Solastera's floor was now a mosaic of rubble and inert bodies. The initial fury of Guyel's invasion had subsided, replaced by a heavy silence, interrupted only by the moans of the wounded and the crackling away from small fires.
Cale watched the scenery, his mind a whirlwind. Guyel's words, the veiled threat over a boy, echoed in his thoughts. What did that cross-creed puppy really want?
Alinys, with her sword still in hand, looked around with the tension of those who seek for threats. Aries and Yvaine, though exhausted by the fight, kept alert, sweeping the surroundings in search of any remaining creature. Mikhal, in turn, displayed an enigmatic smile, his attention divided between the devastation and the cold aura that Cale emanated.
"I don't think that was the end" Mikhal muttered, breaking the silence "I feel like some of your hounds are still out here, looking for more confusion."
"A boy" Cale growled, the anger bubbling.
He knew very well that he had been threatened by Guyel. He understood that he was too weak to face him, even though he now had an ability. However, Cale would not let him do what he wanted. Realizing the confusion in those four pairs of eyes, Cale raised his head under the hood.
"Guyel is after a boy."
"How do you know?" Alinys inquired.
"While you were fighting, he made a point of giving his compliments" Cale got up, banging the sand on his clothes "I can tell the details later, but first we need to find out who is and—"
Before Cale could ponder, a grave roar echoed from the alleys further on. It was a sound different from the earlier grunts, more dense, more imposing, like a roar of a moving mountain. Following closely, the sound of children crying and supplications muffled.
"Ha... It seems that we have someone big around here too" he warned, facing the direction where the sound was coming from "Just his presence is enough to know that we need to use a great force."
"So let's not waste time" Alinys ordered and looked at the twin "Stay here, away from danger. And if you see anything, scream."
"Entering the role of damsel in distress... this will be easy."
The group moved with speed, running through the ruins. Cale watched them with folded arms and growing frustration. The last thing he would do would be to sit still watching that fight.
Well, it would certainly make the most difficult with your Theiodesmos. Cale would take the easy part of the problem: looking for a victim. And if Cale were unlucky enough to run into an enemy, at least he would have the chance to test his skill a little more.
In a small square, Cale found only rubble. In its center, a gigantic creature, covered with bony plates and red eyes full of cruelty, cornered a group of frightened civilians. It was not only large, but had a natural armor formed by shells and thorns that seemed to emerge from the body itself.
Alinys and the others arrived in time to save the survivors, attracting the big guy's attention. Cale ignored the fight just to pass away from the square and observe all around the destroyed buildings and houses as a trail.
"Okay... what did he say? A boy? Right... let's pretend that it will be easy to find a boy among the village's survivors."
That's right... he should start looking for the survivors. Looking around, it was possible to see small groups trapped hidden in each corner. Some tried to hide behind stones, others behind broken walls... Others peeked from inside houses.
It would be difficult, isn't it?
An explosion made the ground shake, and more rubble fell on the ground. Cale hid behind half a wall, watching the battlefield. Alinys and Aries had no mercy in their synchronized blows. And with Yvaine and Mikhal's help to rescue the surviving humans, created a group work worthy of an epic.
"So that's how a group of gods work..." murmured with a bitter tone.
That was right. Yvaine was a goddess... Aries a guardian. He didn't know about Alinys and Mikhal, but their strength was clear. It was such a shocking and suffocating scene. Their presence was very intense.
How jealous.
Clenching his fists, Cale crouched down to avoid being seen when he saw more creatures passing by. Just like him, those creatures seemed to take advantage of the distraction of the quartet to go south of the central square.
"A bunch of creatures going somewhere other than the big one... Ha, my chance to follow them? The maiden will put herself in danger, little sister."
Cale came out of his hiding place and continued to follow the creatures with caution. Guyel's voice tormented him, but also propelled him. A boy. Where the hell would a boy be in such terror? He advanced cautiously, his senses sharpened by tension.
Then he heard. A muffled cry, almost a groan, coming from a partially destroyed house.
"Damn, it's your fault, you heretic!!" heard someone say.
Cale threw himself behind a house, watching from afar a group of people around something. But what the hell was going on?
"These monsters are here because of you, you damned heretic! You brought misfortune to all!"
"Look at all this blood!! Are you happy to have brought it?!"
"I didn't... I did nothing... hah!"
Stretching his neck, Cale widened his eyes when he saw that there was a boy in the middle of the confusion. A shrunken child covering his face when the collar of his tunic was pulled.
"You heretic rascal!"
