking about them but only one of them, taking into the context of what needed to be done, was right.

“Me?” Mila called out weekly and only deflated further upon Bryn confirmation.

“I’m Sorry to do this to you but the only way we get out of here is with your help” Bryn confirmed and Racie quickly went over to the girl who was on the verge of tears.

“I…I can’t’…. I can’t go back out there” Mila stuttered as she tried turn Bryn down but Bryn didn’t take her words into account as he carried on.

“You have nothing to worry about, I’ll be there with you every step of the way” Bryn said as he tried to reassure the girl and even Racie offered to help.

“It’ll be fine Mila, I’ll come with you” Racie offered but Bryn was quick to shut it down.

“I’m Sorry but you can’t come with us, Whilst I’m gone its up to you lot to secure this garage and make sure nothing stops Cordesh from working, especially you Racie”

“Why me?” she asked.

“Because if one of these lot gets hurt, then you’re the only one that can save them, you’re a healer Racie, if we weren’t depending on Cordesh’s skills to get us out of here then you would be the most important person in this group because so long as you are alive, the chances of us getting out of here alive only grow higher” Bryn explained and although she wasn’t happy, Racie accepted his reasoning.

“You’ll be fine Mila, you’ll have your very own personal guard escorting you the entire way, nothing will happen to you” Racie said to her friend as she tightened her embrace before letting go.

Mila looked at each of them, hoping that one of them would say something that would get her out of this situation, but they were quiet as they knew Bryn was right.

“Hey, it looks like you’ve already become good friends with Leena, how about you keep Hopper next to you as well” Bryn said and Hopper who was laying on the floor responded to his name being said and walked over before snuggling against Mila’s leg as he sat next to the girl.

“…. Alright, I’ll do it” Mila whispered but It was enough for them to hear.

Bryn waited by the door whilst the rest of them went over to Mila to say their words of encouragement, even Andrax offered both his thanks and advice.

It was enough for Bryn to think that maybe he wasn’t the massive tool he thought the guy to be.

When everything that had needed to be said, had been, she met Bryn by the door.

“You Ready?” Bryn Asked.

“No, not even close, but I’ve still got to do it though…right?” Mila responded and Bryn just smiled.

“Let’s go” Bryn said and after making sure nothing was waiting to ambush them outside, left.

Racie and Derraf reluctantly watched as the two disappeared around a corner before closing the door and sealing it shut with some non-functioning but heavy gear they had grabbed from the garage.

They didn’t want Mila to have to do this, to put herself at risk, but they also knew that there wasn’t really a choice, either she helped Bryn complete this task, or they all suffer a grizzly demise when the rest of the Dwellers that inhabit the town find them.

The only thing that they could do to help, was pray for them, and so that is what they did.

“Oh Skadi…”

As those that remained behind did whatever they had to to ease their fears and doubts as they waited for Bryn and Mila’s return, the two in question made their way through the town following the direction that Cordesh had written alongside the list of ingredients she required.

They kept to the side of the road, walking with the building close by to ensure they couldn’t be surrounded like they had been on there way to the garage.

When they could, they hid behind cover, but for the most part they just moved as quickly as they could to the apothecary as no matter what they did to hide from any prying eyes, they could do nothing about the light emitted from the torches both of them carried.

Luckily, by the fact that Hopper hadn’t alerted them to an enemy nearby, they could assume their presence hadn’t been noticed, yet.

They had been walking for a few minutes and thanks to the town being relatively small, they had made it to the apothecary without any incident.

Mila tried to open the door but it was locked and the security had been set, runes glowed along the door frame and prohibited their entry.

Whatever had happened to the town must have happened after sun down like it had to them, otherwise there would have been no way that the store clerk would have the presence of mind to lock up.

With a little magic and help from [Reapers Touch], the runes were destroyed and the magic that ensure the door remained locked was dispelled, and then with a quick and brutal shoulder knock by Bryn, the mortal lock that was more for display than actual use was broken.

They were in.

Mila rushed into the store whilst Bryn took his time to give the street a quick look in either direction to make sure nothing had heard him forcing the door before gently closing it.

“You’ve got two minutes, hurry up” Bryn said as he looked around the shop, identifying and basically playing with anything that caught his fancy, a few things he even pocketed within his ring.

Armarni was an alchemist so he would no doubt have a few uses for whatever he was able to gets his hands on, Bryn had no doubt that the things sold in this shop were both useful and expensive thanks to how Cordesh described this town as a playground for the rich and famous.

