"Grorrraaggghhh!" A distant, hateful roar reached Arthur's ears, causing him to pause and look back.
'Looks like someone's not happy...' Arthur thought as his body shuddered; if they had taken a few more minutes, that roar would most definitely be coming from a beast excited by finding an easy source of food.
This was a truly terrifying reality.
"We have to hurry, they will search the whole town until they find us." Gabriel, who had also stopped in his tracks, shouted before turning to walk.
They were on the outskirts of the city, a few minutes' walk from the mighty stone walls that stood at the four corners of the city.
Arthur had to admit that it was truly impressive to see something so colossal on the horizon.
'What kind of creature could build such a thing? And what could wipe such a civilization from the world?' Arthur wondered. He couldn't believe that something so perfect and asymmetrical could be of natural origin.
It wasn't long before the crystals in the sky began to fade and darkness completely engulfed the place.
Gabriel pulled a small stick from his space ring, similar to some kind of artificial torch. But even that was only enough to illuminate a little more than 3 meters around them.
"That's not sustainable," Arthur said. "We're like a damn ray of light in a sea of darkness, if we keep going like this, we'll be seen."
Though not an expert, Arthur, who was protecting the back of the group, was uncomfortable with this, and even the quiet Safira, who was in the center while protecting Alice, seemed concerned about the situation they were in.
Gabriel stopped his steps and clicked his tongue in mild annoyance before looking back.
The little Alice had her face buried in Safira's back as she hugged the woman from behind, not even daring to look into the darkness. Safira herself had a watchful eye and a stiff, tense walk.
As for Arthur, although he was mentally uncomfortable and also had a watchful eye, he was relatively relaxed about the situation they were in; as if all his worries were about Safira and Alice and not about himself.
"Right..." Gabriel gave in and looked around.
They mostly followed the narrow alleys and streets, as walking along the wider streets would attract too much attention, and it only took one beast corrupted by chaos to see them for all the other beasts in the city to know of their presence.
In addition to hiding them from hungry eyes, these alleys offered another benefit: easy access and proximity to shelter.
After a few seconds, they found a small building that was in good condition and, most importantly, not very flashy.
It consisted of a single room and had only one dark glass window, which could be used as a second escape route if they couldn't use the door.
Although the room was completely empty, Arthur could guess that it had once been some kind of commercial establishment, especially from the marks of large shelves on the walls and a countertop similar to those used by shopkeepers in his lower life.
Taking the initiative, Gabriel passed through the door of the building before leaving the light stick in the middle of the room and walking towards the window. There, he waved his hands in the air and dozens of small pieces of paper appeared in his hands.
Without hesitation, he began to place these pieces of paper on the wall as if they were some kind of glue.
"What is this for?" Arthur asked, giving in to his curiosity.
At that moment, Gabriel, Safira, and even Alice looked at him as if he were a complete bumpkin who had just arrived in a city. And well, maybe that couldn't be called a false accusation.
"Magic talismans," Gabriel replied coldly and directly. He hesitated for a few moments but decided to continue. "They are a special kind of paper that can receive and store mana. Someone with knowledge of arcane languages can write spells and program them to activate under certain conditions."
"These are concealment spells, they serve to dilute our presence and hide our smell," Gabriel finished placing the last of the stickers on the wall before standing up and looking at Arthur.
"How much food do you have left in your space ring?" He asked.
"Not much..." Arthur shook his head. "It should last a week or two... what about you?"
"It ran out yesterday..." Gabriel sighed heavily and sat down in a corner of the room.
Alone in a city forgotten by the ages, with no prospect of getting out and extremely low supplies. There was little room for their situation to get any worse.
Arthur tried not to think too much about it, as he didn't want any unnecessary stress, and just sat down in the opposite of Gabriel.
Safira, who already had Alice asleep in her arms, sat down next to Arthur and let her head fall on the young man's shoulder before falling asleep as well.
Soon only Gabriel was awake. He looked at Arthur and his eyes slowly drifted to Safira's sleeping face. He had never seen her without her mask and still dreamed deeply about it.
His heart was full of bitterness, a feeling that didn't befit someone in his position.
"Father... I have sinned," he murmured, low enough for no one but himself and the one he called Father to hear. He closed his eyes, and soon his mind was seized by an old memory.
***
10 years ago, - Arca; the Capital of the Divine Empire of Aelius
In a large courtyard, surrounded by mighty white marble columns, a child of about nine years could be seen being trained by a tall, handsome man with golden hair.
The child was Gabriel, and the man was one of the many instructors of the Church of Aelius.
"Keep a firm stance, shoulders straight and arms retracted." The man made a full circle around Gabriel, carefully analyzing the young man's stance.
"Align the blade of your sword with the center of your face and raise it slowly before dropping it." The man commanded and stepped back, still keeping a proud eye on Gabriel as he watched the boy move back and forth, repeating the same stroke to perfection.
"Count to a thousand and you can rest." The man walked to the corner of the courtyard and sat down, leaning against one of the many marble pillars.
This was an arduous task, but Gabriel managed it with speed and consistency and was soon able to sit down beside the man.
"Mr. Merinor, I heard some pupils say that you had a family before you joined the Church," Gabriel said with curiosity in his voice.
"Hm..." Merinor closed his eyes. "It's a long story, boy..., I left them to serve our Lord."
"Why?" Gabriel asked, even more curious.
"Because it's the rules... we have to devote ourselves completely to Aelius." Merinor replied, smiling at Gabriel.
"But the High Sanctity always says that we should love everyone... why can't we love our family?" The boy saw his curiosity turn to disappointment.
"Because we are men of God, and you are a holy son. We live and die to serve God and Him alone. A family requires devotion and responsibility, two things we owe entirely to our Lord, and we cannot share either of them." Merinor put his hands on the boy's head and shook his hair, "Don't think too much about it boy, just remember, our only duty is to..."
***
"To live and die in the name of God," Gabriel whispered to himself before he finally buried everything in his heart and fell asleep as well.