Kingdom of Loradel, Owlen Forest, Present day.
"I promise you that nothing will ever happen to you." The voice of his brother echoed in the darkness. "We both deserved the time that was robbed of us. But now—you have wake up." His voiced faded and morphed to that of a woman's. "Wake up, Commander," it urged.
A blur mix of grey and green greeted him, followed by the emerald eyes of his lieutenant. "Rebecca?"
"Quiet," she whispered, a finger to her lips.
Xeto felt a hint of confusion as he remembered where he was. A glance through the merlon revealed a world of obscurity outside of the tower as rain dripped in from the many cracks in the stone. He sat up straight, a minor cramp pained his side; a consequence of sleeping with his armor on.
"I heard something outside." She kept her voice low as she stood and leaned against the doorway. "It's raining stones out there, but I heard it."
"Heard what?"
"Movement. Non-human." She drew her revolver and made sure all six chambers were occupied.
"Wildlife?" he asked, regardless of doubting it himself.
"Whatever it was, it wasn't very happy."
Xeto stood and took hold of his sword which leaned against the wall. "How long ago?"
"Two minutes, faded while moving northwest."
Xeto's armor felt heavier than before as he came to the realization. "Hansel is northwest. We move out now, do you have any sunfire bullets?"
She shrugged. "We left the outpost in a hurry; I only have six."
"Alright. We follow the trail from before, two sunfires should be enough from here to Hansel. Now move."
As they dashed into the needle-sharp rain Rebecca drew her second revolver which was no doubt loaded with sunfire rounds. She aimed to black bog that was the sky and fired.
Xeto motioned forward as Rebecca's sunfire bullet burst into a sphere of flame, casting a light so bright it appeared to be day. "I'll take point, stay on my rear." He kept his hand on his blade, waiting for something to run out from outskirts of the light. It had been almost six minutes of running through the dark when something did finally emerge.
A creature skinny and frail that shared the basic humanlike composer, two arms and legs but its flesh was made of grey leathery skin and its head was occupied by no facial features. Rather, it simply had a gaping hole in its cranium that resembled an oversized rectum. The bestiary referred to them Wilts, in regard to their wilted appearance.
"I'll take it," said Xeto quietly. He drew his sword and closed the gap between himself and the wilt that walked with the same skill as a newborn calf. He swiped the demon's legs cleanly off with a low swipe. Unlike other beasts, the wilts were devoid of bodily fluids and seemed to only be made of dust at times.
The wilt's cry was cut short as its head met with the forest floor. It lifted its head and reached desperately with its three-fingered skeletal hands.
Xeto scoffed before driving his blade through its head. The wilts were nearly equivalent to strawmen in regards to how dangerous they were.
Rebecca turned and fired two towards their flank, two wilted flopped to the ground a second later.
Xeto continued through the trees. A farmer with a pitchfork could dispose of one without hassle, though that didn't relieve him of the unsteady feeling in his gut. How had this many demons been able to wander past the boarders freely? And for how long? The light above them flickered, a sign that it was nearing its end.
"Firing sunfire," said Rebecca, before another ball of flame occupied the sky in the sun's absence.
Another four or so minutes of trekking through the forest brought more wilts that were quickly disposed of. It had been two years but the setting around him began to feel familiar. "We're close. I know it." The cool wind now stung like frostbite in his chest. In the shadowy distance he caught a glimpse of what looked like a pair of candlelights. They blinked back at him. The eyes of a demon. He tightened his grip on his blade. Come out…
As if reading his thoughts, it quickly left the cloak of darkness and closed the gap.
Xeto froze in place as he took in the grim unsuspected sight.
The thing before him was a human. No, a demon? It wore torn clothes and its posture and features resembled a man in every way. Though any thought that the creature was living was countered by the gaping wounds around its body that dripped with fresh blood as well as its glowing eyes. The stench of rotted skin increased as it walked with a limp.
"Commander?" called Rebecca from behind.
Xeto remained still. "What in the—"
"Commander!?" she echoed.
Warmth ran throughout his body as her words reached him, waking him from his trance. "I have it." One well placed swing cleaved its head from its shoulders, cutting through decayed muscle and bone with relative ease. He watched horror as the head rolled across the grass, its teeth still grinding seconds before the light left its eyes.
"Sir?" Rebecca placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm…fine," he lied, as new questions lined up on his lips. "Was it a man?"
"That thing was far from human, sir," she answered, though she herself didn't sound convinced by her own claim.
"But I know those clothes…" His senses returned alongside the memories of his earlier years within the village. The tattered clothing on the corpse was the one worn by many of the commonfolk within the village. Could it be what he had heard before was true? Were people really returning to life? He looked up to see the sunfire nearing its end, before signaling his lieutenant to follow. "We're nearly there, move up." His boots sloshed in the deep water, as did his companion's behind him. Anaria…Roy…please be safe…