~~~~~~~~~~

  Alejandro

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  "I just have to…" Alejandro was looking at Lee when he trailed off and his eyes glazed over.

  It was a look that Alejandro was growing accustomed to as it happened whenever his new brother started focusing on Mana instead of using his eyes. Alejandro was still watching a moment later when Lee's face tensed up and his eyes snapped open. Lee looked over at him as he continued walking towards the building but Alejandro saw his eyes slide off to the side, looking at something behind him.

  "He saw something, a threat of some kind." Alejandro tried not to give anything away as his own eyes scanned the area while a hand tightened on the shield and the other rested on his sword, ready to draw in a heartbeat.

  He couldn't spot anything and for a moment wondered why Lee would act in such a way after seeing an enemy approaching. "He is trying to get to the building… is it an invisible monster?"

  Lee reached for the door and hesitated before glancing past Alejandro again. Alejandro drew his blade and his head shot through with a dull pain as he spun to face…

  There was nothing. "My allies are overreacting… They must be tired."

  A thunderclap of noise and light slammed into him and Alejandro blinked at the sudden change in his surroundings.

  -1 All Base Attributes

  Debuff Removed. [Life Drain]

  You have Discovered a Hidden Invasion! Contributions Earned. Drive out or Defeat the Invaders to Receive your Rewards.

  "Ahhh!" Something fell away from his face and Alejandro looked up at the towering nightmare looming above him. A four fingered… hand, or claw, with what looked like a mouth in the palm, reached for his face again. The mouth was surrounded with squirming tentacles that ended in barbed hooks, hooks that glistened with small drops of blood… His blood!

  [Shield Slam]

  Alejandro activated one of his Skills with a thought and his shield lit up even as he slammed the reaching maw away from his face, his sword swung out, reaching for another hand that came behind the first. "Lee!" Before he could intercept the attack or risk a glance for Lee, something slammed into the side of his head.

  Alejandro stumbled and looked around. He was sitting up in his bed… "What a strange nightmare." He must be very tired to have such a strange dream… but already it was fading.

  "I am safe here. I should sleep while I can." But that dream… "It was only a nightmare. Everything is fine here." He looked around the room again. The only window was small and it was dark outside. "Nothing can get in." The door was secure. Everything was as it should be. "No…" Something was missing… "I am just tired. I should sleep now, I'll feel better in the morning."

  Something was missing… Something important! "I am just… No!" Two small faces flashed into his mind. "Who are… I am tired. WHO?" His head was pounding. Deep throbbing pain stabbed into his head. "Where are they!" The room was getting darker… He was so tired… "NO!"

  -1 All Base Attributes

  Light burst around him and Alejandro looked up once again at the looming monster. Small dog-like creatures were climbing over it, stabbing and biting at anything they could reach. "Trak!" He saw the Anubi drive a dagger into the monsters…

  Pain throbbed through his head and Alejandro looked down at the soft and inviting bed. He should sleep, his head would… "No! I will not forget!" The two small faces burned inside his mind, a woman's face hovering behind them. "I Will Not!" Instincts that he couldn't remember activated.

  [Unyielding Guardian]

  Debuff Removed. [Life Drain]

  Alejandro screamed as something ripped away from the side of his head and the sounds of howling crashed into his ears. He tried to swing his blade at the monster but couldn't move his arm.

  A quick look revealed the issue, another of the 'hands' was holding his arm at the wrist in an iron grip. His hand holding the sword looked and felt terrible, shriveled up and almost mummified.

  [Last Stand]

  Energy burst through him, spreading out from his Core and revitalizing his hand. "On a timer now."

  Another of the monster's hands held onto his shield in a similarly unshakeable grip, while another was still trying to get past his Skill and grab onto his head. "How many hands does it have?"

  [Shield Slam]

  Power surged through his arm and into the shield, breaking the hold and driving it forward into the creature. The monster's body barely moved under his blow and instead Alejandro was forced back a step. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to break his sword arm free and he staggered as the grip on his arm dragged him to a stop. But as he fell back and away, Alejandro finally got a look at what was happening and what exactly he was fighting.

