Sakura watched with hollow eyes as demons patrolled in droves, trampling over the dead and dying. She felt empty—soulless.

  This is the second time now, she thought, tears streaming down her face. The second time we've lost our home…

  Everywhere she looked, it was the same image, a haunting reflection of the past. A memory from when she was much younger. The destruction, the despair—unchanged. A moonless night. The homes reduced to rubble, the fires casting just enough light to reveal the towering demons moving through the wreckage, seemingly proud of the devastation they had wrought.

  The pleading faces of the dead—their final moments frozen in terror—were all Sakura could see. Even when she closed her eyes, their haunted expressions burned into her mind. Their eyes stared back at her, and the screams thundered in her ears, relentless and unending.

  She couldn't close her eyes. She couldn't watch. She couldn't bear to see the people she knew die before her.

  Dropping to the ground, she held her eyes open with everything she had, pressing her ears against the top of her head, trying desperately to drown out the noise. But it didn't work. Even in the darkness, the screams only grew louder.

  Mother… Father… She thought to herself, where are Mother and Father!?

  All the homes before them had been completely wiped from their foundations. Nothing stood taller than the occasional chimney or a fractured section of a roof that hadn’t fully collapsed.

  “Everybody back inside, now!” Relker shouted.

  Sakura barely had time to react before she felt his firm grip yank the back of her shawl, dragging her toward the building they had just come from.

  “But Mother and Father—!” she cried, pleading through her tears.

  Her voice was lost in the chorus of her friends’ wails, all of them begging for the same thing. But before Relker could protest, a massive explosion erupted behind her. The force tore through the air, slamming into her body and hurling her several paces forward, deeper into the street.

  She rolled to a stop, gasping as she looked up.

  The building they had just stood in front of was gone—reduced to rubble. In its place loomed a monstrous beast, black as the night, its massive form blotting out what little light remained as it folded two of its four enormous wings along its back. Its piercing red eyes fixated on her and her friends.

  Sakura's chest tightened as she watched the beast take a step forward. The ground trembled beneath its weight. The screams of her friends rang in her ears, but she couldn't move.

  Then, the creature stopped—its many piercing red eyes locked onto hers. It raised its giant head further into the sky, emitting a deep, throbbing sound. Several heartbeats passed and then—silence.

  The throbbing stopped, and it froze.

  Sakura’s breathing became rapid as she wondered if it was going to strike. But what she heard next made her body seize with fear.

  "Sakura, help me…!"

  "Run, Sakura…!"

  "No, no, no! Stay away from me! No…!"

  She would know those voices that were mimicking from anywhere. It was taunting her with the voices of her mother and father.

  She couldn’t move. She knew those voices weren’t her real parents, but they were almost identical to what she had heard before.

  Naem was right, she thought to herself. It was the demons.

  She watched as the giant beast whipped its head around, glancing just below itself, to its left. A shudder of dread prickled along her skin. Instinctively, she followed its gaze and saw Seiker scrambling to his feet and bolt down the street away from the beast screaming in fear, but he did not get far.

  Before she could react, the giant beast struck its head forward like a snake, clamping its jaws over Seiker. The lower half of his body was the only thing that remained as the beast turned, looking back toward Sakura. Her stomach dropped, and in that split second, every heartbeat pounded louder.

  "No!"

  Sakura looked in the direction of Relker’s voice and saw him in his beast form, tangled with another demon nearly twice his size. The sight of his desperate struggle sent a fresh surge of panic through her veins.

  "Run, kids!" he screamed, his voice rolling over his tongue like a growl.

  Sakura looked back again toward the giant beast and saw Sakaya scrambling across the ground, moving toward her quickly to try and get away from the beast that had started to crawl closer.

  "I don't want to die!"

  Sakura finally found the strength in her arms to scramble to her feet. But as soon as she made it to her knees, she was shoved back to the ground towards the beast.

  She… She shoved me!? Sakura thought, her mind frantic. In that agonizing moment, time seemed to slow; her mind screamed at her to run even as her body betrayed her. Sakaya had shoved her—to be killed in her place.

  Why…? She thought right before she felt a sharp pain in her leg as a loud, piercing scream rang in her ear.

