A tale of Humans and Hybrids

Chapter 19

Techno knew that something was wrong. He had woken up early, before sunrise. That had already gotten rare as it is, because the nest bed Phil had made for him is so fucking comfortable. But even after he snuck downstairs and made himself a small breakfast, thinking that he was just hungry or tired, he still had this weird feeling.

He grabbed his new cloak, crown and skull mask and leaves the house. The sky was already changing color, showing that sunrise was near. Slowly, he made his way towards the nearest part of the fog wall and began to walk along the border. Something was telling him that he needed to be careful... to be on guard.

Something is wrong. Be careful. Danger. Protect them. Protect family.

He shook his head, trying to get the weird whispers in his mind to go away, but they stayed, constantly murmuring about danger and protecting the sanctuary. They had started the evening after he had gotten the gifts from his new family. They were quiet at first, but slowly grew in volume over the past week. Most of the time it was just nonsense, a collective murmuring that didn't form any words. But sometimes they united and screamed words or ideas at him.

Most of the time... it were violent ideas...

He had thought about telling Phil, but realized just how crazy he sounds when talking about 'voices in his head'. As much as he trusted Phil and felt comfortable around him, this was just a completely different thing. Besides, it were just voices. He doesn't have to actually do what they suggest sometimes.

He already walked quite the distance when a single crow flew over and landed on his shoulder. "Hello." A small smile formed on his face when he reached up to pet the bird. The sun was already up quite a way now, making him realize just how long he had been patrolling. The crow trilled and nudged him, looking back towards Phil's house. "Alright alright... I'll head home."

Techno turned and started to walk back until he noticed movement in the river, immediately putting him on edge. A flash of pinks and purples revealed the movement to only be Niki swimming around, allowing the human to relax again. What is going on with him? Since when is he so jumpy?

"Hello Techno!" The mermaid grinned up at him and waved. So much for going back home. "Morning..." "What's wrong? You don't look alright." "It's... nothing. I'm just being paranoid I think." Niki swam to the edge and pulled herself out of the water a little. "Why? What are you paranoid about?" Techno sat down in the grass and sighed. "To be honest, I don't even know. I just feel like something is wrong... or that something will happen." "So that's why you are out here in full gear." "Yeah... I was just walking along the border hoping it would calm me down..."

Niki nodded, tail gently swaying under the water. "Hey. I could do a quick round through the river, check with the guardians. That could help you feel better. I haven't done that in ages anyways." "You know... it would help I think. If anyone would notice something wrong it's them." She nodded again and let herself fall back into the water. Techno looked at the crow on his shoulder. "Follow Niki. If something is wrong, come back and tell Phil." The crow cawed and flew after Niki and into the fog.

Techno looked after the two for a few more moments before he turned and walked back home. Phil was making himself breakfast when he walked in, happily humming a tune to himself. "There you are! I was a little worried when you were just gone and all your stuff was gone too." "Right... sorry... I wasn't feeling too good so I went for some fresh air and just walked along the border..."

The bird frowned and quickly grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him over to a chair and forcing him to sit down. "How do you feel? Do you want a tea? I have a bit of medicine too, stole it from a village. I don't know how humans react to a hybrid sickness, if you catched one." "Phil, relax. I'm not sick. I just woke up early and couldn't sleep." "But you just said you didn't feel well." "That was... for a different reason."

Now Phil was really interested. He sat down in front of Techno, making it obvious that he won't let him leave until he told him what's wrong. "Okay... okay fine. I just felt like... something will happen. Something bad. So I thought that walking along the fog wall and seeing that everything was alright would help me calm down." Phil slowly nodded and looked at a few crows. They didn't need to hear any comand to know what he wants and flew out of the house.

"If something is wrong, we will know. So don't worry, okay?" A part of him was honored to think that his friends would go out of their way to make sure he feels safe while also patrolling the surrounding area of the sanctuary. Granted, it were Phil and Niki, who would do that for any friend no questions asked, but it still mattered to him. "Thanks..." Phil smiled and handed him a cup with fresh tea.

"So. Have you eaten anything yet?" "A little bit when I woke up." "Then let's make some more!" Techno laughed and followed his friend to the kitchen area to help him make breakfast. Again.

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Niki swam along the river that surrounds the sanctuary and is probably the primary defense system for their home. It was... unusually quiet. Normally she could hear the guardians talking to each other from a mile away. And she also hasn't seen one since she entered the river.

Techno's confession of feeling something was wrong came back to her and made shivers run up her spine. Yes, something was definitely not right. She sped up and tried to reach the bridge part as fast as she could.

But when she got there, her blood froze. Drifting past her was a dead guardian, arrows stuck in it's body and slices that were obviously from weapons. The closer she got, the more dead guardians she found. And it only got worse when she arrived at the bridge. 

She could see figures slowly walking over the mossy stone, fully geared up and equipped with large weapons. It were too many to count, too many to just come from one village. This was an invasion. This time, they were betting it all. And it looks like they won the first battle.

"Over there! There's movement in the water!" Before she could react, an arrow whizzed past her and landed in the water. As fast as she could, she turned and swam back, trying to get away from their lanterns and weapons as fast as she could. More arrows came flying her way, one piercing itself into her tail.

Niki bit her tongue to keep her scream in and kept swimming. She can't die like this. She won't die. Once she was far enough away, she looked up at the crow that was following her, cawing down to her with worry.

"Tell Phil to gather the others. The guardians are dead. Humans managed to cross the bridge."