Laptove town the before incident.
A man's gaze descended to two fourteen year olds with a searching look.
" Where's Sen ?!. " he asked in firm but worried tone.
" He's back in the village, why ? " Neil , one of the two, answered.
" Hey Neil … ,what are those clouds ?" the girl next to Neil asked her gaze focused on the crimson clouds hovering over Salur village .
Neil shifted his gaze to the village. Deep ominous clouds gathered as a crimson veil rose into the skies. Ravens, horco ravens, were heard cawing as they flew to the village. Their dark feather and red eyes had always being a signal. A signal for death.
The man's eyes narrowed and in calm voice said.
" Neil , Mira , take these children to the guild hall. Make sure they arrive there."
" But why Mr Iliad, the festival…" a little girl tried to ask.
" Don't worry … " Mira interrupted "there are buckle berry pies there waiting, don't u want some?" she ended in a smile as she nudged the girl by the shoulder to start walking.
" Don't worry " Iliad said with a warm smile with his hand gently patting the little girl's head. " I'll be back , just stay with these two. Ok?" The little girl nodded then joined the rest of the children who were jubilant after hearing that there was pie.
He then turned to Neil. Neil had already gauged the weight of the situation. He looked at Sen's grandfather. His eyes gave a hint of worry.
" Make sure they get there safely." Iliad said before vanishing in a blur.
Neil nodded then joined Mira. The look in Sen's grandfather's eyes sent chills across his spine. He had known him to be calm and collected in challenging situations. But this time his eyes wavered with doubt and uncertainty.
Neil scoped his surroundings gauging the multitude of people around them and the children. They were relatively calm and we're up and about their businesses. He looked back at the village. The skies were clear and the red clouds had disappeared.
" An illusion!?" Neil thought as he redirected a boy who was straying from the rest. His thoughts came back to the people in the town.
" We're lucky, they hadn't noticed." Neil thought letting a sigh of relief as him and Mira proceeded leading the children through the streets.
Miasma events were highly feared. People in the kingdom had heard and some seen the devastating effects of their occurrences and it was engraved into their being a deeply rooted fear of the imminent consequences of being caught in one.
But for now Neil didn't fear the growing miasma. He feared something else. It was relatively close and yet to be ignited.
He feared the fear of the crowd.
Miasma events were known to have two major effects. One, the area they occurred was completely wiped of the map, with nothing to salvage but the remains of the debris. The range of the occurrence's destruction had no definite way to be determined or predicted and as such no one was safe until it passed. The second effect was the appearance of Nightmare Smites. Nightmare Smites was the name assigned to the arcane beast that appeared and raged through the land devouring and killing any being in their way. The reason for their behavior was yet to be explained.
Neil's thoughts pulled him back to his school two years prior . He was talking to Sen about Miasma events and their effect. They were at the top of an abandoned clock tower in the edge compound of the school . It had stopped being in use after a new clock tower was built that ran on arcane rather than it that was manual.
" Hey Sen ,do u remember the effects of the Miasma events we were taught in class." He asked as he gazed at the horizon watching the sunset.
" Yes" Sen said looking at his right hand's palm. It had a dark rune like engraving at the center and had been there for as long as Sen could remember.
Neil dragged his hair back and shifted his gaze to Mira who was looking for them. School was over and they had usually walked home together.
" The teacher said that there were only two effects of it ." he paused before continuing." I believe there is a third one."
Sen waited for a while trying to figure out what Neil meant.
" What is it?" He finally asked.
" Man." Neil answered then added.
" Man shrouded by fear has the same effect as the nightmare Smite. Self preservation fuels their will and suddenly nothing and no one else matters. They'll run and try to save themselves and in the processes some will be caught in the stampede, others will sacrifice others for their own safety and so on. Then the deaths will be recorded as miasma events casualties."
" Huh, never really thought about it that way." Neil remembered Sen saying as he got pulled back from the flashback by Mira's voice.
"Neil, we're here."
The children had already raced inside excited to eat the pies. The guild was a spacious building. It had two floors. The lower one was were most people got their assignments and quests. After completion they would come to the counter there and get there rewards. At the top were the office of the guild executives and master. It was off limits to all who weren't given access.
Inside things were tense. The guild members were restless, some pacing across the wooden floor of the guild. The anticipation from the vice guild master's summon was suffocating. In the room there were about fifty people all in mercenary equipment. That was a large number of people considering that they were in Octa guild.
" What are you all so scared about?" a man in steel armor said mockingly clutching his longsword.
" This is the lowest guild in the kingdom. Whatever they throw at us even a kid could handle it." He said his deep loud broken voice roaring through the room.
Murmurs suddenly increased. Morale flowed back into the room like a river to its mouth. Then—.