  She was jerked high into the air by her feet, only to fall just as quickly. She slammed into the cobblestone street with a thud, knocking the breath from her lungs and leaving her ears ringing from the hit to the back of her head.

  She coughed, trying to regain her breath, and rolled over onto her side. A bitter, metallic taste of blood filled her mouth, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Sakaya lying on her chest, blood streaming from her mouth and tears from her eyes.

  "Help… me..."

  Sakura could hear the faint plea over the ringing in her ears as she watched her friend lift her bare arm toward her. But Sakaya’s arm was missing her hand, and the lower half of her body was completely gone. The gruesome sight shattered what remained of her resolve, each second etching a deeper scar of grief and horror in her soul.

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  Sakura’s blue eyes grew wide as she watched her friend’s arm fall to the ground, and the life in her eyes slowly faded.

  The ringing in Sakura’s ears slowly began to fade, but her vision grew more and more blurry. She couldn’t react. She simply accepted the fact that she was going to die as well. A numb resignation washed over her, as if the agony was both unbearable and strangely inevitable. She glanced up past Sakaya’s lifeless body and saw Relker, now being kicked around by two demons, with a third had started walking toward him as well.

  "Brother, help me!"

  Sakura’s head snapped to the left at the familiar, desperate voice.

  Sakiri! She barely had time to process her thoughts before her sister stumbled, her foot slipping on some ice. The beast’s jaws struck like a thundering clap, slamming into the earth—and clamping around her leg.

  "No!" Sakura cried out, trying to force herself up and run but the moment she moved, her legs crumpled beneath her. She hit the ground hard, useless.

  She was forced to watch helplessly as Sakiri was wrenched into the air, her shrill screams tearing through the night. A sound Sakura never wanted to hear—something that should have never existed. Her sister twisted, flailing, arms reaching for anything, anyone.

  Sakura cried out as the beast thrashed its head to the side and ripped Sakiri’s leg from her body, leaving her to fall and hit the ground with a wet, broken thud.

  "Stop it, please!" Sakura cried louder, dragging herself forward, but her arms felt weak. She watched as Sakiri tried to crawl, nails scraping against stone as she coughed up blood.

  “Sakiri!” Sakura screamed as she forced herself to her feet again, only to fall hard back to the ground a second time as she took her first step. She busted her mouth against the disturbed cobblestone, causing her to fill with more of the bitter, metallic taste of blood.

  She looked up right as Sakiri looked back at her, both of them locking eyes right as the beast bit down a second time, securing a firmer grip on Sakiri’s shoulder.

  It lifted her into the air again. This time, she was not jerking around as frantically, but her screams were just as vivid as she pleaded for their mother and father to help her.

  "Momma! Momma! Father! HELP ME! PLEASE! HELP ME!" Sakiri screamed. Her wails tore through the night as vividly as if there was none of the chaos going on around them.

  "SAKIRI! NO! PLEASE!" Sakura shrieked as she watched the beast’s jaws tightened. A horrible shudder ran through Sakiri’s body as the teeth sank deeper, her voice breaking into choking sobs. For a single, agonizing moment, she still clung to life—her wide, terror-stricken eyes locking with Sakura’s.

  Then—

  SNAP! Her body disappeared between its teeth. Only her head hit the ground.

  Sakura’s stomach lurched. She barely had time to turn before she vomited, her body shaking violently.

  We're all going to die…

  The thought settled deep in her chest, colder than anything she’d ever known. The tears kept coming, but she hardly felt them anymore.

  But just then, she felt her arm whipped up over her head before she was jerked, her body braced under her arms as she was quickly dragged back over the cobblestones.

  Away from Sakiya's body and the giant beast that was walking around. She watched as more of her friends tried to run, but their bodies were either stomped on or devoured by the beast, one after another.

  Her head dropped, following a trail of blood left in the snow in the direction she was being pulled. She traced it all the way back to her feet and saw that she only had one.

  What…? she thought, noticing that her left leg was missing below the knee. Where's my other leg?

  It was then that the pain hit her—sharp and raw from the missing leg. She remembered how it felt just before she was heaved into the air.

  Oh, that thing ate it… she thought, putting the pieces together in her head. But oddly enough, she wasn’t as afraid anymore.

  No, it was not that she was becoming less afraid. It was that she was starting to accept her fate.