There was no way they would be spending their money on cheap goods, so he guessed what was sold here was only the best of the best.

With his ‘personal’ Shopping done Bryn turned back to Mila, it had been a few minutes by now and he was hoping for good news.

“How we doing Mila?” Bryn asked and watched as with a bit of excitement on her face, Mila retrieved a final ingredient from a draw before putting it inside a bag she held over her shoulder, “Done” she excitedly said with a smile on her face and a warm sense of accomplishment filling her from within.

“Great news, now let’s get…”

“Grrrrrr” Hopper Growled as he looked to the door and Bryn instantly shut up and drew the knives from side.

“Hide!” Bryn silently said to Mila whilst keeping his eyes trained on the door, ready for whatever may come.

Mila quickly hid behind the counter with Leena still in her grasp, her eyes closed for a second before she forced them open.

Whatever happened next, whatever her fate be, she wanted to face it with eyes wide open. She didn’t want to be the scared girl hiding in the corner of the room anymore.

*Bang*

The attack comes not from the ajar door but from the stoor-fronts clouded-glass window, A Dweller had dove head fist through the glass, sending shards shooting throughout the shop but Bryn ignored them as they were not sharp enough to penetrate his armour, only the Dweller had that ability.

With a slash of his knife Bryn went on the offensive and took first blood, cleanly separating the dwellers head from its neck before it even has the chance to act, but the danger was far from over as the dweller that had dove through the window wasn’t the only one on the attack.

A second Dweller dove at Bryn as he finished his strike on the first but Bryn was too fast for the monster and ducked out of the way, he may have saved his own life but his actions had allowed the dweller to penetrate deep into the shop and made Mila who hid behind the counter its next target.

Mila had the urge to run but her body was frozen, the dweller drew near but just as it was about to attack Hopper jumped over the counter and started to tear at the Dweller with its teeth before twirling on the balls of his feet and sending the dweller flying into the wall as it slammed its paddle like tail into its chest.

“Grrrrrr” Hopper Growled before closing in for the kill, grasping his neck whilst it was stunned like the first before snapping it within his mouth.

Bryn was proud of hopper but he didn’t have the time to show it, three more Dwellers had breached the storefront and he could only handle two at once whilst the other bypassed him to go after Mila.

With a quick throw he impaled the third with one of his knives as it passed before grasping a hold of another one of the Dwellers outstretched mouth as it tried to attack him with his monstrous strength Bryn swung the monster by its mouth before slamming it into the wall before being tackled to the ground by the last.

“Ahh! Damn it” Bryn called out as the one who tackled him extended its mouth and bit at Bryn’s neck, it was painful but luckily the under armour that he had bought for this mission extended up the side of his neck otherwise the painful injury he just took would have been a fatal one.

Bryn managed to get his legs underneath the chest of the Dweller and kicked It with all his might, sending It a couple of feet away and ripping its suction cup like mouth from his neck.

Bryn jumped to his feet but stumbled for a second as his eyes went blurry, he cursed as he realised that the monsters bites must have had some type of venom in it but as the beast was only tier two, he had to hope that the recover that came with his high tier bloodline was enough to overcome it.

The third dweller had managed to pass him and was charging towards Mila but Hopper had once again stopped its attack and had managed to get it on the ground, but the monster was more agile and had a better range of movements thanks to being humanoid in nature!

It was quickly gaining the upper hand but Bryn didn’t have the chance to help it.

The other two that he was facing were getting up.

Bryn rushed the Dweller that he had thrown into the wall before crushing its head with his knee like it was an egg between two rocks, it instantly felt limp like a puppet with its strings cut but the fight wasn’t over.

The other dweller was up and it had launched itself at his back, its claws latched on whilst its mouth went for his neck again but this time, he was quick enough to grab it before it could latch on.

With an overhead toss he was able to flip both himself and the Dweller onto the floor and the force was enough to loosen the monsters grasp, Bryn twisted atop the beast and took control of its arm much like he would a human before fighting against its strength as it resisted him breaking it.

Bryn tried as he might but the Dweller was no pushover, it was trying to break free with every bit of his might, Suddenly Bryn noticed Hoppers situation out of the corner of his eye and he felt a pit in his stomach.

The Dweller was in complete control of their fight and was holding his mouth to the side as he tore into Hoppers neck with its mouth, it was only seconds away from killing hopper and he could do nothing about it.

Bryn didn’t have the freedom to release the summon and even if he did, he would just be dooming Mila to the same fate.

