An Artic wind howled across the landscape of October Revolution Island, its cold gale rendering the landscape inhospitable to all but the hardiest of life. Adrian stood alone in a field of ice as the cold lashed against him, freezing his tears the instant they fell from his wind-watered eyes. Staying out in the open in these conditions was nothing short of a death sentence, but he paid it no heed. A typical man would succumb to the cold, but he had his internal heat, his magic, to even the score. Power coursed through his veins, providing him with enough comfort and heat to weather the icy storm. He considered himself lucky to possess the attributes necessary to enjoy the reflective glow of the full moon in such a harsh landscape.

His family had been nobility once. With their mystic powers they had ruled the region around Carthage with an iron fist. The unenlightened masses had no say in his ancestors’ governance. His grandfather and his father before him quelled any unrest with their spells and curses. Even as swords and spears gave way to guns and machinery his family held on strong, they had thousands of years of mythology of magical expertise to call upon. They were unstoppable until The Congregation took it all away.

One hundred years ago the fires of the Great War raged across Europe, and from the ashes emerged The Congregation. An assembly of the greatest magical authorities the world had to offer, The Congregation declared that magic users must conceal their powers from the rest of humanity, lest it add any more chaos to the Seminal Catastrophe. Adrian’s family had resisted of course, but they were one clan against the rest of the magical world. Adrian’s grandfather and great uncles were strong to be sure, but with their powers and resources depleted from the Balkan Wars and then World War I, they stood no chance. His grandfather was stripped from power, and his family cast out from Carthage to wander a world where magic’s glow had faded for all but those lucky enough to have a link to the arcane.

It was a damn shame. He could’ve been a king but instead he was out here, freezing his ass off as a petty mercenary. His employer had been light on the details, “go to these coordinates and retrieve the item.” What item was that exactly? The client acted like it would be obvious but so far all Adrian could see was ice, ice, and more ice. Whatever, the money transfer had cleared so it wasn’t like he had no reason to go along with the poor instruction.

His silent complaints were interrupted by a growing light on the horizon. Adrian had dismissed it as a plane earlier, but it continued towards him, growing ever brighter. Now that it had crossed some distance he could make out the flames and the solid core, a small meteor was heading his way. The space rock plowed into the surface, spewing flame and throwing ground every which way. The light show it left in its wake left a decent impression, though it failed to offer any respite to the cold wind lashing Adrian.

Adrian pondered the client’s instructions as the icy powder strewn about by the meteor danced across the landscape. He had been instructed to retrieve something at the coordinates. Was this it? A space rock? If they wanted one so bad they should’ve just hired him to rob a science museum. Asking him to go through such a hassle for such a mundane job should be punishable by death.

Mundane except for that.

Something dark and murky squirmed within the flames that remained from the impact. The shadows it cast in the flame were numerous, comprised of thin tentacles squirming all about, tentatively reaching out to the flames, ground, and air as if testing their basic composition. Eyes, mouths, and faces crawled across the black substance, vanishing as soon as they appeared. It was grotesque, unimaginable even. Adrian was rooted to the spot, unable to process the horrific undulation and warping of the unidentifiable thing before him.

Quakes shot throughout its surface, undulating at the surface with a devilish tempo. The thing’s flesh, if you could even call it that, split and a legion of mouths appeared on its surface. Some were human, some animal, and some defied any convention. All the mouths opened in unison and emitted a wall of sound. The noise had no uniformity, going up and down in volume, pitch, and frequency. It was as if an entire lot of cars had their radios on max and were switching through all the stations at once. It was a paralyzing noise, shaking Adrian’s very bones. His head spun and his vision grew blurry from frequencies that his human mind couldn’t begin to recognize as sound. He was on the verge of passing out, and who knew what the creature would do to him if he did.

On the brink of his blurry consciousness Adrian felt something, a flame within his core. His magic was still there, and it was his last chance. With a relaxing breath he let the fire spread. Power shot through him, elevating his senses and strength beyond the bounds of his mortal body. He lifted his boot and brought it down with a snort, breaking through the ice and the hard ground beneath. Letting his faith take the lead, Adrian poured his power and faith to complete his spells to manifest his familiars: his stalwart raven and trusty Asiatic lion.

The lion would be his trump card tonight. Long ago, in a time found in Greek myth, Nemea was terrorized by a fierce lion, the offspring of Zeus and Selene which had fallen from the cold embrace of the moon to the cruel, mortal Earth. With impervious golden fur and claws of infinite sharpness it slew all who tried to claim its hide. The spell construct of his familiar contained subliminal characteristics of the beast of legend, not that they were necessary. Indeed, for doing battle against human opponents an ordinary lion alone was enough to send a chill down their spines, those that realized the true character of the familiar had even greater cause for fear. Adrian chuckled to himself. Under the light of tonight’s moon his victory had been assured.

Moonlight flowed down and reflected off the lion’s fur, bringing forth a golden hue. It was a brilliant shining light in that chilled landscape, reflecting off the ice and snow to create a prism of aura. It was a majestic sight, if one were to take a picture of it and sell it to magazines they’d be set for life as a famous photographer. The legendary Nemean Lion with its invincible fur and limitless claws had been born into the world.

“To tell you the truth, I was a bit apprehensive at first, facing an unknown lifeform like you. It matters not though; whatever you’re made from my lion’s claws will cleave you to bits.” Adrian chuckled his comment to the black thing, not that he believed it could understand him, before gesturing his familiar forwards.

The lion advanced on its prey, moonlight refracting off its fur to the point where it was difficult to see the stars even in this place so far away from civilization. In ancient times such a sight would have been seen as a visit from the gods, but now it just meant the swift coming of death for Adrian’s opponents. Adrian blinked and pushed the lion forward with his mind, and in that split second it leapt at the black thing with a speed beyond which the average man could process.

It was over. The fangs and claws of the familiar would subdue the monster in an instant.

And yet…

The black thing exploded and a wave of darkness spread outwards. It came crashing down on the lion, burying it beneath a flood of the eldritch substance. The darkness thrashed about, compressing and twisting the lion in its embrace into shapes incomprehensible. Adrian tried his best to recall the familiar, but the connection he had with his spell had been broken somehow.

Suddenly, the thrashing settled down. The darkness retreated back into itself, forming into a concrete shape. Before Adrian stood a featureless feline-like creature made from the unknown thing’s material. It was smaller and sleeker than the lion, but it held unimaginable depth in its inky “coat,” if it could even be called that. Adrian swore he could see the glitter of starlight on the thing’s body. Whatever it was that stood before him, it was so close and yet still so far away from being anything Adrian would call natural.

The black beast crouched down and raised its haunches. All Adrian could do in response was give a pained grin. Looks like the real fight was just getting started for this shitty job. He’d certainly be giving his employer an earful about this mess once it was over.

Thus, man and alien clashed on the icy landscape where the moon alone would bear witness and record the outcome of the battle.