Cale's amazement deepened when he saw such violence against a mere child. He clenched his fingers in trembling fists, feeling his legs crave to run to them and prevent such brutality from continuing. However, even before Cale took action, a man threw the boy into the street, getting on the creatures' radar.
The boy fell to his knees on the dusty floor, head down and shoulders shaking in silent hiccups.
"Oh, damn" Cale muttered when he saw the creatures sniffing the air and looking at the boy.
A guttural sound sprouted from one of them, a disgusting click of misshapen jaw opening. The people, now terrified with the approach of the monster they had themselves invoked, dispersed in panic, abandoning the child.
The terror stamped on the face of the boy moved deeply with Cale. He had already been in his place, no?
Cale did not think. He had no time. The anger burst in his chest like a hot arrow.
A step further and the chaotic presence of the monster brought cowardice in Cale. However, he took another firm step, clenching fists and teeth, the cold purple eyes only aiming at his target. By a push, Cale ran enough when he saw the creature raise its huge hands for a direct and painful attack on the boy.
The boy covered his head and shrunk to the ground waiting for his own end. Waiting for pain and a bloody end, only choked grunts came.
"Uh..." the boy raised his head timidly, the innocent eyes full of tears and dread reared up to see the back of a guy wearing a cape and extending his hand against the creature.
A purple and pulsating aura began to emanate from Cale, not as a light, but as a vacuum that consumed everything. Guyel's creature, a being of pure terror and destruction, stopped. His eyes flashed red in confusion, then in dread.
The creature's flesh began to shrink, wrinkle, as if being sucked out of his body in seconds. Dark threads, almost ethereal, seemed to flow from their pores and twist in the air, flowing directly into Cale.
He roared, a guttural sound of agony and misunderstanding. The creature tried to move, but his limbs failed, his strength was exhausted. Cale did not have to touch him. He was the center of an invisible suction, a primordial force that emptied life.
Even his eyes shone with an almost divine control, an analytical coldness that felt not pleasure in pain but in the effectiveness of power.
When the creature finally collapsed into a pile of wrinkled skin and bones, dissolving in dust, silence returned.
"Interesting" muttered Cale staring at his own hand "Now, to the main problem..."
The boy was crouching on the floor when Cale turned. But the surprise appeared on his face when he saw the purple eyes shining in contrast with the dawn in the background. The hoarse voice of the demigod sounded like music.
"So, it was you I was looking for."
Cale reached out his hand, a slow and unexpected gesture. The boy hesitated, still gazing at the demigod. Realizing that an answer was expected, the boy held Cale's hand and felt a cold and comforting chill enveloping him.
It was at this moment that the first voices were heard.
"There! Where is the monster?" one of the civilians, who had earlier assaulted the boy, shouted, returning cautiously to the street. He saw Cale with the boy, then the remains of the creature "It was him! He did it! That heretic!"
Panic and anger spread quickly among the few survivors who began to emerge from their hiding places. They did not see the fight, only the result.
"It's because of this boy that the monsters came! He brought disgrace to us!"
Cale made a bitter face. Hadn't he heard something similar when was condemned five hundred years ago? The anger Cale felt was no longer for cowardice, but for stupidity and cruelty of others.
Cale pulled the hood to cover his face. He needed no more trouble than what he created. But his luck seemed to shine with the sun after the storm.
"Civilians who survived please gather in the central temple! The monsters were decimated by the goddess of prophecies! The gods did not abandon us!"
"Hm... it seems they ended up on their side" Cale murmured to himself.
Some survivors actually went to the central square, but there were some who still stared at a boy in their biased eyes. The child just grabbed Cale's hand and hid behind him, fearing another wave of anger.
"Should I eliminate them?" Cale pondered coldly.
It was then that Mikhal appeared, walking quietly among the others along with Yvaine. Yvaine's divine presence attracted the eyes of all, making Mikhal go unnoticed.
"Goddess!"
"May Keonna have mercy on us, oh goddess!"
Yvaine looked sadly at the surviving civilians, and for a brief moment stared at her master. Cale just moved his hand in a sloppy sign, but she understood that he wanted those people further away.
"Please return to the temple. We need everyone to gather safely so that supplies can be distributed once help arrives..."
"Oh, thanks to Keonna!"
Once free of the survivors, Mikhal stopped in front of Cale and stared at the child silently. The colored eyes fell on the boy's neck, where the birthmark revealed the five yellow stars. An enigmatic smile appeared on his face as Mikhal crouched in front of the boy.
"Well... it seems we have a guest in the land of the god of life."