Cataclysm Unleashed - Chapter 1 - Part 1

The sound of drums, red lanterns lighting the busy market. The petals from the cherry blossom trees was drifting through the air. It was the annual festival in honour of the guardians, whom protected a gigantic tree. The village and the guardians made a pact, while the village provided food and water the guardians kept the whole forest surrounding the tree clear of monsters. Today was an annual festival to celebrate the promise. Each year one of the thirteen guardians would appear to give it’s blessings to the village. The path to the altar was entirely empty, the villagers waiting for the guardian to arrive and to make way for the guardian.

Aniasu ran along the large row of people, hoping to find a spot where he could catch a glimpse of this year’s visitor. He squeezed between the crowd trying to get in front. He got thrown away by angry bystanders. “Get lost kid, go find a different spot. No pushing.” One of them scolded at him. “I’m not a kid!” He answered angrily. The excitement of the crowd rose as the guardian appeared from the forest. It was a man in elegant garment. Walking along the path gracefully. Aniasu couldn’t get a glimpse of the man. Due to the crowd blocking the vision. He was entirely in the back of the crowd. He sighed in disappointment. “Oh well, maybe I can get a glimpse when he leaves.” Aniasu admired the guardians. He considered them as heroes. He himself wanted to be a hero one day. But all everyone did was laugh at him and make him do petty tasks. Out of boredom, he looked at the large tree in the distance. Light dots floated the tree, giving it the beautiful sight it showed every night. He could stare at it for hours.

Suddenly, a shockwave made the forest tremble, a scream filled the air, Aniasu jumped in surprise. In terror he looked at the tree which suddenly split in two falling apart. The dots of light lifted up in the sky and scattered like shooting stars across the land. He wasn’t the only one who noticed the commotion, many people were screaming and pointing at the tree. Before he knew it he ran into the forest heading towards the tree. ‘What the heck’ he thought. ‘Why is this happening?’ He jumped and climbed over various bushes and logs blocking his way. Until he reached a horrible sight. The tree had split in two vertically. The silhouette of a deformed human seemed to be sobbing. Aniasu looked around, the bodies of slain humans and demons scattered around the area. He hesitated for a moment, and then spoke up. “What happened here?” He asked. The silhouette stopped crying, looking his way. A pair of glowing yellow eyes staring his way. “I… I d-didn’t --” She spoke up. The noise of a yelling crowd paused her. Making her crawl backwards in fear. “What the heck is that thing!?” “It must have destroyed Yleviar!” “It’s one of the demons! Get it!” Most of the crowd carried pitchforks or other make-shift weapons. The silhouette scrambled to its feet to make a run for it. “It’s trying to escape! Don’t let it get away!” With battle cries the villagers ran after whatever that thing was.

Aniasu just stood there. Confused. “Are you alright?” A sad voice cried behind him. Aniasu turned around. It appeared to be the guardian that visited the festival. “I’m fine.” The boy answered. “How could this happen…” The guardian continued, resting his hand on the remains of the large tree. “Boy, what is your name.” The man asked. “Oh! Err… It’s Aniasu.” The boy answered surprised. “I see… Aniasu, did you happen to find out whatever happened here?” Aniasu’s heart raced, the image of the silhouette staring at him. “I… Think I was about to tell. But the villagers scared it away before it could answer.” “I see…” With that the guardian left to follow the rest of the crowd, hopefully making sure they won’t kill the monster so they could get information out of it. He looked around the area. It looked like a terrible battle happened. He decided to gather the dead guardians, presuming there would be twelve dead human bodies. It was hard to recognize them, as some were torn apart and there were heaps of dead demons. The boy tried not to throw up when he realized saw internal organs scattered around. “Alright… Let’s just … Collect all parts and count the casualties.” With difficulty he gathered his courage to drag the bodies and line them up. Trying to find out which arm belonged to whom. It took a long time and a lot of choking before he actually got all the bodies together, and then he realized one must be missing. He looked around some more, but couldn't find the last one. He decided to look through the piles of demons to see if the last body was underneath them.

“I don’t think I can handle it anymore…” The creature whispered to itself hiding in a cave behind a waterfall. ‘So tired of running.’ The cave was rather dark, most of the light covered by the waterfall, sometimes the moonlight flickered through the water curtain. The creature looked in a small pond of water, where it’s face reflected and the creature could have a look at its appearance. The monster in particular was pretty much humanoid. From her head protruded a pair of horns, the ears had a pointy shape, and instead of growing hair large protective scales covered her head reaching all the way down her spine ending up in a tail. On her back she had a pair of torn wings, her lower arms and hands blackened and were deformed into big claws. ‘T-terrible humans… Humans are scary…’ The creature looked at her leg, which seemed like the only non-deformed piece of her body. Blood was dripping out of a deep wound where a pitchfork hit her. Most of the blood was washed off by the river which she used to escape from the horde of hostile villagers. She was waiting quietly and nervously for a sign of safety. The battle cries of humans were deafened by the sound of the waterfall. The creature sat down on the cold wet floor, shivering. “First overrun by demons, and then mistaken for one…” She sighed. She ventured deeper in the cave, as far as her damaged leg could carry her. Her new eyes made it easier for her to find her way in the dark cave. She laid down on a mossy floor hoping to fall asleep. Hoping this was all just a nightmare.

After a long time of pulling heavy dead bodies away Aniasu gave up. The body just wasn’t here. He refused to believe one of the guardians would run away like a coward. 'They were heroes. Heroes don’t run away.' He thought of the creature he had seen before. “What if… No… That isn’t possible… Right?” He was uncertain what to do now. Wait for the villagers to come back? Look for the creature himself in the dark? Speaking of which, did he even know what made this tree so important? He looked up in the sky. Most of the lights  that floated around the tree were gone. What exactly were those things? Then another thought reached his mind. Where are all the attackers? Was it possible that both parties died at the same time? It seemed unlikely. A lot of questions could only be answered by the guardians. Yet all of them were dead. Except for two, or one. He didn’t know where the last survivor went. Then he heard voices in the distance. He could make up a tone of frustration in them. Apparently they didn’t manage to catch the demon. The guardian was with them, remaining silent. The boy thought this was a good moment to ask his questions. The villagers were about to mourn the death of the guardians. Aniasu walked towards the living guardian. “There are a few things I wanted to ask.”