Taking the Night

John is taken aback, "Like... in your dreams?"

Erya shakes her head, shocking John even more. He then takes a moment before saying, "Well, what does she say to you?"

Erya is quiet for a few moments, dropping her head, "I hear her calling to me. She tells me that I should prepare to join them, and that I will be one of them soon. It's mostly attempts of the same vain, but there was something I heard earlier that scared me."

"What was it?"

"She said that she could... smell something weird. It was the only time I have ever listened to her. That's when she said, 'This stench isn't right.' According to her, it reeked of an otherworlder, but none she had smelt before personally. That's when she said, 'I only know this scent from the stories passed down from my ancestors.' Then she said something even stranger."

"Stranger than smelling an otherworlder? What? Can she sense the fart of a dog from the change in wind?"

Erya doesn't even give a little chuff to John's response before saying, "She said it was the stench of a... human."

John's heart drops, the words like a punch to the chest as he realizes that the severity of the situation has just increased tenfold.

As John is trying to understand how the Giant Queen could possibly know, he is then hit with a question from Erya, "You are... human... aren't you?"

John freezes like a deer in the headlights, eyes open as far as they can be. He was too distracted by the thought of the Giant Queen knowing that there was a human, that he didn't have a chance to prepare for Erya to potentially ask.

He feels his heart beat a little faster, knowing that trying to deny it or play it off would just lead to Erya believing that he was a human anyway, so lying would be pointless.

John then takes a deep breath before saying, "Yes... I'm human." John stops for a second before following up with, "But listen, you cannot tell anyone, okay? If more people learn about me..."

Erya then finally brings her head up, turning it to look at John who now has a worried expression. Erya then places her slender hand on his arm, "I won't tell anyone, I promise you. I'll even swear it on everything that I hold dear."

John looks at Erya, and sees a fire in her eyes which actually him smile as he believes her words, "Thank you."

The two share a smile before looking back to the dark horizon with stars twinkling in the sky with the moon beaming bright.

The duo continue to sit outside for a bit longer when Erya asks, "What is your world like?"

John chuckles, realizing that he's going to have to answer this question every single time someone learns about him being human. He then begins to quickly rundown some of the things about Earth. Erya is amazed about everything John talks about from skyscrapers to planes, cars and even phones.

Erya has a follow-up question for everything, but John is happy to answer all of them, seeing her bewildered reaction to every word he says is a nice distraction from the huge task ahead of him and the group, and the grim fate for Erya if they fail.

---

A FEW MINUTES LATER:

Amilia is struggling to get some sleep as her stomach isn't exactly happy with indulgence from earlier. The copious amounts of meat and alcohol have taken their toll on her stomach, but that's not the only issue.

Amilia just can't help but think about what happened before she left.

She thinks about what Terra said to her, and all Amilia can think about is how much of a bitch she probably seemed. Surprisingly, Amilia was actually trying to be somewhat polite. She knew she couldn't be prim and proper like some prepped princess, but she was trying at least. She just had to start a drinking contest...

A long, frustrated sigh escapes Amilia's lips as she turns onto her stomach which doesn't help her stomach, but she's contempt with dealing with the consequences in the morning.

A few doors down, Terra is also in her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling as she's also unable to sleep because she is also thinking about the events from earlier. She hates herself for speaking to Amilia like that, knowing full well that Amilia isn't like herself or most of her sisters.

Amilia is an open spirit, unashamed of where she came from or what she has done in the past, and Terra just isn't like that. She doesn't like to put her love life on display, if she could even call it a love life that is. Terra also feels horrible, not just for what she said, but how Amilia must've felt. She just hopes that Amilia doesn't think that she was trying to change her and make her more proper.

Terra racks her brain, wondering what she should say tomorrow, just hoping that an apology will be enough.

A few minutes of internal debating go by, trying to get some semblance of a start to her apology, but nothing seems to work. Terra lets out an annoyed sigh, thinking that trying to plan an apology won't work, but an apology in the moment wouldn't give her the time to overthink, and therefore be the most sincere.

Terra then flings the duvet off of her body before getting up to her feet. She takes a few steps to the door, grabbing a robe from the hook on the door and puts it on before tying it up.

After that, Terra goes to turn the handle, but she stops just before as she hears something creaking behind her.

She turns her head around, seeing nothing that could have caused the noise. She then wonders if the noise came from the room next to hers. Terra listens for another squeak, but hears nothing for a few moments of waiting.

Terra then assumes it was just Diane going to bed, so after shrugging it off, she goes to turn the handle again, but that's when it happens...

Terra is grabbed from behind.

---

BACK ON THE DORMER:

After a good ten or so minutes of answering questions, the duo finally get too cold to sit out any longer, so they decide to climb back through the window, and get inside.

