The carnage in front of me was a wake up call. Up until now I hadn't seen the chaos caused by fiends. Seeing Union city in flames made the fear I had buried deep inside erupt. Nothing had prepared me for this. The helicopter door closed shut behind me further cementing my reality.
"They can't do this to us" said a short burly man. He was sweating and glancing around nervously. He pointed a finger at Cassian, "This ain't right. There has to be a law against this".
Cassian glanced back, his visor glowing menacingly. The flames burning in the distance added an eerie glow to his black combat suit. When he spoke his voice was distorted and darker "The law stopped protecting you when you got that illegal infusion. This is what the law dictates happens to your ilk."
The man shook his head and said "I still have some basic human r-"
Cassian pulled out his gun and aimed it at him " I don't have time for this. It's either you die by my hand or fighting a fiend. Choose". The man weighed his options and lowered his head. Cassian took that as a surrender "They breached through the North wall. You guys head west and east to get civilians to safety in the bunkers. Any deserters will be hunted down and killed" without wasting a moment he took off into the direction of the North district.
We stood there for a few minutes unsure what to do until Lach shook me "Come on let's go" he gestured west. I shook myself and followed him. They were some reluctant muttering behind then we heard footsteps behind us.
"You guys don't seem like cowards. Best to ally yourself with dependable people" said the biggest of the three. He was bold, late thirties from my estimation. Had a big axe on his back. The second was a blonde with a military buzz cut. Wrinkles lined his face. His green eyes were cold as he surveyed the environment. He tightened his grip on his assault rifle. The last was a lanky man with bushy hair. He was squinting his eyes constantly as if he was short sighted.
Lach glanced at them "Sure we're heading west, seems the safest bet." he had more experience so I was inclined to follow his lead. We introduced ourselves as we walked. Their names where Owen, Erwin and Lucas. We encountered no fiends in the park much to my relief. We entered the maze of skyscrapers and roads. Cars we crushed and fuming, glass shattered. The only light was from the fires and a flickering light here and there. Lach took lead with bow staff in hand. I was to his left glancing around nervously. I flinched inwardly at any sound we heard. I prayed I wasn't letting it show.
"I see movement" whispered Erwin. His gun was pointed to Lachs' right. We shifted our attention to the building he was aiming at. I was about to tell him he was imagining it when two slits of red eyes revealed themselves. It was hiding in the shadows cast by the buildings and I was amazed that Erwin even managed to see it. Slowly it crawled out of hiding. It was a big creature. Long mouth with it's teeth out like that of a crocodile. It had sharp long fins on it's back. The skin was dark and leathery. It's front legs were as big as a man. Could probably crush one easily. Seeing a fiend for the first time made my blood go cold. I had never felt such fear in my life. My feet seemed glued to the ground as I watched it leap down to ground level and charge at us with a roar. Erwin opened fire. Lach pushed me away. I slammed into a nearby wall.
Owen charged at it his battle axe in hand and swung down it's head with a sickening crunch. He kicked at it to free his axe from it's skull while Erwin reloaded. Lach circled it slowly as Owen kept it distracted. Lach snapped his fingers and a low hum thrummed in the air. The fiend turned it's gaze towards him and charged. He jumped out of it's path at the last second dodging it's teeth by mere inches. He struck it's hind leg with his bow staff which caused it to crush into the ground. Before it could get up he leapt into the air and down on it's head. He struck it with his staff three more times. I was about to congratulate them when the buzzing in my head came back. Moving on pure instinct I pushed myself off the wall I was leaning in just in time.
A fiend just like the one we had killed smashed the wall into pieces. It growled in frustration as it stood on it's hind legs and roared. Similar roars like it echoed in the distance. The pack was here. Blood pumping I took out my sword and tightened my grip on the handle. My hands were shaking so badly I feared I would drop it.
"This is real Osric. One move and you're dead. Trust your instincts." Said Lach. We huddled back to back against the fiends as they surrounded us. They were four in total. The one that failed to kill me charged at me. I focused on my breathing, on my heart to. I shut out my thoughts of running and hiding and focused on my body. Taking out Ignis, I aimed it the fiend and pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through the fiends' fright arm.
I went for a slash at it's abdomen while it was distracted by the pain. It caught my sword in it's left arm and with it's right slammed me into the ground. The air rushed out of my lungs. A claw sunk into my left shoulder and I howled in pain. It growled at me and began tightening it's grip on me. It was crushing me. My body was straining under it's grip and I was thankful for being infused for I would have been turned into a chunk of meat sooner. Through the haze of pain I grabbed the Ignis at the same time it's teeth were grazing my cheek and pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through it's neck and brain. Thanks to their regeneration being the slowest it would not survive an injury of this magnitude. I tilted my head dodging it's mouth as it slumped forward. The thing was too heavy for me to lift on my own so had to I push myself from underneath it.
My left shoulder was a dull throb of pain. "That's one way to do it" said Erwin as he helped to my feet "Almost died there" the others had finished killing the other fiends and were coming to check up on me.
"How bad is it?" Asked Owen.
"I'll survive" I groaned.
Lucas glanced at the wound "It's not fatal so, you'll heal in minutes right?"
I shook my head "I can't regenerate"
They gave me confused stares as I picked up my sword. Carefully I placed on my back being mindful of my shoulder. I had killed my first fiend and almost died while doing it. I looked at the fiend I had killed to confirm that it was dead. Fear still gripped me even though I had managed to kill it.
"You did good for your first time." said Lach.
"I froze up when they appeared"
"Everyone freezes up on their first time. Some pay for that with their lives, you didn't. Now you're all the more stronger" said Owen. Lach gave me a small nod in acknowledgement. A screech cut the moment short. We all tensed.
I held Ignis tighter. The night was just beginning.