17th Tick: Destruction Of Peace
1004 Words
Thomas woke up, his head hurting like crazy. He reversed time on himself, removing all forms of drunk ness from his body. He stretched and went downstairs, where the tavern had already closed for business. He scratched his head, wondering why he had ended up sleeping through the day. He turned and saw no one around, oddly, the place seemed awfully quiet.
He sighed, muttering, “Are they pulling a prank right now? How immature.”
He stepped out, then tilted his head. The streets were empty, there was the metallic scent of blood in the air. He looked left and right, seeing pools of red staining the ground and walls. Looking up, he could see several streams of smoke floating into the sky. The town was small, Thomas could predict that the smoke came from the edges of town. He walked around, trying to find someone to explain to him what had happened. It was impossible that all of that had happened in a single afternoon or night. Was that alcohol strong enough to knock him out for a few days?
“Zeroth Hour.”
The smoke paused in midair, the fires stopping in their tracks. Thomas walked out to the city walls. It was a peaceful town, at least, from what he could see. He needed to see what had happened to come to a final conclusion. He reached the walls, seeing that the fires had already burnt down the outer edges of town. Thomas clenched his fist, seeing multiple holes in the wall, created by force.
Guards, both humans and demons lay on the ground, dead from various attacks. Thomas walked up to the main spectacle, a row of corpses hung from a makeshift arch, bodies dangling. All innocent people with nothing to do with the battle, Thomas could see the bartender, Garnt and Notre. He looked around more, looking at the faces. He spotted her, Rose hung there, a lifeless expression on her face. Thomas looked around some more, unable to find the aggressors.
He cursed and said, “Second Hour.”
Time went backwards, showing a still image of people building the arch while the citizens were squatted down, tied up and gagged in a line. Thomas went up to the closest person and checked, conforming his race. The person was human, humans had attacked the town.
Thomas thought, where was the leader of the town? Where was the demon general? The general was supposed to protect his territory, unless, he had already been defeated. Thomas shook the idea out of his head. Few humans had the capability to even scratch a demon general, much less defeat one. He thought back to his brief battle with a demon general, with Bry. She was formidable even without the use of curses.
Now that he knew, there was only one way to solve the problem. He whispered, “Second Hour.”
He opened his eyes, having been lying on the bed. He stretched, he had gone back around two days, from what he could tell. He got out of the bed and went down the stairs, the place crowded with people. He watched as Rose and Notre ran around serving customers, Garnt in the kitchen. He waited silently until the customers streamed out and the four of them gathered around the bar, talking about something.
He took a step forward, but paused. It was related to the fate of the town, they would listen if he told them, but there was another issue. Garnt and Notre did not know how the world outside the town was, they would not be able to see any reason why the humans would attack them, or the other humans. Thomas hesitated, then walked up to them, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Awake already?” The bartender asked.
“Yes, did anything happen while I was out?” He asked.
“Not much.”
Thomas nodded and sat down near Rose. She was talking to Notre about the city and how amazing it was, but it did not interest him in the slightest. Thomas looked at the bartender and asked, “Can I speak with you privately?”
He gave Garnt a look and the three others were out of the tavern. Thomas looked around just to make sure, then said, “Can I ask about the demon general that manages this area?”
“Our lord?” He asked to confirm.
“Yes.” Thomas confirmed.
“Well, Lord Astel... how do I phrase it...” The bartender rubbed his chin before leaning closer to Thomas, whispering, “He’s no longer in this world.”
“He died?”
“Yes...”
“How?”
The bartender looked around Thomas and then whispered again, “Well, being who he is, Lord Astel loved both races. He was hated by both sides too. The other demon generals put him down.”
“So who manages the town?” Thomas inquired.
“Lord Astel.”
“But he’s dead.”
“Most people don’t know that.”
“But who keeps peace? Who is the one who created a coexisting society between two races?”
“There is someone.” The bartender nodded. “A prominent figure indeed.”
“Who is it?”
“Lord Astel’s right hand man, a demon by the name of Amon.”
“Is he here?”
The bartender looked up, then sighed. “We don’t really see Amon around. Maybe if you ask the monk of the town, he’s been around the longest. He might know where Amon is.”
“Do you know how he looks like?”
“I heard he was a big guy with quite the power, he should be pretty bulky and tall with sharp features. At least, those are the rumours among the townsfolk.”
Thomas tapped the table and asked again, “This monk... is he a demon that’s quite slim and wears a straw hat?”
“Yes, I think that’s him.”
“Do you perhaps know whether he left the town recently?”
“I think he left to attend a meeting of some sort. Why?”
“Alright, be back soon.” Thomas said. “Zeroth Hour.”
Thomas walked past the froze image of a lively street filled with people, children and their parents walking around like normal, peacefully without a care in the world. In just two days, a battle will occur and everything present would be destroyed. His only option was to find this Amon person and convince him to cooperate with him to protect the city. First things first, he needed to find a certain monk.
- Writer
