The city center was alive with the sounds of the festival. Alight with lamps, torches, and other more unconventional lighting methods that could be seen clearly across the city. The alchemist lamps made Irinia nervous. If they were not made properly then they could explode. She remembered one occasion when that had happened. When she was little, she had been walking down the street with her mother. They had passed by a shop that had one hanging by the door. Though they were far enough away to not incur any physical damage she could still feel the heat and the noise was deafening. Her ears were ringing for a whole day. They have made her nervous since.

  She was wearing the customary attire of the festival dancer. Orange and red sleeves that hung from her arms that billowed when she moved her arms quickly. The dress itself was long and flowed as she moved. It was also open from her neck to her lower back. She was not a fan of that aspect, but it was tradition, and it did not bother her enough to make a fuss. Orange, red, and yellow colors playfully mingled throughout giving the illusion of fire as she walked out onto the platform. The city center was open and wide. On any night it was difficult to see the buildings lining the center because of the people milling about and the distance. However, being on the platform she was above the crowd. With all the lights cutting the darkness she could see everything. Every year the entire city gathered here to watch the ceremony that was said to bring about the end of summer and invite the advent of autumn. Silly concept really. Autumn would arrive regardless of this ceremony, but it was fun and brought joy to her people. Tonight, was no exception. All the faces in the crowd returned her gaze.

  Gripping a short staff in her right hand she began to spin it around and the crowd immediately fell silent. The rhythmic beating of drums echoed off the buildings. She remembered seeing others perform as a girl. It was mesmerizing to watch when it was performed correctly. The steps, movements, and patterns with the short staff had to be executed precisely in order for the dress to flow properly. It was to look as though a fire was being put out. The flame of summer snuffed out to allow autumn to transition them into winter. She had been practicing this dance for months. She was sinking into the motions, a trance. It was easier to focus that way.

  After twenty minutes of dancing, she noticed movement on a rooftop on the opposite side of the town center. She let her responsibility win over her curiosity and continued. Spinning this way and that, all the while fanning out her arms at the same time. Drumbeats beating off the buildings to push her forward. Like a living flame. Then she spotted it again. She froze in place. It couldn't be.

  A murmur could be heard from the crowd as people stared at her. The dancer did not stop until the ceremony was complete, it was considered bad luck, but she could not help it. Irinia saw it again, this time on a rooftop to the right and again to her left. There were three of them. “By the gods.” She whispered. “They’re here...”

  Something moved on the rooftop just fifty paces from the platform on which she stood. It leapt down and jumped at one of her personal guards. The same guard who had called Croix foolish for recommending the use of a knife rather than a spear raised his spear, but it was too late. The sentinel buried its claws deep into the man's chest. It ripped through him as though his armor were not even there. He gurgled on his own blood and fell to the ground lifeless. The creature lifted its head and looked at her as she tried to back away. Her glance shifted from the dead guard spilling blood onto the stage to the creature. As it leapt towards her, she brought her arms into her chest and screamed.

  Faster than the creature Croix appeared from the side with a leaping kick that sent it sprawling onto the platform. “Irinia, it is important to do as I say. Please, we need to move.” He drew his blade from the sheath on his lower back. The narrow blade she had seen before. As it was pulled into the night, she caught a glimpse of the blade. It made of the purest-looking metal that she had ever seen. It caught even the moonlight and reflected it in all directions. As though the moon burst within the blade's reflection.

  The sentinel recovered itself and leapt at him. Croix brought his leg up to his chest and kicked it square in its center mass with a nauseating crunch. It fell backwards suffocating until Croix ran to it plunging his sword straight through the center of its eye up to the middle of the blade. It lay there lifeless as the blade was removed. The creature’s red blood didn’t stick the blade. It was clean and again scattering the moonlight.

  Two more sentinels came from different directions tearing the guards to pieces like they were nothing. Irinia thought she was going to be sick. Croix grasped her hand, “With me, Princess.”

