As Kazius approached the source of the chaos and screams, his resolve did begin to waver. He was incredibly nervous. It was like his heart was beating in his ear. The academy and training were one thing, but he honestly felt entirely unprepared.

As they rushed forward, more and more of the buildings looked decimated. What did not sit well with Kazius above all was how precise the attack seemed to be. The buildings that were torn apart tended to be some of the older homes of people that were of noteworthy wealth in Marv. Among the decimated places there were also antique shops and art collectors.

A sense of dread began to fill Kazius. How could Monsters know of such places? Attack on the day with the least security? It was known Monsters lived in the Wastelands outside the border of the 3 kingdoms... A place where starvation and nothing but death waited. Since Monsters were sinners, they were doomed to suffer outside the 3 kingdoms… How could they have time and ability to plan something like this out?

But as Kazius laid his eyes on the Horde, at the border of starvation was the last phrase he would use to describe it.

‘So that was a lie too, huh?’ Kazius thought to himself in defeat. He lost the energy to be surprised by the lies at this point. At this rate, hearing The Church told the truth about something would me more surprising. He felt like he could not decide if he wanted to laugh or cry.

Among the rubble and debris stood what had to be a Horde that was at least in the hundreds number. The Orcs packed more muscle than any person Kazius had ever seen. From the ones with swords to the ones with bows, they stood around a looming 7ft (2.1336 m). As for the Trolls, while they were shorter at 5ft (1.524 m), their long claws had to be longer than some of the swords some of the Knights had. The Ogres of course had no muscle, but what they lacked in muscle they made up with sheer size. Their hulking forms stood at what had to be 10ft (3.048 m).

The green skinned group were Monsters like him… A thought he did not dwell on since they all brought him a sense of terror that he had not felt since his days at The Orphanage.

‘I’m going to die today, aren’t I?’

Kazius had been a coward his whole life. At least that is what he himself thought of himself. He was always not confronting anything of what The Church did. Instead, he ran. All he did was run. He ran from his fate, from what he was, everything. For once, he would not run. Not while his friends were already charging ahead without an ounce of fear. They truly believed The Oracle would protect them.

How hopeless the situation was had not sunk in for the other Knights. Not until Mark was decapitated by the sheer force of a hit from an Orc General dressed in elaborate tribal garb. It seems that their leaders were not in the back, not like The Holy Knight’s formations. They were right at the front lines.

“NOOOO!” Alex exclaimed, horrified at the loss of their friend. His eyes widened in terror and shock, the blood splattering on not just the ground, but on any nearby Holy Knights and Orcs alike.

Hank and Leo were left speechless with their mouths agape, their eyes just as wide. Fear rushed into the group of all the knights at the bloody sight. The atmosphere felt heavy with the helplessness of the situation. The chill that ran down their backs was like they had all been splashed with ice cold water.

They could all barely hear each other as a true massacre began. The Horde barely saw them as a threat, laughing while they began torching the remains of the buildings they destroyed after plundering what they could. Most ignored the Knights. Despite this, the small number of them that did attack them was overwhelming all the same.

Kazius was unable to cry out to his friends while he did his best to fight back. Hank was lost before he could blink, turned to ribbons by a Troll.

All Kazius could do was scream.

It was only a few seconds into this battle, yet the sounds of fighting were already almost halted to a deafening silence. Only a handful of Holy Knights were left, including Alex, Leo, and himself.

Enraged and feeling hopeless, Alex charged with a battle cry, breaking formation.

‘Alex!’ Kazius exclaimed mentally to himself in terror.

His best friend for as long as he could remember, his brother… Alex was about to die.

Kazius tried to stop him, but he was just too far away.

Kazius didn’t understand what happened next… Or even how he did it. In his terror and desperation… Kazius began to hear them… The Shadows that always seemed to call out to him... They got louder than ever… As if trying to wake up a part of him with their yelling…

Out of options, Kazius responded to them…

And as if elated at the reply, they then responded in kind.

Kazius couldn’t hear anything other than his own horrified screaming, thinking of the friends he had lost and the friend he was about to lose. He was angry, scared, sad, his emotions were out of control as a massive form of shadow coated his body. He moved in but a blur, the Holy Knights only able to see but a dark shaded form with leaked darkness before strings of it attacked in every direction.

Despite being oh so badly outnumbered before… The numbers of the Horde were reduced by more than half before anyone could react.

Both The remaining Holy Knights and Horde froze in shock.

By the time Kazius managed to regain a sense of what he was doing after his rampage, he found himself at the center of the carnage. All eyes of The Horde and Knights were unwavering as they stared straight at him. Kazius could barely focus on this though, an odd ringing filling his ears. It was almost overwhelming.

