An hour later he and Deidra are waiting near the same location of their previous fight, Deidra in her full armor and holding onto her longsword. She carried no shield or straight sword, choosing to instead make this a duel between swords only.

“First time I’ll actually see you use that thing,” Crimson remarks as he looks her over. “Can’t say I’m not excited.”

“I hope my skills haven’t waned, it has been a rather long time since I’ve had to use them.” She admits, a sense of anxiety in her voice.

“The guy uses shields,” He says with a wave of his hand. “You’ll be fine.”

The door to Stena HQ opens and Crimson can almost feel his words sliding down his throat. Kiln stood before them in a rugged but pristine suit of armor, the make not being similar to anything Crimson had seen before. A solid piece of metal in the shape of a half-moon sat atop the helmet. The helmet was made of a mesh of treated wood and overlapping plates of iron ending in a half circle towards his back. The most striking part was the facemask he was wearing, a skull shaped piece of metal with red paint.

He wore similarly made shoulder pads. On his wrists were wooden and metal gauntlets, seemingly made more for stability than protection. His chest piece was made of thicker iron than the helmet, slabs of it stuck within each other in order to create a wall of light but strong protections. He wore little more than flaps of leather to cover his thighs, and simple boots on his feet.

Strapped to his side was a one sided curved blade only a tad shorter than Deidra’s long sword. The handle covered in intricate carvings of things Crimson can’t make out.

Walking up to them he bows silently before unsheathing his sword. Raising his arms up he levels the blade with his eyes and stares Deidra down with an impatient aura.

“Well, good luck.” Crimson wishes as he steps back from Deidra.

Deidra places her own helmet on her head, the cool steel and smell of leather doing much to calm her down. Bowing in turn she enters her own stance. Using one of her arms as a cradle for her blade she aims at Kiln, her eyes staring back into his.

Seeing his cue Crimson launches an arrow into the sky and prepares to watch the showdown. A stale moment of silence stretches, until the sound of the arrow hitting the ground breaks it like a hammer.

Kiln suddenly rushes forward, striking towards Deidra’s head. Easily reading the move Deidra dashes to the side and shoots her blade forward like a viper, aiming for his ribs. Kiln retaliates by drawing his sword back one handed and batting hers upwards. While Deidra’s focused on keeping her grip he palm strikes her in the midsection, causing her to slide back a few feet but still hold onto her sword. With her armor absorbing the bulk of the blow she performs a downward strike, using the momentum of his blow against him. Kiln quickly steps back, the strength from the blow causing air to whip against his armor.

“Remarkable,” He says as he reenters his stance, preparing for another exchange. “I’m honored to fight such a worthy opponent.”

Deidra doesn’t respond as she reenters her stance, instead waiting on Kiln to move. This time he steps forward and slashes horizontally. The clanging of metal follows as Deidra sword meets his in a clash, one she’s quickly winning. Seeing his eventual loss Kiln kneels under the clash, dragging his sword with him. With her sword safely behind him he aims for Deidra’s knee intending to seal his victory but is surprised as the heel of Deidra’s boot clashes with his blade. The blade digs into the heel a solid inch before stopping. Seeing his planned has failed Kiln attempts to pull the blade free but Deidra slams her foot down, pinning it to the ground. Before Kiln can attempt anything else Deidra rams the pommel of her weapon into his face, cracking his mask in process.

Kicking the blade away Deidra levels hers at Kiln’s throat, victory hers to be claimed. Standing back she sheathes her blade, then offers a hand to Kiln who takes it graciously.

“Your foot work is incredible,” He remarks as he retrieves his blade, cleaning it against his pant leg. “And those boots are surprisingly durable.”

“You can thank Echo for that,” Deidra explains with a smile. “I hope this was as beneficial for you as it was for me.”

“Without a shadow of a doubt,” He hurriedly agrees. “I should return to my team, it is rather late and Tox hates to be awoken.”

The both of them bow, him leaving quickly afterwards. Deidra looks from him and to a stunned looking Crimson.

“How was it?” Deidra asks expectantly.

“That was incredible!” He yells as he jumps up from the ground. “That was straight out of a book or something…well I guess most of our lives are but that was just…wow.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” She responds with a wide smile. “I’m hoping you learned something at least.”

“I learned I need to train more that’s for sure,” He says with a shake of his head. “Wouldn’t have lasted a second against either of you.”

Deidra pats his shoulder comfortingly, then begins walking towards HQ with him behind her. “All in due time, now I believe I’ll attempt to take a nap as well.”

“Oh no, it’s spreading.” Crimson says with a horrid expression.

“It’s late,” She says as she shoves him playfully. “Thought I might as well give it a try.”

Crimson shrugs as they walk through the doors, hoping Mon’s nap contamination was only in his head. The Bustling atmosphere in the lobby did little to ease him, unlike most nights it seemed quiet and docile. The loud Butchers and Sirens that often ambled around nowhere to be seen.

