"Roy, have you seen my ankle shoes? I swear I kept them outside after cleaning them up yesterday."
Anna said as she searched the house for the shoes.
"Mom took it and kept it inside a bag.
Roy began.
"She kept all our festival clothing inside the bag. Erui is pretty far; it's better to keep them safe until we get there to avoid them spoiling."
Anna stayed silent for some time before looking at her brother with a sad expression.
"I understand, but I honestly wanted to wear it now."
Roy stepped closer and stroked her hair.
"Just wear one of your normal gowns and a sandal. It's about time for us to leave, and the roads will be extremely busy, so we need to secure a wagon or cart quickly that will take us."
Anna nodded and headed to the room to change into a plain black gown and sandals before heading outside to wait for her family.
It took about 15 minutes for Roy to appear wearing a grey ankle-length tunic and sandals, his golden hair rough yet good-looking in a way.
He went over to Anna and sat next to her; they both sat in silence, waiting for their mother."
It took about another 7 minutes for her to appear, her onyx hair perfectly braided backwards.
She wore a black gown, the same as her daughter's.
"Alright, let's head out now. There should be some transport wagons in Eclair street around this time, let's go."
She said, holding the end of the clothes in her arm.
Roy was the first to start walking, with Anna and their mother trailing behind.
For the next 20 minutes, the family walked in silence except for the occasional salutations to other people who were also headed to the festival.
Getting to Eclair Street, they boarded a wagon that already had 3 people in it. Their mother took out 30 copper Declans and handed them to the coachman.
'At this rate, I'm going to be poor.'
She thought to herself, then gestured for her kids to get in before getting in herself. It took two hours for the wagon to arrive at Erui.
The family got down at Erui's town entrance and followed a crowd of people towards the town Square where the festival will be held.
Anna clutched Roy's hand as they stepped into the heart of the town square, and her eyes widened at the sight before her. The Festival of Aaro Eeu had transformed Erui into a shimmering tapestry of light and colour. Soul lanterns, glowing in soft bluish-white, floated from wooden poles and doorways, casting ghostly halos that shimmered against the dusk. Ribbons of purple, gold, and white silk swayed overhead, catching the evening breeze like streams of living colour.
The streets themselves were alive with decoration—murals painted in bright chalk sprawled across the cobblestones, curling into spirals that resembled constellations and rivers of starlight. Children darted about, flower garlands perched on their heads, their laughter rising over the music of drums and flutes from the central stage.
Anna's gaze lingered on the beautiful gems strung into ornaments above merchant stalls, each one glowing faintly as though whispering to the living. In the square, wooden effigies of winged birds stood guard, their carved wings spread wide in silent blessing.
Roy adjusted the hem of his tunic, blue eyes sweeping over the scene with quiet admiration.
"They've outdone themselves, it seems," he mumbled.
"It's like this every time. I think," their mother replied softly.
Anna, her glossy black eyes reflecting the lantern light, could only nod. Her simple gown brushed against the painted streets as she leaned forward to glimpse the temple where priests in ceremonial robes of black and gold stood ready beneath a canopy painted with stars.
A hush fell as the first notes of the evening chant began. Lanterns swayed, flowers rustled in the wind, and the festival's heartbeat seemed to rise from the ground itself. Anna and Roy had never attended the festival before because it occurred once every twenty years.
Chains bound four Derons to the temple's pillars; each looked like a bison with pale grey skin and hollow eyes.
"Mother, what are those things over at the temple?" Anna asked curiously.
Anna had never seen Derons before; she'd only heard and read about them, but never had she come across one.
"Ah, those are Deron's. Seen a few when I climbed up Mount Serto as a kid, you can always tell by their grey skins," Roy said before catching himself.
Their mother stared at him darkly before shifting her gaze to the Altar.
"They are here as sacrifices to Lord Nous."
As she spoke, the great bronze bells of the temple rang; the festival ground fell into a hush. A ripple of silence spread through the crowd as the Orven of the Temple of Nous emerged onto the altar.
