It was horrifying.
How could it not be? The skies were bright with the flames and smokes of explosions, scattered scraps of metal and wood lie across the fields and the earth is painted with crimson blood and dead bodies of both men and women dawning vibrant green of the Drakkethien Kingdom. My Kingdom.
The enemy – Brutal creatures that should've only existed in the horror stories parents told their children. Creatures covered in dark red armour that were hellbent with the mission to eliminate all who cross their paths and conquer any land they come across.
Despite being almost fatally injured, I managed to get to the opening of the mountains and slip in unnoticed, collapsing to my knees as I watched the remaining soldiers that were scattered across the field, either fleeing for their lives or hiding under the scraps and bodies of those that fell. Retaliation was futile. The enemy's victory was inevitable.
I tried to turn away, but my neck betrayed me. I just laid there and watched as the wretched beasts slaughtered and devastated the remainder of my colleagues, while my vision blurred.
I wanted to do something, anything that could help, but I just couldn't.
'Even if I wasn't beaten up, what could I do? I'm bleeding out. Can't see straight…What's the use? I'm going to die…'
"Quite the tragedy, isn't it?" A silken voice whispered, interrupting my musings. I tried to find whoever or whatever was speaking but everything around me was blurred.
It soon felt like frost was slithering up my left arm as the voice, this time no longer a whisper, spoke again, "I can almost imagine the galactic headline: Kingdom Destroyed by Beasts; More Soon to Follow."
I shook my head in challenge, wincing, "You're wrong!"
The voice let out a low, breathy laugh in my ear, "Dinnea flatter yourself with such blatant lies." I flinched at the voice's cold tone and words before it spoke again, "Let's face it lassie, you, your friends, family, paramours, basically everything you have ever held dearly will perish and there won't be anyone in your kingdom or the next to stop it."
I turned to the direction of the voice, only to see the shadowy figure of a horned and winged cat. It's shadowy face only visible due to two dim but glowing, electric blue eyes.
"If you disagree, look at the battlefield lass. Your very best are dead, dying or attempting to flee. Your force's magic, weaponry and armour are as useless as a newborn baby, and you… you are about to be knocking on the death gods' door…."
I look back at the battle field and my wounds, then at the cat, "Way to rub salt in my wounds."
The cat's voice took a charming, convincing tone, ignoring my remark, "Luckily for you, I can fix that. I can help you fight."
It seemed impossible but I needed to know, "How?"
The cat's dark, electric blue eyes glowed brighter, sparks of lightning flickering in them and suddenly there was no pain, dizziness, blur or bloody coughs. I stared in shock at my new working condition, "My abilities don't stop at healing. If you want the ability to save your kingdom, all you need to do is help me afterwards."
A dark blue screen showing what looked like the terms of a contact and a pen appeared in front of me, "Just sign on the dotted line and I will grant you the privilege of my powers and the ability to wipe them all out."
Under normal circumstances, I would have read the contract and weighed in my options a bit more, but I was out of time, and the horde seemed to be marching onwards. The cat was right; everything I ever cared for was in danger, eternal damnation be damned. So, I signed it.
Almost immediately after the screen and pen disappeared, my right shoulder burned briefly, almost as if I was being branded. I couldn't see what it was, I didn't have the time to bother checking it as the cat hopped onto my shoulder and urged me to get up before disappearing.
I stood up and walked towards the entrance, into the battlefield I fled mere minutes ago.
The moment I stepped into fray; I could feel their unsettling gazes on me. Instead of rushing at me with ruthless flurries of slashes and blunt blows, the beasts just stared at me, only moving to make a pathway for a much larger creature.
Unlike the majority of beasts, this one carried itself with a sort of importance, that made it stand out almost as much as the sand red armour covering its large bulky body. It was also one of the few beasts to carry a weapon, this one carrying a damaged claymore.
It moved slowly towards me dragging that giant, malformed claymore across the ground, leaving a trail of yellow ooze. Just before it could reach me, a bolt of dark blue lightning struck, blinding the creatures and myself. As the attack resided the beast that once towered me and the ones surrounding me were nothing but charred husks, and in my hand was a cool, dark longsword, brimming with electricity.
The spectacle managed to gain the attention of all the other monsters, causing them to charge without thought; I did the same. They slashed with their weapons, metal scraps, and claws; I slashed back, unbothered and unaffected. They fell to the ground, their bodies and limbs charred, their oily blood joining the red stains of my comrades', while I stood, ready for more.
I couldn't stop, wouldn't stop, until every single beast was dead.
The process was shorter than I expected but, in the end, I achieved the unthinkable; I killed an entire army, with the help of a demonic cat, but still. I felt a mixt of emotions; happiness, relief, pride but my victory short lived when an eery voice echoed through the field of corpses.
"Quite impressive." I turned around to find the owner of the voice, and there in blood and ash a human figure strode towards us.
He sported a tarnished set of armour and a damaged cape, I guess he decided his face wasn't worth protecting since his helmet was strapped to his chest with a leather belt. As he got closer, I could see his features clearly. He looked around my height and age, with long, flowing, brown hair. He would have been nice to look at, if not for the grey skin, the dark green veins covering most of his face, and his black sclera and dark golden irises.
"It's quite rare to see soldier with that much power…but then again it's not yours," I gripped my weapon tight as I observed myself in the bool of blood, there was nothing different. He proceeded to move closer, only stopping when a volt of lightning stuck the ground between us. He stared at my neck and smiled in conclusion.
He reached towards the inside of his cape and I had the sword's tip by his throat and he just smiled calmly, "I mean you no harm."
I moved the blade towards the ground, still ready to strike, but let him grab a silver, feathered wing branded, black flask. The flask's presence seemed to intrigue the cat who materialised back on my shoulder.
The man opened the flask and from it rose a small, white orb. The cat glided towards it, analysing it before consuming it.
Like a dying plant finally receiving water the cat slowly transformed. It became less shadowy and more defined, like a hologram, and it started to gain an array of blue lightning bolts on its wings and horns. It then hopped onto my shoulder; it still had no weight to it but it felt less cold, almost comforting.
The man stared at the cat in curiosity, "Most curious…Your companion is certainly powerful…A price will need to be paid to sustain that power…" Well yeah Saer Obvious, I just made a contract with a demon. I'm desperate not stupid….Okay…maybe I am a bit stupid but not that stupid.
Before I could react, he put the flask in my free hand and leaned in to whisper in my ear, "A great catastrophe is on its way. Many consequences will follow, so do try to be careful."
His attention was now towards the cat, "Keep her safe."
And with that said he stepped away, ash and dirt swirling around him as he vanished amongst the debris.
We were left in an unsettling silence until the cat broke it, "Let's leave before more freaks show up."
I couldn't agree more.