“It seems everyone needs a nap.” He says with a shake of his head.

“I think it was the food,” Echo announces as she pops up from behind one of the reception desks. “Man, Mon was right about this spot.”

The janitor manning the desk seems to attempt to shoo her away, succeeding as she walks towards Deidra and Crimson. Stopping in front of them she stretches with a long yawn.

Echo looks at them, blinking the sleep out of her eyes she realizes Deidra’s fully equipped. “What happened?”

“Kiln challenged me to a duel.” Deidra explains quickly.

“Which she won by the way.” Crimson says with a smug look.

“Don’t look so smug,” Echo says as her eyes drift over towards an object near the door to Stena. “What’s that?”

Crimson and Deidra look towards it and see Kiln’s mask, now in two pieces laying on the floor. Deidra rushes over and picks it up carefully.

“I broke it.” She says, clearly ashamed.

“Well, you did hit him pretty hard.” Crimson says, just to get punched by Echo.

“Hand it over,” She says as she puts her hand out, inspecting the mask once Deidra does just that. “This thing gives me an idea. I’ll patch it up so you can give it back to him.”

Deidra bows deeply in thanks. “Thank you so much!”

“My pleasure,” Echo says, more focused on the mask than anything else. “Come on Crimson, I need you for measurements.”

Without waiting for a response she trots off, nearly bumping into a janitor as she descends the stairs to the forge. Crimson looks towards Deidra confused but all he gets in a shrug in return as she walks back to their room. Shaking his head, he walks after Echo.

Walking down the stairs he spots Echo dipping the mask into one of the forges, brittle metal quickly being consumed.

“You know you were supposed to fix it right?” Crimson asks as he walks up to her, making sure to stay at a safe distance.

“I can recreate it, better and stronger,” She says in a smug tone. “That thing was too old to be fixed to a useful state.”

“You’re the smith,” Crimson relents as he sits on a nearby bench. “Why do you need me?”

“Well, despite my genius design of your armor, it isn’t the most stable,” She admits as she begins pouring liquid metal into a cast. “But that mask gave me an idea.”

“Yep, you said that.” He responds with a roll of his eyes.

Echo stares at him annoyed before pulling out a sheet of blueprint paper and begins sketching down a design. “The main issue with your armor is the plate I had for your ugly face. Since you don’t want to wear a helmet.”

“You don’t either.” Crimson retorts.

“But,” She continues despite the interruption. “If I alter the way Kiln’s mask is made, I could create something similar, but more towards our needs.”

She stops sketching and puts the blueprint in his face, giving Crimson a close up view. The design was a simple oval faceplate with the eyeholes covered by the same material used in their goggles. Meant to strap around his head it was seemingly small enough not to mess with his aim, but allowed him to be constantly protected.

“It should be even better than the plate in your chest piece, and with the plate gone I’ll have a lot more room to improve your chest piece,” She explains as she moves back to the cast she just used. “I’ll have to fit it so it will rest against your face comfortably but I’ll leave it matte black so you can design it how you want.”

“It looks a little hard to breathe through,” He says as he looks at the paper. “Plus, metal directly on my face wouldn’t do much if someone plants a hammer into my face.”

“That’s a rough draft, I’ll have cushioning and other additives to make sure that’s less likely,” She says, quickly putting his fears to rest. “You could just not get hit in the first place.”

She walks over and points towards four small slits on the mask, two on each cheek.

“Those are vents that should make breathing less of a problem,” She says then wraps a tape measurer around his head. “Now stay still.”

Crimson obliges as he looks at the design, the expressionless mask slowly seeming like a better idea. After a moment Echo removes the measurer and then shoos him away.

“This will take me a while, gonna take some experimenting to get this right.” She says as she turns away from him.

“Thanks Echo. Don’t stay down here too long though, you still need sleep.” He says as he begins walking up the stairs.

She waves her hand in an exasperated fashion, still too focused on her designs to care. Shrugging he walks up the stairs, eventually finding his way back into his room. Walking inside he sees Deidra and Mon already asleep. Before he climbs into his own bunk he spots Deidra’s kettle and still out and partially full. Not wanting to wake her, Crimson begins to clean and put the tea set away.

Deciding not to risk waking her he keeps the set on the table rather than putting it in the personal cubby. As he places the tray one of the cups tip over and nearly fall before Crimson catches it silently. Sighing in relief he goes to put it back on the tray but notices a name on the underside of the cup. A name reading Rin Marbh. Deciding not to think about it he puts the cup alongside the set and climbs into his bunk, the exhaustion of the day quickly drawing him into a dream.

Grim can hear screams as he jumps up from his slumber. Snapping his eyes around he spots his bow and quiver lying in the corner of his room. Jumping up he grabs them and rushes to his door. Ripping open the door he sees his world in chaos.