Even now he could see her huddled just a few feet away from Hopper as Leena struggled to escape from her hold to join her brother in his death match against the Dweller, but Mila was too strong for the pup so there was nothing she could do to help Hopper.

“GRRRRRR” Leena suddenly started to growl and through her teeth Bryn could see an icy glow of power before she barked and sent a beam of light crashing into dweller, knocking it off her Brothers body and sending it to floor with a layer of Ice crawling up the side of its chest.

[Ice beam]

Not willing to waste the chance Hopper got back on his feet before using the opportunity to tear the Dwellers throat apart, finishing it in the same way he had the rest.

As soon as the Dweller went limp Hopper struggled over to help Bryn face his foe but like a tank running on empty, sputtered to a stop halfway before collapsing to the ground.

“Hopper!” Bryn called out desperately before putting all of his might into breaking the dwellers arm.

“AHHHHHH!” Bryn called out as he drew on all his might.

*SNAP*

The Dwellers arm Broke and Bryn quickly kicked it away before getting back to his feet, A [Mana Bolt] appeared in both of his palms before he sent them flying at the dweller, one hit its face whilst the other its chest, both sending the monster into the wall on the other side of the shop.

It was disfigured but alive.

Bryn however had plans on changing that.

An [Ethereal chain] sliced straight through the disoriented Dwellers face and ended the fight there and then, but Bryn didn’t care, before the Dwellers body had even hit the floor, he was by hoppers side and injecting an emergency stim into his partners neck.

A few tense filled seconds later and Bryn was relieved to see Hopper beginning to perk back up, he had made it in time, Hopper was out of danger, they had both made it through the fight intact and alive.

‘Sigh’

Bryn let out a heavy breath before patting Hopper on his head, “You did brilliantly buddy, couldn’t have made it through this without you” Bryn said before getting to his feet and heading over towards Mila and Leena.

“And you, oh who’s a good girl, did you save your big brother, yes you did, yes you did” Bryn said as he praised Leena and played with her chubby cheeks as he stroked her within Mila’s embrace.

An action that Leena both wholeheartedly approved and supported, she had been a good girl so it was only right that she gets head pats.

Finally, Bryn turned to Mila who had watched as an observer as Bryn who had just tore three monsters apart began to play and speak in a baby voice to his pets, “and how about you, you okay?” Bryn asked to which Mila was only able to manage a subconscious nod.

“Good, Grab the goods and let get out of here before any more of these guys show up, no doubt they noticed our little fight” Bryn said before moving towards Hopper and asking whether it could go on or whether it wanted to rest for a bit back inside his [Grimoire].

Hopper forced himself to his feet and moved towards the door, his actions his answer.

Mila Quickly grabbed her bag and stored everything they would need before catching up to Bryn.

“You got everything?” Bryn asked with a bit of a slur to his voice before he took out another [Emergency Stim] and shot himself in his neck.

His eyes widened slightly and his mind cleared, the wound upon his neck closed in a matter of seconds, he was back in top condition.

“Yeah, I’ve got everything, Lets go” Mila confirmed and followed Bryn out of the shop, leaving only the bodies of monsters and destruction in their wake.

Bryn was down to his last [Emergency stim] after that fight and he knew it.

The thought of what he would do if someone had gotten injured back at the garage weighed heavily on his mind.

Could he use it to save them, knowing that he may be dooming himself?

Could he use it on someone other than Cordesh as he only needed her to complete the mission?

Honestly, he didn’t know, Bryn just hoped that he would never find himself in that situation, he had been so liberal with them so far because he always had more, now that he was down to the last one, he had put himself in a position where he may have to make some tough decision in the future.

For the sake of one person, could he let another die.

Bryn didn’t know and as the pair came up on the garage in the distance, he hoped he wouldn’t have to find out.

Knocking on the door to the garage, the pair waited for those inside to move the makeshift barrier out of the way but after several seconds they heard nothing.

The two were just about to fear the worst when they heard soft grunting other side of the door.

When a large enough opening was made, they paid squeezed through.

“oh, thank god you made it” Derraf called out as he took Mila into his embrace whilst Racie came over and hugged her from Behind.

“I did it, I really did it” Mila said to them with a strong smile on her face even though tears were flowing just as strongly, “I really made it” she said in disbelief and the two just hugged her tighter.

Bryn watched this scene side from the side and Cordesh was quick to join him, “were you able to grab everything?” She asked desperately and was visibly relieved when Bryn confirmed they had.