  The monster stood over ten feet tall. Two thin legs and six equally thin and much longer arms that ended in the same tentacle mouth hands. It was almost humanoid in its shape and atop the torso was an oblong head that had no facial features other than two large black eyes on the gray skin. "Dios mio!"

  As it turned slightly with the force of his shield slam, Alejandro saw that Trak was still attacking it, now clinging to its back and driving a small knife repeatedly into it while howling. "Die! Die! Die!" Alejandro could barely hear the translation amulet over the screaming in his ears. Another of the Anubi was stabbing its way up the creature's legs.

  [Shield Slam]

  This time he angled the shield and sent it edge on, right into the arm that was holding his sword hand. He thought he heard a crack and then his sword was free. Alejandro swung and the monster lurched back a step to avoid the attack. He took the small moment of breathing room to risk a look around and saw two of the Anubi dragging Lee towards the ramp leading down into the garage on his right. "What happened to him?"

  A huge gaping hole ran all the way up through the perimeter wall behind the monster. "That loud noise!" The torn edges of the split wall were glowing and molten stone ran in rivulets down towards the ground.

  Another Anubi was on the ground to his left side, this one shriveled up like his hand had been. It wasn't moving and lay next to another of the giant monsters. Though that monster had been split in half by something and lay in two smoking pieces against the door inside. "Lee killed one, but what…"

  The monster that wasn't cut in half bent two long arms behind its back in a disturbingly unnatural way and finally caught Trak in one hand and snared the one on its leg with the other.

  The other Anubi snarled while biting and stabbing at the hand holding him, then shuddered and went limp. Trak sank his small Runed knife deep into the hand holding him and the limb snapped out, launching him away and into the wall behind Alejandro with a crunch and a yelp.

  "No!" Alejandro shouted and lunged with his blade, reaching out for its flesh.

  One arm swung down and batted his sword aside, but not without damage. It screamed again as blue blood sprayed from a line that the Runed blade drew on its arm. He wondered for a second how it could scream with no mouth and then remembered the hands…

  The wound on its arm stopped bleeding and Trak charged back in, now limping, meanwhile the Anubi still clutched in the monster's hand shriveled further. "The life drain…" Alejandro realized that it was healing itself by killing them. Trak howled and threw himself at the hand holding his pack mate, or maybe family member… Alejandro charged in himself, and was smacked back once again by two of its arms that landed on his shield with punishing force. Two other hands latched onto Trak, one catching the small body and pinning the arms while the other closed over his head. Trak went limp and Alejandro remembered that strange dream-like attack it had used on him. "I have to stop it!"

  He took one step and then something plummeted out of the sky above the monster.

  The monster must have seen or sensed something because it lurched to one side as a flash of red light streaked past.

  One of the thin arms dropped free in a spray of blue blood from the stump and his beautiful wife landed on her feet under the spray.

  The glowing red blade in her hand lashed out in a lightning quick slash, forcing the monster back another step. It screamed even as Maria ducked under another flailing arm and stood up with an Anubi in her free hand. Alejandro saw the light of her healing flash repeatedly over the small form in her hand even as she spun around another blow and threw the Anubi through the air, towards the garage.

  Alejandro was running towards her, trying to activate his Skill as three more arms closed around his wife. Then she vanished in a blur and Alejandro saw her appear next to the Anubi that she had just thrown towards the building.

  She caught the dog-like body and set him down atop Lee who was being dragged down the ramp now. "Mi Amor!" She truly was amazing.

  Alejandro had a moment to see her touch Lee and her healing light pulse, then his attention was forced back onto the monster in front of him. He blocked one hand with his shield and forced a second back with the threat of his Runed blade separating the limb. The third caught him in the gut and lifted him from his feet, while the fourth just missed his head.

  The fifth arm was holding Trak by his head and Alejandro saw the stump of the severed arm had stopped bleeding and even looked as if it was regrowing. "I need to get Trak free!" He had an idea and gave it a shot.

  [Get Behind Me]

  More power drained from his Core and Alejandro's body moved in a blur, into the space between the monster and Trak. His sword, held out in preparation for the move, sank deep into the monster's torso and Alejandro hauled sideways with all his strength, dragging the weapon through its flesh.

