A Flower Blooms - A Prologue To RtW

Flurries of snow swirled through the air, carried by the cold breeze. From atop the walls surrounding the Holy City, Chris gazed out toward the white landscape in the distance. The area was desolate, devoid of any moving things. It was a good sign. The demonic beasts that attacked during the Months of Demons were not yet upon them at the moment. Still, it was necessary for them to be prepared.

Some snow slid off of the wooden roof above his head, adding to the heaps on the ground. Chris turned back toward the fire, around which sat several other members of the Judgement Army. They had been on duty for two hours already, waiting with their armor on, to repel an attack from the demonic beasts. So far, nothing had happened, same as the day before.

Right now, the soldiers were gathered around as one of them tossed dice onto the ground.

"Damn it, I lost," one man said. He took some coins out and handed them away.

"Looks like your luck is bad today Robert. That's the fifth round in a row that you have lost," Chris said.

"Well, if I don't keep going then how am I supposed to make my money back then?" Robert took some coins out of his pocket. "I still got a bit more."

A few minutes later, Robert had lost the remainder of his money. "What rotten luck," he said with a sigh. "I can't even get some drinks right now to forget about it."

"Well, we haven't had to deal with any attacks yet, so I guess that is good news," Chris replied.

"It's strange. Last year they showed up sooner after the first snow." Robert shrugged. "There isn't much point thinking too much about that."

Suddenly, a large horn blew. The sound roused all of the soldiers who quickly got to their feet. In the distance, it looked as though a tide of black was approaching.

"God protect us," Chris muttered. He grabbed his spear and moved up to the front of the wall. Alongside him the rest of the soldiers in his squad did the same. They watched as the demonic beasts drew closer, until finally they were at the wall.

Chris saw the creatures climbing up the wall. One reached the top and began climbing over. He stabbed his spear forward, wounding it and knocking it off of the wall. But as it fell, two more took its place.

There was a line of people standing atop the walls, pushing back at the attackers. The approaching demonic beasts scaled the defenses, before being killed by the waiting spears. However, despite dying by the thousands, the demonic beasts did not stop their advance.

A few of the beasts made it over and threw themselves at the waiting defenders. The demonic beasts died, but they killed several of the soldiers as well. Behind them followed yet more demonic beasts which began piling onto the ramparts. Blood, both that of the beasts and human blood began coating the stones.

Chris didn't notice any of this going on around him. All he saw was himself and the beasts in front of him clawing their way upwards. Yet another one jumped in front of him. His movements were quick, honed by long hours of training. The spear found its mark, killing the creature. The body of the beast slumped down, and as it fell another beast crawled over it to attack Chris.

The spear, still stuck inside the fallen beast, was quickly yanked out as Chris brought it up again. It collided with a claw and was knocked aside. As the foot of the beast pushed down on it, the shaft snapped. Chris dropped the broken spear and pulled his sword out.

As the creature stepped forward, Chris slashed forward with his sword. It left a deep cut in the creature, but not enough to kill it outright. He ducked as a claw came forward. He stabbed forward again, this time finishing off the demonic beast.

Stepping back, Chris looked around quickly. Around him, he could see his comrades engaged in a bitter struggle against the increasing numbers of demonic beasts. Fortunately, they seemed to be holding the line for now.

Suddenly, a large shadow loomed overhead. The massive creature roared, causing the nearby soldiers to face the sound.

"A hybrid demonic beast!" Chris took several steps back, putting some distance between him and the creature. "We have to get together and kill it quickly."

The hybrid beast stepped forward, each step shaking the surface beneath its feet. The sounds of its steps were clearly audible as it approached. Chris stepped forward along with several other soldiers as they advanced toward the beast.

The beast swung its massive claw, knocking down several soldiers to Chris's left. But the rest of them continued forward, stabbing at the enemy with their swords and spears. The creature twisted back as it let out a roar of pain. As Chris pulled his sword out to go for another stab, he suddenly saw the beast's claw heading toward him.