He was resplendent. His white silk robes shimmered like liquid light, flowing gracefully with every step, while the crimson cloak embroidered in gold caught the sun, blazing like fire. Upon his head rested the halo-crown, its golden rays framing his head as though the gods themselves had marked him with their radiance. The crown pulsed with a living glow, casting soft flickers of light across the awed faces in the crowd.
As he stepped forward, his sandaled feet pressed against the stone, and faint traces of energy scattered with every step, glowing briefly before fading into the air like stardust. Children gasped and pointed; elders bowed their heads in reverence.
In his hand, he bore the staff of crystal and gold, its radiant orb blazing even against the daylight sky. It illuminated the path before him as though declaring the presence of Nous himself. The runes across his stole glowed faintly as the chants of the priests behind him began to rise in rhythmic harmony.
The people responded instinctively: some fell to their knees, whispering prayers; others lifted their hands in praise. A voice resounded from behind the Orven, chanting his name in unison,
"The voice of Nous has appeared, show reverence!" The air trembled, not just with the voice, but with something deeper; the souls of the people seemed to also shout out.
In that instant, the Festival of Aaro Eeu no longer felt like a mere celebration. It was sacred, transcendent.
The Orven straightened himself before looking indifferently towards the multitude. He cleared his voice, held his staff in front of him, and raised it.
"It's a blessed day today.
The priest began, and his voice resounded across the square.
Today, we celebrate our lord Nous, the giver of souls and king over the world. This day marks the day Lord Nous slaughtered the evil Lord Abgrund, who used his followers to wreak havoc on this world."
He stared at the multitude for some time before shifting his gaze towards the man behind him. The man, understanding what to do, moved towards the pillar and unchained the Derons.
He took them by the chains towards the Orven.
The Orven stepped forward, looking pleased. He held the top of his staff, and with a drawing motion, he unsheathed a thin, long sword and threw the shaft of the staff away.
"Today we make a sacrifice to the Creator."
Saying this, the multitude all fell to their knees. Her mother nudged Anna, who was confused, to kneel.
The Orven grabbed one of the Derons by its horns and took it to the altar. He brought his long sword to Deron's throat and slew it, allowing its blood to flow freely.
He did the same to the other three; his assistant piled up the bodies and burned them.
"Incense to the Lord," the Orven shouted.
"Death to the void," the people returned joyfully.
The priest took his sword, beheaded the burning corpses, and handed the heads to his assistant.
"LET THE FESTIVAL BEGIN!!!"
The people roared, and the festival returned to its previous form. Shops opened, and entertainment was prepared.
Anna, now dressed in her beautiful purple gown, quietly moved away from her family and headed towards one stall to get a present for her brother.
She didn't know her brother's preferences…it had crossed her mind to ask, she just couldn't bring herself to ask, but she was determined to get him something he'd like.
'Something manly will do right', she thought to herself before heading towards a weapon stall.
She stood in front of a weapon stall, contemplating which weapon her brother would like the most.
"Young lady, I don't think this is a place for you to be," the stall-keeper said with care to Anna.
"I'm here to buy something for my brother, something worth 10 copper Declans, sir", Anna said to the man with confidence.
"He's twenty, and I don't know what to get for him. Help me out here, sir."
The man looked at Anna with amusement before letting out a sigh.
"I don't really have anything here worth copper declans, but I could make an exception for ya and hand over this steel dagger for just eight copper Declans."
He put his hand below the counter and brought out a plain-looking dagger with a wooden hilt and blunt edges.
"Tell your brother to sharpen it before he uses it", he said before handing over the dagger to Anna.
"Thank you so much, sir. Thank you," Anna said in quick succession before taking the dagger and bolting off towards where her family is.
"Yeesh, kids are such beautiful creatures", the man said, smiling at Anna's disappearing figure.
As the man turned to enter the stall, a loud cry could be heard from somewhere; that cry turned to two, then it became a racket.
Women, men, and children all seemed to be running away from something the man couldn't see.