  “But my guards. They'll-”

  “They are already dead. There is nothing anyone can do for them. We need to go. Now.” He pulled her from the platform just as another sentinel landed. Croix turned and his fingertips drew lines of orange light into the air. A symbol with several circles within a larger circle that contained strange markings between the two rings. It was a sigil that mages use, though she was not familiar with this particular pattern. He pushed three fingers into the smaller circles and crushed it. It shattered and fell away like glass. A bright flame erupted from his hand scorching the sentinel where it stood.

  He uses magic too. She remembered Mina saying something about it, but there was too much going on to form a straight thought.

  Again, he grasped her hand gently and pulled her along behind him. “Stay on the inside, Princess. People are going to start panicking and you could get trampled.” She looked left and saw the people of the city, her people, running every which way. Some realizing what was happening sooner than others. They were beginning to knock each other down in an attempt to get as far away from the creatures as possible. It did not matter. The daem were everywhere. Pulling people down and mauling them everywhere she looked. She had to fight to hold her tears back. She recognized some of the we pulled under the crowd.

  A man she recognized was tackled to the ground by one of the beasts right next to them. He was a baker from a few blocks down from the stage. “Croix!” She pointed. Croix cut off each of the sentinel's arms as it raised them to kill the man before losing half of its head. Croix had cut laterally through the crystal in the middle of its face. The baker was covered in blood, but otherwise unharmed.

  “Go to the castle, please,” she urged him as she was pulled away. The baker nodded, wiped the blood off his face the best he could and ran toward the castle.

  “Croix, we have to do something. Everyone is going to get killed.” She was short of breath from all the running, and still squeezing his hand. She had not realized that she had gone ahead of him until he jerked her backward as they came to an alley entrance. Before she crossed the entrance a sentinel's claws raked the air where she would have been. Croix's blade flashed and the sentinel was a few inches shorter than it had been a moment ago.

  She saw a guard a few paces from them try to behead one of the creatures, but his blade bounced off its neck like a stick against a boulder. The daem buried its claws into the guard's neck. Irinia looked away when the blood started to spray. Then she remembered, “Father!”

  “We will pass by him on our way to the tower. I told him to go there if this happened. Pay attention to what you're doing, or you are going to get yourself killed. I said to stay behind me.”

  She did not like his tone and shot him a glance.

  “Sorry, but it’s better I take a hit than you.” He apologized without looking toward her.

  They were approaching another alley. Croix had drawn another red sigil and held it up to his right as they passed the alley. A lance of fire flew from the shattered glyph in his hand piercing the daem through the face and destroying its head, painting the walls of the alley.

  Further down she could see her father, his guards had been reduced to just two. They were fighting well, but not well enough. Her father was wielding his axe, each time it struck a sentinel it crumpled under the force. Still alive, but unable to move. One of the creatures had come up from behind of Toran. He saw it too late. When the creatures' claws were mere inches from his throat it was knocked back by something with great force that Irinia could not see. Her father looked around, confused. He had not seen his savior either.

  Croix's hand was held out, index finger and middle finger crossed. The sentinel stood again and made a frenzied dash at Croix. His arm went under his robe for a moment, and he produced a strange object. It was purple and gray, pointed on both ends with a short string connecting them. Both pieces unfolded as the string extended. A bow? Again, he reached in his cloak and pulled an arrow out with a downward motion. The creature was halfway between them and her father now. Croix notched the arrow, drew it back, and loosed the arrow directly into the center of the sentinel's head. The force knocked it backwards. It slid to a stop lifeless at her father’s feet as they approached.

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  They walked past her father, and he exchanged a thankful nod with Croix saying, “I should’ve listened.”

  "Yep." Croix loosed two more arrows into the heads of nearby enemies before continuing on their way. When they had finally arrived at the tower the bow collapsed on itself again and he put it back into its place under his cloak. She had never seen such a strange weapon.

  Irinia had seen the tower thousands of times but had never gone inside. They stopped just inside the entrance. Croix patted her on the back. “Go ahead and catch your breath. It is a long climb up.”

