Cadenza----I

"Welcome to La Finale" said Psythiros grandiosely

Arrested in both expression and place, the villagers watched with fright as demonic beings and eldritch horrors crawled out of the space fractures.

Demons of every kind assembled, menacingly stomping the cobble stone as they emerged. Orcs, werewolves, vampires, even mindless mutated flesh beasts stepped out.

A pin drop silence blanketed over the town, only the rough exhales of the hulking demons' nostrils creating a disharmonious chorus.

"Well, what are you waiting for? ATTACK!"

-GRRAAAAGGHHH

-FOR TYPHON

-FOR MASTER PSYTHIROS

The monster's battle calls rattled the very foundation of the town, bleeding the ears of the terrified villagers. However, while chill inducing, the roar of the demons awoke the powerless villagers from their petrified trance, their survival instincts kicking in as they screamed and fled.

But, it was useless.

Like a rabid beast run amok within a flock of sheep, the demons slaughtered the villagers ruthlessly. They sunk their fangs in their flesh and sharpened their blades with their bones.

And like a pristine example of the human nature, the villagers did not unite and take a last stand, as useless as that would be. But trampled over each other, thrusting the ones whom they have spent their entire lives with into the jaws of demons only to buy themselves mere moments of time.

It was a blood bath.

Cherlindrea tried to save the villagers, yet Psythiros was not idle. He aimed for Cherlindrea's life, his original objective.

Losing hope in protecting the rest of the villagers, Cherlindrea turned one of the few remaining blades of her nimbus into a lasso, wrapping it around the fleeing Leo and bringing him close to her chest.

Flung away from the escaping herd, Leo screamed as his tears trailed into the winds. His limbs fluttered as he kicked at the air, refusing to be separated from his two lifelong friends.

"NOO! PATRICK! LESTER!!"

Snickering evilly, Psythiros twirled his scythe as he circled around Cherlindrea, his weapon marking the ground into a circle around the Fae.

Drea held her child close to her bosom as she eyed the malicious demon circling around her. Wielding a divine claymore with her left hand, she fought off the vicious cyclones of demonic Aeter ripping through the air and the other demons who were attracted to her brilliance like a moth to a flame.

"Hush Leo, that's enough. Mother will protect you now" she whispered comfortingly into Leo's little ear as he thrashed around.

'W-What's happening? Why is mom?-who are they?-JUST WHAT IS HAPPENING?!'

Clutching at her divine armament, Leo peeked at the waves of demons devouring the humans mercilessly. Specifically, his eyes tracked his two friends Lester and Patrick.

"MOM! Help them too! Help them mom!" He urged her with a hoarse voice and tears in his eyes.

However, Drea was not able to.

Drea bit her lip painfully, allowing the pain to distract her from the sadness of failing her son gnawing at her heart.

Like lambs to the slaughter, the villagers fell to the butcher's blade until all that was left were but a handful of people.

Cowering behind Teresa, Lester, Patrick and a few children cried in despair awaiting their inevitable doom.

Corpses lay strewn about, heads, guts and a gore galore. The town was dyed a shade of dark crimson, wafting a horrible stench that flooded the senses.

Despite the hopelessness evident in her eyes, Teresa smiled through anguish and turned to the small children, her lips carrying a comforting motherly smile.

"I-It's alright sweeties, there is n-nothing to be afraid of. I'm sure a hero would come to save us!"

Loud thumping of feet neared, eliciting a croak from Teresa's shivering figure as her exposed back was drenched in cold sweat.

It was then that she knew that her life on Eos was over and that she was to join her husband, a brutal fate, but one she accepted none the less. Giving a last smile at the kids, Teresa close her eyes as he mouthed silently to her son.

*I love you*

Patrick and Lester watched in horror as a large bovine-like demon, a Minotaur, grabbed Teresa's head and crushed it. However, what happened in barely a second, stretched for minutes in their minds.

Slowly as the pressure was applied, Teresa's head began compressing. Her eyes bulged, popping out of their sockets as her teeth cracked and plopped out of her gums. As blood drew from her temple, it soaked her brown hair gradually until her whole head exploded in a burst of flesh, hair, and brain matter.

With that, the fate of the children was sealed, turning into a meal for the demons as they feasted in their flesh.

###

Holding a passed out Leo in her right arm, Drea pointed her sword at Psythiros furiously.

To that declaration, Psythiros motioned for the demons to surround Drea, halting their mindless charge as he opted for a more strategic plan of action.

"Now that we have gotten rid of the nuisances, I suppose we could have a chat?"

Psythiros said, planting the butt of his scythe into the earth as he leaned on it, leisurely inspecting his finger nails.

"I have known you- for better or for worse- twelve long years. We are enemies! That is true, but be that as it may, I will offer you a once in a lifetime proposal." With dramatic theatrics befitting of an Oscar award, Psythiros sung his poisonous tune into Drea's ears.

"I will allow little Leo, the HEIR to the Fae kingdom to escape. All you have to do… is die."

Smiling with the whites of his teeth as he said those words, Psythiros's mind was running at full gears calculating all the possible outcomes.

He never planned on letting Leo go, not by a long shot. But in her weakened state, Psythiros hoped that Drea's reasoning would be twisted. Her own mind convincing her of the plausibility of the implausible.

And, to him at least-it seemed to have worked. Drea's brows were furrowed in contemplation, her steady sword faltering slightly.

'It's working! I have to play it safe, I almost have her in the palm of my hand!'

"Cherlindrea, do not let the fate of the Fae end here. Accept my off-"Interrupting Psythiros, Drea laughed loudly, only quieting down when Leo stirred in her arms. She caressed his burning hair gently with the fingers of her hand still clutching the sword as her voice powerfully invaded the ears of every demon in the vicinity.

"Young demon, did you perhaps think that this pathetic mortal shell was all my power could offer? Did you seriously believe that you could kill me?" With confusion painted all over his face, Drea expressionlessly continued. "I trapped myself in a mortal projection because of love, and remained in it for one who was birthed out of that love. Would you kill this projection, then my true form would be released, one nor you, the demons, or this whole village could bear.

Only my little Leo could"

As she spoke, one strand of Drea's hair fell off of her scalp turning into a beautiful golden butterfly and fluttering into the wind. The butterfly flew past a man standing beside an altar tomb marked by a burning shepherd's staff and sailed the air with its delicate wings as it landed on the nose of a sleeping boy, its golden glow illuminating a nearby limping silhouette as its wounds melded into its jet-black armor.