{pictures}
Morning of day 1
Inside the bustling small town, lay the crows and the ravens, with frozen wings and lecherous eyes, as they devoured corpses of dead goblins that were left to rot in that town square. As the busy bodies dragged their golden mugs in cheer for a town well saved, they drank their tears away, all while a little blonde girl cried for a family lost!
But while the child cried through the fireworks and the cheers, the woman said:
[Don't cry, Rebecca! You're among mighty soldiers and officers!]
[It… won't make a difference…] replied the girl with a mighty fear evident in her eyes
[No,w why do you say that, Rebecca?] asked the woman.
[Because even now, I know another has gone missing! And my name is Triton! {which means newt} Everyone in my family called me that, but my brother…] replied Rebecca
[ok... Triton... Who else went missing?] asked the woman sternly
[By the river in the middle of the forest… I saw a man there by the edge… I don't know what he was doing there, but he had a weird-looking "thing" attached to his face…] replied Triton
[I... see… umm... Sweetie, please wait here for a few moments. I'll be right back] responded the woman, but as she was leaving the room:
[He's dead, you know… even if you find him… his already dead…] said Triton mysteriously
As the woman closed the door behind her, a friendly officer bumped into her, frightening her for a second before saying:
[A! Yo! Kipley! Has the brat given any useful information yet? Oh! Is everything alright? You look like you've seen a ghost there, Kiple.]
[I'm fine… and can you do me a favor? Can you look into any missing person reports… concerning an elderly man…] replied Kipley with slight goosebumps
[Ya… sure if that is what you need… I'm assuming this has something to do with the little girl…] replied the man
[Yes, and in the meantime, I will ask Jonathan to accompany me to the Euphrates River… that said, get Owen to watch Rebecca!] replied Kipley
A few hours later, at the river Euphrates
Among the frozen expanses that awaited the two humans, there stood an icy bridge that extended far and wide, all while the trees that surrounded it remained silent and eerie. But while the snow gave it presence, they fell upon an empty chimney, and a cold home… all for a peer that stretched out lonely and forgotten. Well… forgotten to all but the crows that harmonized their songs.
[So... This is where the kid said she saw the old man correct] asked Jonathan as he looked at Kipley
[Yes, this is the only one in the area that is close enough to the Adams winter cabin. So, this has to be it!] replied Kipley
Not one to waste time, Jonathan quickly approached the old frozen wooden door and knocked aggressively while demanding:
[This is the police, open up! Is there anyone home?]
{no response}
[This is your last warning! Is anyone home? If not, we're going to kick the door in! You've got 1 minute to comply!] demand Jonathan
1 minute later
[Alright, we're coming in!] yelled Jonathan as he burst open the door with a study kick!
As the door opened to an eerie bang! What awaited the investigators' eyes was a deeply disturbing sight! For blackish goop covers everything and anything in the hut! But as they treaded carefully through the alien-like gunk, they found an old man just as Rebecca had said!
[Is this the old man we are looking for?] asked Jonathan
[Yes, but where is the odd "thing" that is supposed to be on his face that Rebecca had described?]
[umm. Is that it? On the floor there, all curled up like a dead spider?] replied Jonathan
[I think so…] replied Kipley as he used the tip of her rifle to lift the creature in fear of touching it herself.
[I think I will tag and bag this… thing… but... What about the man?] asked Kipley
[Well… let's just take him with us… He's only unconscious… I think... anyway, he looks completely fine to me… but we won't know for sure till we take him back to medical to know for sure.] replied Jonathan
But while Kipley was busy bagging the weird dead creature, Jonathan noticed something odd about the chimney by the bed…
[hey! Kipley came here... What do you make of this… is this what I think it is...] asked Jonathan
[Yes, Sir! That is no doubt a tunnel that leads underground!] yelp Kipley in surprise
[this… is not good… not good at all... We might have to warn the city!] replied Jonathan
[Is it that serious, sir? Can't we investigate further?] replied Kipley
[Hey, no! Kipley, are you trying to get us killed? That's obviously a tunnel that leads to a monster nest! I don't know about you! But I, for one, am not about to enter the home of some unknown monster den! That's for the heroes and adventurers to do!] replied Jonathan
[O,k then, sir, what do we do now?] replied Kipley
[We clean up quickly and get the hell out before something in there wakes up!] replied Jonathan worryingly
But while they quickly loaded up the old man into their truck, Jonathan suddenly heard the hut door eerily creak open! While looking back at the door, he said to Kipley:
[GET in the truck, Kipley!] said Jonathan sternly
[umm? Something wrong, Jonathan? Why are you suddenly…] replied Kipley
[Get in the truck now!] interrupted Jonathan as a shimmering blade gutted him in the stomach as he fired a shot into the air!
