The air was thick with humidity. The stench hung heavily, clinging to his lungs. It was a cloying, rotten stench of burnt flesh mixed with the thick, moist earth and the metallic tang of blood. He could taste it on his tongue and it made his stomach churn. He gagged and his eyes flew open to view the scene. The ground was a open wound, dirt, concrete and wood all thrown haphazardly, spreading from the center of a small crater. Amidst the smouldering embers and charred stone of nearby buildings he could see the dark stain of blood, the remains of limbs and other appendages all tossed about with the same amount of care a child uses when throwing his toys about the room. Yoite could barely stand. He was leaning heavily on his sword, the blade of which sank deep into the earth beneath him. His coat was torn, a sleeve was missing entirely and blood caked the side of his face. His matted hair swung down and stung an eye, forcing it to shut as he shakily rose from his knelt position.

He took a step forward and heard the movement behind him. It was a desperate shuffling sound accompanied by a pained, distressed groan. He turned and out of the corner of his bright, blue eye he saw a man dressed in tactical gear with a thick vest, helmet and face-shield. The bottom half of the man was a font of red and white, bones and blood and the remainder of his organs stretching outward in a gruesome line behind him. How the man was still alive was a question only the gods could answer. Yoite turned toward him and lifted his blade, angled the curve toward the prone soldier as he crawled toward a nearby gun. He swung down and a crescent sliced through the air, gouging even farther at the earth as it ripped into and through the soldier. He stopped moving after that.

?See what you?ve done??

The voice was high pitched and girlish and belonged to the figure of a young woman with pale hair and big green eyes. She stood at the top of the crater, the moon shining bright behind her. Her hand was lifted and a dainty little finger stretched toward the boy in the crater.

?This is why your kind can?t be allowed to live, Yoite,? she went on. Her hand fell to a holster strapped to her thigh. Within that nylon sheath was a small caliber handgun. She drew it and trained the weapon on the crippled boy.

?Any last words??

Before Yoite could open his mouth to answer, she pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through the air faster than his eye could track and he felt it rip into his shoulder. He staggered backwards in surprise and fall, landing in a pile of hot ash. She shot again and he felt the sharp pain in his leg, next. She was aiming for a third shot when the gun suddenly flew from her hand and she was forced to her knees. Behind the woman stood a man much taller and older than the two of them combined. He had dark hair and a haggard face, with gaunt cheeks and sunken eyes and sallow skin. In one of his large hands he gripped the woman?s hair. In the other he held a hatchet, sharp and bloodied.

?Any last words?? he asked her, his voice high pitched, nasally and mocking. Before she could scream he chopped away at her neck with all the finesse of a raging bull, but the force was more than enough to silence her protests.

?Get up, Yoite,? the man discarded the body and climbed down into the crater. ?You need to run.?

Yoite reached up and the large man took him by the hand, hoisting him up to his feet. He then bent to pick up the boy?s sword and handed it over. He smelled like lemons and from this angle, looked like a beast ready to maul the much smaller young man. Yoite?s eyes were wide. He looked down at his own body, at the blood that stained his clothes. He could still feel the dull ache from his wounds, but for whatever reason these were little more than minor annoyances. He couldn?t begin to explain how he was able to take that first step away from the large man, whom he looked up at with a gaze full of fear and uncertainty. Yoite appeared to be a poor, frightened boy in the middle of this horrible display of violence. The man growled and raised his hatchet.

?Run, Yoite, or I?ll kill you myself.?

He had no choice in the matter, it seemed. So, confused, frightened and exhausted, Yoite turned and ran, scrambling over the wreckage of a car to climb out of the crater. At the very top the ground leveled out into a paved road, houses on either side stretching out as far as he could see. All the lights were out, it was eerily silent despite the flames still raging in the crater behind him and the air was unnaturally still.

The moon hung in the air behind him and cast the world in a silver glow and for a moment, the scene was a serene one to behold. Then it went black and the boy lost himself again.