A lanky man ran towards his shop, begging to be let in. The stallkeeper gave a confused look at the man.
"What's going on, why are U running?"
"The Derons from Mount Serto all lost their mind!!, open up, open….." The lanky man could not complete his words.
At that moment, a grey wolf standing ten feet tall appeared behind the lanky man and bit an enormous chunk out of the upper half of his body before looking at the stall keeper with those same hollow eyes that all Derons had.
The stall-keeper, paralysed by fear, watched as blood dropped from the mane of the wolf and as golden particles flew from the decapitated man's body and into that of the wolf.
The shopkeeper, unable to do anything in the face of terror, even as he owned a weapon shop, met the same fate as the lanky man, his soul being immediately absorbed by the wolf.
Anna ran happily towards where her family was; the cries of the people around sounded like celebrations.
She ran until she was now at the place where her family was, her brother and mother seeing her, had a look of relief before they both dragged her into a corner and closed her mouth.
She was about to complain before she started hearing screams and cries; the once celebratory voices of the people were now filled with sorrow and fear. Her brother, his hand still clasped around her mouth, hadn't said anything yet. She turned her head carefully out of the corner and stared at the once brimming festival.
She stared at the scene for a while, fear creeping into her body. Masses of people were sprawled around the place, their bodies mangled, bloody, and... the bodies were all husky.
The Derons, whom she had always read about as being docile and unable to cause harm to people, were now chasing down and hunting every single human in sight, taking their souls into her body.
She stayed quiet, unmoving. The Derons had yet to notice them, which was a good thing, but how long will it last?
Her fear was greatly rewarded as a massive soul-crushing howl rippled over the area. She turned her head towards the carnage again and saw a sight she wished she hadn't: a tall Deron as the Deron stared blankly over the area. The wolf caught her gaze, and her body felt something incomparable to fear.
'Had she doomed her family'
'I'm scared, ' she thought to herself, Roy's hand still clutched over her mouth.
Before long the wolfs shadow loomed against them, there was no way they could have reacted faster, the building corner where they hid was destroyed in a swift motion, the force had caused debris to collide with them, an eye of hers had been destroyed by the debris, having no time to think of herself she turned towards her family, Her brother was missing an arm, her mother was standing with her arms wide covering her brother.
She was using her soul energy to attack the wolf defensively.
"Roy, grab your sister and run away. I'll try and buy..."
There was no chance to complete the statement; at that moment, the wolf ate her entire body.
Roy watched this scene in utter terror. He turned towards Anna and ran his good hand outstretched to her.
He failed to make it; the towering Deron crushed him under its paws as fast as their mother had died, and golden light streamed from his body into the Deron's.
With a howl, the Deron used its paws to push Anna away, and in a quick motion, bit Anna's left hand off.
Anna let out a cry of agony. She stared at the beast in fear. She hadn't had time to process what had transpired, but knew she was going to die soon.
'I don't want to die,' she said to herself in a whisper between sobs.
At the corner of her eye, Anna noticed another grey Deron, this one resembling an enormous snake. She could see that this beast, instead of hunting humans, was hunting down others.
Derons and swallowing them.
Anna stared sadly at the sight before her, blood dripping down from her right eye, and her left arm began losing consciousness slowly.
Deron's left and right were all swallowed by the enormous snake, many even unable to put up a fight. The snake Deron, ferocious as he is, set his sights on the great wolf.
The great wolf, sensing danger, decided to save the unconscious Anna for later.
The snake slithered towards the great wolf with tremendous speed. With a leap, the great wolf brought itself towards the snake, immediately smacking it on its head with its enormous paws. The snake recoiled backwards and regained its composure, immediately striking back at the wolf with its fangs, landing a successful bite on the wolf's shoulder.
The wolf roared in pain, then brought its paws down on the snake. The wolf promptly hit the snake in the right eye, making its attempt to evade unsuccessful. The wolf immediately gashed the snake on its stomach.
The snake hissed as black blood dripped from its injured eye and charged with a swift motion towards the wolf. The wolf, looking at the snake with its hollow eyes, immediately used its paws to bring it down to the ground.
