Samuel turned just in time to see the siblings sprinting back toward his spot. Elijah carried Ethan in his arms, pushing himself to move faster than his body probably allowed. Erina ran close behind, breathing hard. The duffel bag they had been carrying earlier was gone, likely dropped somewhere in the chaos.
"Surrounded by what?" Samuel muttered, forcing his focus outward instead of towards the creature.
RUMBLEEEEE.
The ground vibrated beneath their feet, dust trembling along the pavement.
From the direction the siblings had come, the sound of mass movement grew louder. Heavy footsteps scraped across the road. Dragging limbs slapped against concrete. Inhuman growls layered over one another until they blended into a single, suffocating noise.
A horde was approaching.
Samuel spotted the siblings rushing toward him through the dim street. Ethan clung to Elijah's shoulder, his small hands shaking. Erina kept glancing over her shoulder, panic written plainly across her face.
Inside the ruined store, something else moved.
A dagger shot out of the dust cloud straight towards the creature. Its pommel glowed blue as it streaked toward the shadowed creature with impossible speed.
The creature twisted aside at the last moment, narrowly avoiding the blade. But the dagger suddenly changed direction midair. A thin, nearly invisible string trailed behind it, snapping tight as the blade buried itself into the creature's arm, punching clean through armor and flesh.
The pommel hissed sharply, its blue glow draining to a dull gray.
The creature did not hesitate. With a brutal, practiced motion, it tore its own arm off and hurled it aside as if discarding trash.
"You damn templars always have a new trick," it snarled. "Unfortunately for you, this is not the first time I have fought one."
The dagger snapped back into the store, the string retracting instantly. The severed arm hit the ground and began to rot at once, decaying at an unnatural speed until it collapsed into black sludge that soaked into the concrete.
The creature's missing limb regenerated almost immediately. Flesh crawled outward, armor reforming plate by plate until the arm was whole again.
From the dust, a figure rose.
The templar stepped forward once more, his black armor glowing a deep, violent red. Steam vented violently from three black tubes on each shoulder, obscuring his silhouette in rolling clouds.
"Abomination," the man said coldly. "I took an oath to rid the world of filth like you."
Outside, the siblings finally reached Samuel.
"We have to run!" Elijah shouted. "A horde is coming!"
The rumbling grew deafening, like the city itself was about to collapse.
From the shadows farther down the street, five soldiers emerged and their weapons were raised. They formed a firing line between the horde and the road, boots planted, rifles leveled.
"Captain," one soldier said, glancing at the device mounted on his chest. "Incoming horde five hundred meters south. Largest we've seen yet. Should we deploy incendiaries?"
"Not yet," the captain replied sharply. "Our targets are nearby. Engage the enemy while we extract them."
Samuel grabbed the siblings and dragged them down behind a wrecked vehicle as gunfire erupted. Machine guns roared to life, shredding the front ranks of the horde with ruthless accuracy. Bodies collapsed in heaps, only to be trampled by those behind them.
"Let's use the chaos," Samuel whispered urgently. "Move now."
They crawled between abandoned cars, keeping low as flames and gunfire lit the street behind them. The heat washed over Samuel's back even at a distance.
"Captain, the targets are escaping," a soldier reported calmly while continuing to fire. "Should we pursue?"
"No," the captain replied. "Let them go. Deploy incendiaries."
A new drone descended from above, larger and sleeker than the previous one. It flew low over the road and released small payloads that detonated on impact. Fire engulfed the street, turning the road into a roaring inferno.
Samuel glanced back, horror tightening his chest.
'How the hell did Elijah evade them before?' he thought in both disbelief and amazement.
Behind them, the wall of fire halted the horde completely.
One soldier broke from the line and approached the store to search for the templar.
In the next second, the soldier's neck split open. Blood sprayed outward like a fountain, his body collapsing before the sound even registered.
"Oh fuck!" someone shouted.
Weapons snapped up instantly. Tension spiked as the remaining soldiers aimed toward the store entrance.
Then the store exploded outward again as the templar and the creature burst into the flames, colliding in the middle of the firestorm.
They fought as if the inferno did not exist.
Blows landed with explosive force, sending shockwaves through the burning street. The templar charged barehanded, reckless and relentless, striking with terrifying strength.
"You are not worthy of my blade, abomination!" he shouted.
"Tsk. Such arrogance," the creature growled, forced briefly on the defensive as it took to the air, wings beating violently above the fire.
Eventually, the templar's armor began to overheat. Steam poured from his shoulders in thick clouds, and he was forced to retreat, boots skidding across scorched concrete.
The creature turned toward the horde instead. It seized one of the mutants and lifted it effortlessly. Its head split open like a blooming flower, revealing rows of grinding teeth. Flesh was devoured in seconds. Bones were expelled through the slits along its neck, clattering uselessly to the ground.
The damage across its body vanished.
"Am I worthy now?" it taunted through the flames.
The templar said nothing.
He reached to his waist and hurled a tube into the air. It transformed mid-flight into a black longsword. The moment he caught the sword, it glowed the same red as his armor.
"Maybe," he said quietly, tightening his grip, "you are."
Far from the battlefield, Samuel forced his legs to keep moving, guiding the siblings through a tangled maze of alleys and broken roads.
'We have to keep running,' he said internally.
Something was wrong.
His head began to throb violently, pressure building behind his eyes. His vision flickered as he stumbled into a nearby building and came to an abrupt stop.
"Samuel?" Elijah asked, concern crept into his voice. "Are you okay?"
Samuel tried to answer, but instead he coughed violently. Blood spilled from his mouth as his legs gave out beneath him. He collapsed hard onto the pavement.
'I can't move my legs…' Samuel glanced at his legs with fear. 'What is happening to me?'