They Came in Peace for All Mankind

Content Warning: Graphic Violence

“There are humans?” There was genuine confusion among the assembled. "It's been a while since I last remember humans visiting." Another questioned, "Did they bring all that smoke?" They all looked around puzzled as they tried to find some answers.

Nobody knew what was happening, but I did. They had all lived safe and conflict-free lives and had become complacent, not that my situation was any different. But I had been exposed through media to the depraved acts that humans could commit and was not naive. An uncommented cry of humans being present along with accompanying smoke, could only mean bad things.

"I will go..." The Elder started.

"NO!" I interrupted. "I will go. It is my duty as a Guardian." I wasn't a Guardian in title yet, but I was the closest thing here, and it was true, this kind of thing was my responsibility. This worked out well because I was sure that none of the others were prepared in the least to handle whatever I was going to find at the North Tree.

Snowcap Elder was about to protest, but he must have realized it was my role and therefore didn't have much right to protest. I think he realized this was not a friendly visit and was willing to accept the danger to protect his people; I gained a new respect for him. He gave a nod.

"I will go and scout out the situation, and I will send word back." I literally flew up into the surrounding foliage and was at the North Tree within 20 seconds. However, I could see well before then that things were grim. Fires burned and soldiers in full plate armor marched across the first platform. When I got to my vantage point, I could see that around 20 armored figures were forming a vanguard. This was followed by more modestly protected men in chainmail and leather. Those in the rear seemed to be just normal people.

It was obvious that they had a plan. The armored vanguard would engage anyone who had the will to fight—which consisted mostly of the Hunters—they were clearly skilled and killed anyone who got within sword's reach. I saw several of my tribesmen try to push them with fox magic, but it had no effect. What it did do, however, was cause these strange symbols on their shield and armor to glow. If I had to guess, I would say they nullified our magic.

It was clear that the Hunters were not soldiers—it would seem hunting is no substitute for combat experience. I watched as Tree-Sap Hunter attacked, but he was just as clumsy at this as you would expect—they stabbed him right in the throat and marched over his bleeding body, along with the rest they had butchered.

The lightly armored warriors were on cleanup duty—they targeted those fleeing. These soldiers were executing a pincer attack, one group heading in each direction of the platform—there was nowhere to run, well, unless you jumped. Some chose instead to try and barricade themselves inside their dens. I never liked this method of dealing with active shooters back home, and here, it proved to be even more fatal.

Those "normal people" in the back were not just normal people. They were going from den to den and throwing up some strange... floating symbols, from which would spew a moat of fire. My God... I could hear actual screaming... VOCAL SCREAMING!

I'd seen what I needed. This was clearly an... Extermination. "We are under attack!" I whispered back to the Elder—ironically, this traveled farther than a broadcast.

"What is going on!?" This might have been the only time I heard the Elder truly alarmed.

"They are killing everyone! You need to flee, tell everyone! There is no chance of repelling them! There has to be at least 100 of them!"

"Then we have the numbers advantage," the elder replied.

"It doesn't matter. These are trained soldiers, they have already cut through a score of our brethren like cheap cloth. We don't have any real warriors."

"...Very well, Indigo." I could feel the grimace on his face, an expression he never wore.

To flee was the best option, but I imagine they probably had the ladders block on this side. Considering their use of tactics to prevent escape, this seemed in line with that thinking. I estimated before around half of my tribesmen had some ability to levitate. If each one of them took someone who couldn't and jumped, they could bypass the need for the ladder. They could then focus on running like hell.

Wait... If they were prepared enough to know to bring magic-resistant weapons and plan a method of entrapment, surely they must be aware that we could fly as well. I scanned the ground; it was dark and it was too far away for me to use any radar-like abilities, however, the glowing foliage still provided some baseline level of illumination, and then I saw it.

Moonlight Guardian had made sure that my senses were sharp. She was a particular stickler on this point. And it paid off this time. I could see more of the lightly armored soldiers hiding in the brush. Damn...

It had been getting bad. There wasn't much forceful resistance—anyone bold enough for that had already been killed. The problem was that they had never had to deal with anything like this or even been aware of it as a possibility and therefore had no idea how to act. It would be equivalent to your school or office suddenly being invaded by malevolent ghosts—you wouldn't even have the foggiest idea how to react, except maybe to run.