Alarmed, Chris quickly backed up. But there wasn't enough time to get out of the way. Chris watched as the claw came closer and closer. Suddenly, it was met with a clang. Robert had his shield out, deflecting the strike. Immediately afterwards, both Chris and Robert backed up to avoid the follow up attack from the beast.

Before the hybrid demonic beast could advance any further, the soldiers to the side attacked, tearing into the beast's flanks. Finally, it fell. The squad stood around it, making sure that it was dead. Then, they turned their attention back toward the myriad of smaller demonic beasts that were attacking. The trained warriors cut through the horde methodically, pushing back the encroaching tide. Massive rocks pelted down from the sky, crushing the beasts outside the walls as the siege engines continued to shoot.

Then, the wall shook. A massive demonic hybrid, larger than the one before, was smashing at the walls, tearing off chunks of stone with each strike. But before Chris or the rest of his squad could react, another demonic hybrid landed upon the walls. Its wings unfurled, battering aside half of the squad. It screeched, causing Chris to back up involuntarily.

A few soldiers nearby charged it, but the talons of the monster tore through the attackers, ripping through the armor plates. The demonic hybrid charged through the hastily assembled formation, breaking it asunder. Broken steel and disemboweled bodies cluttered the ground.

Chris staggered to his feet. He ran forward, slashing at the monster with his sword. The strike did little, only knocking off a few feathers. The creature seemed to not even have noticed him, but when it turned Chris was sent sprawling as he was knocked over by the body of the monster.

His vision was blurred with sweat and blood. From his position on the ground, he saw the monster continue the carnage. The rest of his squad fought valiantly, but one by one they still fell. He saw Robert torn in two as the monster crushed him in its beak.

All around, demonic beasts were scaling the walls, with even more of the dangerous hybrids appearing.

It was over, Chris thought to himself. Would this be the end of the kingdom of God, of all humanity?

From the edge of his vision, Chris could see a group of warriors advancing, all clad in gleaming armor. They moved with purpose and seemingly total confidence.

They charged into combat, smashing through countless dozens of demonic beasts. Even the hybrid beasts fell to them. It appeared inconceivable. Those that appeared to be men, single handedly fighting off the hybrid beasts. Even the flying creature that destroyed his comrades was killed by the approaching warriors. The strength they exhibited was practically unworldly.

"God's Punishment Warriors…" Chris muttered. "Those blessed by God himself. Truly, we are saved now."

Chris's eyes closed as he fell unconscious, but around him, the battle began to wind down. Still, this was just the beginning of the Months of Demons.

***

Zero was currently starting her training exercises. In addition to having to continue to gain experience using her ability, she was committed to refining her physical skills as well. After all, not all situations could be solved with magic. Taking out her sword, she began slicing at an armored training dummy.

That was only the start of it. After the simple drills, she began training her movement, jumping from various targets and striking at targets while airborne. It wasn't something practical for a soldier to train in as it takes a significant time commitment and is not viable for people wearing heavy armor, but Zero had quite a lot of time on her hands.

Her strikes aimed to be careful and precise, striking toward vital points and gaps in the armor. It was by no means an easy task to do so while moving around quickly. While her experience allowed her to judge the distance and the necessary movements well, it was another matter to actually carry out the precise jumps and strikes. That was why she would be practicing this.

It was a tiring experience, requiring Zero to use every muscle in her body. Still she persevered, forcing herself forward through single minded determination. She knew that she needed to prove herself, to commit herself onto this path that she was on. Zero put the entirety of her focus into her current task, setting aside any stray thoughts.

By the end, Zero was exhausted. After putting away her sword, she walked back out into the larger room. Only after reaching the seat did she allow herself to collapse into it. Fortunately, it was quite soft, and Zero was glad that the church was willing to provide decent accommodations for the witches. Though it was their duty to serve and make up for their sins, such gestures were still appreciated.

Suddenly, the door opened. A priest walked in, not Max, one of the others that helped manage the witches. Along with him was another witch. When he entered, the witches stood up to greet him.

