The Groundrockers are one of the heaviest vehicles we have. To be shaken by such force on level ground is nerve-racking. And this is no natural disaster nor is this an ordinary earthquake, it feels different, it feels extraordinarily dangerous. The vehicles speedily take a turn to run away from the large dust cloud but then we heard loud crashing sounds coming from behind us. I look back and see that some of the Groundrockers behind us had already been devoured by the dust cloud. Then suddenly, there was a large crash from my side of the vehicle, then everything goes black.
I hear people screaming, gunfire, agony echoing from around me. I open my eyes; my vision was hazy, either from being knocked out or because of the dust. I feel the havoc, the smell of bloodshed and the sound of mayhem spilled across the environment. The raging fire coming from the burning trees around us then, BOOM! Something explodes from behind me, leaving a sharp deafening sound in my ears.
I grit my teeth and clench my fists, checking if I can still properly move. I felt no broken bones or pulled muscles then I stand up and look around. I realize that I was already outside of the vehicle when I came to. Beside me, I saw Shinji knocked out cold. He probably was the one to pull me out of the Groundrocker after we were hit. He’s bleeding from his head, so I tap him on the shoulder, trying to get a response, I check on his pulse to see if he's still alive. I feel slow thumps from his wrist then I decided to carry him with my left arm.
Everything was blurry, only the screeching sounds of people screaming in pain and the sight of burning trees surrounded me. This sight made my heart pump. This feeling of nervousness, this feeling of weakness and helplessness, I have never felt them before this day. I am probably the only one with experience in this group, the only one prepared and who understands how to take grasp of the situation.
If my hunch is correct, the High Council sent newbies with me, people who were still underprepared to be in front of the battlefield. These young individuals have no right to be here. Thoughts spiral to and fro inside my mind. They were sent here blind. They were to follow their orders, the orders that I forced them to follow. And there I was, as blind as them, following the directives that lead us to this impending disaster.
To an extent, I even threatened them with force, to use my Onyx blade, using the power bestowed to me by the very people who set us up to be in this predicament. But right now, I should focus. I need to collect myself and try to save whoever I can. First, I have to get young Shinji out of here.
I ran at blinding speeds. I look around while dodging the burning debris falling from the trees. The sight of the dead and incapacitated bodies of our comrades lying there on the ground and while some even burning to a crisp will forever haunt me in my sleep. A branch fell in front of me and I try to jump and dodge it with Shinji on my arms but then I slipped on the soil when I landed, plummeting to the ground hard. Shinji slips out of my hands and flies to a distance. I approach him and check on him again to make sure that he’s alright, then on the side I see Jade, lying face first on the dirt.
I hear something crack, I look above and see a large chunk of a tree was about to fall on her. I dash towards her and with all my might, I punch the falling chunk in pieces, saving her.
I turn her around, laying her on her back. I put my head on her chest and check if she's still breathing. I hear her heart faintly pumping and her lungs breathed short breaths. I grab her and put her on my right shoulder while I put Shinji on the left and try to make our way out of this ghastly environment.
I ran and ran hoping to find an exit, dashing through the burning forest. As I ran, I saw bullets flying towards us. I dodged the bullets and rushed to the man shooting, kicking him to the side. I now understand why a lot of our comrades are either injured or dead. Probably, out of their panic, some of them shot blindly across the forest, seeming to try and hit someone or something that caused this. I wanted to stop them from further injuring the others who might still be alive and uninjured, but it is not the time to approach anyone right now. The main goal right now is to get both Shinji and Jade out of here while I still can.
From a distance, I see a darker portion of the forest. I run towards it hoping that it was the exit. I reach it and see that the outside of the forest was cleared of smoke, but the day had already turned into night. I start wondering how long I was out. I look around and see a stream, a river of sorts by the edge of the hill we were standing on.
I go down slowly, concerned with the injuries of both Shinji and Jade. As I reached the bottom, I laid them down firmly to the ground. I take off my gloves and use my hands to wash both Shinji and Jade's faces. I'm deeply concerned with their lungs and my own as I don't know how long we were exposed to the smoke.
Out of exhaustion, my legs broke out and I fell to the ground. I crawl closer to the stream while dragging my legs and look at my reflection on the water. My hair's a mess, my face is filled with black ash. Parts of my uniform are tattered and ripped along with slight burns on my left shoulder and fists. I stretch my legs out and sit by the side of the stream, my boots were slightly burnt, and I didn't notice it before, but I was cut deeply on the right thigh. I see some large fragments of what seems like wood were stuck in the middle of the large gaping cut.
