Red silent monsters

The group of monsters was advancing menacingly toward them. They seemed more dangerous than the white ones.

Natsuo started the fight. He swung his scythe and launched sound waves in the monsters’ direction.

Some of the red humanoids were chopped into pieces and crimson blood gushed out from their bodies.

Olive threw a vial toward the monsters and it exploded.

The red dust rose from the ground, blocking the view.

They waited to see if the monsters all died, but a smaller group got out of the dust. Some of them were injured by the explosion.

Gregory leapt forward and hit one with his club, then molten metal twirled on the ground under the monster and a spike impaled it. He ran between the group and killed as much as he could with the same strategy.

Some of the monsters escaped and ran towards the carriage, where Tristan was having a crisis. He was too scared to fight those hideous monsters.

He had trained all of his life, but he had never fought against a real monster.

He looked up and saw that a group of humanoids was coming in his direction. He turned pale. What was he supposed to do now?

Natsuo immediately ran toward the monsters to stop them, but they threw spears that came out of their chests against him and the others.

Taken aback, none of them was ready to dodge them.

Tristan observed as the spears were getting closer to his companions, horrified. If he didn’t do anything, they would all die and it would be his fault.

They were kind people, they couldn’t die like this, but he was too weak to protect them. As always, he was of no use.

Natsuo watched the spear coming in his direction, startled by that surprise attack. He was too close to the monsters to dodge it.

When the weapon was about to pierce him, suddenly he felt a chill run down his spine.

The spear froze and fell on the ground.

The temperature dropped abruptly and ice covered the floor.

Natsuo turned to the only person who could make something like this: Tristan.

He had a focused expression, far from his usual somberness.

He twirled his rod and gently touched the first monster, freezing it entirely, then did the same with the next and the other ones too.

His movements were flawless and elegant and he emanated a peaceful aura. He seemed to be dancing among those monsters, instead of fighting them.

When all the humanoids were transformed into ice statues, Tristan stopped moving and banged his rod on the ground.

The statues shattered into pieces, creating a suggestive rain of crystals. Tristan turned to the others.

His long dark hair fluttered, moving from his face and revealing his beautiful features. His pale skin matched perfectly with his light blue eyes, giving him the aura of a prince.

“Are you okay?” asked Tristan, worried.

Olive brought a hand to her mouth and blushed a little. She hadn’t noticed before how beautiful he was.

“I should have intervened sooner, I’m sorry…” Tristan said, lowering his gaze and returning to his usual appearance.

Gregory approached him and patted him on his back.

“Well done, mate!”

Tristan was pushed forward by the hit, startled by Gregory’s force.

“I’m sorry…” he mumbled.

Gregory blinked twice, confused.

“For what? It was to celebrate!”

Tristan glanced at him, disoriented.

“You hit people to celebrate?”

Natsuo burst out laughing. “I told you to measure your strength.”

He approached Tristan and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Good job, I’ll surely count on you in the future.”

Tristan’s cheeks took a little colour and he slightly smiled, flattered. He had done something good, for once.

***

The group continued their trip, encountering various monsters and defeating them without any problem.

They traveled for days without any sign of War, but endured. They had to complete the mission.

Natsuo was leading the carriage, trying to follow the route they had previously traced on the map, but it was difficult without any other landmark other than the abandoned forts. He had seen for days an endless expanse of crimson dust and he had lost orientation.

He glanced at the horizon and saw a red mountain in the distance. That was good, he could use it to understand where they were on the map.

He checked, but he couldn’t find it. He looked up again, confused, and noticed that the alleged mountain was getting closer and closer.

When he realised, his eyes widened.

“That’s bad. There’s a wave of monsters coming in our direction” he said.

“What? We can’t defeat them in so few!” replied Olive.

“I know.”

Natsuo led the carriage into another direction to avoid the wave, but the monsters seemed to have noticed them and were trying to follow them.

Natsuo urged the horse to go faster, but it wasn’t enough to lose a tail. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind.

“Hold on tight” he said.

He changed the song on the speakers and put one with the speed attribute. The carriage increased in speed abruptly, startling the three that were inside.

They flashed forward and, in an instant, they left behind the wave. Now it was nowhere to be seen.

Natsuo let out a sigh of relief. They missed a bullet.

Tristan looked out of the carriage and threw up.

“Your driving killed me” he complained.

“Sorry, I haven't gotten my driver's license yet” replied Natsuo jokingly.

“Your what?” asked Olive.

“Nothing important.”

“That was crazy! Did you see how fast we were?” exclaimed Gregory, euphoric.

“Yes, my headache is also crazy” replied Tristan.

While they were still recovering from the sudden sprint, a red rain began to pour from the sky.

“Did you know that here even the rain is red?” asked Natsuo.

Tristan, who was still looking out, glanced at the sky and turned pale.

“This is not rain” he said, trembling.

“What?” Natsuo looked up and his eyes widened.

They were in danger.