Kingdom of Zuland, The South Border, Present day.
Roy veered his head back, a sudden shock spread across his body from the touch of ice-cold hands.
Tabatha grabbed his shoulder and gnarled before biting down inches from his skin.
"Sorry, Taba." He jerked his arm but to no avail, the woman's grip was as strong as iron cuffs.
The little flesh that remained on her hands was dry and leather-like.
The remaining dead were almost on him, inches away now.
Thuuum!
The sound resembled thunder and seemed to shatter the sky.
He felt Tabatha tug on him a second more before her body crashed face first into the mud. At the corner of his eye was the flash as bright as a thunderbolt. What was that? His eye locked on again-dead Tabatha.
A gaping red tunnel ran through her skull. Exposed maggots crawled out of the fresh wound.
He felt a warm lump in his throat as he gagged at the smell of the rot. Nevermind that. He immediately reached for his back and drew an arrow. Knock…fire, knock…fire. Each arrow was now snug in the heads of the remaining undead. The flash from earlier looked like it came from the north; the watchtower. He squinted as he caught a glimpse of something on the tower.
A thin gleam, a flicker of light.
Sniper? He'd known little from the stories but it all seemed to fit. Weapons that fired with the reverberation of a cannon, flickers of sunlight that bounced from the shined spyglass, it was a definitely a sniper. He chuckled and let the tension in his shoulders loose with an exhale. He looked directly at the tower. He flicked two fingers off his forehead, as was a hunter's salute. "Thanks for the aid…" he winked. "…sniper."
The sun peaked ever higher, revealing less of the demons than he had expected.
Roy laughed aloud to himself as he pondered on how his flawless plan was now not needed. He returned to the alchemy shop to find a horde of demons surrounding a single black-armored man. "Wait—is that…"
The brown-haired knight blocked claw swipes with ease, each was followed by a deadly counter.
Roy squinted as his heart nearly skipped a beat. "As I live, Xeto?"
Xeto's eyes lit up as they met gazes for a moment before returning his focus to the remaining enemies.
Three demons remained; their dead stares locked on Xeto.
A second later a blonde-haired man donning a black coat appeared from the gaps of the buildings. He dashed at full sprint towards the demons, his bandana fluttering in the wind. With a quick sword swipe he beheaded two of them.
"Alzac?" sputtered Xeto.
"I've been waiting a long time to do this," replied the man before lunging at him.
Xeto blocked the blade and forced his opponent back. "What are you doing!?" He landed a kick into Alzac's midsection, sending him farther back.
Without a second thought Roy reached for an arrow to find his quiver empty.
Xeto's attention jumped to the remaining undead. He dodged its attack and cleaved its arm from its shoulder. He quickly spun around and met blades with Alzac.
Roy didn't know much about swordplay but he knew when someone held the advantage in a bout. He smiled as Xeto continued to predict his opponent's attacks and keep him backstepping. Just as good as I imagined you'd be, lad. Any worry he had disappeared that moment.
Alzac's eyes were filled with spite as he breathed heavily. "You disobeyed orders, making you a deserter, giving me leave to carry out the sentence—death."
"We don't have time for this," said Xeto coldly.
Roy smiled as he reminisced, his friend's deep tone hadn't change one bit. He noticed a burly figure armed with a poleaxe approaching them from the rear. A closer look revealed the figure's race. A kasaber.
The kasaber held his poleaxe with a single hand above his head. He growled aloud as he threw it with massive force, spearing single-armed demon through the chest and pinning it to a wall. He drew a sword from his waist and got in between both men. "Cease this game, Alzac!" His voice was thunderous and deep.
Alzac glared at the kasaber. "Move aside, Kyone."
Kyone mirrored his glare. "That's an order!"
"Luck saved you, Xeto," continued Alzac through gritted teeth.
"Quite the opposite," retorted his friend.
Kyone towered over both men. He turned to Xeto. "Commander Alcazar, Alzac and I will continue through the homes and rid them of any demons. After, we have a lot to speak of."
Xeto gave him a nod. "Understood."
Alzac glared back at him before hesitantly departing alongside Kyone.
Roy chuckled as he began towards his friend. "It seems you've done well for yourself.
"Roy," said Xeto with a look of relief.
Roy took his friend in a tight embrace. "Gods willed it—you being here today. It's good to see you again." He could have sworn Xeto was shorter when he had left two years prior, but now they were equals in stature. His friend's armor clanked as he patted his back. Roy broke away. "And look at you, a knight in the flesh."
Xeto simply nodded. A man at a loss for words when given praise, nothing had changed.
"Women do love a man in armor, bet you had dozens lining up to have a turn with you at that camp of yours."
Xeto chuckled. "Good to see your sense of humor hasn't dulled."
"Oh, look at that, he can smile. Suits you a lot better than that scowl you're so fond of. Thank you for your help, lad. The people can rest easier now." He shrugged. "Though you should know I had a plan already in motion, so you simply came to steal my glory, huh?"
"What of Anaria? Is she safe?" Xeto sheathed his bloodied blade.
Roy raised an eyebrow. "Might want to clean that sword, else it'll rust." He put a hand on Xeto's shoulder before motioning towards the alchemy shop. "And don't worry about Anaria. She's just in there, helping treat the scared and injured. You two are the same, always helping others and all."
"Just doing what needed to be done."
Roy spread his arms wide. "And what a job you've done. Seems like you wiped all of them." As the words left his mouth a low growl came from one of the many bodies.
Another of the demons that resembled a Zuland soldier slowly stood, hunching over just mere feet from them.
Xeto reached for his sword.
Thuuum!
Its head burst open in a haze of red.
Roy flicked his head back towards the tower. "That one on the tower, one of yours?"
"Yes, she's one of the best actually." There was a solid praise in his words.
"She?" His interest piqued, tongue-in-cheek. "Interesting. Seems like a woman I'd very like to meet."
Xeto shook his head. "Don't even—she would sooner put a bullet in you before anything else."
"When I meet her, that might just be a risk I'm willing to take. Say, let's help finish here, then we'll get a place for you and yours at our table." Roy felt an unmatched flame of joy at seeing his friend before him again, almost like a dream, one he wished not to wake from.
"Sounds promising, lets do it."