The Mayor's eyes, which had drifted downwards whilst he was thinking, turned back up towards me. They seemed to shine with determination and a hint of fear, a stark contrast to his previous uncaring expression.
"Worst case is that they're already here and we are in for a long day," his gaze moved off mine as I realized why this seemingly carefree old man was made Mayor of this fringe city. "Erin, run to my office and get my gun, then get yourself to the basement. Do not leave until someone comes for you, understood?"
Upon receiving a worried nod in reply, he turned back towards me.
"As for you, hunter, I apologize for having you do this work for me, but no amount of hindsight and regret will help us now. You have two options. You either run like hell or fight like you're going there. I will be staying, as it is the duty of a Mayor to protect his city. I cannot make you stay, not since I was the one who gave an evacuation order, but I promise that if you make it through this, someone will make it worth your while."
"Well, I had plans today, but I suppose I can put them on hold," I said, flashing a quick smirk.
"I admire the courage. Now, go get your weapons and prepare yourself. We should have about half an hour, and I wasn't joking when I said this was going to be a long day. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have preparations of my own I need to attend to."
I gave him a farewell nod and rushed out the door, only to stop immediately upon stepping outside. There was not a cloud in the sky, already a stark contrast to the typical dark sheet, but what remained was not the bright blue splendor of a child's fantasies. It was like looking into a bottomless abyss suspended over the world. It felt endless, the longer I stared the smaller the ground I stood on felt, like the whole of my reality was a mere crumb of something before the maw of the infinite. Within the endless depths of this sky swirled vibrant patters which threatened to steal my consciousness. As soon as I tried to focus on just one part of this endless pattern, its dance would switch to a different part of the stage, swaying to a different rhythm. I quickly realized it was impossible to truly place my focus on any one part of this image, and pulled my sight away with great force, finding my vision to be unstable and my head to be throbbing.
The shimmering sky cast an eerie light on the city. Normally, the city being illuminated during the day would be a reason for celebration, but given the circumstances, no one was celebrating. I can only imagine how many people were lost in just those first few minutes to those dancing lights. The weak-minded, half-asleep drunkards probably stumbled out of their bars to observe the phenomenon and immediately lost themselves to it.
Collecting myself, I took off towards the Forge again, arriving in just a few minutes this time. A bit over an hour had passed since I left, and needless to say, the Forge attendant was surprised to see me back so soon.
"Back so soon? Did you finally decide to pick up something new or did you just miss me?"
"Have you been outside? I need my stuff back, now."
"He should've just finished it up now, and no, I haven't been outside all day. What's happened?" she started for the back, indicating that she could still hear me.
"We're getting invaded. The timeline was off. Once I get out of here, close the doors and hole up. They'll hit at any time now."
"Well, that's… something. Huh." she handed me my weapons and looked at me worriedly, "And you're going to fight? We have room here if you want to stay."
"No. I need to fight. It's my duty."
"A hunter must hunt, eh?" she sighed, a bit more dejectedly than I expected.
I put my weapons back in their place and gave her as confident of a smile as I could muster. Then I turned and waved goodbye over my shoulder, a part of me wanting to simply sit tight there and let the storm pass. But I felt a weird calling towards this fight. It was as though a small voice called to me through the hypnogogic veil, telling me that I needed to fight here, to throw myself into Fate's embrace and ride the tide of destiny wherever it may take me by the end of the day. So I walked out the doors of the Forge and charged towards that fate, having no idea where it may lead.
I ran towards the edge of town facing the forest, wanting to see the full approach of the horde. I had never seen a beast horde before; I had never seen the tide of nightmares as it flooded towards a city, seeking to wash away all remnants of the people who called it home. I didn't even know how to properly fight it, whether to wait for them to reach the town and try to pick them off one by one, or to meet them head-on out before the city. I knew that if they were to reach the city, even if we managed to somehow stop the horde, there would be significant damage and casualties.
As I ran, the sense of worry and anxiety grew in my chest again. The idea of facing down a wave, a living, writhing tsunami of flesh and fear, was a frightful enough thought to turn my stomach. I had seen and fought the beasts individually before, and while not particularly hard to put down on their own, the concept of being swarmed by hundreds of them, squirming and clawing, was enough to send a shiver down most anyone's spine.
Around the edge of town were watchtowers. As the begruntled man at the bar had mentioned, there was no wall built around the city, or even around half of it. As morbid as it was, the reason made perfect sense. If a wave hit the city, a wooden wall won't stop it; a tsunami wall only works if it's higher than the biggest wave. The watchtowers simply allowed for a bit of an early warning to be given, with each being equipped with a rather large bell which could project sound across the city. It wouldn't provide much time, but any little bit of preparation, whether it be mental or physical, could make the difference. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if the sole purpose of the bells was to wake up anyone who was still asleep, so they'd at least know how they died.
I approached the nearest watchtower, not quite centered with the forest but close, and quickly climbed my way up the rickety wooden ladder on the outside, the sweat from my palms and the leftover rainwater making it even more nerve-racking than it already was. At the top, I was the only one there. Looking across at the other towers, I saw only a few had people in them, not that it particularly mattered, given the situation.
I looked back towards the forest, only to see the shadows of the underbrush begin to move. Slowly, the line of shadows grew bigger, and I was able to make out what looked like a shimmer in it. I started ringing the bell in my tower and the other towers followed suit.
As I stood there, nearly deafened by the sound of the bell, I failed to realize two things. Firstly, the boys had never seen a beast wave before this one. Secondly, the sky that appeared over the town that day only happens when the horde is able to distort the membrane of space that comprises reality.