I try my best to suppress my scream, I grit my teeth as I pulled out the fragments. I grunted deeply, suppressing my voice as to not draw attention towards us. I started cleaning my wounds. My thigh started bleeding a lot as I slowly pulled out the left-over smaller fragments of wood in my thigh with the use of my nails.
I looked around and see that the sky was divided. The calm and clear night sky coming from the south was cut in half by the crimson infused apricot hues coming from the burning Grand Treeline Forest. I sit by the edge of the stream, looking back on both Shinji and Jade as questions start flowing in my mind once again.
My mind was ablaze, probably due to the lack of oxygen as we were intoxicated in smoke and varying fumes from the burning surroundings earlier. I had questions upon questions that I can’t clearly make out right now. I need to collect myself, to calm myself down and try to clear my mind so I can think of something to get us, and everyone I can, out of this predicament.
I stand up and take off my jacket and ripped it into pieces, making it into makeshift bandages. I tended to Shinji and Jade’s wounds. I’m more concerned with Shinji’s head, even though his bleeding stopped, I don’t know how much damage was caused to his head, I can only hope he’s not bleeding internally. I check on Jade’s body, lightly rubbing her limbs to examine if she has broken or dislocated anything. For now, she’s cleared, but only when they wake up will I truly know if they sustained any perilous damage.
I remove my boots and slacks so that I can check on my injured leg. It was worse than it seemed. It became swollen and the excruciating pain is taking a toll on my heavily exhausted body. I use my index and middle finger to check further inside the wound on my thigh, feeling out if there are any fragments left but there are none.
I take my tank top off and take a dip in the middle of the stream to clean myself. The stream wasn't deep enough to soak into; the water only went up to my waist. I cup the water in my hands to wash my face and my torso. Using my hands, I slowly caress my skin, cleaning away the ashes and dirt from my arms and legs. I run my hands through my body, checking for any other injuries that would hinder me to fight, but I felt none.
I look up towards the night sky away from the fire lit parts. I saw the moonlight glowing, lighting upon me. It feels like one of those children’s stories from back at the temple. It feels like the Priestess of the Moon was blessing me with her healing moonlight. I close my eyes and feel calm and relaxed. I bask in the rays of the moon as the flowing water from the stream runs through my skin, everything feels peaceful, everything serene. But then, while I was slowly drifting away within the calm, I hear a deep voice from behind me that I didn't expect to hear, a voice so familiar that I suddenly felt the urge to battle.
“ONYX BLADE! I ASK OF YOUR ASSISTANCE!” the deep voice said from behind me. I turn around while covering my torso and see that it was the Demon.
“You! You’re behind all of this, aren’t you!” I screamed to it.
But just then, before it can even answer, the ground rumbled, the calming stream of water became torrents. I race to get out of the stream, but it was hard due to the current of the water and the rumbling ground. I suddenly heard a splash beside me, and I was immediately out of the water as the Demon carried me to the side of the stream.
“Quickly, get dressed,” it said to me.
“What do you know about the source of these rumblings?” I replied to it as I put on my slacks and boots.
“Your questions are not necessary for such dire times,” it replied to me.
“Wait a sec— “ I said before being cut.
The moonlight was suddenly overcast by an ominous shadow. In the distance, we saw a hulking silhouette of an unknown being of about eight feet tall, its body wide as a tree. But what terrified me most was what is on its head; it has horns large enough to break a boulder in half. As my heart started to beat faster, I felt a kind warmth envelop me. Then I saw the Demon putting his red hooded vest over me.
“This battle can only be won with our combined strength, so I ask of your assistance even if it is just for this time,” it said as it closes the red vest's zipper.
“Were you not the one who unleashed it?” I said to it as I put my arms through the vest's arm holes.
“No, these spawned from the hellish experiments made by your people to be able to dominate a forthcoming war. But that is not what is important for now, we must first fight to survive,” The Demon said to me.
“I don’t know if I can trust you, but I can’t say I won’t be needing your help for now. But do you even know what those things are?’ I asked it.
As we were conversing the ground started to rumble once again. From the distance, we saw two more monsters looking like of the same kind as the one before. Then we see glowing red eyes looking towards us.
“Real demons,” it said to me.
I look towards the Demon and back to monsters in front of us. I feel fear rush through my spine. I have fought on countless battlefields, beaten many men, but this sight, a sight of nightmares which I can hopefully wake up from so I can live to tell its tale.
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