His neighbors running in every which way, terrified of a threat Grim can’t spot. He steps out of his door and looks around just to see what looks like a walking corpse turn the corner of the end of his family’s home. He stares at it stunned, the rotting body but dark red eyes making it seem demonic. In a moment it spots him, and without skipping a beat begins rushing towards him at inhuman speeds. He quickly draws an arrow and sinks it into the creature skull, it’s corpse sliding to a stop in front of him. Bending down he pulls the arrow from its head then hears a guttural growl from behind him. Turning he spots four similar creatures, their eyes locking onto him. Grim opens fire immediately, two of them dropping from the arrows. The last two dodge his arrows and begin zigzagging towards him. Shaking his surprise, he aims at one of them and fakes a release, the creature dives to the side but finds an arrow waiting for it. Focusing on the last one Grim snaps a shot into its shoulder but fails to nail its head due to its closing proximity. He attempts to line up another shot on the creature but doesn’t have time as a blade sinks into its head.

“Need a little help?”

Grim looks over to see a blonde haired boy a little taller than him standing there with a smug grin. His cropped hair and smithing apron doing little to sell the hero pose. Across his waist was a belt of knives and a straight sword in his hands.

“No, but it’s not unwelcome,” Grim says as he walks up to him. “What’s going on?”

“Monsters, a lot more than usual,” He says as he kicks one of the bodies. “We should go find your mom, my family’s fi-”

A scream interrupts him, turning around they see another significantly larger group appear.

“There’s no end to them,” The blonde says as he readies his blade. “I don’t think we can handle this.”

“In the house, we can bottleneck them.” Grim says as he begins backing up.

“I doubt wood will stop them, Grimmy.” He says, yet still begins backing up as well.

The creatures eventually spot them; a howl of death follows as more than twenty begin bearing down on them. Both of them dive into the house, dozens of bodies slamming into the house afterward.

“John, the bed!” Grim yells as he begins dragging it towards the door.

Quickly rushing to help, they both manage to get the bed in front of the door as it begins straining against the weight of the monsters on the other side. Before either can take a breath of relief the shattering of glass draws their attention, the main window of the house now broken with a cut up monster standing next to it. Soon another one follows, then another and another.

“Backdoor!” John yells as one of his knives drops the closest of the creatures.

Grim quickly dashes through the house, eventually he comes up to the backdoor and begins unlocking it. Silently cursing himself for always locking the backdoor he manages to get it open as he turns to see John followed by a wave of monsters. John dives through the door, Grim quickly following behind and slamming it behind him. Huffing in a breath he turns ready to get moving but his veins run cold at the sight in front of him. Dozens more of these creatures were milling about, the only thing keeping them from ripping him and John apart being the bodies they were consuming.

“The roof,” John whispers as quiet as possible. “I’ll boost you.”

With a shatter, the group they had just shut in the house found another window and began piling through it. The noise quickly drew the attention of those in front of them, hungry gazes locking onto them.

“Up!” John yells as he puts his hands out to boost Grim.

Not having time to argue Grim jumps up to the roof, clambering up he turns to pull John up as well just for a wall of rotting flesh to slam into his friend. The blonde quickly being devoured by the swarm. Grim quickly recoils from the scene, attempting to shut out the screaming as he attempts to keep his lunch in.

After a few minutes Grim manages to control his breathing. He lays flat on the roof, not wanting to attract the hordes attention and watches for movement. About an hour later Crimson hears another one of the creatures further away screaming. The ones near the house quickly react to the noise and leave, bounding after potential prey. Taking his chances, he quietly slinks off the roof, cringing at every noise. Sneaking through his village he sees the extent of the destruction. Bodies lay strewn about everyone, both those of his neighbors and of the creatures. Creeping up to the blacksmith’s house, he hopes to find John’s family. The smell drifting from the house alerts Grim to his fruitless efforts. Continuing to walk he comes up to the town hall, dozens of the creatures lying dead. After sinking an arrow into a lone living creature he walks inside to find the members of the town watch, having died fighting. Walking past them, checking for any sign of life he hears a slight cough from the backdoor he rushes over. Leaning against the wall, surrounded by dozens more of the creatures was a blonde haired woman. Her blade was coated in blood, and so was her neck.

“Mom.” Crimson whispers as he crouches next to her, attempting to assess the wound.

Her cloudy eyes lock onto him and a weak smile appears on her face.

“We have to go,” Crimson says as he begins ripping up a piece of his shirt to act as a bandage. “Everyone else is gone.”

Crimson goes to apply the bandage but is stopped by her hand. Instead she pulls him into a hug,

“We don’t have time for this, those things co-“ He starts but is stopped by her shushing him.

“Please.” She says quietly, attempting to pull him in closer.

“Mom, we have to go.” He says, a crack in his voice as he does.

“I’m sorry.” She manages to say, as her hands become too weak to hold him

Crimson quickly catches them, looking at his mother smile at him as he does. For a moment he simply stares as he watches her close her eyes and take a stuttering breath. Before the reality of it hits him he hears the heavy thudding of boots in the doorframe. His instincts kick in at the noise and he turns to see an armored individual staring at him.