Arcanum - Chapter 138

The beat of the wardrums echoing louder and louder and faster and faster in all directions with each passing moment…..

“Scarlet?… can you hear me?… we need your help!!! There’s an invasion!!!” I screamed into my device hoping she could hear me.

“Emilia?… I… They are…. I can’t hear….” her message was severely disrupted for some reason.

‘Jesus Christ Is there no one that can help?…..’ My body instinctively running with the mass horde of fleeing refugees. ‘Why is the city or Atlantis not fighting back?…’

Looking around briefly the weird darkness created by the beams reducing my vision no further then I can throw a ball….. “Icio-igna” I yelled shooting out a firebolt into the distant lighting the sky briefly revealing several large panther like beasts each with several tails whipping in the wind…. their forms seeming to be shimmering weirdly… judging by their pace they will be reaching us within seconds no more than a minute.

“HELP US!!!” I yelled at the top of my lungs hoping that maybe the city have sent some solider or some Atlantis students. ‘What the hell are they doing?… why would they leave us alone to get slaughtered like farm animals…..

Running blindly to the city I braced myself for the sudden impact of the oncoming panther like creatures… and impactful they came….. As a cacophony of hideous screams and yells of terror and pain erupted everywhere and within a millisecond another scream….. Much closer followed with the feel of several body being launched into me sending me tumbling to the floor buried beneath bodies of dead or alive refugees…..

Barely being able to wiggle half my body out, the sound of tearing flesh became apparent…’Fuck…..’ as the Panther like creature was attacking someone on top of me. “Icio-igna!!!” I yelled shooting a firebolt into it aiming for the centre of its body.

The cat snarled with a high pitched scream jumping off the body and backing off, relieving me from majority of the pressure allowing me to wriggle out fully. “Icio-igna” I instinctively fire another firebolt at it one of the two shimmering panther like beasts in front of me. Passing through it like it wasn’t even there….. Like a damn illusion…

‘Ohhh fuck….’ I muttered under my breath as I could see the two cats ready to pounce, the claws beneath their feet in full extension and leaning back on their hind legs.

Out from the darkness the sound of a speeding projectile and a thud causing one of the beasts to disappear and the other to fall to the ground motionless.

‘That must be Travis…. is he looking out for me?…’ “Icio-igna” I shot into the sky to quickly asses my surroundings. I was surrounded by dead or unconscious bodies…..riddled with deep bleeding gashes and puncture wounds…. the Panther like creatures killing refugees mercilessly. In the distant hundreds of humanoid figures in hooded robes… they must be the Dark Elves but luckily for us they don’t seem to be running towards us.

There was another thud sound followed with kicked up soil like a bullet, passing through a beast like an illusion again. “Icio-igna” I pointed at the other one hitting it with a firebolt quickly followed with another thud as the creature was pierced as if it was hit by a bullet and collapsed on the floor causing the other one to disappear again.

‘He needs me to identify the real ones!!’ I quickly deduced to myself and began making my way to the castle again firing firebolts at every Panther Creature I could see, and to my relief it quickly followed with another thud silencing the real panther whether or not I hit the real one.

One by one we worked out way through all the panthers my spells both illuminating the way and distinguishing real from fake panthers.

“Help…” an old man tried calling out to me for support his hands shaking in terror reaching out to me grabbing my leg.

“Sir are you okay?.. can you walk?” I instinctively dropped down to him checking for wounds.

“I think I broke my leg.” He said as I looked down to his leg that looked normal.

“I think you’re gonna be alright….” I said helping him up, “Quickly!!! Make your way to the city!! As fast as you can.” I instructed him in a panic the adrenaline fuelling my body into overdrive.

“Thank you!!” He thanked me waddling to the city with what seemed to be a twisted ankle…. there was no way he could make it in time.

The sounds of moans and groans of pain and pleads for help suddenly engulfed my ears and innumerable hands reached up from the floor seeking help and even more laid there motionless in complete silence.

“Somebody help!!!” I yelled at the top of my voice hoping for assistance as I grasped for the closest hand that I could reach. “Don’t worry!! I’m here!” I yelled out grabbing the small hand.

“I’m stuck!!” I young voice called out from beneath some bodies.

“Don’t worry! I won’t leave you.” I shouted to her letting her hand go and began trying to move the bodies that were on top of her. “Quickly!!!! Get the city!!!” I ordered her pointing towards the city, she nodded in utter silence her face and hair soaked with blood. “Quickly you don’t have much time!” I ordered her again and quickly rushed to the next source person I could hear begging for help.

This man looked in bad shape… a deep claw wound across his chest and a puncture through his torso….. “I’m here! I’m here….” I yelled to him over the other voices….

“Please….. My wife….” he pointed at a body rolled on its side her back faced towards us utterly motionless…

“Don’t worry….. Just ummm…. put pressure on the puncture wound… try and slow the bleeding.” I instructed him imitating the advice I’ve seen in movies, tearing out my sleeve and pressing it against his wound making him hiss in pain.

“Please help my wife…” he begged me placing his hands on top of mine to stem the bleeding.

“Okay. Okay… save your breath…. just focus on surviving…” I faked a smile towards him and made my way to his wife.

“Miss… Miss?…” I shouted to her shaking her body trying to wake her motionless body. Her body was still warm to the touch but I can tell there was no life… no breathing…. no movement of the chest… nothing…

“She’s gonna be okay… she’s just unconscious…” I shouted back at the man as I tried to hold back my tears, despite being in immense pain maybe on death’s door.. but he smiled a little before trying to relax maintaining pressure on his wound.

“Sir keep pressure on the wound!!! I need to help others.” I ordered him as I went to the next survivor.

“I’m here, I’m here.” I shouted grabbing the hand.

“Thank the Gods…. Help I’m stuck.” A lady explained as several bodies were on top of her.

“Okay okay…. help me get the bodies off you.” I instructed as we both worked together to push the bodies off her.

“Can you walk?..” I instinctively asked.

“I think I can…” As I helped her up.

“Quickly to the city!!! I don’t know how long we have!” I ordered to her expressing my urgency.

“Okay….” She wobbled, resounding crack echoed from her leg and fell into my arms. “Crap I think my leg is broken.” She cursed in pain.

“Damnit…” I uttered placing her down gently on the floor.

‘Fuck fuck…. what to do?…’ I cursed to myself. “Okay…. whatever happens…. stay quite!!…. No matter what stay quiet and survive!” I ordered her and began pulling some bodies over her. “Pretend to be dead… and when all this crap is over… just survive…” I instructed her as I pulled another body to cover her. “I’m gonna go now…. there’s many that need my help… whatever happens survive… Okay…” I ordered her before going to the next cry for help.

“Emilia?..” a voice called out to me in my mind.