  Blows rained down on his back and head as the screaming intensified, but if there was one thing Alejandro had only gotten better at, it was taking a hit. He endured and kept cutting even as the hands wrapped tighter onto and around him. Trak and his small family of Anubi had charged in to fight this monstrosity, to save him and Lee, one of them might have already died to save them… Alejandro would not let the monster have anymore. He roared his defiance and ripped the sword sideways in a spray of blue blood.

  [Shield Slam]

  Alejandro once again used the edge of his shield to strike the monster in the arm that was holding Trak. Something crunched and Trak fell to the ground, free of its hand and life drain. The monster didn't like that and giant hands grabbed and struck at him from all sides, trying to latch on and drain his life now.

  Buff Gained. [Improve Regeneration] [Improve Regeneration II] [Improve Regeneration III]

  The monster screamed as Maria returned and dropped a few of her heals onto him. Red light flashed at the same time and Alejandro felt the encircling arms spasm and let up slightly.

  [Shield Slam]

  The blow forced him and the monster apart and he saw that it was missing another arm and Trak was gone. Alejandro started backing towards the garage. His [Last Stand] was fading and Alejandro was feeling each hit drain just a bit more of his energy.

  His hand on the sword was also starting to go numb as the monster took one large step and four arms came at him from all sides. Then Maria was back, appearing next to him in a flash of red light as her knife removed a hand that was grasping for his face.

  Another scream echoed in his head and Alejandro was forced to step back again, hiding behind his shield when his sword threatened to slip from his steadily weakening right arm.

  "?Entra en el edificio!" Maria yelled and hauled him back.

  Alejandro blocked two attacks and Maria spun around him to remove the third incoming hand at the wrist. She visibly slowed after the flash of red light and Alejandro yelled back over the screaming. "You get inside!" His wife could fight better than most but he knew that she was pushing hard and couldn't keep up this pace.

  Maria glared at him as she jumped away from the monster, but did continue backing away. Together they retreated and Alejandro watched in sick horror as the monster plucked up one of its severed hands and stuck it back onto the stump. It held the hand in place for a second and then let go and lifted the apparently healed limb and the other two remaining hands towards them. "Not good!" It could still heal without an active drain! Even the hole he'd left in its guts was almost gone.

  A banana sailed over Alejandro's head and smacked the thing in the face… It splattered and splashed against the thing's face as if it was rotten and then sizzled as smoke started drifting up from where it had landed.

  The screaming intensified and one of the monster's hands reached out to wipe away the banana that was melting its face while the other two reached for Alejandro and Maria.

  It started running at them in huge ground eating strides.

  "Run!" Alejandro planted his feet and braced himself to meet the charge. It would not get… Something yanked on his armor and dragged him backwards in a dizzying whirl until he crashed to a stop on his back inside the garage. He scrambled to his feet as his Mana refilled and saw the monster sprint into the building, slightly stooped to avoid hitting its head on the low ceiling at the entrance. It took a few more steps towards them before the building shuddered around them and an old fire sprinkler pipe on the ceiling suddenly sprang to life.

  The pipe lashed out and wrapped around the monster's neck, dragging it to a halt. The monster reached for the pipe and loud cracking sounds shook the air as rebar burst from the cement above and below it. The metal bars stabbed into and through the creature, pinning its feet to the floor and snaring all but one arm before sinking into the things head. Somehow the monster still didn't die and kept grasping at the metal.

  Alejandro didn't waste the opportunity and charged back in. He caught the one remaining free arm that reached for his head with his shield and with a yell, cut it clean off. The Runes on his sword dimmed and the next blow he landed against another arm sank only halfway through before catching on the bone. Assuming they had bones…

  Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

  May stepped up beside him with a shining steel blade and brought it down like an axe against one of the creature's legs. The leg parted under the blow and blue blood sprayed on the cement as the blacksmith methodically went to work. The sword rose and fell in hammer-like blows against the monster, and when she stopped, the thing was in pieces and no longer moving.

  A few heartbeats later and a glowing Core fell into the pool of gore beneath the monster that was still dangling in pieces from the pipes and rebar.

  Alejandro grinned at May and turned to check on the others. He saw Maria leaning over Lee. Trak was awake and also there, holding up a small bottle to Lee's lips.