  She lifted her head and looked back behind her, seeing Naem frantically pulling her away. His wings flapped furiously, propelling him backward as fast as he could.

  Sakura watched as Naem looked down at her, tears streaming down his face.

  He’s scared as well, she thought to herself.

  All she could do was stare up into his golden eyes as he repeatedly looked down at her, then back up at the beast he was pulling her away from. His movements slowed as her vision began to fade, growing more and more blurry.

  Though she could feel herself weakening, she willed herself not to close her eyes. She did not want to die just yet.

  Then, all of a sudden, a loud explosion rang out, cutting through the heartbeat ringing in her ears.

  She watched as Naem looked up towards the sky, his eyes widening in shock. The fear in them quickly began to fade as his golden eyes grew distant.

  What was that…? Did some one come to help…? She thought, but did not bother looking up to see. After a brief slowing of his pace, she saw his wings flap faster and more frantically, and her body, still being dragged over the cobblestones, began to move faster as well.

  "Brother! Brother, down here!"

  She watched him scream before propping her up against a partially collapsed wall and run a few paces back in the direction he had pulled her, waving his arms as his snow-white wings flared out to his sides.

  "Brother, help us!"

  She glanced up in the direction he was looking and saw the last remnants of a large fiery explosion disappear from the peak of the dome protecting the city.

  That was Naem’s brother…? Sakura thought briefly, before a shadowy figure caught her eye to her left. She weakly looked over to see a giant horned demon walking toward Naem. She looked back at him, but he was oblivious.

  "No!" she screamed as loud as she could, though even she could barely hear herself.

  "Naem!" she screamed louder this time, finally catching his attention.

  She watched as he looked over at the demon just before its clawed hand struck him across the face, hurling him back and slamming him into the partially collapsed wall beside her.

  "No!" she cried as she watched his body twist in pain. Naem clutched his face with both hands, squirming and thrashing where he lay, screaming in agony.

  "Naem...!?"

  She looked up just in time to see the demon turn toward them, its massive form looming closer. Her breath came in ragged gasps as she watched the giant draw its axe to the side, readying to cut them down the moment it was close enough.

  Sakura pressed herself as tightly as she could against the crumbling wall, as if she could somehow sink into it, trying desperately to get away.

  "No, no! Please! I don’t want to die...!"

  But just as the demon seemed to vanish from her sight, Naem stepped in front of her, standing firm, his arms and white wings flared wide—placing himself between her and the monster, no matter how futile it might have been.

  Sakura couldn't help but smile through her tears, which began to pour from her eyes even more profusely. She didn’t want to die, but what was the point in struggling anymore? She just wanted it all to be over—the pain that covered her entire body, the fear that paralyzed her. She was done with it all.

  She took in the image of her friend standing bravely in front of her, then clamped her eyes shut. She didn’t want to see the axe fall and end her life. But after several rapid heartbeats passed, an ear-splitting clash of metal against metal rang out in her ears.

  She flinched at the sound but didn’t move.

  It’s all over now… It must have cut right through me. At least I didn’t feel anything… Sakura thought, just before a loud thud echoed right after.

  She peeled open her eyes to see a headless corpse collapse to the ground in front of Naem, its black, oily blood spilling out at his feet.

  What… just happened? she thought, her mind struggling to process the scene before her.

  Then, she watched as Naem’s legs gave out beneath him, and he collapsed into the puddle of black blood. His shoulders and wings slumped with relief, allowing Sakura to see past him—to a towering Vegan rising to his feet.

  Broad, dark-brown wings flared out to his sides, partly concealing a massive shield and hammer—both far too large for any normal person to carry, let alone wield at the same time.

  The imposing Vegan fixed his gaze on the massive, winged beast ahead of them but spared a glance over his shoulder at Naem and Sakura.

  “You alright there, kiddo?”

  Sakura’s heart pounded so hard she thought it might explode from her chest as she hastily brushed away her tears.

  A Vegan had just lopped off the head of a demon without any struggle at all—and he did not seem the least bit bothered by the giant beast looming ahead of him.

  She shifted her gaze from the towering warrior to Naem, whose body seemed to relax even further. He stared ahead at the Vegan, his breath unsteady.

  “Abiky…”