I never slept well, so I was incredibly pissed off to find a Rethan being thrown through my living room where I had fallen asleep. This isn’t the first time I had monsters fighting around my house, but last time they had the courtesy to just mess up my garden and bleed all over my patio. This time, there’s a massive hole in the wall.
“Cassid!” I hear a voice shout. How rude. “You need to get out of here! Now!”
The voice is feminine, so it’s definitely not another Rethan. The Rethan lying on the floor though has struggled to its feet and is sniffing the air in a very un-Rethan like way. It finds me quickly and, with jaws wide open, it leaps up in my direction. I roll out of the way, forcing it to crash into my electric fireplace, and grab the first weapon I find, one of the cushions off my sofa.
With the Rethan regaining its senses one more, I throw the cushion and rush off to grab my sword. The Rethan is hesitating now, not having a weapon of its own. I vaguely recognise them from somewhere but I’m not sure, possibly from the Arena? Suddenly, the lack of a weapon stops bothering them and they charge once more. I whip my tail to throw them off balance and slice along their side with my sword, but it just scrapes across their armour. Whatever has happened to this Rethan, they are not thinking straight.
Another Rethan flies through the air, through the same hole the first one came through. This is enough to distract the first Rethan, and I bash it around the side of its head with the flat edge of my sword, knocking it out.
“Baxavius, are you alright?”
Gath Tsoriou is standing in the hole in the wall. He’s wearing a gas mask, with an oxygen tank and a nitrogen tank strapped to each arm.
I pick myself up. “I am perfectly fine. What in the name of Cassia have you done to my house?” Of course, I am quite angry.
Gath quickly apologises, explaining that the other two Rethans had gotten out of his control. “They were part of a mixed training group I had taken out on a camping trip. The rest are under control, apart from one…”
“Why are you wearing a gas mask?” I ask.
“Because there is something in the air!” The female voice makes itself known. It is a Lanex, sporting green and silver armour. “Something that is driving mortal beings back into their base, primal forms. It is clearly affecting predatory beings more than most.”
That is worrying. If it wasn’t for our vastly superior technology, the Cassids would be food for pretty much every other sentient race out there. At least Gath isn’t attacking us. I hope that gas mask of his holds up, since, as good as I am, I doubt neither the Lanex nor myself could stop Gath if he went feral.
“So what about that one other being?” I ask.
Gath looks down at his clawed feet. He doesn’t need to say anything, I can guess for myself. He must have been a Cassid, torn to shreds by feral animals.
“Is the whole planet like this?”
“Almost the whole planet,” the Lanex explains. “My name is Luwa, by the way. Pleasure to meet you. We need to get you to safety. The plan is to take all Cassids back to Iolina and…”
“What?” I exclaim. “I do not need your protection. I can protect myself from any Rethan!” I don’t want to leave my home and my solitude. I won’t run away from here.
Gath looks at me, eyes heavy and tired. “Baxavius, you are an amazing fighter, truly amazing. But in a normal fight, a normal Rethan knows when to stop. When we’re feral, we are no better than Varga, nothing but unstoppable monsters. If you want to be useful, then you will come to Iolina and we can formulate a proper plan of action. Here, on your own, you are in danger.”
I sigh. He has good points. “Fine. Let me pack my bags…”