The Orc General had managed to dodge the chain of attacks. So, despite being close to Kazius, he still lived. He looked slightly angry, but also full of disbelief.

Surprisingly enough, The Orc General quickly would then regain his composure only to laugh, as if he witnessed something hilarious. He chuckled, waving his subordinates away.

“Retreat! Grab the antique and head out! We are done here!” Kazius could manage out despite the ringing in his ear, his mind fuzzy.

It took less than a minute before Kazius returned to normal, if that was what you could call it. His body body was coated in shadows that were still slowly sinking into him. His red eyes were glowing faintly and had turned a darker wine red. Then there were his teeth… Four of them had morphed into fangs...

Kazius had saved them. Sadly, from the perspective of his friends, they did not see a savior. He was like an explosion of filth and darkness that belonged only in nightmares. Something expected from only the worst of creatures, a Monster.

He looked pure evil to his comrades... Their gazes turning to looks of disgust.

“What the… Antique… Did you guys hear him? What antique? What just…” Kazius stated, still trying to wrap his head around things. The ringing was beginning to die down, but he now felt incredibly nauseous. It was almost like he was hung over. He had not yet registered their expressions.

“What are you talking about, Kazius?! You can understand that gibberish? You… You tricked us! You Monster! What the hell are you!?” Alex demanded.

“Guys, please, look, I don’t know what that was, but I saved your lives, I’m your friend! Your comrade! Come on, Alex, Leo, you can’t just-” Kazius began, attempting to explain himself, but quickly stopped when he saw the pure hatred in Alex’s face.

His brother and lifelong friend now stood before him, looking at him as if he was no better than dirt. His expression would have made High Priest Jordan proud; it resembled his perfectly.

The remaining Knights in the area drew their swords, clearly talking was not on the table.

‘How ungrateful’

It hurt. His best friend, he was looking at him with such disgust… Leo too… He had hoped to live a normal life, that perhaps his friends would understand him. That they would accept him regardless of what he was. Was their friendship fake? Did it mean nothing to them just because he wasn’t Human? What about the years they spent together?

Kazius’s heart sunk, a new form of dread and loneliness filling him.

‘I really have been alone all this time, haven’t I? I clung to them so hard… I valued them so much… But in the end… I am nothing.’

Then again, it wasn’t like their behavior came out of nowhere… He should have known… He should have just ran… He should not have saved anyone. He had no idea what to do. His mind raced for a solution, but he was not any less lost as to what to do.

It may seem out of nowhere, but something that briefly began to come to his mind was the story of Ratier. The founding of this kingdom. It’s mention of Monsters and their betrayal. This whole kingdom, its people, The Church, it’s history… It all was a load of shit. Today had confirmed it to him.

‘I saved their lives! But look at how they look at me! Those eyes… There is nothing I hate more than those eyes…’

Kazius thought to himself, his sadness slowly losing out to rage.

Kazius’ thoughts would be cut off by Holy Magic being thrown in his direction, a cold feeling rushing over him. It didn't take long before he was attacked by his own friends... He was too nauseous and overwhelmed to react. It didn’t matter though. His powers were still bubbling out of his control, just like his emotions. Their attacks were futile, their weapons shattering against his form when they made contact with the shadows that clung to him. The force from said reaction would push them back.

‘They aimed to kill me’

He felt so betrayed.

His life as a Holy Knight, his dream, that he tried so hard to cling to… This whole façade… It was over. The Oracle was right, he did not belong here… What that meant, he still did not understand.

What was he? How did he do that? Such questions were overshadowed by the anger he felt… He thought his friends cared about him, yet they didn’t even let him explain himself…

Finally, Kazius managed to feel his legs. So, he ran… But with the chaos and reinforcements coming, it was hard. He knew he would be an outlaw overnight, hated by the same people who once claimed to admire him.

‘How the hell will I get out of here? Fuck… Alex, Leo…’

As he ran through the city, he was able to run faster than the Holy Knights that were there. He was a Lieutenant for a reason and now he felt even lighter than ever before on his feet. Still, they were not far behind… They could eventually catch up...

He had made it to the part of Marv that was standing so he had cover… But that was not something he could rely on for very long.

Before Kazius could think further, he was literally yanked out of his thoughts.

He had been grabbed and tugged by someone into an alley. Confused and scared, Kazius began to panic until the perpetrator would put their hands right over his mouth, letting out a quiet “Shhh”

Confused, Kazius decided to do as told. It wasn’t like he had anything to lose. Soon he realized he had done the right thing; the sound of Knights could be heard approaching... Before they grew distant… They were getting farther away… They had passed them…

Still… Who would save him? A Monster? He would turn to look at his savior, it was a cloaked figure with the hood so low that he wasn’t sure how they could even see… Just who were they?