“We cleared out the shop and grabbed every bit of stock they had for the items on your list, you should have enough for a couple of attempts if anything goes wrong” Bryn said as he indicated to the bag that was by his feet.

Cordesh grabbed the bag and gave a quick look inside, “This is better than anything I could have hoped for, honestly, I’m not too sure whether I could have pulled this off in a single attempt and I don’t want to destroy our means of escape if I accidentally mess up the enchantment” Cordesh admitted to which Bryn drew his gun and passed it to her.

“Practice on this then, if you can get it up and running then great, but otherwise its no skin off my back as its of no use at the moment” Bryn said to Cordesh as he held the gun between two fingers.

“Why risk it, there’s plenty of tech around here I can practice on” She asked in Confusion but Bryn already had his answer.

“Because I’m tired of fighting with these monsters on their terms, I’m tired of getting up close and personal with them” He said and it was only now that Cordesh noticed the dried blood stains on his neck, she took the gun off of him and got to work without another word.

Hours passed as Cordesh worked not only on the cars but on the runic enchantment she would use to resist the dampening field.

Most of the group was useless to her, unable to help in a single area, but Mila was just as good as Cordesh had preached, she handled the alchemical ingredients they had gotten from the apothecary like a professional and before anybody had realised, they were all gathered around Cordesh as she put her last touches on the runic enchantment she had carved into Bryn’s gun.

With a final drip of the alchemical creation Mila and Cordesh had created together, the runes were activated.

“Did it work?” Derraf asked as the Runes softly glowed but other than that, did nothing.

“there is only one way to find out” Bryn said before taking his pistol from the table and aiming it at some junk in the corner.

*BANG*

The junk blew up and the group relaxed, the runic enchantment worked.

There was actually a real chance they were going to escape from this island alive!

The group hugged and celebrated but whilst Bryn was happy, he knew that he couldn’t let his guard down.

“Alright that’s enough, Cordesh, how long will it take you get both of the cars protected?” Bryn asked and Cordesh calmed herself down.

“I’ve got the basics of the enchantment down but I’ll have to scale it up to work on the cars, maybe twenty minutes to carve the runes on both cars but there’s a problem” Cordesh advised and Bryn couldn’t help but worry about her words.

“What problem?” Bryn asked, dreading what she was about to say.

“These are two very different cars with very different engines, there’s a chance that when we start them up, only one of them will turn over and I’ll have to adjust the other enchantment until it works” Cordesh advised but Bryn like most of the group, didn’t understand what the problem was.

Noticing that she was the only one that had realised the problem, Cordesh could only lament the fact that she was the only gear head in the group.

“Bryn, these are very powerful cars” Cordesh said and Bryn finally got the hint.

“…And powerful cars make a lot of noise, Damn, if there as loud as I’m guessing then we may as well be ringing the dinner bell when we turn them on” Bryn complained as he paced about the shop for second as he thought over what options they had.

It was a quick pace because they didn’t have any other option available to them, this was there only plan to get out of here alive.

“Alright, here’s the plan, Cordesh will finish up enchanting the cars Whilst I go outside and take up overwatch on a roof looking down on this place, if everything works out and both cars start up then I’ll jump down and we drive away before anyone’s the wiser” Bryn said as he explained the best outcome to the group.

“But what happens if only one of the cars starts up?” Quinant asks and all eyes are on Bryn.

“Then I take my newly fixed gun and buy you the time you need” Bryn said as he shown them his pistol with the runes still a glow atop it.

“As soon as both cars are up and running you leave, you don’t wait for me, you just get the hell out of dodge, so long as its safe I’ll meet back up with you all on the Kanta Bridge and then we all take a nice leisurely car ride to the next island, agreed” Bryn said and whilst they were unhappy with the idea of leaving him behind, agreed to his plan.

“Alright then, Good luck” Bryn said as he turned to leave the garage but was hugged from behind.

“Be careful” Cordesh said before letting go and returning to complete her work.

Hopper and Leena barked their goodbyes too before following in Bryn’s footstep, Mila was sad to see them go but knew they belonged with their master, especially in his time of need.

The door was closed behind Bryn as he left the garage and he looked to the two partners at his side, “looks like its just us huh” He said whilst stroking Hoppers head, “Back in you go” he continued as he stored them back within his [Grimoire] before moving across the street and looking the building up and down.

“Thank you professor Constance,” Bryn said before he begun to scale the building with the ease of freerunner, in a matter of moments he was atop the roof.

