Chapter 4: Klohee

The shriek that ripped through the courtyard was pure terror, devoid of any human language. It was followed by a wave of desperate, fleeing citizens that slammed into Orian, Tez, Klohee, and Yasir.

“Monsters are in the city! The walls are breached!” someone screamed.

Panic was a physical force. People shoved, trampling abandoned belongings. Ori was lost in the human tide. Armed city guards, their faces pale with disbelief, were sprinting against the flow, toward the western gate where the chaos was erupting.

Klohee moved with a controlled, commanding purpose that contrasted sharply with the surrounding anarchy. She grabbed Ori and Tez by the backs of their shirts, her strong hands guiding them with effortless precision.

"We need a view. Follow me!" she commanded, her eyes already scanning the architecture.

She dragged the three boys through the crushing crowd and up the exterior stone staircase of a three-story merchant house. They reached the flat roof, scrambling over the low parapet to look back toward the western wall.

The sight stole Ori’s breath and chilled the blood in his veins.

The high stone wall of Estily, the city that was meant to stop any invading force, was gone. The stone had not been slowly dismantled; it had been shattered, blasted apart by immense strength. Through the gaping ruin, dozens of the monstrous beasts poured into the heart of the city.

They were not all like the bear-sized wolf Tez had slain. Some scuttled low to the ground, massive, corrupted turtles with spiked shells. Others, like warped, muscled foxes, bounded with terrifying speed, clearing twenty feet in a single jump. And everywhere, blood stained the cobblestones. Many citizens lay dead, and the monsters were feeding.

"Sowden," Klohee muttered, drawing the sword she kept hidden beneath her cloak. "We're going to Rost."

Suddenly, a high-pitched snarl ripped the air directly above them. A smaller monster, a corrupted weasel twisted into a sinuous, fanged killer, had scaled the brick building. Its claws dug into the stone, tearing grooves as it lunged onto the roof.

Klohee did not hesitate. Her sword flashed. With a ruthlessly efficient strike, she decapitated the creature in a single, fluid slash before it could fully land. The body fell back, its Onyx jewel heart giving one final, dark flicker before it plunged to the ground below.

Tez immediately drew his own sword, placing himself between Klohee and the remaining edge of the roof. Ori’s hand instinctively gripped the inert green rod beneath his tunic, but he did not pull it out.

Klohee led them in a diagonal sprint across the rooftops, slaying six more smaller corrupted beasts—giant rabbits and squirrels—with swift, surgical cuts to their necks and spines. Her movements were not the clumsy slashes of a guard but the precise, disciplined motions of someone trained to fight this kind of enemy. She then dropped into a narrow alleyway below, Tez following closely, carving a path for Ori and Yasir through the fleeing civilians.

She stood against the alley entrance, drawing a massive, bear-like monster to her. Klohee’s sword met the beast's forearm. The monster howled, and the thick wound on its arm began to unearthly heal as a dark pulse of power visibly radiated from its onyx jewel heart.

Klohee shifted angles. As the wound closed, her sword was moving again, targeting the dark stone fused to the monster’s chest. She delivered a furious, precise blow, shattering the jewel and dropping the beast.

She was strong. They could still make it.

The city exit was in sight, but two massive, corrupted bear-monsters blocked their path. Klohee charged them both, diverting their attention.

"Go! Keep running!" Tez yelled at the others, slaying a smaller, corrupted rabbit that darted between his legs.

Ori was overwhelmed. He saw the two enormous monsters fighting his mother, her skill evident as she parried their brutal blows. He was frozen, useless, watching the terrifying dance.

Then, a third monster appeared on the roof of the nearby watchtower. It was the corrupted form of a giant elk, its warped antlers reaching the sky. It must have leaped the entire height of the tower in one jump.

Klohee had just slain one of the two bear-monsters before her. Panting she repositions against the other while keeping a keen eye on the new threat above.

However, another monster, a full-speed giant fox that had been chasing a crowd of people slammed into the very base of the watchtower, its force shattering the rock and foundational mortar. Ori watched, helpless, as the tower began to lean, its mass shifting.

The corrupted elk-monster jumped from the top of the tower. The sudden shift in weight, combined with the structural damage, brought the entire watchtower crashing down onto the alleyway.

Ori felt his entire body lock. His eyes were wide open, locked on the third monster jumping, the collapsing stone, and his mother—she had no time to move, no space to run. He opened his mouth, desperately trying to scream the warning, but only a dry, rattling gasp escaped his throat.

The ancient stones consumed Klohee and the monsters beneath a mountain of rubble.

Tez screamed, a raw, inhuman sound that shredded his throat. He tried to turn back, but a pair of armed, fleeing guards grabbed his arms, dragging him toward the exit.

Ori was pulled along by another guard, thrust into a waiting carriage with Yasir. The young man, who still clutched his bag containing the Onyx fragment, was sobbing uncontrollably.

Tez too was tossed into the carriage. Ori wailed, a primal grief overwhelming him, and Tez pulled his younger brother into a fierce, shared embrace, their tears staining the carriage floor. They were alone. Their father was gone, their mother was crushed, and the road ahead was terrifyingly uncertain.

The watchtower lay in ruin, blocking the road, ensuring no one—monster or human—could return through the eastern gate.

~~~~~