"You all have an important task ahead," he said. "Due to an unexpected increase in the number of demonic beasts this year, we have been forced to reallocate more of our forces to reinforce our defenses. Unfortunately, this has lead to us being understrength in other areas. Recently, there has been an increase in bandit activity around several villages. It seems that they aim to take advantage of our weakness. Though this is somewhat irregular, we will send you all to take care of the bandit group."

"Understood," Claire said. "When will we depart."

"Tomorrow," the priest replied. "Arrangements have been made for a carriage to take you out of the city and to the affected area. Once you arrive you will proceed on foot to locate the bandits. Keep in mind that this is a secret mission and you are expected to minimize your exposure to the general populace and hide the fact that you are witches, lest suspicions arise."

The priest motioned to the witch next to him. "Since Jane has returned, she will be leading you and assisting with the tracking of your targets. You will report to her on this mission."

The priest left, leaving Jane to begin organizing the expedition. "Make sure you have all of your equipment and get ready to leave tomorrow morning. I will go make sure our supplies are in order."

When everyone started getting up, Zero wasn't quite sure what she was to do. She didn't need much more than a sword and clothing. So, she just went to follow Rachel to see what she was doing.

"Who is Jane?" Zero asked.

"Right, you haven't had a chance to meet her yet since she is often away," Rachel said. "Her power lets her see the paths of people who walked through an area recently, so she is very helpful when it comes to searching. She has ample experience in this matter, so I wouldn't worry about her leading us."

Zero followed Rachel into one of the rooms. Rachel immediately went to pick up a bag. She opened it up, revealing many metal balls. After she silently checked over them, Rachel then grabbed a case full of some sharp blades, that seemed to not have hilts. Lastly, she grabbed a coil of rope with a hook on the end.

"What are those for?" Zero asked.

"I can use these metal balls as weapons," Rachel replied. "Same with the knives. I also bring the rope in case we need to climb somewhere. This is what I usually bring, so I'm set now. Do you have anything else you need?"

"Not really," Zero said. "I have my sword, and I can't really think about what else I would need. Is that a problem?"

"No it's fine," Rachel said. "Everyone has different needs. This just means you won't be weighed down by extra stuff. These metal balls aren't light you know. If that is all we need, then let's gather up with the others."

***

Early the next morning, they were sitting in the carriage heading out of the city. There were no windows on the carriage, and the only light within came from a magic stone of light. Zero could see nothing of the city outside the carriage, only being able to hear vague sounds of the hustle and bustle of the inhabitants of the Holy City.

She knew why it was necessary to have a sealed carriage, as it wouldn't be good for them to be seen. Still, it did make the ride a bit dull.

Rachel had taken some of the metal balls out of her bag and were moving them around, sort of juggling them with her magic.

Elaine sighed. "If I froze something with my power, it would just end up tearing a hole through the back of the carriage as the carriage moved past."

The carriage jolted, and one of the balls hit the ceiling, while another knocked into Elaine.

"Ow." Elaine rubbed the spot on her arm that was hit.

"Sorry," Rachel exclaimed, quickly drawing back the objects she had kept floating..

The carriage was rattling more intensely now with frequent ups and downs constantly jolting the passengers.

"I think we got out of the city and onto a dirt road," Rachel said. "Now it is time for the difficult part of the journey."

"I wish carriages didn't rattle so much," Zero said. "It would make long journeys so much more bearable."

"I think this is the best we have." Elaine sighed. "Other carriages are even more bumpy."

It was a great relief when the carriage finally stopped. As night was approaching, they set up camp for the night to rest from the journey. The next morning, they set out again. Fortunately, this time the ride wasn't too long as they soon arrived at a village.

One of the Judgement Warriors driving the carriage got out and spoke with the people. Soon afterwards, he emerged.

"They say that the bandits passed by here two days ago, forcing them to give up food and some belongings. The bandits went into the forest."

"Very well, we can take it from here," Jane said. "Your help is appreciated."

With the carriage heading back to the city, it was now just the group of witches with the supplies they were carrying. Walking through the snow covered ground, they began to head into the forest.