With blood oozing down his mouth, he stared wide-eyed at the black, hellish monster that held him by the gut! Seeing her partner get gutted in front of her, Kipley fired a few rounds with her sidearm as she made her escape! But while watching the truck get away, Blacky dropped the meat shack that was riddled with holes from him using it as a shield, while he roared!
Seeing the creature roaring through the rearview mirror, she saw dozens more of these alien-like creatures crawl out from on top of the hut and stand by the big one with blades! But while her eyes were distracted, another alien rammed her truck from the side! Screaming, she quickly pulled out the combat knife she had attached to her shoulder and stabbed the alien in the head! As the creature screamed in pain, it spread its acid blood all over the windshield and the door!
Frightened, Kipley rippled back as her hands burned from the acid! Seeing his prey distracted, the alien tried to grasp this moment by delivering the killing bite! But while he was inches away, a metal pipe swung at the knife in his head!
Falling back and snapping a tree, the alien rolled to a stop, as it watched the vehicle speed away! Pissed and hissing, the alien was about to pull the knife out of its head when suddenly Blacky came up behind it and slammed it against a tree!
[You weakling! You let one of them get away!] hissed Blacky
[B…Black… you can't kill me, father will…] hissed back the alien while choking
[shut up! Weakling! UGH! This is what I get for giving the smallest of us a chance to prove himself! Liste, you runt of the litter, you may be right that I can't kill you because of our father, but that doesn't mean I have to keep you in our team! The moment this mission is over, I will stress to him your imminent removal! Thrash like you should just stay in the nest] roared Blacky as he stormed after the fleeing truck
As the runt fell to the ground, he saw the various looks of disappointment from his brood mates in silent content. But while touching the knife that was embedded in his head, he clenched his fist in silent anger.
Meanwhile, back to Kipley
As Kipley drove off like a madman with no door, she said:
[Thank you… Without your help, I would have been…]
[It's alright, focus on driving…] interrupted the coughing old man as he stared at the skin peeling hands of Kipley
But while he was worried about her hands, she looked in the rearview to see a dozen more alien monsters rushing at them! Panicking, she stepped on the gas even if it meant blowing a gasket! But while acid rained from above, she realized that the truck was just too damn heavy to escape back into the city limits!
Seeing the aliens gaining ground by the minute, the old man reached for a rifle and began to fire, as the alien spat out their grumpy substance! But while their truck burned and melted, Kipley yelled into the inner comms for aid!
But while the gyrocopters left their tare mats, the biggest black alien leaped from a tree just like his father once did and landed on top of the vehicle! As he tore into the back part of the truck with his blades, the old man asked:
[Does this hunk of junk have any better weapons?]
[What the hell do you think? This is just a transport vehicle, not a tank!]Replied Kipley, as she tried to swing the vehicle side to side, but never daring to hit the brakes!
But while the bladed monster finished tearing its way in, they heard a scream that sounded awfully like that of a child! Confused and worried, Kipley turned around to see the alien about to slice little Rebecca in two, when the old man suddenly leaped onto the creature, knocking them both off the truck!
Not daring to stop even when the little girl crawls up to her, Kipley simply screamed at the frightened girl:
[What the hell are you doing here? You were supposed to be in the police station!]
Meanwhile, as the two got away:
The old man closed his eyes to announce that he had accepted his fate, only to be confused as to why the aliens kept his blade at his throat but wouldn't dare to actually do the deed! Slowly opening his eyes, he noticed that they did surround him but were in a state of confusion themselves… well, more like they just didn't know how to handle the current situation, and all looked to the big black as if asking for advice on what to do.
But while they stood around confused, a big metal-looking alien abruptly came out from behind them, causing them all to bow their heads! Realizing that this one must be the one in charge, the old man reached for his rifle that was just a few feet away from him, when suddenly a bucket of glowing green acid drenched his arms!
While the man kicked and screamed on the floor, a skinny alien with a glowing head popped out from behind the metal one with a hissing tone!
Seeing the truck speed off into the distance, Breder said:
{Blacky… I'm not mad you let them escape… It's a good thing… for more will come! And when they do… make sure you take as many as you think you can alive… OH! And keep an eye out at the hut, but never use it again, for the human might just simply attack it from a distance… But do destroy the tunnel and make a new one somewhere else close to their city.}
{Oh! And good news! Your brother Collins has already succeeded in capturing his quota from the dwarfs! So, I'll have him support you when the time comes.} continued Breder
But as he walked away, he noticed the "runt" and said:
{You there… make sure you come back to the nest node to heal your injuries! Had that knife gone even a centimeter more, you would have died!}
But while Breder removed his hand from the shoulder of the "runt," he took a slight glimpse at the runt's hand and saw that it was clutching so tightly that his burning blood dripped onto the cold snow below. Not understanding why the "runt" was so upset by his kind words, Breder walked away into the snowy storm that had just begun to brew.