Time travel. It was a topic that never faded from the dreams of the people. The ability to step back and fix your mistakes. To change things for the better. To live without regret. For Estile there had been many times she wanted to go back, to do things differently. Over the many, many years, she and the other Mercenaries had lost countless friends. Whether it was a fault they could have prevented or simply from time, it was painful. With how long they had existed, Estile and her companions had made too many mistakes to count. But above all that she had ever experienced, Estile wished she could turn back time and reset. The fog never stopped. Everything was clouded in a hazy mist that went as far as the eye could see and with it was the same scene repeated over and over again. Towns turned to blood. The once living now torn apart or turned into the very thing that was responsible.
Aside from few places most the world was mixed. The races with the guidance of the Church of the Sleeping God harmonized and existed together. The dozens of wars they had fought in to secure that life. Yet now that same peaceful fact lead to their downfall. As Estile ran through the air she only had one goal and that was to save her children but to those she passed, the people below her who ran in panic, they had nothing. The end of the world and she had caused it.
Estile forced her frustrated tears away and launched herself faster. There was no turning back time but there was a slight hope to preserve what they had built. The distance to the Evergarden Lodge and the Holy City was far. Riften who had been the fastest among them could make the journey in two hours, for Estile it was more than twice that. Despite giving it her all, every passing second whittled away her hopes and in the end she could only pray to a now dead God that her children and family were safe.
Finally her surrounds began to settle into the familiar mountain peaks and valleys. Although covered in fog it was still where she called home. Estile did not slow down until the very end and collided into the yard heaving masses of the Earth. In the next instance she turned and ran straight inside. The signs of violence and panic where clear. Flipped tables, smashed glass, the walls and floor torn by heaving claws and desperate blades. Her eyes froze on a collapsed body she called daughter.
"Hara...," Estile gasped and almost collapsed to her knees. The half ogre girl had been left on the battlefield years ago and adopted by their family. Her skin pale beyond life and clothing marred in blood. "No...." with gentle hands Estile patted the girl's head. Though no longer a girl and grown, to Estile she was still that cheeky, haughty child they had raised.
As Estile looked down the corridor she could only cry as more and more of the family she knew laid in their final moments. There was no time for a proper burial or goodbye as she quickly realised that the youngest, the children were nowhere to be seen. A sudden loud shatter resounded causing her senses to sharpen ten-fold. What followed was a panicked scream and a cry for help. Not caring about wood or stone, Estile tore through the house and straight towards the outside workshop where the sound had come from.
Demons. Dozens of demons surrounded the building clawing at a shimmering barrier that looked to be rapidly weakening. Like cracking glass another layer broke apart and from within murmuring tears.
Estile reacted in the only way she could. With a swing of her sword the demons were cut apart. Their black bodies burst into thick ooze that quickly vanished into the earth leaving almost no trace they were there at all.
"No!" the shout didn't come from her but the young man within the barrier. His eyes widened in despair as he saw the demons vanish. Clenched teeth and eyes filled with frustration flashed to the culprit only for them to fade away as he realised who had saved them. "Mum?"
"Callus...," Estile said his name quietly. "You did well holding on for so long."
He fell to his knees beyond exhausted and cried, "No... I failed. I couldn't save them! They were- they were.... Maxi... Ren... Teny.... I couldn't...."
Estile slowly approached him and wrapped her hands around him, "I'm sorry." Like the boy in her arms a hole had opened in her heart. The demons she had slain were without doubt members of her family but with the world as it was, turning them back was something that she couldn't do even if it was possible. "Wipe your tears. You need to leave."
Callus brushed his eyes and stood, "Okay. Let's go." He turned back and opened the thick doors he had been protecting. Inside fourteen young faces stared back and the moment they saw Estile they shouted in relief immediately clinging to her with tear filled faces.
"It's okay, I'm here now," she calmed them down and smiled but couldn't help note that several of them were gone. All that remained where those that were at least half human... the others among the demons she had slain.
"Hara and the others gave us enough time to hide in the workshop," Callus stared towards the lodge. "Are they...?"
Estile simply nodded, "They did their best." With that she stepped past the children and into the workshop pulling out several tools and prepared their carriage. The children helped as much as they could and within several minutes the carriage was ready and fully equipped to leave. Instead of a horse however, a large softly glowing boulder stood waiting to be commanded.
As the children piled inside and Callus took to the front seat Estile stayed behind.
"You're not coming with us?" Callus looked to her heavily, wanting her to join them.
"I need to fix things...," she gently smiled to him.
"But-,"
"Callus when you left us all those years ago you said you'd become someone who could protect others. You've done that. You're ready and we're all proud of you." With tender care she patted his head. "Now it's your job to lead your siblings to safety." She took a map from her pocket and handed it to him, "North of the Holy City is where the others are. It's a long journey. Stay away from any towns and keep to quiet roads."