  "This will make him sleep!" He barked. "I can't heal the Mana Burn but he must rest!"

  Maria nodded and stood up while the Anubi poured the potion into Lee's clenched teeth. Alejandro saw the old man's wide eyes flutter and then close as his whole body relaxed.

  "Is Ratch…" Trak was looking up at Maria when he started to ask something but she shook her head. Trak nodded and looked down, a keening whine coming from him and the other Anubi. "They lost one of their family… how long did they fight while I just stood there…" He had been leery of the Anubi, wondering about their loyalties and whether they were trustworthy. But now…

  Maria walked back up to him and Alejandro noticed that one of her arms looked off and she was holding it tight to her body with the other hand. "She dragged me inside with her skill… probably dislocated…"

  Maria drove her shoulder into his chest and grimaced as her arm popped back into the socket. Alejandro put his arms around her and held her close. "Mi Amor…"

  Something flickered in his peripheral vision and two more of the monsters appeared, charging down the ramp. At the same time, a blood curdling scream echoed from somewhere outside.

  Alejandro let Maria go and hefted his sword with a weary arm. It was unnecessary, the building once again snared the monsters, this time starting with the feet and toppling the charging creatures. As soon as they were mostly pinned down, May was there, chopping pieces of them off. The Anubi descended on the other one a heartbeat later. A howling storm of knives, teeth and claws.

  "There are more out there." Alejandro looked into his wife's eyes and saw that she understood what he needed to do. "I have to go…"

  "Eat this first." Dennis held out a banana to him.

  Alejandro was slightly dubious after seeing the face melting banana but he trusted the man and quickly chowed down.

  Buff Gained. [Second Wind Banana]

  Alejandro felt his fatigue fade noticeably and smiled. "Thank you, Dennis…" The man was visibly glowing with lines of light beneath his skin as another banana formed in his hands. May stepped up next to her husband and held out the shiny sword that she had been using. "Upgrade."

  Alejandro took it and gave the blade a few practice swings. It was a simple straight sword with no embellishments and after seeing it in action, it was definitely an upgrade over his own.

  "Thanks, I…" He cocked his head and looked outside through the metal bars that lined the garage. "It's too quiet out there… is no one fighting?"

  "We didn't see the message until we actually 'saw' the monsters." May said and Alejandro saw Maria nodding in agreement as she accepted another banana from Dennis. That reminded Alejandro of something and he quickly pulled up his new [Assistant Fort Manager] Title.

  [Defend the Fort] Emergency Quest Issued by (General Alejandro Morales).

  We are under attack! Invisible Monsters are inside the walls! Barricade inside if possible. Building 3 is a safe place to go if you are outside!

  Everyone flinched slightly when he issued the quest.

  Congratulations! You have successfully Alerted the entire Fort to a Hidden Invasion. Contributions Earned.

  "We go." Maria said and started quickly eating the banana as she headed for the ramp outside.

  "But…" Alejandro started and she glanced back with a look that dared him to say something. "...the children…" He almost whispered.

  "Others guard upstairs." Maria said. "Martin with them."

  Alejandro struggled to think of a way to keep his wife safely inside, but with Martin standing guard… The man was teaching everyone who asked how to fight with a sword and no one could even come close to beating him yet.

  "I'm coming too." May had grabbed another of the new swords from somewhere and she stopped to give Dennis a quick hug. The man was sweating and shaking with faint lines of light still under his skin. "We need to spread out and watch each other." May said after the hug. "That thing had you helpless while it fought the others."

  Alejandro remembered the dream-like state. "Yes…" That was a really good point.

  [Emergency Quest Update] Move in groups! Monsters can get in your head and kill you if you are alone!

  Alejandro glanced at Lee lying on the floor. "We'll take care of him." Dennis said. "I'm mostly useless without the Mana in here, but I can look after him while you fight."

  "We will protect him with our lives if necessary." Trak barked and the other Anubi all brandished small knives in some kind of salute, all of them encircling the unconscious man.

  "Let's get him upstairs and avoid that." Dennis said and he started moving with a few others to carry the old man to the stairs.

  Alejandro looked at the two women with him and they all moved up the ramp, weapons at the ready.

