Hold your Soul

Awakening

A few days later...

"Thanks." Takai said as he was handed a plate of food by Iris.

"Of course!" She exclaimed. It was really late at night. The two sat at a table in the tavern. Takai just finished his shift for the night, so he was going to pull an all-nighter now.

"Man, I want to sleep, but if I do I won't wake up until after noon tomorrow." He complained. Iris chuckled a little bit.

"We'll both pull an all-nighter. Then, we can both suffer!" She smiled. Takai stared at her.

"I don't really wanna suffer though..." He muttered to himself. His heart beat weirdly. He knew this feeling... he thought. He wasn't sure. Unlike the new emotion from a few days ago with Tomo, this one was familiar.

"Hey, Iris..." Takai began. Iris nodded, acknowledging him.

"I need to ask... every time I'm around you, or at least starting recently, my heart begins to beat a lot faster." He explained. As he said that, Iris turned red.

"W-What!?" She asked. Takai got excited.

"Wait, do you know what I'm talking about!?" He exclaimed. Iris was flushed completely.

"W-Well you see..." She was saying. She seemed completely flustered. Then—

"THEY'RE COMING!" Someone screamed. Takai and Iris turned to the doors of the tavern. A man ran through the streets with a torch.

"THEY'RE ON THEIR WAY! WAKE UP!" A man shouted. Iris and Takai glanced at each other. Iris had fear in her eyes. Takai did, then got rid of it. Someone had to be brave.

"It's fine. Just get civilians to safety." He said. Iris nodded, getting up. Takai ran to the door.

"Takai!" Iris shouted. Takai stopped and turned to her. She was shaking.

"Please... come back..." She said. Takai grinned.

"Of course! I promise." He smiled. Promises are risky. Iris nodded as Takai ran out of the tavern. As he ran out, he noticed that the town was awake. People were scurrying while anyone willing to fight had their swords. People drew water in buckets as well.

"At the mines! We have to go fast!" A man exclaimed to someone else. Takai looked all around to finally spot Tomo. He was kneeling next to a kid. It was Aaron. Takai remembered him. Tomo got up as Aaron nodded. He turned to the men as they spoke.

"Mines. Got it." Tomo replied. He cleared his throat. He got up at an elevated height.

"EVERYONE LISTEN UP!" Tomo screamed. People saw and tried to quiet down, but there was a lot of noise still.

"THEY ARE AT THE MINES! WE NEED TO GO QUICK!" He shouted. He then began to do a slight jog towards the mines. People followed, and as more people saw more people follow, they also followed. Takai quickly went and caught up.

"Are you ready?" He asked. Tomo didn't say anything.

"No. I don't think any of us will ever be." He said. They quickly arrived at the mines, and people were running away from them. The workers, that is. There was a rumbling. On the mountain, as hard as it was to see, several clumps of rock approached. The massive legs and chests of stone caused the ground to shake with each step. On top of that, their arms dangled. There was no shape to them. Just rocks piled together to look somewhat human. Large, deadly, stone humans.

"Will that brittleness strategy work?" Takai asked.

"It worked before. It'll work again." He said. The golems approached faster. Takai couldn't count them. All he saw was moving shadows. He couldn't see them, but could tell there were dozens.