Pires of smoke rose into the sky like the tongues of the dark angels.
Thousands upon thousands of Grey Crows descended from the bleak heavens, their fanged bills spread wide as they plucked the townsfolk from their streets and homes.
Shrieks of terror and cries of despair rang out louder than the church bells.
The beasts knew no mercy. Such a thing was not their nature as they swooped low, picking and devouring everything that had warm blood flowing in its veins; man and woman, young and old, it didn’t matter.
A young woman sobbed profusely as she ran with her two your children in her hands.
Like a bolt of lightning, a grey shadow zipped right beside her.
Her eyes widened as her arm disappeared with a terrible ripping sound. It was torn clean off, and with it went the child she carried. Right into the stomach of the Grey Crow.
The cries of despair never left her lips as five more crows pounced om her and her other child, tearing them to shreds and leaving behind only a pool of blood and crushed bones.
The Abominations had an uncanny appetite for viscera, which meant most of their victims were hollowed out before they could die.
The scent of blood contained to thicken.
The light of dawn was no more.
Instead, there was only death.
Horrid, terrible death.
On the roofs, and on the streets, a blanket of pallid grey stretched.
Even further than the town, in the fields and in the forest, the curtain of grey continued to descend.
This... This was no mere swarm.
Some people tried running towards the church, seeking salvation in their final moments. Most were snatched up before they could reach its iron fences.
Those that were unfortunate enough to get to the church got to witness a scene to horrific, they fell to their knees and began to pray.
Lips rambling to futility, they were snatched up, their skulls crushed under the powerful jaws of the Abominations.
The scene that had forced such a reaction, was indeed terrible.
Countless corpses of both abomination and man lay on the verdant grass, now slick and red with blood.
The guard commander let out a roar as his mutated arm bulged and swelled to its limit. However, the creature in front of him could not be moved.
Not by his strength alone.
Only he had managed to remain standing up on the thing’s arrival.
More than a dozen guards were flattened and turned into ground flesh by its descent.
Four majestic wings flapped behind the beast.
Above its head was a white halo of runes. It has three beady eyes, and for a mouth, it possessed the same toothed bill as the Grey Crows. However, its bill tapered off into a wicked curve.
Unlike the crows, however, it had the body of a man.
It stood large. At least twice as tall as Peter, who was by far, the biggest of all the guards.
The monster tilted its head as it stared down at Peter.
Peter grit his teeth, sweat pouring down his face in buckets as he cursed,
"Today is certainly not a good day."
He quickly jumped back to create space,
"Those who can still fight, we have to defeat this thing if there is even the slightest chance of surviving. On your feet!"
Many of the guards rose to their feet, although it was clear that the previous fire in their eyes was long gone.
Replacing it, was a deep tremble that came from their bones.
Some of the guards couldn’t take it as they dropped their weapons, fell to their knees and began to pray.
Those foolish enough to do that were rushed by the grey swarm overhead, turning into food faster than the priest had died earlier...
Nero struggled to get up,
"What is that thing?"
He winced and touched his forehead.
Blood.
Declan rose to his feet as well,
"I don’t know. Some sort of Grey Crow mutation?"
"We need to fight it together with Peter."
The earlier battle had woken his spirit. He was no longer as frightened as he had originally been.
The descent of the beast had truly been very unexpected.
Regardless, now that they had recovered, it would take any more of them.
The rest of the guards were already on their feet, at least, those who hadn’t gone mad yet.
Their weapons drawn, they moved in to support Peter.
’If it’s just some powered up bird, we will win. Peter could stand his ground earlier. We definitely can—’
The Abomination moved faster than anyone could see.
With a single swipe of its hand.
Peter eyes widened,
’H-how could this be?’
The guard commander, one who stood tall even in the face of adversity, was separated diagonally at the waist into two clean halves with a single strike.
Nero felt the dread in his heart solidify around him like concrete.
The three-eyed monstrosity glanced at them, its curved bill opening as it let out a piercing screech.
Lying in a puddle of his own blood and organs, with blood dripping out of his mouth and eyes, Peter made a last last attempt.
His mutated arm bulged so much, the Blacksteel plating around it ripped into scrap iron. He clenched the enormous black fingers around the Abomination’s ankle.
Then he turned to his men and screamed at the top of his failing lungs;
"Run!"
The guards all immediately understood the severity of their situation.
They all scattered in different directions. At least one of them had to make it out alive. A disaster of such proportions...
The Church and the Empire had to be informed.
Nero grit his teeth as all the hesitation he previously felt suddenly vanished. Grabbing Declan by the arm, he picked a direction and ran as well.
Shrieks and cries rang out from behind him, but he didn’t bother turning back.
He felt his eyes heating up as his feet hit the moist earth.
’Peter. Just like that, he...’
He couldn’t finish that line of thought.
He tripped over something, and both he and Declan were sent tumbling.
They had chosen to follow the path they had taken just an hour earlier.
The path was still hidden by the canopy of trees. None of the Grew Crows had found it.
Groaning in pain, Nero called out,
"Declan. Hurry up. We have to hurry up."
He grit his teeth as he pushed himself to his feet.
"Nero."
The voice that called out to him was jarringly calm.
Nero turned his gaze slowly.
His eyes went misty with tears.
"Nero, I can’t go on."
Nero shook his head,
"What are you saying? Come on, stand up."
A small smile crept onto Declan’s face,
"Can you hear it?"
Nero froze.
The sound of wings beating...
He grit his teeth,
"I told you we’ll fight, didn’t I?! We’ll fight together, and we’ll run together, damn it! Now get up."
"Nero, listen..." Declan suddenly said.
"You were right. There is no hope in this world."
’No...’
"We are all doomed to suffer the same faith. A cruel, bitter death. And our only sins, are our weakness, and our fate. The fate that birthed us into this world. It is unfortunate, isn’t it..."
’Ah. I see... So this is what these eyes mean.’
Declan’s eyes had already been bright. So full of light.
Now they were immeasurably dark.
Whatever holes he had had, they were all gone.
And with them, his desire and will to live.
"Go, Nero. I can tell you don’t want to die yet." Declan said with a chuckle.
His lips stretched out into a sad smile,
"Go on. Live for us both."