Storeroom

Lucas knelt down, looking mournfully at his dead friend's corpse. Leandro, who usually always had a smile or a joke, now carried a permanently jarred expression. Lucas let out a sigh as laid his hand across Leandro's eyes.

"I'm sorry." Lucas whispered quietly. That was all he felt he could say. Even then it seemed to ring hollow. After all, he was still alive and everyone else was dead.

Lucas brought his hand to his eyelids, only to discover that his hand, and probably his whole face was covered in gray dust. Presumably from being buried alive.

"You might want this." The woman, who was now standing next to him, offered Lucas a choppy rag from her bag. Lucas took the rag graciously and began wiping off his face.

"Thanks."

"Who was he?" The woman asked with a tender voice. She didn't know Lucas but she knew the feeling of loss well enough. 

"He was my brother in arms." Lucas said, his expression hardening. He did not linger long and stood up to talk to the woman. "Now," He began. "Who are you?"

"You can call me Rua. I lead a small settlement just east of here. We have a hideout set up that is safe from the demons and monsters." She introduced herself confidently but her words left Lucas with questions.

Settlement? A settlement of who? Survivors? But Lucas didn't ask any of these. Not yet anyway.

"How long has it been since the second rift near Yerva opened?" Lucas decided to ask. He had to know just how long he'd been buried for. Rua's confident expression grew uneasy at the mention of the second rift. 

"About 3 months." She told him. Lucas took another glance at his surroundings. It was hard to believe he'd been buried for a little less than 3 months and that so much had changed. The demon must have left after destroying Carmek. Off to conquer the next city until all the humans are extinguished. Lucas shuddered slightly.

"Right now we need to find the city storerooms." Rua said, interrupting Lucas's thoughts. "Our people are running out of food. We were hoping to find some here." Lucas looked toward Brinton castle then back toward Rua. 

"I know the way." He told her. "Let me take you." 

"Thank you." Rua said genuinely, though she seemed to be thanking him for something else. Lucas didn't pry though and turned, gesturing for her to follow. As he led her deeper into the city the boy who'd been lurking before quickly ran up and joined them. While they walked Lucas turned his head to look behind and spoke.

"So who are you?" He asked calmly. The boy jumped slightly and pointed to himself.

"Me?" He said rather timidly. Lucas's expression softened seeing just how intimidated the kid must have been.

"Yeah." He reaffirmed. "My name's Lucas by the way." he added, realizing he hadn't even introduced himself yet. His demeanor was calm and comforting and the kid lightened up.

"I'm Adrian." The boy said, introducing himself.

"Thanks for finding me Adrian." Lucas said with a smile. Adrian simply nodded quickly and kept walking. Lucas also turned back to look ahead as they passed the ruins of the place he once called home. Just then Rua spoke up.

"Were you a noble?" Rua asked curiously. She had noticed the few pieces of armor still clinging to Lucas, not to mention his obvious skill with mana and apparent mana ability.

"No, no, no. I'm a knight." Lucas said, quickly correcting her. "You can call me Sir Lucas if you'd like." He said, clearly joking. "What about you? With your spear skills it seems like you received considerable training."

"Well mostly self taught actually." Rua corrected him this time. "I was an assistant spear instructor at the Tarvos academy." She raised a spear she'd picked up from a fallen soldier.

Tarvos? Lucas recognized the name. It was an academy located in Yerva. Compared to cities like Yerva, Carmek was tiny. For some reason Lord Brinton never sought to expand. Just then the group reached the entrance to the storerooms. 

"We're here." Lucas told the group. The storeroom entrance was a simple wooden door on the side of Brinton castle. 

"Was it always like this?" Adrian asked uneasily. Right beside the entrance to the underground storerooms was a massive hole in the gate used to bring in wagons. It appeared some monster had crashed its way into the storeroom. They could only hope it had already left without eating all the food inside. Lucas had retrieved his weapons from the battlefield so he was the first to walk forward shield ready.

