Chapter 6 - Siege on the hero

More screams of suffering erupt all over the town. Alduin rushes towards the source of the screams knowing that there will be demibeasts there, the tools of demons. Alduin, being a royal guard, runs into the heart of town to thin out the beasts' numbers. Hikari turns to his mother and without speaking, grabs her arm, drags her into the house, and activates the Mana shields to protect the house. "Mom, I need you to go get the survival rations from the kitchen and come right back to this room afterward. Stay away from the windows." Sylvia silently nods her head and staying low, runs into the kitchen to grab the rations while Hikari runs upstairs to grab his katana. Hikari bursts into his room and goes to grab his sword when he notices that his right hand is glowing brightly. Hikari pulls off his glove and sees the hero's mark giving off a bright yellow light. This has never happened before and for a moment, Hikari was in shock. The most that ever happened with the hero's mark was a faint glow now and again, but this was a whole new reaction. After that brief second of shock, Hikari puts his glove back on and grabs his Katana, and rushes back downstairs. Sylvia comes back into the room just as Hikari enters carrying the ration inside a case. "Mom, listen carefully. We need to get out of town immediately. So whatever you do, don't stop running. If you stop running, I don't know if I'll be able to protect you. You got it, mom? "Sylvia nods her head slightly, and they burst outside to see complete and utter chaos. People are running for their lives, screaming, and dead blood-soaked bodies lay on the ground. Hikari looks at their faces only and recognizes one of them. Mezaheel, the baker was dead. Lying in a puddle of his blood and his organs. His guts were splattered all around him and fresh. Hikari almost threw up at the sight of his neighbor gutted, but kept his vomit down. The time for mourning would come later. The huge fire in the heart of town was spreading quickly, consuming each building it came into contact with effortlessly. The heat of the fire, mixed with the smell of death and smoke makes Hikari's breath heavy. Hikari hears his mom scream his name, snapping back into focus. Now that Hikari's mind is clearer, he begins to pull his mother toward the woods. Almost immediately a demibeast jumps from one of the rooftops and lands directly in front of him, splintering the rocks in the road. Hikari pulls his mother to the ground as the beast swings. Remembering his training Hikari chops off its arm and blood spurts on the ground as it howls in pain. With his next movement, Hikari ends its life with a swift slash to behead it. Its body moves around for a little before collapsing to the ground. As they run farther and farther away from the center of the city, the two encounter more demibeasts. Hikari dispatches them quickly, but the smoke in the air is starting to interfere with his ability to breathe. Hikari pulls his mother into a building that happens to not be burning and falls to one knee. Sylvia takes her son's face in her hand and makes him focus on her. "Baby, you've gotta stay up. It's only a little farther. Come on and get up." As Hikari weakly rises from one knee and lets out a small groan. The heat mixed with the smoke flooding his nostrils had made him weak. Moving was difficult, but he straightened his back and peeked out of the house. The street was clear. Screams could still be heard, but it was safe enough to leave. With his mother holding on to his arm Hikari left the building and hurried down the street. As he turned the corner Rona bumped into them. Hikari frightened almost cut Rona's head clean off but stopped at the last second. Sighing a breath of relief, Hikari sheathes his blade. Rona crying leaps at Hikari and hugs him tightly. "I'm so glad to see you! When I saw your house burning and all of that carnage outside, so I assumed the worst had happened." Hikari lets out a weak laugh while saying "Ha as if any of these beasts could take me down." Sylvia put her hand on both of their shoulders and "We can laugh a little later, but first we should get to safety" They both nod their heads, and agreed to hold off on the banter until they get into the woods and to safety. They start to move again until they hear the scream of a girl, and that scream was all too familiar. They go around the corner only to see Maria with a broken arm and Marco dead in her arms, his torso ripped in half. His lower half could be seen in the jaws of a dead demi beast nearby. It could be inferred that Maria was the one that killed it. Maria was crying profusely rubbing her brother's hair. Maybe her tears flowed from the pain in her arm, but most likely, they flowed because she lost her beloved brother. Hikari hid his mother behind a stack of wood, walked up to Maria, and grabbed her shoulder. Hikari had to jump back as soon as he touched her. Her backsword may have been broken, but she still swung it toward him as if it was a dagger. The look on her face was one of heartbreak and seething rage. The mascara she wore was running down her face. As she fell to her knees and dropped her broken sword she cried, "Why my brother, Hikari! Of all the brothers they could have killed, why MY brother!" she covered her face and sobbed, just saying "Why my Marco?" over and over again. Hikari rubbed her head softly over and over again, her curly hair dancing through his fingers. Maria stops crying and brings it down to a sniffle. Hikari helps Maria stand up and they all start to move again. Rona falls to the back of the group after healing Maria and speaks to speak to Hikari. "Look I know that you had to comfort her but, did you have to rub the top of her head?" With a tired and sweaty face, Hikari looks at Rona and says, "Rona, now is not the time to let your distaste for Maria get in the way of our survival. She just lost her fucking brother. Don't be an asshole right now, Rona." Hikari frowned at Rona and shame-filled Rona's mind. All she felt she could do from that point on was be silent. After a few more minutes, Sylvia speaks up. "Look! The forest is just a little farther!" everyone's faces light up like a small child eating ice cream, and they all feel rejuvenated. They all break into a full-blown sprint and get closer and closer to the beginning of safety. Hikari notices something and stops running immediately. "Hey, do you guys hear that? It sounds like a winding sound, like before something drops to the ground at extremely high speeds." A second later Alduin drops from the sky, covered in blood and the top of his robe gone, fully exposing his tight, strong, muscles. "Dad! What happened to you? How are you this beat up? What did this to you!" Hikari says as he runs to his father's side. Alduin groans and says, "The queen is here. Run, leave me So I can hold her off." With another burst of effort Alduin's good eye begins to glow orange and his wounds begin to close. Hikari backs up slowly, astonished by this revelation. Everyone shares this shock as Alduin gets up only to stagger forward. He turns to Hikari and yells, "Boy! What are you still doing here! If you don't get out of here, she will murder you!" and just as he finishes speaking a figure appears above all of them. "So this is where you fell to. I've gotta say, your quite tough, even by my kind's standards. You just don't stay down." a smile grows on her face, and says "I've gotta say I like you! You're the perfect soldier and quite strapping." sighing she says "Too bad you're a human." and she floats down to the ground landing twenty feet away. Hikari notices that his Hero's mark is glowing like crazy. The lady laughs loudly, yet gracefully. "Great, great, great, great grandfather Stephon's sacred gift does increase one's luck, cause I just found the hero I was looking for." At that moment, the same thought went through everyone's head, but only Alduin said it as he took out his magic greatsword. "Well, fuck."