  She had not even realized how hard she had been breathing. The dress was so tight that it made the task breathing difficult. He must have noticed this too because he said, "loosen the ties on your dress and remove the sash.”

  She felt her face get warm and she was certain she was all sorts of red. "But..."

  "No time. You can barely move in that thing. Loosen the straps and you can put the sash back on."

  He turned around to face the entrance while she quickly loosened everything. While the loose straps helped with her breathing, she still likely could not run. She tested her theory by trying to take a long step. Unsuccessful. Croix knelt down and grabbed the bottom of the dress and cut it halfway between her knee and hip. “Sorry, but now you should be able to run.” It would have been nice of him to ask before ruining an heirloom... She did not have much time to be angry with him because when she looked up, he was already on his way to the stairs.

  "You are going to fix that, aren't you?"

  "Certainly, but unless you want me to carry you up something had to be done."

  She sighed, and decided it was not the time to worry about it.

  They began their climb. With each step the grooves in the floor would pulse with bright colors. She began to follow, looking at her feet, but nothing happened when she stepped down.

  "Why do your-" she began.

  “We need to hurry to the top. There are seven levels to the tower, and I am sure we are not alone in here.” They ascended the first staircase. It traced the contour of the wall disappearing into the ceiling above it. On the second level you could see a slightly concave piece of glass on the floor that she had not noticed in the ceiling downstairs. Distracted by the cutting of a traditional dress passed down through her family before they settled here. Croix was not giving her any time to satiate her curiosity, however, he was pulling her by the hand to the next staircase.

  They climbed the tower level after level, each having that same piece of glass in the center of the floor and ceiling. Their advancement was uncontested until they reached the fourth floor. A sentinel had been waiting for them. Either it was lost or had planned an ambush did not matter. Again, Croix was ready. The blade flashed. Like with the moonlight outside, the blade sent the torch light scattering. One swing and the creature fell to the ground dead.

  Each new floor revealed a disturbing view of the guards assigned to the tower. Some were in pieces, while others were partially eaten. Irinia did not think sentinels had mouths... From what she had briefly seen they seemed to have a smooth face with the exception of the smooth gem-like eye. She saw moonlight sifting in through the top of the next staircase and felt relief. They ran through the opening and stopped short. There was a dozen sentinel daem standing on the top of the tower. Croix pulled her hand behind his back, signaling to stay behind him.

  Nothing moved for what felt like an eternity. Croix gripped his blade with right hand, and she saw beads of light appear on the fingertips of his left. His movements were fluid. One motion flowed directly into the next. Three sentinels jumped at them simultaneously. The sigil he drew with his left hand was quickly shattered and another sentinel erupted on a pillar of fire. He cut through the other two with one swing of his blade.

  He closed his eyes and began to mumble something to himself. She did not know the language, but the air reverberated with his voice. Another two sentinels leapt at them.

  “Croix!” She yelled.

  A force slammed into both of the daem while they were still in the air with enough force to separate some of the limbs from the rest. They made guttural sounds as they fell over the side of the tower to their deaths. A beam of the brightest, whitest light Irinia had ever seem came from the sky and directly into the large concave glass plate. She could feel the tower vibrate beneath her feet.

  “Stay behind me.” Croix charged the remaining sentinels. He killed one, two, three sentinels with his first three swings of his blade. He kicked a fourth off the edge. Suddenly he went a different direction that caught her off guard. She was no longer behind him but to his right. A sentinel took the opportunity to try to strike her down, but Croix punched it in the center of its face, but it was too late. While its claws did not pierce her skin, its arm came up abruptly sending her into the air.

