Remnants

It was strange. Lucas couldn't quite tell what was happening above the rubble he was buried under. He was crushed under the weight of wood and stone, unable to even move. His waning mana worked to heal his broken body but it was no use. Everything was dark and dusty around him. He could feel his consciousness start to fade away.

Up above the screams of soldiers pierced through the stone. Lucas pressed against the rubble, trying his best to move. His own limbs, however, seemed to defy him. He drifted further and further into darkness as he exerted himself. 

Soon he felt himself fall into unconsciousness. He could only hope some people managed to escape.

So there he lay, half-awake half-asleep. At some point the screams faded away. The sound of monsters remained for a little longer but soon enough that disappeared as well. Lucas couldn't quite tell how much time had passed as he was buried in the rubble. 

Maybe a few days, maybe a few weeks passed. The only frame of reference Lucas had was his mana, which increased gradually, most of it being used to sustain his body.

Lucas's mind got clearer and clearer as he gathered more mana into his core. But he still wasn't strong enough to bring himself out of the rubble.

And then, after an unknown amount of time, Lucas heard a voice come from the surface.

"Big sis, there's a person here."

*****

Walking amongst the ruins of Carmek was a small boy, no older than 14. Joining him was a woman with messy black hair. She had a large knapsack strapped to her and carried a simple spear in her hand.

They moved carefully, inspecting the battlefield. It was devoid of monsters now but they could never be too safe. The woman knelt down and inspected an armored corpse. It was a handsome man with golden hair. What drew the woman to his corpse however, was the large hole in his chest. It was clear to her that he'd been pierced by a spear. 

"A demon came through here." She muttered to herself. She took a quick look around. The clues of what had happened were all evident to her. She gazed for a moment at the hole in the gate where the monsters came through. Finally she stood up and turned to the castle standing tall in the center of the city.

"C'mon Adrian." She called out to the boy. "We should find the city storehouse quickly. We can't be out here long." But the boy responded with something the woman did not expect.

"Big sis, there's a person here." The woman turned in surprise.

"What!?" She said in a hushed manner, careful not to yell. It had been months since the demons had invaded their realm. Finding humans that were still alive was an extremely rare occurrence. She quickly joined the boy. He pointed toward the pile of stone and wood. 

The boy had a very strange ability. He could sense the mana around him, and right now he sensed mana gathering below the pile. This ability made him very useful for staying away from demons and monsters. The woman gazed at the rubble for a moment before snapping back.

"Are you sure?" The woman asked. The boy nodded. The woman looked back to the pile and then set her spear down, quickly getting to work. She began digging into the pile, moving it brick by brick. She trusted the boys ability and felt that it was their duty to save anyone they could. 

But as she dug fiercely through the pile, a large six legged monster crept over the city wall silently. It was insect-like with scythes for hands. It crawled slowly as it spotted its prey. The woman didn't notice this creature but the boy did with his ability. He didn't turn to face it. If the creature thought it was noticed it might charge them.

"Big sis," The boy whispered with a quiver in his voice. 

"What?" She asked, turning to him. But as she turned she met eyes with the 6 legged creature. She saw four eyes looking toward her as the creature paused. Then the creatures arched into the air and let out a deafening screech. It then lunged at the pair.

The woman moved quickly, picking up her spear and turning to block the creature's first strike.

-CLANG!-

Their attacks collided. Both the woman and the monster were moved back by the recoil. The boy fell onto his but from how close he was to dying. He looked at the creature, his eyes full of fear.

"Stay behind me." The woman ordered, putting her hand in front of the boy. He felt reassured by her presence. Yet, despite her steadfast expression, the woman couldn't help but be scared. This monster was significantly bigger than anything she'd killed before. Her grip on her spear tightened.

The monster circled the woman, sizing her up. She held her position, waiting for the creature to attack. 

Just then the creature lunged at them again and swung its scythe-like hands. The woman blocked again, this time following up with a thrust. Her spear shot forward just barely missing the monster. The creature scuttled back in retreat after having exposed itself. The woman took this chance to charge the monster. She quickly closed the distance and performed a series of successive thrusts, each aimed to kill the monster. But this time the monster blocked her attack with its weaponized hands. She knew it wouldn't go down so easily. Its defense was solid.

"ADRIAN!" She called in the midst of battle. "GET AWAY FROM HERE!"

The boy, Adrian, froze. He was unsure of if he could leave her to possibly die. At the same time he was terrified, unable to even get closer to the monster. He had no fighting ability. He'd just be a dead weight if he stayed. Adrian took a few panicked steps back and ran into the pile of debris. He turned around, sensing something. 

Reaching out from within the pile of stone bricks, clawing its way to the surface, was a single extended hand. 

-CLANG!-

The woman's attacks kept getting blocked, her spear failing to pierce through even once. But she still kept attacking, pressuring the monster back.. She moved swiftly, like the wind, and her mana flowed around just as smoothly. She could feel herself beginning to get tired and was unsure of how long she could keep up her assault. Suddenly, the monster moved back and then lunged forward, swinging both scythes low in a clear attempt to cut her down by the legs. 

At that moment the woman jumped, seeming to float in the air for a few moments. This was it. The monster had overextended itself. At the peak of her jump the woman thrust her spear forward with all she could muster, aiming straight for the creature's cranium.

-SNAP-

Her spear hit the creature's head but what the woman failed to predict was that her shoddy wooden weapon would break on impact, unable to pierce the monster's tough exoskeleton.

The woman dropped to the ground. The monster recoiled slightly before swinging with its arm once again. This time the woman, now weaponless and defenseless, could only look on in fear as the scythe came to cut her down.

Suddenly a man jumped in between the woman and the creature. The scythe continued its course, slicing into the man's side, but there it stopped. The man stood tall, wincing slightly in pain, but more evident was the look of rage on his face. He was covered in gray dust and wore armor that had been shredded to pieces. 

"DAMNED MONSTER!" He yelled while pinching the monsters sunk blade to his side. The he raised his free arm and brought it down like a hammer, snapping the scythe bearing arm clean off. The monster arched back in pain but the man was not done. With both hands he reached forward and grabbed onto the monsters weaponless stump. He then yanked the entire to the ground in front of him. He positioned himself behind the creature and brought his bicep around its neck in chokehold. "DEMON BASTARDS!" With all his strength he began to pull up. Mana poured into his arms as the sinew of the creatures neck starting snapping. Soon he had completely ripped the creature's head from its body.

"Hah." He said dryly as he tossed the head to the side. His breath was ragged and his side burned. He stood tall and looked up toward the gray sky, trying to catch his breath. He felt as his heartbeat began to calm and his breaths subsided. His mind was a mess. He must've stood there for a good minute doing nothing but breathing.

"Are you okay?" The sound of a woman's voice brought him back to reality. She had disheveled, long black hair and tired green eyes. She looked at him with a mix of shock and worry. 

"Yeah, I'm okay." Lucas said quickly to reassure the lady. He turned, showing her his side which had already mostly healed. 

"How..?" She began to ask, clearly surprised. 

"Mana? I don't really know." Lucas said, chuckling slightly. But then he started to look around at his surroundings and his smile disappeared. He could see collapsed buildings all around him. The city wall was covered in corpses of fallen soldiers. The traces of a fire cutting through and destroying the city were evident. And on the battlefield, he could still see the corpses of his friends lying dead and rotting.

Just as the lord feared, they had razed everything to the ground. And now everyone was dead.