"But the demons. I could barely hold off three, if there are more then-."
"I'll handle the demons," Estile spoke firmly. "Or at least most of them. If anyone and I mean anyone threatens you, don't hesitate. Desperate times cause people to do desperate things."
He responded with a slow nod and gripped his fists, "I understand."
"Good, now take this to protect yourself," she hefted a box onto the carriage and passed him a full metal helmet.
"It's a bit big isn't it?" Callus held the helmet against his head, though not a small man the armour was made for someone much bigger.
"It's one size fits all," Estile smiled once more and took a step back. Her eyes lingered to the carriage and the children who peeked from it. "Now go. I'll clear the way."
Callus took a deep breath to still his shaking hands and looked to his mother expressing much more than words could ever show, "Good bye." With the reigns in hand the carriage heaved forward as the boulder hummed and rolled away.
Out of sight Estile shivered and clutched herself. Despite all her strong words there was no changing the fact that she had just killed people she loved, no matter what form they were in. With a heavy heart she shook herself knowing that it wouldn't be the last time either.
"Stay strong Estile," she murmured to herself and leapt into the sky.
*
A minute later in the open plains a white haired girl landed. The surrounding scenery covered in dense fog began to expand as bellows of power radiated from the girl. Like a beating heart each wave pushed back the fog creating a flow of pulsing wind. Estile hid nothing and declared her intent to the world. It wasn't long before the world answered. From the edges of her vision they slowly approached rising from the soil. Demons. Deformed, many of them could barely stand upright whether it was on two limbs or more. Their black bodies continued to drip ooze to the ground leaking a soft hiss as it dissolved the grass beneath. Where they had come from was impossible to tell. Some had come from far away, other from close by but their intention was clear, to devour the presence that had summoned them.
"Not enough," Estile counted the several hundred demons that lingered around her. There were not just hundreds of demons, there would be millions. She raised her sword and roared, "Not enough! Come to me! We were wrong. We screwed up and now everyone paid for it! So come and get me!" Her voice softened, "Let's leave this world together."
Like that they charged and the earth itself heaved. A single white against endless darkness all of which was shrouded by fog. It was a performance like no other and as time went on it only became more so. Like Estile had wanted the demons continued to pool towards her. There seemed to be no limit to the distance they could travel as the population soon outmatched the local area. Still however she met them and with each stroke of her sword the demons fell. An hour, two hours... for Estile time didn't matter as it blended into indistinction. Each minute felt like so much more yet after so many it felt like none at all. Where at first she carried herself unblemished the continued demons began to sap away at her strength. A scratch here, a nick there, the wounds healed but the energy lost remained.
Anyone who saw her would have believed she had already gone beyond her limits. For Kyle whose consciousness returned he couldn't help but stare in silence. When would it end? How many demons had she already slain? Then against expectations Estile flourished herself holding her blade to the sky.
"I hereby claim my inheritance!" the words rang out across the plains and with it the ground below shone. It was only then that Kyle realised that what had seemed like maniacal combat was carefully dictated work. A circuit of magic larger than he had ever seen before had been drawn throughout the fields and now with Estile at its centre it activated. In the blink of an eye suddenly everything was white. The fog, the grass, the trees and even the earth was gone. All replaced by a boundless white and within it the demons marred the world like a black spun infection.
Estile grinned. Her tired expression rejuvenated, "This is it." Once more she tackled the demons in a desperate fury. At first Kyle thought she had sealed herself to escape but it was the opposite. The demons continued to enter but now that they had, there was no way to exit. More than ever they appeared in droves, the strange circuit and world pulled them towards her. What she had said before was true. She'd take care of the demons. How many thousands upon thousands entered and how many more would, Kyle could only watch.
The hours became days as time seemed to flash by. The once white world was now shifted to two distinct colours. Below black, the ground unable to be seen through the mass of their writhing bodies, and above white, the sky still clear. Estile's wounds no longer healed. A single arm dangled against her side useless. Stains of black and red tarnished her skin. The scratches and cuts were countless. It had started long before as only the most grievous wounds healed themselves and now even that couldn't be done. Estile was truly on her last breaths.
"No...," it was Kyle's voice that called out. "No!" He refused to believe that this was the end of her tale. That this was the world that lead to his. She didn't deserve that, no one did. Everything he had dreamed of was gone. The cities, the people, everything had become nothing more than land within the fog and the demons still reigned. It wasn't fair. All they had wanted was to save those they loved, the people they swore to protect and yet this was the end?
"Estile!" he yelled out again and again trying to claw his way towards her but in that world he didn't exist. He could only watch from above as Estile fell to her knees and the demons launched towards her. There was nothing left she could do and as if to send her off the darkness surged. A mouth formed, its teeth made from chilling eyes sharpened to fangs. The monstrosity expanded all around the white haired girl and with a sudden snap it was over.