In the North Tree, the soldiers were making their way up to the next platform, but what surprised me was the number of Yutsuukitsuu just freezing up. They say in such situations, you can fight, flee, or freeze. All the fighters were dead, and those fleeing were trying to get to other platforms. That just left the freezers. Some of them were crouching over their fellow Yutsuukitsuu, but that didn't give the attackers pause. Among those who fell this way was Gale. He was protecting a child too young to have been admitted into the Kite's Klub (TM Pending), a child I knew to be his younger brother... I guess he wasn't such a bad guy after all, was he? ...Damn.

If these people were praying for salvation, it wasn't coming. They needed to take their lives into their own hands and flee. With this in mind, I took a few deep breaths and put every ounce of force I could muster into a mass broadcast. "YOU NEED TO FLEE! STAY IN THE TREE IF YOU CAN, THOSE THAT CAN FLY TAKE SOMEONE WHO CAN'T AND GET OFF THE PLATFORM. IF YOU ARE ON THE FLOOR, BE CAREFUL! SOLDIERS ARE HIDING THERE AS WELL! RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!"

I felt lightheaded after that, but it seemed to have worked. It spurred some of the frozen to get moving, and apparently, some people were unaware they could fly away, but it was not the time for snide remarks. One had even decided to just fly away Superman-style. That works—!

A crossbow bolt flew up and struck him center mass. DAMNIT!! How could I have not thought about sharpshooters!? "FLY IN ZIG ZAGS!" I shouted again, but it was mostly too late. The pandemonium was too chaotic. There were probably hundreds of frantic shouts—I could hear many of them. I won't describe what I heard...

I heard a twang and reflexively jerked my head just in time to feel a bolt zip by my ear. Damn. I had gotten too comfortable on my perch, it wasn't like I was invisible. I had to get out of her as well, I'd done all that I could.

But wait. What about Dusk? I can't just leave her. Speaking of which, what about Mom and Dad? Or River Hunter? Could I really just leave any of them?

Come on Indigo, if you are going to include everyone you care about, you might as well go fight off the whole invasion! Mom, Dad, River, and most everyone else were adults, they could look after themselves... They would have a chance at least. But Dusk was a 5-year-old child. Lilac Governess couldn't be expected to look out for all the children. Wait, by that logic, am I obligated to help all of the Kite's Klub (TM Pending)? I can't do that! I might be able to grab one or two extra, but I'm not a superhero...

Damn... But wait. Was I taking life too seriously again? This was certainly a serious matter, but only to us mortals. I'm sure the GM of the universe was laughing his ass off right now, that bastard!

While in my reverie, I didn't notice that four of the "mages," we will call them, had gathered on the far corners of the high and low platforms, and thrown up more of those strange symbols. The symbols in the four corners flashed in sync with each other and then a clear blush hue formed a pane of glass with the symbols acting as the corners. A Yutsuukitsuu tried to fly through it and crashed like a bird into a glass door.

They were putting up barriers! It was just the one side for now, but I wagered that they would soon have the whole village trapped. My original plan of grabbing Dusk and running was no longer an option. If I went in there, I wasn't coming back out. For now, I was on the village periphery.

I could almost see the GM's wizened finger beckoning me to my doom. Well, not today! Dusk was lost to me, but I could still escape. I took off running. Don't get me wrong, I didn't feel good about it, but what else could be done? This wasn't like the piano incident; nobody was going to be saved.

"Are you just going to run away?" I heard a thought.

"Who is out there?!" I didn't see anyone and this thought was calm.

The shadowy image of the Forest Guardian appeared in my head.

The Forest Guardian... What was he doing here? "Why aren't you..." helping the village, I was going to finish, but then I remembered what Moonlight Guardian had said:

"If the village is attacked, he will not come to our aid."

"Are you just going to run away?" he repeated.

"What do you mean just!?" I had stopped my retreat. "You say that like there is a better alternative!"

"You are a Guardian, it is your duty to defend the village." I already felt bad enough, but now had the Forest Guardian shown up just to shame me?

"I am only an apprentice, and there is no defending against that!"

"Moonlight Guardian wouldn't run. You bring her great shame." What was with this guy? He wasn't throwing any weight into saving the village.

"Even Moonlight Guardian wouldn't be able to stand up to all that!"

"But stand up to them she would." I clenched my chest. He was right. She would fight even knowing it wouldn't do any good. The parting thoughts of Moonlight Guardian before she left, came back to me.

"Alright Indigo, the village is in your hands until I return."

She left the village to me. I was to act as her surrogate, to act as she would act. How could I ever look Moonlight Guardian in the face if I failed at that task?