  ~~~~~~~~~

  Bradley Previously…

  ~~~~~~~~~

  "I'm going to sleep." Mar declared but Bradley could feel her stop a few steps away and start tapping the ground with a foot.

  "I'm tired too." Bradley said quickly without looking at anyone and followed after her.

  Ever since she found out that he could track her, she would do things like that. Though what she wanted now, he didn't know.

  Mar was confusing to Bradley, sometimes he thought she liked him but then she would get angry for no reason and start avoiding him… and then come back around to hang out again. Confusing. He 'did' like her… but he had never been good at understanding girls.

  Bradley sighed as he followed her around the building, but quietly. Mar told him that he sighed too much… She also sat or stood so close to him sometimes that he wondered if she would kiss him… He wanted to kiss her… but he was scared. He was scared a lot these days. But after today, when he had faced that horde, he could be brave. Maybe he would finally work up the courage…

  He was just so tired. Plus his head was killing him. After that day, he'd earned some rest.

  Bradley looked at his bed. It looked so soft… he had fought many battles today and had been victorious, it was time to rest. He laid down and hoped that at the least, the damn headache would go away. He heard a distant thunderclap and burrowed deeper into his bed. "That isn't helping my head." Someone was shouting now… screaming… "Who is screaming?" The voice was familiar. "It doesn't matter. I just need to sleep."

  Stinging pain shot through his head. "Ow!" He opened his eyes and saw a multi armed monstrosity flailing at a flickering Mar.

  -1 All Base Attributes

  Debuff [Life Drain] Removed.

  You have Discovered a Hidden Invasion! Contributions Earned. Drive out or Defeat the Invaders to Receive your Rewards.

  "What the…" A severed arm was on the ground in front of him, lying in a pool of blue goop. "Mar cut it off…" He could see one of the monster's limbs ending in a stump as it struck at the girl with five more arms.

  Bradley felt so weak, his arms and legs trembled with fatigue and it was all he could do to remain standing as he leaned on his stone staff. His hands on the staff looked shriveled and old, likely from the life drain Debuff. Bradley pulled at the Mana in his weapon, now very glad that they had stopped by [Three] on the way in.

  Then Mar dodged a sweeping strike to her legs a hair too slow and it clipped her. She stumbled and the monster capitalized on her mistake, in a flash it had grabbed one of her arms and a heartbeat later, she was immobilized by four of the monster's long limbs gripping her arms and legs.

  Mar screamed in pain and then the fifth hand grabbed her head. She went limp and Bradley thought about how he had been in his bed moments ago. "It got in my head!" And now it was in Mar's head.

  The monster's bleeding stump stopped bleeding and its face turned to him. Two huge black eyes pointed at him from the otherwise featureless face and it let go of Mar's legs to reach two long arms towards his head. Bradley saw horrible maws in the palm of each hand, barbed and bloody tentacles reaching for his flesh. "Hell no!"

  Bradley pulled deeply on his Mana reserves and the earth under his feet slid backwards, away from the threat as he activated his new Skill.

  [Dirty Movement]

  The Skill was more than he had originally expected. Yea, it let him move faster in dirt, but it synergized with all of his Skills and his Class in a way that he hadn't expected. He pulled power from the ground as earth and stone rapidly climbed up his legs, crawled up his stomach and back, until it covered his whole body. It made him a lot heavier but instead of slowing down, Bradley only moved faster.

  His Class was [Earth Mover] and if he covered himself in earth… well.

  He 'Moved' himself sideways past a grasping hand, [Dirty Movement] deciding that being covered in dirt counted for a lot and making the move easier. The staff in his hands leapt up into a sweeping strike. It was also made out of stone, or earth, and despite the Runes that covered it and changed it into something less akin to earth, it was still stone.

  He Moved that stone staff and himself with a blast of Mana. His course reversed and he shot towards the monster.

  He felt the impacts of those grasping limbs but it didn't hurt beneath his armor. Mar was still out of his reach, so Bradley swung low. His staff blasted into and through what he hoped was a knee joint on one of the monster's legs. The blow, driven by his meager physical strength, now greatly boosted and enhanced by his Mana and Skills, didn't even slow as he went through the limb.

