Origins (Book 4 of Alfireán age)

The Sky's Furry

"You're right, let's move!" Valarinnia declared, leaping from the rooftop. She dived downwards, then rocketed through the air. Once more, ancient, rusted buildings whizzed past as she sped through the streets. Moments later, the dazzling lights of the city square burst into view.

"Time's up!" a voice boomed over the tops of the ancient buildings. "First on the menu is..."

Valarinnia tuned out the voice and pushed herself to move faster.

"No, don't charge in!" Zaphaniea warned, just as the buildings gave way to reveal thousands of people gathered in the square.

Seeing the sheer amount of people, Valarinnia curved her flight path and slammed into the ground. Zaphaniea was right; charging in could get them and hundreds of innocents killed, she thought, scanning the open plaza.

Black-armored soldiers formed a thin barrier around thousands of women and children. Large screens on the surrounding buildings displayed three blood oaths with their arms outstretched and black mist pouring out of their palms towards a strong-looking woman and a little girl clinging to her leg.

"You monster!" the woman screamed, throwing up a shield.

One of the blood oaths cackled as more mist flowed towards her. The crowd seemed on the verge of charging at the blood oaths in rage. However, one of the blood oaths lazily waved his hand in a backhanded slap. The surrounding screens showed a wall of force slamming into the people, driving them back.

"Don't move, or you'll be next!" shouted the blood oath. The dark mist reached out, and the woman's shield cracked and shattered. Valarinnia frantically scanned the square for the blood oaths, but they were nowhere to be seen!

"STOP!" Rex's voice suddenly thundered, shattering windows and screens alike. The sound wave scattered the princess's energy, pushing her to the side. Regathering herself, Rinnia turned her gaze in the direction Rex had shouted. His voice had tossed soldiers and citizens alike, then crashed into the black mist, dispersing it and pushing the menacing blood oaths back.

An eerie silence settled over the plaza, and all eyes turned towards them.

"Well, who do we have here?" one of the blood oaths said, his voice amplified by some spell or other, as he rubbed his left thumb against his right palm.

"They're the ones Vackzilian warned us about," a familiar voice roared from the other end of the plaza. Rinnia turned towards the voice, but her view was obstructed by a sea of people.

"Move!" the voice shouted angrily, and the people split like the Red Sea, revealing the shirtless blood oath Alf had blown away earlier. The man clutched his right shoulder with his left hand, and his right arm dangled at his side, as though broken.

"What?" one of the other blood oaths called to him.

"These intruders are the ones Vackzilian warned us about," the shirtless man called back as he strode through the crowd with a slight limp. Both soldiers and civilians pulled back, giving him a wide berth.

"That's impossible. They're supposed to be in Merinia!"

"Zaphaniea, what do we do?" Alf asked out of the corner of his mouth as the blood oaths shouted at each other.

"I don't know how they got here," the shirtless one spat back. "But the large one nearly finished me off in a single attack. You saw what he did to the others who were with the Fallen One."

"I don't know!" Zaphaniea hissed back. "There are too many people and variables. I can't find a future where us attacking doesn't result in hundreds of innocent people dying."