After a quick search to confirm that he was alone up there, he found a spot that offered a good view of the two rolling garage doors before settling in to wait.

He would know whether lady luck was on their side at the same time as the monsters did, either the group would come roaring out of the garage with both cars in tow or the garage would return to silence and he would have to weather the oncoming storm until Cordesh had fixed the enchantment.

The minutes passed and soon the time that Cordesh had said she would need to get the cars working would be up, Bryn prepared himself to either jump down and meet up with them to get out of this damned town or for the oncoming rush of monstrous beasties that wanted them dead.

Of course, there was the option that they just got lucky and there weren’t any Dwellers in the area to hear the cars start up, but let’s get real, if they were going to get that lucky then the car would have turned over on the first try.

*VROOOOM* *VROOOOOM* *VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

An engine roared to life and whoever was in the drivers seat was heavy on the peddle much to Bryn’s annoyance.

*SILENCE*

“Guess its option two” Bryn said as he listened to the single engine that he had heard start up be turned off, only to be replaced with the Dwellers screeching in the distance.

They were coming.

Bryn took the high ground and watched as the roofs surrounding the garage became covered in Dwellers, there were dozens of them and even more on the way.

“BRING IT!” Bryn roared as he opened fire on the closest Dweller, blowing its brains into little chucks with his enchanted pistol.

“Oh, I’ve missed you” He said to himself as he opened fire, shooting at every and any Dweller that was close enough to be shot.

Some hit and some missed but that was not the point, he wasn’t trying to take them all out but draw their attention, he wanted to keep their focus on him.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

Bryn kept on firing and even resorted to popping off a [Mana Bolt] to knock back those that got too near to him every now and then, soon it was unattainable to remain in his spot and he had no choice but to tactically withdraw whilst maintaining his rate of fie to ensure the dwellers kept their focus on him.

Luckily all the practice in tactics had paid off and he was at home on the uneven roofs as much as he was on the floor.

The dwellers may have had the claws to crawl on walls but they were beasts that liked to make sudden straight charges than anything more dextrous, an area that Bryn excelled in.

Finally, the beast was too numerous and he had no choice but to draw one of his long knives to use against the Dwellers that had gotten directly in his face.

Bryn stabbed and slashed whilst always being constantly on the move, he used his bloodline given legacy strength jump the gap between buildings or smash the skulls of beasts that were caught unprepared.

The fight had been going on a for a few minutes and by now he had been forced a fair distance away from the garage and every now and then he could see a group of Dwellers peter of from the pursuit of Bryn to trail back to the garage but he couldn’t do anything about it.

He was surrounded and outnumbers; he didn’t have the chance to worry about anybody else’s life when his own was at risk.

Finally, he heard the glorious sound of a car engine starting up before it was followed before a loud crash as it no doubt smashed through the garages doors.

Bryn thought they had made it, that he had bought them enough time, but then he realised something.

Why had he only heard a single car?

What happened to the other one?

Bryn desperately tried to make his way back to the garage to see what had happened, to see whether there was anything he could do to help but Bryn was able to relax as he heard the second cars engine roar to life.

He was content that they had made it as the sound of its engine disappeared into the distance.

With a quick look at all the dwellers around him, Bryn found the direction where there was the fewest before taking off towards it without any hesitation.

These monsters were quick, but they weren’t that quick.

The academy had trained him well, he was out of there.

Within twenty minutes Bryn had lost the last Dweller on his tail and had turned to head towards the Great Kanta Bridge, a smile on his face for a job well done.

Bryn left the forest he had fled into and traced the road until it extended out past the island, he had made it too the bridge and now all he had to do was meet up with the rest of the group and babysit them until they reached the next island.

Bryn saw the headlights of the two cars in the distance, only it looked like one of the cars had spun and crashed.

Bryn came to a running stop and saw that most of the group were gathered around something and only when they split to let him through did he realise that it Andrax who sported a cut lip.

Bryn figured that Derraf and Quinant finally decided to get even with Andrax for trying to abandon them back at the camp but then he noticed something.

Or more appropriately, the absence of someone.

“Where’s Cordesh” Bryn asked, no longer in a happy mood.

The group looked at him with guilt and hate in their eyes.

“He did it again, only this time it worked…he left her behind” Racie said as tears flowed freely from her eyes whilst Mila buried her head in her chest.

Bryn turned to Andrax and watched as he spat some blood onto the floor before smirking.

.

.

.

“I’m going to fucking kill you” Bryn’s said what he knew would be his final words to Andrax Hashon.