" Tone it down!" Neil was startled by a booming voice behind him.
Looking back it was the vice guild master, Orion. He in white trousers and a light blue shirt tucked to precision. On his shoulders was a white coat adorned with three silver stars — a monument of his authority as a vice guild master. He had a relaxed look on his face, his eyes, slightly slanted, searching through the guild gauging the people there. Then he sighed removing his hands from his pockets then pointed at a lady.
" You, Take these children to the safe room in the back. " he said in an calm tone. He then dragged his silver hair back and looked at the people who had gathered in the guild hall.
The last child had entered the door to the back when Orion started.
" There has been a sighting of a rampaging Smite out near Salur village." He said pausing to see the reaction of the room.
One person sited at the back shouted.
" Just one , easy enough!"
The room's atmosphere became light as bright smiles aired on everyone's faces. There were some who kept their cool knowing that the announcement was not over.
Orion continued. " Right now in Salur Arcane flow is disrupted and what we think a miasma event is occurring there. Thus consequently, this is not a normal smite ... It a Nightmare smite , and there are more than one."
"This is not a quest or an assignment, rather a plea from me and guild master Trojn, for you lend us your strength in combating the threat at hand." He said lowering his head.
Silence echoed through the room as the guild members soaked in the news.
" Miasma event?!" a shout was heard in the back.
" What! … More than one?!"
" This is suicide!"
The room burst into panic as the guild members raised their voices in denial. Their faces told it all. No one wanted to put their lives on the line.
"No one is demanded to come nor condemned for not helping. It's recommended that people stay inside the safety of the Lishanar shields at such events. But as guild members it's our duty and honor to protect those who can't protect themselves." Orion said lifting his head.
He then turned to the Guild doors and before leaving he said.
" Also , this a Legion tier mission ... Those coming met me at the east gates."
Neil was standing next to the door to the safe house. He had predicted the behavior of the members but hadn't the seriousness of the situation.
Missions in the guild were ranked through tiers. The lowest was E and scaled up to S tier. People only took jobs that were on the same level as them or one higher if they were in a party.
The entirety of the guild consisted of C and some B ranked members. The rest were lower.
Legion tier was a rank higher than S tier. They were rare but if the occurred were considered a kingdom wide threat. Any who ventured into them hardly came back apart from the lucky ones. But luck didn't exist when it came to miasma events.
A heavy silence fell over the guild as the member's hearts. Their eyes darted as they clenched on the weapons that they were scared to wield. The devastating reality was that even if they could they wouldn't be of much help. They understood very well that if they were to stepping outside of the Town walls was same as signing your death sentence. None of them were willing to do that.
Neil on the other hand had more than fear in mind. He was worried. His mother was still in Salur when he left and hadn't seen her since. He was restless staying in the safe house knowing that she might have been pulled into the Miasma event.
His heart raced as he took the his next actions. He turned to Mira and said.
" Stay here. I'll be back. "
He then turned to the door and made his way, fast, to the exist. Mira tried to catch his hand but he was too quick. In a few seconds Neil was out of Mira's field of view.
" Don't leave me her alone." She said with her tone dying down. She clenched her hands rubbing the her palm to her chest as she gazed to the door realizing that Sen and Neil were gone.
Neil arrived at the east gates. It was relatively calm much to Neil's surprise. At the gates were Orion and another man with an eye patch. The eye patch had two silver stars like emblems. They were guiding people into the town trying to calm them with reassurance of safety under the Lishanar shields.
Suddenly a tremor shook the ground knocking people and carriages over. A bright light came from Salur engulfing the entire vicinity. Then a force wave came crushing onto the town walls. The Lishanar shields glowed deep blue absorbing the force and energy of the crush. Then hell broke loose.
People rushed through the gates in fear as screams filled the air. Orion and the man tried but couldn't settle the raging wave. Neil had climbed on top of a building looking down on the frantic crowd. Up in the sky horco ravens circled as they eyed down the scared crowd.
After a while the commotion died down. Neil dropped down to the ground and headed closer to the gates. Around him lay people his eyes searching for his mother or Sen. Some were hurt others had broken limbs. The sight was devastating as people groaned in agony clutching their respective areas of pain.
" Not here!" he cursed as he made his way past them.
Standing at the gates were Orion and the eye patch guy. They stared into the road expanse with a disappointed look.
As Neil drew closer a scent of blood assaulted his nose. He pushed through the calming crowd trying not to get pushed back himself.
The sight was horrific. Neil stood next to Orion and the eye patch guy as they stared into the road. Neil's stomach churned as he soaked in more of the atrocity.
In the expanse , bodies were scattered and deformed as horco ravens dropped down to their feast.