As they descended into the underground storeroom their surroundings only got darker and darker. Lucas lit the way with a lamp he'd grabbed at the entrance. It was quite dingy and moist. The traces of a large monster barreling through the large tunnelway could be seen on the walls. 

Soon they reached the end of the tunnel and entered the actual storerooms. Lining the walls and filling the shelves were cases full of food. They had stored a lot for the winter that was approaching. It was all carefully packed away with plans to be used later. 

Rua practically jumped forward at the sight, rushing ahead of Lucas and taking off her bag. She began basically throwing the food on the shelves into her bag. Adrian ran up and did the same with a smaller bag. Lucas, after seeing this, Quickly got to work helping Rua and Adrian fill up their bags with food. 

They moved from shelf to shelf, careful not to pick any food that had already begun to decay. They worked quickly and efficiently. Lucas could tell they had done this before, though, Adrian would sometimes refer to Rua to tell if an item was still good.

Just as they were about done loading up, the group heard a low growl sound from behind them. Lucas and Rua both jumped in front of Adrian, Rua leading with her spear and Lucas with his shield. But what they saw surprised them.

In the lamplight they could see the glittering scales of a giant lizard-like creature. Its eyes were closed tight and its body lay sprawled across the storeroom. It was sleeping.

"What the hell is that!?" Lucas asked in a frightened whisper.

"A Drake." Rua whispered with the same hint of fear. Slowly the two back away still facing the monster. It hadn't woken up yet but they couldn't be sure when it would. Rua reached behind her for her bag. "Adrian." She called to the boy. "We're leaving."

But as she said this the sound of scuttling from the tunnel where they had entered. Lucas and Rua both turned.

-CRASH!-

Slamming into the shelves was another insect-like monster. It was similar to the other one except it did not have the same scythe like forelimbs. Lucas and Rua's eyes widened in fear. Not because of the monster itself but because of how much noise it was making.

Lucas was the first to react, dashing forward toward the monster. He raised his sword and in less than a second he cut the monster down the middle. The monster dropped, having died almost instantly. Lucas quickly turned back.

Just behind Rua and Adrian he could see the eyes of a scaly monster fluttering open. Its giant head rose slowly as it awakened from its slumber. 

"RUN!" Lucas yelled. The duo quickly picked up their bags and sprinted for the tunnel. Lucas jumped forward toward the beast. 

The drakes giant claw swept through the storerooms aiming for the fleeing pair. Before it could reach them Lucas jumped in front, deflecting the swipe with his shield. Lucas stood strong as the claw raked across his already battered shield. His mana seemed to be the only thing keeping it together.

After deflecting the initial attack however Lucas quickly turned on his heel and made a dash for the tunnel. The drake who was a little too big for the storeroom got up and began crashing toward him. As Lucas reached the tunnel he drove his mana infused sword along the wall, destroying the pillar that held it up. As he did the structure collapsed behind him and the drake struggled to get through. Despite this Lucas did not stop running, not even daring to look behind him. He sprinted for the exit. There he saw Rua and Adrian waiting for him.

Together they burst through the exit and quickly hid away under the cover of the city. Soon the drake exploded out of the storeroom. The beast gnashed its teeth and turned its head, frantically looking for its prey. 

The trio hid within the wreckage of a house. They held their breaths, waiting. The drake let out a guttural roar that Lucas could tell was filled with anger. The beast then stopped, sprinting off into the city.

Lucas and Rua let out sighs of relief. Adrian was still terrified.

*****

"Are you coming?" Rua gestured for Lucas to follow. He felt tense. They were entering the hideout Rua had spoken about earlier. It was a cave hidden away within the Feyroot forest. Slowly Lucas made his way inside.

It was much more spacious than it appeared to be on the outside.. Evidence of mining that had been done was clear. Really it seemed more like an outpost than a cave.

Walking around and doing activities, Lucas saw them. The survivors. But...

Why were there so many children?