  Blue blood splashed from the shattered stump and the monster screamed as it started to topple, but then one of its long arms abandoned the chase and dropped to the ground to act as a new leg. Another arm grabbed the leg off the ground and held it up against the stump as it abandoned the pursuit and started backing away with Mar still in hand. "It's healing itself!" He could see Mar's flesh shriveling up the way his hands had been. "No!"

  Bradley moved.

  The only downside to his new Skill was the high Mana cost. He really needed to level it up and get the cost down…

  Bradley pulled the last of the reserve Mana from his staff and then called to the earth beneath his feet for more power. Power responded and flowed up from his feet.

  Your Earth Aspect Saturation has reached your Affinity Limit of 67%. Continuing past this Threshold may cause side effects.

  Bradley had seen that message before and always stopped until the saturation lowered over time. Today though, after that marathon in the Lair, he didn't have the luxury to stop, Mar had saved him and he wouldn't let her die for it. He pulled more power.

  68% Earth Aspect Saturation

  He Moved after the monster and Mar, still pulling in power but now with enough to spend along the way. His first priority was to free Mar and to that end Bradley ignored the blows that cracked his stone armor, he ignored the g-forces that tugged his body with each empowered step. His staff whirled in a technique that Martin had taught him, and Earth Mana raged through him as drove the staff through the limb holding Mar's head.

  69%

  It shattered into paste under the blow and Bradley blocked two more grasping arms with bone cracking force before throwing himself forward. He used his whole body to force the monster back and away from Mar's helpless form on the ground behind him.

  70%

  His feet felt numb but Bradley ignored it and kept attacking. Bashing through arms and legs, he tried to get its head but the thing would sacrifice its limbs instead of letting him pulp it.

  71%

  Eventually it ran out of options, and limbs, Bradley raised his staff high to end its life.

  Something latched onto his arms and around his torso and legs. "Another one!" It tried to lift him and drag him back but Bradley refused to allow himself to leave the ground as he fought against its monstrous strength. As they struggled and turned in place, Bradley saw that Mar wasn't where she had fallen. He really hoped that she had escaped and hadn't just been killed by the second monster that he had failed to see coming. He really hoped that.

  Her knives were missing too…

  72%

  Bradley had an idea and Moved himself and the monster holding him down into the ground. The earth welcomed them both beneath its surface like pebbles dropped into a pond.

  Bradley slammed the earth tight around the monster and wrenched himself out of its grasp. He moved easily back above ground and found the other monster busy reattaching its limbs. "No you don't!"

  Bradley pulled more power and Moved.

  73%

  The monster's head shattered in an explosion of pulp and gore under his desperate blow. Bradley stood over the collapsed and limp body, chest heaving for breath, and watched for signs of Regeneration from the thing. He saw the glowing Core start to appear when the ground rumbled and he spun around to see the other monster tearing its way free of the ground in an explosion of dirt and rock. "They are too strong!"

  Bradley drew in great gasping breaths and reached for more Earth Mana. Mar was still missing and he wouldn't let these things find her if he could help it. "I will fight for what I want! I am not afraid!"His hands shook in fear and exhaustion as he lifted the staff and stepped forward to face the monster.

  74%

  Mar flickered into view behind the still half buried monster, her twin knives buried in its neck. She screamed and blue gore sprayed across the ground as she sawed the creature's screaming head from its shoulders. Bradley continued his charge and brought the end of his staff down on the skull. Just to make sure.

  "Gah!" Mar leapt back from the splatter and glared at him. The glare faded as Bradley dropped to all fours and barely held himself up with trembling arms while looking up at her now blue face with a wide smile.

  "You're okay!" Stone crumbled off him as he ran out of Mana once again. Mar rubbed at the goo on her face and Bradley could see her hands looked much like his own now.

  "You…" She started to say something, then Bradley saw her eyes widen and dart past him. "Mom!" She took off running and vanished mid stride.