Well, at least I would be able to look her in the face, as I most certainly wouldn't if I went back. But what would she think if I hadn't even tried? Would she be disgusted with me? I was pulling at my hair. I had become one of the frozen.

"Do you regret your decision with the piano?" The Forest Guardian made a last parting comment before scampering off into the forest. Piano? How did he know about that? Was I thinking out loud before like Moonlight Guardian sometimes did?

Oddly, I had never thought about this. Did I regret the final act of my previous incarnation? I got to draw up a new character afterward, but assuming I hadn't… Logically, two-for-one made sense, but if I could go back and do it again, I don't know what I would do. I guess ultimately, I probably would stand there in indecision and would then have to decide if I regretted not intervening.

But I did act. My subconscious mind didn't hesitate. My conscious mind might have spent the rest of my life struggling with whether that was the correct course of action, but subconsciously I would know. My analytical mind couldn't understand, wouldn't let me understand what was tearing me up inside, the profound regret.

I turned and rushed back to the village; I hadn't retreated far. However, by the time I returned, the Two Trees was completely boxed in... sides, bottom... Maybe not the top. I flew up and found that they hadn't closed this section off. Perhaps they hadn't gotten it up yet or were going to use it to tempt my tribesmen into trying to fly out, so they could shoot them down. Either way, I dove down into the opening.

A couple of sharpshooters took shots at me, but fortunately, I had long since figured out how to form a shield. They bounced off without harm. I landed on the third platform of the South tree. The mage was startled but he wasn't alone. A light infantryman charged in to attack, but I shoved him off the platform. I hoped he died when he hit the ground. The mage looked like he had just shit his pants. Guess he wasn't expecting anyone to show up here. He tried to throw up one of those symbols, but I wasn't about to let him do that, and he soon found himself with the wraith blade penetrating his chest. I turned it and tore through the side of his torso; he wasn't going to survive that.

"Stay behind me, children!" Lilac Governess shouted. It looked like she was still alive, and so too were the children. They had to be on the platform below. I wasted no time and swung over to the middle platform; it was empty, save for the dead bodies, including... Midsummer Maskcrafter, Old Bucket Head. He had survived so many foolish escapades, only to... The sight of his broken body sickened me. His mask—bucket— wasn't on his head. Someone had taken it and stuffed his tail into it so it looked like he was wearing it on his posterior. I felt my fist tighten. He wasn't the only one though. Many others had had their masks removed. Some had other… acts of desecration done to them as well.

I heard wind. Not just some breeze either, we were talking about some serious gale-force winds! Considering the village was boxed in and protected from outside influence, the source had to be local. I heard men grunting and shouting. Lilac Governess must have been fighting back with wind magic.

I rushed around the tree. Never had I considered Lilac Governess any kind of fighter. Perhaps in part due to her lax discipline—the other part being that she was the caretaker of children. But wind could be an effective weapon. The effects could reach outside one’s effective range, and it had AOE properties as well. Also, even those magic-canceling symbols wouldn't be effective against the indirect secondary winds.

As I came around the bend I saw Lilac Governess and she looked rough; she was missing an arm. There were actually a large number of Yutsuukitsuu in this area—it looked like they were making their last stand here. The other adults were doing their best to help, but they were just barely able to keep the light-armored soldiers at bay, while Lilac Governess was the only one able to handle the Fully armored soldier.

"Take the shot!" I hear a soldier yell. It wasn't immediately clear what he was talking about, but a moment later, a crossbow bolt hit her in the left flank and she lost her concentration on the wind. A light soldier wasted no time in cutting through her neck... Her head rolled away. The children screamed.

With the main obstacle removed, the marauders started mowing down any Yutsuukitsuu they could find, like a 10-year-old playing the Oregon Trail. It all happened so quickly, the 30 meters separating us seemed more like a thousand. And as I witnessed these acts of barbarism, the last vestiges of fear burned away. Burned away by a rage of murderous fury.

I charged the man who had cut down Lilac Governess, I made no attempt to hide my attack as I formed the wraith blade. But it didn't matter, he had his back to me and the other soldiers barely had time to register the shock on their faces before I had cut him shoulder to opposite hip—I think it's called a monk cut. The other soldiers charged in and the first one to reach me was sent sailing off the platform. That gave the other common soldiers pause.

