Chapter 13
POV: Kaycee
It's so… peaceful, Kaycee thought.
After speaking with EDS and learning a few new things, Kaycee had decided to head off campus toward downtown. It was only a short walk, with her shoes back on, of course, and there was an adorable little coffee shop there that she loved.
She ordered an iced mocha and grabbed a seat under an umbrella just outside the front entryway of the building. Pedestrians and cars drifted lazily through the area, undoubtedly enjoying the peace and quiet of the morning just as much as she was.
Her mind wandered back to Darren. It had been a couple of hours now, and surely, he would be done with his testing soon. He was such a handsome man. And to think that after all these years of waiting, he had finally kissed her. More than once, even. She had been drawn to him since freshman year at the university, but somehow he had never really noticed her. Maybe that had drawn her to him even more...
A scream echoed through the area behind her. She jerked around, immediately wishing she hadn't.
A breach was opening.
This is odd. I should have been able to sense this breach before it began, right?
"Where's Darren?" she asked aloud.
I've notified him, EDS replied.
Kaycee jumped to her feet and ran toward the breach, which was in the middle of the street about a hundred yards from her. It wasn't red like the first one. This one was as black as death, drawing in the light around it, eerily making this part of downtown darker than it should be.
A dark figure was crouched near it. Her heart dropped as she drew closer and began to see that it wasn't just a dark figure. There was a woman lying on the ground, too. She wasn't moving, and a rapidly growing pool of red liquid covered the pavement beneath her.
The dark figure stood, turning to look at Kaycee. It looked like a man, wearing coal-black armor under an equally black surcoat, all covered by a matching cloak. It wasn't the clothing that was terrifying, though—it was the creature's face. Glowing red eyes and a deadly smile stretched too wide for its face. Jagged teeth rested behind the creature's lips. A dark hood cast its face in shadows.
"EDS, what is that thing?" she asked.
I wasn't expecting them so soon. That's a Nightmare Commander, one of a very few number of creatures in existence who could almost instantly break through the walls into and out of the rift. They shouldn't have known about Earth, though. Not yet.
"Okay, what do I do here? Fight it?"
You won't be able to defeat it at your current level. Not to mention the soldiers that are undoubtedly about to come through the breach.
As EDS finished, a dozen other creatures exited the portal, one at a time, behind the Nightmare Commander. These were somehow even scarier in appearance, though she had the feeling they weren't nearly as powerful as the commander.
These soldiers were demonic-looking humanoids with skin the color of used oil and long horns protruding from their heads. Other horn-like protrusions extended from their arms, shoulders, and backs. Their ears were pointed, almost as sharply as their teeth, and their eyes also glowed an eerie red. The most ominous sight, however, were their massive, bat-like wings.
Kaycee absorbed all of this in a moment, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what to do.
"If I can't defeat them, what should I do?" she asked.
Run.
"I can't run, EDS. There are too many people around here. I can't just let others die because I'm not strong enough. I have to try!"
"What is this? Earth's defender is nothing but a little girl?" the commander sneered.
Its voice was like fingernails on a chalkboard, sending a horrifying shiver through her body. The soldiers all seemed to chuckle in response, but it came out as a creepy, screeching growl.
Kaycee opened her inventory and pulled out her bow. A belt appeared around her waist with a small hip quiver hanging from it. It held only two arrows—the original and the copy. As long as she had energy to spend, there would always be another copy for her to shoot.
The energy of life from the trees lining the street flooded into her as she focused and drew it in. She could sense what felt like an unfathomably large sea of this energy somewhere beyond these trees, but she didn't have time to dwell on that right now.
Rather than waste time talking, she nocked her arrow, pulled back, and fired straight at the commander's face. It deflected the arrow, which promptly buried itself in the chest of the demonic creature to the commander's left. A chill ran down her spine as the monster let out a bloodcurdling scream of pain.
The commander growled and said, "Kill her."
Kaycee drew, nocked, pulled, and released another arrow in the space of a second, which easily pierced the eye of another of the monsters. This one went down without a sound. Two down, eleven to go.
The creatures charged, each of them with a long, thick, black blade in hand, and she began backpedaling, firing more arrows at them. Two more went down, and it had only been about ten seconds since the fight started.
"I thought you said I wouldn't be able to beat them, EDS," she said.
Don't be arrogant. Maintain focus.
EDS was right. Now was not the time to gloat. She released two more arrows, taking down two more of the Nightmare Soldiers, then turned and ran. The creatures were within a few yards, and she didn't want to find out what would happen if they got their claws on her.
Don't stop. The commander is now in pursuit of you.
"Oh, great," she muttered.
She could hear the monsters just behind her, so she ran faster and faster until everything around her became a blur. The grunts, growls, and screeches of the demonic creatures quickly fell away. But she couldn't keep running; she knew they would turn their attention to the innocent bystanders who were either already in or had taken shelter in nearby buildings.
A few hundred yards passed, and she skidded to a stop, turning with an arrow already drawn and nocked. Blinding pain erupted through her head, and she fell to the ground, dropping her weapon completely. She heard a scream escape her lips, felt the warmth of blood pouring down her face and neck, and there was nothing she could do about it.