  "Right! Invasion… How many more are there?" He forced himself back up and saw that the stone hadn't fallen away from around his feet. In fact, he still couldn't feel his feet… "Side effects…" Bradley didn't hesitate and poured what little Mana had regenerated into [Dirty Movement] and sprinted after Mar, following her pounding footsteps through the earth. He could still feel the ground under his feet and didn't have any trouble running but it felt odd. He still pulled more Earth Mana up when his own ran out. "I Will fight for what I want!"

  75% Earth Aspect Saturation

  He rounded the building and saw Saira in her garden. One of the monsters was already on her and Bradley could hear Mar screaming as she charged ahead of him. He wanted to scream too but didn't have the breath for it. Instead Mana raged in him and the earth moved with his feet, propelling him in great strides across the distance.

  Saira looked like a mummified corpse where she dangled from the creature's hands. Her entire massive garden was gone, dried up by her healing, and nothing but dust remained. Blood ran from her in steady lines of… No, it wasn't blood. It was a mass of vines!

  As he approached, Bradley could finally see the blood red vine that was sprouting from beneath Saira. It wove and threaded around her and… into her! He could see where the vines had gone through her flesh and many had gone on to wrap around the monster and were digging into its flesh as well.

  Mar kicked off the ground in a puff of dust and then appeared on the monster, both blades stabbed to the hilt into the things head. Bradley was wishing he had better ranged attacks as he ran with all he had and lifted his staff high…

  Saira suddenly screamed out in a deafening cry of pain and anger. The red vines all around her pulsed and flashed brighter for a split second. Then the monster exploded in a shower of blue gore and flying body parts.

  Healing warmth washed over Bradley as he slid to a stop next to the two women. Saira's flesh regained color and life as Mar threw herself into her mother's arms with a sob.

  Bradley let the Earth Mana go and collapsed to the ground, closing his eyes and focusing on feeling footsteps just in case more were around. He'd been doing a terrible job of that lately…

  He detected no motion on the ground within his range, other than the two women next to him. Mar was crying and saying something in another language while Saira responded in kind. "I did it!"

  "Bradley!" Mar gasped and Bradley opened his eyes to see Mar leaning over him looking very worried. "Are you okay? Do you need healing?"

  "I will fight for what I want…" Bradley sat up in a spur of the moment decision and Kissed her!

  Her eyes went wide and then she lurched back and vanished.

  Bradley's heart sank. "Idiot! Why did I do that!" He scrambled to his feet. "Sorry Mar! I…" He cut off when Mar flickered into sight for an instant, blushing furiously as her hand slipped into his own. "Oh. She isn't mad!"

  Bradley then noticed Saira standing wearily but watching him with a smile of her own. He felt his own face heat up and was glad for the distraction when something appeared in his head.

  [Defend the Fort] Emergency Quest Issued by (General Alejandro Morales).

  We are under attack! Invisible Monsters are inside the walls! Barricade inside if possible. Building 3 is a safe place to go if you are outside!

  "A quest…" Bradley murmured in surprise as he looked at the message.

  "We should get to Three." Mar said.

  "Yes." Saira agreed. "Go." She was looking around at her destroyed garden with angry eyes. "I will make these things pay!" Bradley felt Mar's hand tighten around his own.

  "We're coming with you." Mar appeared as she spoke and her voice held a hint of a challenge.

  "Good." Saira smiled widely at her daughter and the bloody vines uprooted from the ground and retreated into her flesh.

  Bradley shuddered at the sight and felt Mar squeeze his hand again. But who was he to judge? His feet might be made out of rocks now...

  [Emergency Quest Update] Move in groups! Monsters can get in your head and kill you if you are alone!

  "Not again they won't!" Saira growled. "Let's find and kill them all!"

  "Who are you…" Mar whispered, still invisible next to Bradley.

  "Incoming!" Bradley felt three pairs of thumping feet approaching from around one of the buildings and pointed with his staff for the others. Mar let go of his hand and drew her knives in a flickering stop motion. Bradley missed her touch already… "I will fight for what I want… and to keep what I care about!"

  Bradley wrapped both of his hands around the staff and prepared to fight. He held off on drawing more Mana though. A heartbeat later, the footsteps came around the corner and Bradley breathed out in relief.

  Alejandro called out to them and approached at a jog with his wife and the blacksmith flanking him. "We will survive this… and save as many as possible."