The wolf, now towering over the snake, leaned down to bite off the snake's head .
The snake, realising the fact it was about to die, used its tail and coiled it around the great wolf's neck, squeezing its throat. The wolf frantically scratched at the snake's throat to loosen its grip, but all efforts failed as it slowly began losing strength.
For the next five minutes, the snake strangled the wolf until it stopped responding. The snake let go and coiled its body around the wolf's corpse before beginning to swallow it. As the victorious Deron devoured the corpse, black particles began surging into the snake. The snake, enduring the pain from the particles that were entering its body, finally finished devouring the great wolf.
The black particles continued surging into the snake's body in quick succession, causing it pain all over.
The body of the snake gradually began shrinking and convulsing into a humanoid form. The sound of bones cracking came from the humanoid form of the snake. Gradually, its form shrank until it finally turned fully human. Its body looked like that of someone in his early youth. He had pale, dark skin as if he were already dead. He had white, flowing hair that reached his waist. Whatever it now was took a single step before collapsing on the ground.
Anna, who had been going in and out of consciousness, watched this scene with terror and confusion.
'Why did a Deron transform into a human?'
A muscular man wearing a great coat over military clothing scanned the ruins of Erui, specifically its heart, where the festival was held. His purple eyes scanned the whole town indifferently as he watched his men chase out the remaining invading Derons. Two hours ago, he was on an expedition to another town to take care of a group of annoying armed militants.
On his way towards that town, he decided to camp at Erui for the night, but found the place in chaos, and now he and his men are trying to find survivors in this ruined town or salvage its properties if need be.
The smell of blood and burnt flesh made the air disgusting, yet oddly nostalgic. He surveyed the area, looking at the bodies in their broken and torn apart state.
'How could Derons cause so much chaos?'
He thought out loud
Erui is the only town situated at the foot of Mount Serto, a place where all Derons were chased off to; most likely, they were the only ones affected by this Deron attack.
"General Valerius, Sir!" A voice resounded from behind him.
A young stout man wearing the same military uniform as Valerius ran towards him.
"What's the news, Heinz?"
"It's quite odd, General, the Derons we killed seemed fairly strong enough to take the lives of common folk, but with priests there, especially an Orven, it would have been impossible for the damage to reach this extent.
The young man started, his voice loud and professional
Derons of that calibre cannot harm an Orven, even more still, putting his body in such a tangled mess."
Valerius raised his eyebrows and remained quiet for a moment before turning to face Heinz.
"So the officiating Orven was killed, huh. From what you've said, it's either that Orven was incredibly weak, a fake, or… there's a Deron out there able to slaughter an Orven."
"If I might say, Sir, I'd like to believe that the Orven might have put up a fight before getting killed, which caused the powerful Deron to flee."
"Heinz, I've told you this before, but when odd things like this occurs its never meant to make sense.
Valerius scratched his violet colored hair for a moment.
"Heinz, is there any news from the rescue unit?"
The woman riding a horse interrupted Heinz as he was about to say something, riding to the General's side. She shared the same features with Valerius: the same indifferent purple eyes and violet hair.
Heinz bowed his head to the woman.
Valerius looked at the woman indifferently.
"Chief Leria, any survivors?"
The woman sighed before answering Valerius.
Just two, sadly, kids, even; both seemed to be in the late stages of their teenage years.
Both seem to be in critical condition. Our healers are taking care of them right now, but survival expectancy is pretty low."
Valerius sighed and mounted a horse.
"Heinz, we need to move. Tell our men that none of them should climb Mount Serto for any reason, even if a Deron got away. I'm leaving this place to you. Take charge of the raid and rescue unit, assemble the attack unit here. I'm taking them with me to complete our primary mission."
Heinz bowed his head.
"Understood, General Valerius."
Valerius turned to look at Leria.
"Chief Leria, you're coming with me."
Leria glanced at Valerius briefly before curtly nodding
"Yes, Father"