"Stand back, let me handle this." The magic armored soldier stepped up. I took a swing at his neck, but the sword shattered against his shield. I figured as much but I still had to be sure. Unfortunately for him, I had a plan.

"Haha! You thought that would work on me you little welp!" He said with a wide shit-eating grin. Aside from testing the feasibility of using the wraith blade, my initial attack was also to buy me the time I needed to conjure a flame—I could now do it in under a second. That, combined with some dried-out debris I had collected on my return to the village would create the opportunity I needed.

I threw the debris into his face as I ignited it with the flame I had created. The combination of dried combustible material, well aerated, easily burst into flames. While the heat would be unpleasant, the bright flash was what I was counting on. The armored soldier staggered blindly and didn't see when I smashed a floorboard free of the platform—thank Snowcap Elder for poor village maintenance—and thrust the jagged end right into his throat.

"Guacakuku..." The sound of him choking on his own blood was the last sound this monster would make before collapsing to the ground dead.

"Watch out! This one is using indirect magic! He is a clever one!" One of the soldiers shouted. They were all keeping their distance, but I wasn't going to let this stand. However, I found a sword suddenly plunged into the ground between me and my next target before I could close the distance. Looking over I saw three armor soldiers rushing in—they were fast for being in full plate.

Only two of them were armed, so I guessed one of them had thrown the sword between us. Too bad for him. I pulled the sword free of the ground and redirected the attack of the first of them to reach me. Immediately, I countered, but I was easily blocked. I had to jump back as the other two joined the first; it looked like the one soldier had grabbed the sword of his slain comrade.

All at once, they attacked. They were fast—not as fast as Moonlight Guardian—but fast enough that I was finding it hard to get my own offense going. And when I did attack, they were easily able to defend it. It would seem that one guy had really let his ego go to his head, and that was why he was now pushing daisies. These guys would not make the same mistake.

Despite their speed, I was still faster. And thank Deater for that. It was all I could do to evade. Even one on one, I wasn't sure I could beat them... Well, assuming I fought on their terms. In reality, I would just fly above their heads and blast them with fire—the flames were a secondary magic effect.

Speaking of which, why didn't I just do that now? Twang! A crossbow bolt flew over our head. Oh yeah... That's why.

Damn... With that armor, even if I get past their defenses, I doubt I could cut through that armor. I needed a different strategy. Swords were not made for handling armored opponents. Just as I was thinking this, one of the other soldiers got over their stupor and decided to resume killing the assembled, and he was going straight for the children.

Shit! In my rage, I had completely forgotten about protecting them. I let them draw me away. I need to get there before he could harm any of them. They must have been only 5 meters away, but everyone seemed like a proof of Zeno's paradox.

Meter one: This seemed familiar. I was sure that his situation was like something I had experienced before. But I was sure that I had never been in a situation where barbarians were murdering children. It must be just a trick of the mind.

Meter two: Moonlight Guardian had trained for most of her life to prevent incidents like this. How would she have handled it? I didn't have the luxury of years of experience. Speaking of which, how did she keep her skills so sharp? Was that all from the previous Guardians?

Meter three: Speaking of Moonlight Guardian, did she know? She really hates humans. Did she foresee this happening? It looks like her hatred of humans wasn't as irrational as I had thought. If I'd known this was going to happen, I would have been just as jaded.

Meter four: Almost there! I hope I make it! I need to make it! Distance was relative. Relative to context. Your parents living a mile away was very close, but 5 meters from an ax-wielding butcher might as well span the breadth of the solar system.

Meter five: I made it in time! One of the kite's faces went wide as he pointed. "Look out!" It was too late. I felt the bolt hit me in the side, but the ax was still coming down on the child. I gritted my teeth and pushed him with fox magic out of the way. This would be my final act.

I turned around just in time to feel a sword hit me in the face. It hit hard, causing me to see stars and my consciousness to wane. The mask split in two, but not before stopping the cut to my head—Midsummer Maskcrafter was indeed a master of his craft. But it didn't matter, I was in no position to mount an immediate response.

The soldier followed with a thrust to the chest and this one did find its mark. This was it, I was finished, there could be no doubt. As he pulled the sword from my chest, I remembered what this situation reminded me of. It was like that time on the stage in that dark concert hall where I charged and pushed the pair out of the way. That too was my final act. I guess this was my fate. Only this time, I had failed.

With no remaining strength, I crumpled. As the light faded, I could only watch as the village burned and the soldiers resumed their killing. "Sorry Moonlight Guardian... I did the best I could."