The Heroes
The battle raged. Giant demonic snakes burst from the ground, their bodies coiling through shattered rooftops and broken streets. Ice swung his chain-spear, slicing through one serpent's skull.
"Luke! They keep coming!" he shouted, breath ragged.
Luke leapt between rooftops, dodging snapping jaws and whipping tails.
"We need to keep moving!" he yelled back.
"I'll cause a diversion!" Ice called.
"On my go run north!"
Luke sliced the tongue from a lunging snake and turned to Sophie.
"We're getting out of here!"
Sophie dashed between coils, loosing arrows with deadly precision.
"I'm ready!" she shouted.
"Good. On my cue, run north!"
Ice struck another snake in the head, letting it launch him skyward. That was the plan. Mid-air, he tossed smoke bombs that exploded in thick clouds, blinding the serpents.
"Now!" Ice roared.
Luke and Sophie sprinted through the smoke, vanishing into the northern alleyways.
"We're out!" Luke called.
"On my way!" Ice replied.
He landed hard, surrounded by smoke and slithering shadows. It felt like a vault lined with lasers one wrong move, and the snakes would strike. Ice crouched, rolled, and crawled through the chaos with surgical precision. Not a single serpent reacted.
He burst from the smoke and sprinted north, spotting Luke and Sophie waiting on a rooftop.
"HQ's two blocks away!" he yelled.
They followed, weaving through the ruins. Ice could feel the scent of memory.
"Don't worry," he thought.
"We're almost there."
They stopped in front of a crumbling building. Ice grinned.
"We're here."
Luke scanned the shadows.
"Hurry before someone or something sees us."
Ice led them inside, the air thick with dust and ghosts. As they moved through the ruined halls, Ice drifted into memory.
(Flashback) The Founding of the Militia
"The militia wasn't built by one man," Ice said quietly.
"It was four of us Blaze and I, and our mentors: Fire and Water."
He touched the wall, remembering.
"They trained us in warfare, tactics, survival. They called me Ice because I was their student. The name stuck."
They built the HQ brick by brick, scouting woods, fighting stray demons in the dark. For years, it was just the four of us, no help, no recognition.
Then the demon attacks grew. People came to them for protection. Not the police. Not the government.
The officials didn't like that.
Fire and Water were arrested. In court, the judge mocked them.
"Stop this revolution," he demanded.
"It's not a revolt," Fire replied.
"It's a stance."
"A stance against what?"
"The demons that stalk the night."
The courtroom laughed. The middle judge slammed his gavel.
"You have one chance. Stop now or suffer the consequences."
Fire and Water looked at each other.
"We will not."
The judges, stunned, sentenced them to death by the Gauntlet.
Blaze and Ice young, silent watched their mentors chained and dragged away.
Water turned back, voice echoing
"Don't worry, young warriors. The darkest times will make the day shine brighter. Don't lose the fire. Live the fight."
Back in the present, Luke and Sophie stood in awe. Luke whispered,
"They were fighting the good fight before we even knew it existed. These are the true heroes."
"I send my love and respect to every member of the militia."
Ice nodded.
"They'd want us to finish what we started."
Sophie pointed.
"There's the bird."
A raven sat on a dusty bookshelf.
"Caw caw! Ice! Caw caw! You're alive!"
Ice smiled.
"I'm alive and well. We need you to tell us everything you know."
"Caw caw! Just ask, Ice! Caw caw!"