Chapter 9

Andre had felt this before, he had gone through something similar as a child. Something that made him swore to never experience that helplessness ever again. It was what made him who he was today, why he always wanted to take action regardless of the cost.

So to see a devilish mantis-like creature bring back that feeling; it was infuriating.

The mantis vibrated for a moment before it began to move towards him, each step echoing ominously. Andre's heart pounded as he fought against the paralysis gripping his body.

With a sudden lunge, the creature snatched him up, it's scythe like hand ripping into his shoulder. He wanted to scream, let the pain out in some way but it was no use.

Securing it's grip, and further mutalating his shoulder in the process; it slammed his back against the cold, unforgiving wall. Pain exploded throughout his body, lungs emptying in a painful gasp. He could barely breathe, the creature's grip tightened like a vise.

The mantis's eyes bored into him as It raised one of its serrated forelimbs and plunged it into its own abdomen, the chitinous shell parting with a sickening crunch. The creature continued staring at him, as if it had nothing to do with the mess it made of its stomach.

No groans came, no gasp uttered, not even the usual roar, he had come to expect from these manner of beasts. Just a cold, unfeeling gaze, one that reeked of death. Fitting for the monster, as it even sported death's symbol.

Andre watched in a horrified fascination as it rooted around, mandibles clicking in what seemed like anticipation, the first sound he had gotten since it started digging. A sign that it was getting close to finding whatever horrors it could be looking for, and also a sign he was running out of time.

Andre kept fighting for control, he didn't know what to expect but he knew for sure it couldn't be any good.

With a burst of green gore that soalttered onto the floor it withdrew its limb; Holding onto something that made Andre's stomach churn.

A slimy, lumpy egg, pale blue and streaked with green, viscera dripped from it. The thing pulsed in the mantis's grip, as if it were alive. The beats almost resembled that of a hearts, at least one that was laced with more tumors than blood vessels.

The creature brought the egg closer to Andre's face, the stench made him want to gag, but with nowhere to go the bile remained stuck in his stomach. His mind raced, trying to figure out what the hell was happening. Why would it pull something like this out of itself? What was it planning to do with him?

Every muscle in his body screamed for action, but the paralyzing fear held him in place. The mantis leaned in, the egg inching closer. He had to move, had to do something before—

With a desperate surge of will, Andre managed to twitch his arm, the sledgehammer still formed from his transformation. He swung it with all his might, aiming for the creature's head. The impact was solid, and the mantis reeled back, dropping the thing in shock.

The grip on his body loosened and Andre dropped to the floor, gasping for breath. He didn't waste a second. Ignoring the pain, he scrambled away, dead-set on one thing: escape. The creature was momentarily stunned, but it wouldn't last.

He had to get out of there, had to survive. The store opening loomed in the distance, but the path was clear. He pushed himself forward, every ounce of his being focused on getting away from the monstrosity behind him.

...

Captain Holt was having a very bad day. It started out fine, with him carrying out his duties as haven commander. A duty that although forced upon him, he carried out nonetheless.

He had been making his daily rounds and was currently headed towards the storehouse. There had been an issue of missing rations that he had to sort as acting commander.

'Probably another issue of theft, and who could blame them, Lucidia had seen better days' '

Holt let out a sigh as he approached the building. There was a line today, as it was currently time for their weekly rations. It wouldn't be much, with hunters being sparse, and the few that remained being unfit to hunt, food was becoming more and more a rarer resource.

Holt's eyes swept across the line, his gaze growing somber at the sight. as far as the eye could see, he saw nothing but graying old men, skinny children and mothers who looked like they were only a missed meal from collapsing. The men were absent, with the shortage of hunters they had, all able-bodied men were forced to pick up a weapon and guard the haven.

'We're only delaying the inevitable, sooner or later we'll run out and then…'

The thoughts simmered down as he entered the storehouse. Although the sight pained him, he had long since grown used to it.

After their Legend went missing everything went to shit. They lost their influence in world meetings, received fewer resources and had their best hunters poached by the other havens.

Most of the hunters that remained in the haven, did it out of allegiance alone as when the news of Lucida going missing broke out, they went on a search and haven't been seen since. It had been a year since then and there remained onky Twenty hunters left.

The haven was only a shadow of its former self, even most of the citizens had migrated to the other havens; Leaving only the most loyal and the few that were too weak to survive the migration.

"Sir! Sir! Commander Holt!"

Holt stopped, snapped out of his thoughts, his sharp gaze dropping onto a terrified man of average height.

"What is it, Elijah?"

His voice boomed in the halls. Holt wasn't a man of many words, but when he did speak, he commanded respect.

Elijah gulped before collecting himself.

"Sir, You are needed in the hunters quarter's. There has been a new development regarding an omen, sir."

Holt's haze sharpened further, brows furrowing into a grimace

"an omen, you say?"

Elijah nodded

"yes sir, while I am not sure what it is, the sensor seemed very frightened"

He looked around for any wandering eyes before he leaned in and in a hushed whisper.

"and I wasn't told very much but as I left I heard something about a brood leader in a ruined city near our haven"

Holt was taken aback, his eyes expanded in shock before he quickly reeled it in. He couldn't afford to upset the already thin sense of peace they had managed to establish in the past year.

'An omen! one relating to a brood leader no less. Gods, I pray we survive this'

Omens were common, sensors detected then all the time, sometimes they came from insect queens, animal kings, Aberrant hordes and on rare occasions even brood leaders. With the exception of very rare circumstances they largely went ignored.

This one would have been too if It wasn't for the fact that it could spell doom for their particular haven. It came from a ruined city of old, only a few hundred miles away from them. If let to fester their haven could easily be overrun.

"hmm, thank you Elijah, this cannot be Ignored. I will assemble the remaining hunters and in the meantime, double the efforts on the wall. The haven is now under lock down, take this"

Holt tossed a token over to him

"Ensure my orders are clear, No one leaves!"

Elijah tucked the token deep into a pocket and saluted.

"sir, yes sir"

With that, Holt entered a squatting position, his feet dug into the ground and with a mighty leap took into the skies.

Elijah stood, eyes twinkling with admiration. It had been ten years since the Quake and mana had taken root in their world. Supernatural abilities were now common place but he couldn't help but be enamored whenever he saw one of note.

He could never get used to it, They were akin to demigods meanwhile all he had to show for it was an ability that served as nothing more than a glorified water purifier, Elijah looked down in disappointment for only a brief moment before shoving the thought towards the edge of his mind where it belonged.

'I'll have time to mope later. For now, gotta get this to the wall'

His palm grasped the pocket that held the token and after confirming it hadn't somehow vanished, he sped off.