The night sky lights up, turning night into day. I felt it before it hit. The air bursts with heat as it flows past all of us. There was mere moments before what came next. I race to an encampment on the ground, and the elevation difference would have to do. The others follow in haste. It shielded our wagons and carriage barely enough. I take one look towards the breach. An emergence blast is the initial shock wave caused by a breach once it has opened. The destruction varies but can level up to one kilometer. Our camp is just far enough away that the blast's damage would cause minor injuries. The flashes proceeding an emergence blast are highly volatile. We were lucky this occurred over the river. Up close exposure is deadly. Breaches forming at ground level are the most dangerous, as they can easily glass a large area. I watch as the tear opens and what I fear comes to pass. Something comes through. There was no more time.
"Get down now!" I said, pulling my horse down onto the cover of the ground.
The blast deafens my ears, and the intense heat that follows would have burned us severely. Mankind knows of the horrors of nuclear weapons, and our saving grace is the very Earth we cower behind, but nothing is on par with the detonation of the event horizon of an emergence blast. This... this was unknown, even after winning the war. We still haven't determined what causes a breach or where. The sheer devastation over heavily populated areas are dire. But, as fast as it came, the initial danger passed. Our worries would be over if that were the only thing to be feared. But I know this isn't over if one of those horrors comes through.
"What was that???" Searl asked.
"That... is a new breach. What we call an emergence blast," I revealed.
"How is this possible??? This can't be happening. It's the war all over again," Cathy stuttered.
Her demeanor is hysterical. I can't blame her. Not a single soul could hide from the horrors of the great breach all those years ago.
"It's going to be okay, Cathy. The tear collapsed right after opening. It wasn't big enough to become stable," I said, trying to reassure her.
"Something came through. I know it—one of those monsters. I can feel it," Cathy mumbled.
She's suffering from emergent dysphoria, an affliction common in females exposed to breach waves. The flashes proceed with a blast event. She's lived through a breach event. Most people don't survive an incursion after a breach. She would have been a child when it happened. I knew the invaders took her mother during the war. There were so many. 'Was she one of the lucky ones or..., Tears were in her eyes?' No one with us knew just how much danger we were in. I have to do something. I'm the only one who has experience fighting this.
"Cathy... you have to get them to the city as fast as possible. I'll stay behind...," I whispered.
"What??? Why are you staying? We have to get to the city," Toria yelled.
"Look out there... it's not over. After all that... we aren't in the clear," I said, standing up.
The burning flames light the night as everything within the blast radius burns so hot the landscape turns to glass. The water in the river flash boiled, and now what is raging in the river from the extreme heat is still present. A perfect flat circle of charred black Earth remains. I estimate a two to three-kilometer zone of damage, as anything outside of ground zero is burning. The others look on in disbelief.
"Is this the technology you spoke of?" Tonia whispered.
"No....," I whispered.
"What now, then? We leave you here?" Sissel said.
"John Thomas knows best about this. I trust him. If he says we must go, then we go," Lucianne whispered.
"What is that?" Lythienne cried.
I look at where she is staring. It's too far for me to see.
"What do you see?" I asked.
"Some beast... animal? I don't know. It's strange looking, almost like a...," she said.
"Like a creature of flesh and bone for skin?" I said.
"Yes...," Lythienne replied.
"Is there any magic you know that can eradicate an object in one attack?" I asked.
"Fire or lightning magic, but to do something as you ask. We'd need more than just Toria, Sissel, and me. It would take all of us here," Tonia said.
"Do what you have to... make that spell work. I'll buy you time. Searl, protect them...," I whispered.
"Is this thing as deadly as you say?" Searl asked.
"If we don't kill it now... no one in the world will get the chance. This one alone can...," I said.
"I understand. Let's go... we don't have a second to lose. There is a place ahead we can use to set this trap. We're going to need you, Sissel. I hear you are quite agile," Searl explained.
"Good luck John," Lucianne said.
She takes the reins of the carriage and prepares to leave. I mount my horse. Suppose it's a good time to give my horse a name. Ria sounds like a good name for a horse. I pat her on the back and head for the creature. 'An Aeon Anathema here in this world. I thought I'd never face one of those monsters again.'
VOUS LISEZ
Domirella: The Surreal Succubi
AventureJohn Thomas is the typical thirty-something nobody. He spent most of his life growing up being the underdog. From his time in elementary to his high school years, he endured the ridicule of bullies or being the ass end of someone's joke. To say he's...
