"Father please. We must leave," pleaded Euna.

The chief of the village shook his head slowly as he gazed at his people. "For centuries this has been our home, Euna. But did you know Euna, before this, we had nothing. You do not know because you weren't born yet. Our ancestors fought with their lives to make this forest a home for us. If we leave now, and abandon what we have, then we will be throwing away all that our ancestors have done for us."

Euna turned her gaze to the horizon. Far above the lush green forest, looming over the horizon like a storm, was a fleet of ships.

"But father! If we don't leave, what will we do? We'll be slaughtered!" Euna cried as she tugged at her father's arm.

For a moment, the village chief displayed sadness and pain in his expression as he watched his daughter. But then he turned his gaze to his people, and saw. Unwavering courage and determination glistened in their eyes like fire. They would not yield. They would fight. Even to the death.

The chief spoke, a steadfast voice that carried its way to the crowd that had gathered. "Even if we run now, sooner or later they will come for us. I will stay and fight. Those who will standby me... step forward."

And with those words, everyone stepped forward.

Euna watched in silence as her people began to roar, a warcry that would be heard by the fleet of Augmented. She had heard the stories. The Augmented lived in colossal mechanical cities. Spires of machinery and technology that vastly outpaced the rest. They were, by far, the largest race to emerge from Humanity. Vastly outnumbering the rest. Then came the Altered, who were the epitome of genetic phenomenon. For a time, the Altered were superior. A single Altered was capable of taking on a troop of Augmented. But the Augmented learned, and grew mechanically. Devising weapons and defenses that became more devastating and effectual with each fight against the Altered. Then there was the Ascended, but most say they were merely fables. That none really existed. But some say that the Ascended were everywhere, that they were a collective of many that existed as a singular, all-encompassing entity. That they were virtually, a god.

For all of her life, these stories were - just that, stories. But now she saw. Beyond the verdant glade that their village had nested peacefully for centuries was now a force of machinery that would eliminate their village more efficiency than any force of nature.

She didn't understand. What could a village of Altered hidden in the forest for centuries do?

Then she saw.

Her fellow villagers that she had known all her life as simply beautiful and graceful in appearance, suddenly changed into beings of hulking absurdities. Malformed wings of scale and feathers sprouted, as limbs grew into trees. They're eyes shifted, and suddenly they were eyes of crimson and pupils like slits. They were taller than the trees now, but one of them towered above the rest.

It was her father.

A golden mane rested on his shoulders. His lips of stone yawned open to reveal teeth like diamonds. He spoke, an unearthly and unfamiliar voice. "Take flight my angels."

And with that, they flew. They flew into the horizon where they would meet death.

Euna cried as she watched the first Altered fall out of the sky. Wings singed and head incinerated into nothing. The village, her family, they were all going to die. Her heart hurt, and she let anger erase the pain. She let herself change. Euna would fight. And she knew that she would probably die the same way.

But a voice spoke. A voice that was many but at the same time, it was one.

'A Way' it whispered into her mind.

Her vision distorted. Suddenly, she could see beyond the horizons. She could feel her mind dip into a well of memories. And suddenly, she knew what she had to do.

Euna took flight.