  She could see the worry in Croix's face as everything slowed down. She had read about this. In times of extreme stress or danger the body will try to compensate, and time seems to flow slower than normal. Her arm hurt and it hurt to breathe. She wondered if she was dying. There was stills so much she had wanted to do. So many things she wanted to see. She had never even left the city before. Her thoughts went to Mina, whom she was concerned about if she were not to be around anymore. Would she find work? She could see the glass below her now. Croix cut two more daem in half with urgency and leapt backwards into the air, back arched, beneath her. He wrapped his arm around her as they landed on the glass cracking it. The light was blinding as it flowed around them and into the tower. It should have been impossible to be this bright during the night.

  “I won't let go. Promise.” Croix lifted his hand and struck the glass the bottom of his sword's pommel. She felt the glass give way beneath them. The pieces of glass sparkled in the light shining down. Falling quickly, they landed against the glass floor of the sixth level, breaking right through it. They fell through each plate of glass; with each impact she could see him grimace. Her face next to hers. After they broke through the glass of the third level Croix readjusted, essentially draping her over his back. He shifted into a kneeling stance while falling. One arm behind her, holding her in place. Sword pointed down. The blade glowing brightly in the light, the runes drawn on the blade were glowing as well. The blade was absorbing the light. She saw red, blue, green, brown, white, and a black that impossibly seemed to glow. The blade broke through the glass of the second level before they did and plunged into the ground at the base of the tower. Light shot out across the floor, and she could see colored lines streak out from where the blade had impacted the floor. A deep rumble was heard as a wave of bright white light pulsed out from the sword in a wave. Then there was silence.

  There were no screams coming from outside. Only faint crying. More yelling from outside. "What happened? Where did they go?!"

  "Are they gone?"

  "How!?"

  Croix struggled to his feet and staggered. Irinia tried to catch him before he fell, but her injuries proved more a hindrance and she more so stumbled toward him. “Croix! Are you alright?” She touched his head and saw blood when she pulled her hand away.

  “I'm alright.” He tried to stand.

  She held him down. “Wait.” Placing her hands on his chest and head she concentrated. She had done healings many times in the past. This time it was different. She could feel an intense energy within him. It almost felt like two people, but that did not make any sense. After a few moments he blinked rapidly and sat up straight.

  “Thank you.” He smiled. “Must have hit my head against the glass a few times on the way down.” He looked at the shattered glass covering the floor around them. “Your father is going to be very upset with me when I tell him he needs to fix this.”

  Judging by the happy shouts coming from outside she assumed the threat was gone she and felt herself relax. “What is this place? I heard you call it a Lens.”

  Croix stood and helped her to her feet. When she put weight on her right foot a sharp pain shot up through her leg and she almost fell. Croix caught her and picked her up. She felt her heart skip again. She held onto his neck with her good arm as he carried her out of the tower.

  He talked to her as they walked, or rather, hobbled into the street. “It is called a Goddess Lens. No actual goddesses involved though. Some places the name makes people feel safer.” He stopped to turn and gaze up at it. “I had it built here when the city was first constructed.” He smirked and raised a brow, “Designed it myself.”

  Irinia looked around and could not see any more of the daem. “It killed them all?”

  “Most. Any within the city walls at least. This one has a relatively short range. The guards will have to take care of the stragglers outside the wall before they get in. We need to get you home before your family starts to worry.” People were still scurrying around this way and that in confusion, but the relief could be seen. The moon was still large and high in the sky, illuminating the city as they walked. Most of the torches had been knocked over or doused in the panic during the attack. Some grieved over loved ones that were killed, but overall, the sense of relief in the threat being gone could be felt.

  Irinia looked up at Croix, “I have never seen one before.”

  “Princess, you have no idea. Those were the weakest of their kind. They were just scouting the city.”

  “Oh... So, there will be more coming?” She felt sick. If the weak ones were able to cause so much destruction, then what would the strong ones do?

  His face was grim, “Possibly. Larin is far from their central forces. If they move this way as a group, then it could be soon. Having a functioning Lens will help, but not forever. People grew complacent and now they're going to have to pay the price, sadly.”

  They continued to the castle passing by rolled carts, corpses, and children trying to find the parents they were separated from.