The Defence Squad

    Time had passed since Yuna left the building, so also had the rain stopped falling, and the clear chilly atmosphere brought with it some calm. People were back on the perimeter and roads of the Council building area, some wrapping their arms around themselves, trying to warm themselves in the wet humidity.

Inside the building itself wasn’t as busy as it was earlier, and some workers were slacking off knowing most of the top brass in work weren’t around. Most were chit chatting as they walked in the great hall around the crurix, the complicated structure in the middle of the hall.

Evening time was taking over the day, and at past five, the atmosphere seemed brighter towards the south areas behind the building, the direction where the rain came from, compared to the northern areas stretching from the front of the building and beyond where the residual rainy clouds had migrated towards.

People on the ground outside the building noticed something strange in the darker clouds, and it seemed to get nearer. It appeared like green clouds approaching from the rainy clouds.

This didn’t make sense to a lot of them, some were straining their eyes to get better views, while some others shaded their eyes with their hands to block excess lights from hindering their concentrations.

The green cloud above got brighter and brighter, and it was apparent it was approaching the council building, and as people noticed, with considerable speed. The confusion got the crowd riled up, and some gave suggestions of whether it was some sort of spell, or a trick the alchemists were doing.

The apparent cloud approaching land looked more like compact green smoke, travelling in a tubular form. It swept across the path to the council building’s entrance and with a loud bang, broke an entry into the building from the entrance doors, scattering glass about.

BANG!

The people in the great hall mostly responded in shock, giving off loud exclamations at what they thought was a bomb explosion, going low instinctively.

“What was that?”

“Where did that come from?”

“A bomb went off…?”

Different words followed from the people in the hall. As they picked themselves up to observe what had happened, they were all stunned with mixed expressions of shock, terror, awe and all written all across their faces.

“What’s that?”

A lot of them started to ask this question or similar, and the best if answers they got were of a ghost, some kind of spirit, a spell?

What appeared before them, mid air above was a levitating green figure consisting of three indistinct but skinny-looking heads, suspended in a green fog. The heads were positioned upwards in the fog as if attached to an imaginary body, with flame-like matter flowing from their scalps, also green.

No one here knew what this was, as they all stood agape at it. People from outside were now flocking in to see this figure above them and were also lost in the same shock-awe state.

Some people in black cloaks with a badge on the right breast side with a design of a tiger in white and red thread, under which was written ‘Defense Squad’ started storming the hall from the round corridor attached to the walls of the hall two floors above. Their vision of the figure was parallel, and some of the elder members of this squad seemed to realize just what was before them.

“All of you, gerrout of here, gerrout, this thing is evil, gerroouuttt!”

One of the elder members was shouting and gesturing in a hysterical manner to the people below. His face was filled a great deal of panic. He turned to his squad members and they seemed to understand what he wanted. They spread around, and some jumped down from the second floor they were, and landing with little efforts. They were clearly trained in this.

The people below only seemed to fall into deeper confusion at the order, with the murmurs and chatters increasing along with confused faces. Few people followed the instructions and headed for the broken exit.

The defense squad members that had descended began to control the hysteric crowd and proceeded to marshal the people out of the building, and all the while the green figure had been above them, just floating in the air, until….

Fwoosshhh!!

A green breeze descended from where the figure was above, and swept across the hall over and around the people. The defense squad above watched in horror as the cloudy breeze began to clear up, revealing bodies scattered all around the ground. Few people were left around, and with screams everywhere most of them ran towards the entrance of the building. Little percentage stayed where they were, stunned, shocked by what they had just witnessed.

“Did…it…” One of the younger squad members, shocked by what he had just witnessed, transferred his gaze from the corpses below to the green figure now infront of the Crurix.

“Aarerghhh!!! They’re all dead!”

The young man could not control his emotions, sobbing loudly, while his peers looked stunned, and apparently awaiting orders on what to do.

“I’m gonna kill you!” The young boy shouted, and raising his hands sideways and snapping his fingers, two swords appeared in his hands from handle to tip. The blades were shining a dull crimson.

“Nooo you dumb idiot…”

The warning from one of the older squad members came too late. The young man was off; he mounted the passage’s railings and jumped to the figure ahead, ready to slash it anyhow his blade landed on it.

Glorious as the boy’s jump was, it was his last. He fell in a lump on the ground with multiple cracking sounds, splattering the red of his body around him. As he slashed the figure, he got absorbed into the green fog completely, and then dropping into his death.

The squad members watching from the passage looked in horror of the monster in their front; one of the veterans told them to move back a bit.

The older squad member who had given the initial warning to the boy who just died looked at his mangled corpse and whispered: “Idiot!”

A middle aged squad member, the squad leader, stepped forward.

“This isn’t a normal enemy, normal physical attacks won’t work on it. We’ll use magic to counter this evil. For those of you who don’t have magical characteristics, be at the rear, mages to the vanguard.

Attack!!!”

The man shouted with some passionate vigor that his angry yet scared squad seemingly needed to hear, this was what they were trained to deal with in the end.

The green figure stared at the Crurix. He had risen up to the fifth floor level above, and was staring through the transparent glass at the box attached to the wall.

“So this…structure was enchanted by that fool to keep us out, looks like he worked against us rather than for!”

The voice which spoke from the figure was the same as the first deep voice that spoke to Ferenc when he went to Serantus.

The defense squad were making ground, jumping to the fifth floor’s passage over the hall. Those who had reached it frowned at the figure, and began making hand sighs before proceeding to say some incantations.

Green magical rings formed around the hands of the people, eight in number, saying the incantations, and in harmony they threw their hands in the direction of the figure.

These actions produced loud bangs and other subtle sound effects, and clouded the figure in yet more green magic.

Within a few moments, the magic cloud cleared, leaving the green figure intact, unscaved.

The Head of the defense squad had a look of shock and disbelief on his pales face. He was astonished that the figure was still floating after an attack of such magnitude.

“Again!!!”

The mages who had just cast the spell did it again, this time with more intensity than the last, and casted their spells more intensely on the figure.

Green dust filled the atmosphere, and by the time it cleared, the figure was in their front.

All eight of the mages panicked, with some falling over. Some of them casted desperate spells to try and kill the figure while the others tried to escape, but the figure retaliated, subtlety expanding its green fog around the area the eight mages were, completely engulfing them. The rest of the squad below on the second floor watched in horror as they heard muffed shouts of pains coming from the expanded figure.

The figure floated away from the passage and into the free space between the passage and the Crurix, then dropped all eight bodies, all from the fifth floor.

Red was the new floor in moments.

“Don’t let your spirits break so soon now, I prefer the stamina of energetic folks you see.”

The defense squad’s spirit was truly broken. Their strongest bunch had been dropped like spoiled mangoes, with their juices splattered about.

The green figure began a slow descent towards the rest of the squad in the second floor’s passage. The middle head spoke in the same deep, dark and menacing voice.

“This looks like a panic room, your darkest fears have come for you!”