After they climb in, Erya says, "I hope I didn't disturb your night. I have a feeling you and Kyuala weren't just sleeping the whole night."

John chuckles, "You're a smart cookie."

As they walk down the hallway, Erya asks, "Were you scared?"

John looks at her, "During what?"

"The attack..." Erya hesitantly responds.

"Ooooh, right." John then clears his throat, "I could try to lie and say I wasn't, but I don't think even the most gullible person would believe me. I was goddamn terrified. That type of stuff only happens in fiction back on Earth. So, to experience in person, lets just say that I definitely needed a change of breeches."

Erya giggles and John lets out a chuckle of his own. They keep walking down the hallway, just approaching Terra's door. Just then, they hear a crash inside the room. Both of them are startled by the noise.

"What was that?"

"Terra must've knocked something over. Better see if she's alright," John replies.

John then knocks on the door, "Hey Terra, you okay in there? We heard something fall, just wanted to make sure you're alright."

The two wait for a few seconds, but there's no response. Erya and John exchange a concerned expression, so John knocks again, "Terra? You in there?"

Another few moments pass, and no response is given. John looks at Erya again, and the small woman says, "We need to go in."

John agrees, and so he grabs the handle. He tries to open the door, but finds that the door is locked. He sighs, "Shit. Should I kick the door down?"

"No, no, no. I dont want anything else destroyed in case it's nothing. Let me try."

Erya then steps up to the door, and pulls out a hairpin from her pocket. She kneels down, and puts the pin into the lock. John is quite surprised, not expecting Erya to even attempt something like this. He gets even more surprised as a few moments later, a click is heard.

"When you're housebound and hungry, you have no choice but to learn a few tricks."

John smirks in amusement, noting that there's more to Erya than just a shy girl.

John then says, "I'll go in first, just in case."

Erya nods as she retreats behind John who grabs the handle to door.

John turns the handle, and opens the door slowly. As the door creaks, John quickly peeks through the opening to make sure its safe before opening the door fully.

The duo are immediately confused as they see that there's no one in the room. However, they do see that something has been broken as the shards are on the floor. They next thing they see, is that the window is opened, and John has seen too many TV shows to assume that Terra was just warm. He steps over the shards and rushes over to the window, and that's when he sees that down the cobblestone path...

Terra is currently being dragged by figures dressed all in black.

Fight or flight immediately triggers within John, his heart beating faster and faster as he sees Terra struggling against the figures. He then says, "It's Terra! She's being kidnapped!"

"What?!" Erya says in shock, beginning to shake in fear.
John looks at the men, seeing that they don't have far until they get to what John assumes to be an autocart. He quickly comes up with a plan before turning to Erya, "Listen, Erya! I need you to wake everyone up! Tell them what's happening and get the guards quick!"

"What are you going to do?!" Erya asks.

John looks over the windowsill before saying, "Something incredibly stupid, now go!"

Erya nods before immediately rushing out of the room and shouting for everyone to wake up. John on the other hand, takes a deep breath, before leaping out of the window.

---

OUTSIDE THE WINDOW:

John falls for a good second or two before landing on an awning, thankfully stopping his quick descent. Soon after, John drops onto the cobblestone below, and the barefoot John reeeally wishes he put his boots on. He doesn't have much time to wish however, as he begins to run forward, trying to catch Terra's kidnappers.

"C'mon Terra, hold them off a little longer!

The sound of bare feet hitting stone is heard as John runs as fast as he can.

Step after step, he strides closer and closer. As he knows that he doesn't have long til they know he's chasing them, he picks out his first target who has his back to him.

John sees that the one trying to drag the fighting Terra has noticed him, and is trying to warn his associate, but it's too late as John has shoulder barged into him, causing the figure to collide head first into the cart.

John then turns to the one currently holding Terra hostage, "Let her go, you bastard! I won't ask again!"

The figure then chuckles as he backs up a little before quickly whipping out a blade like a magician pulls out a card, "You take another step, and her blood will paint the ground you walk."

John immediately stops, not wanting to risk anything.

He then looks at Terra, whose eyes open wide, and she tries to say something, but the figures hand is covering her mouth.

John is confused for a second, but as the hairs on the back of his neck shoot up, he understands what Terra is trying to say as he rolls to the right, narrowly avoiding a swinging axe.

John then gets to his feet, holding his pained back because of his quick dodge. He then sees his almost killer, and sees a very imposing figure looking back at him. The man stands almost seven foot tall, and could probably eat a roasted pig in about ten seconds.

John eye up the man, looking for any sort of weakness, but since the man is all clad in black, nothing stands out.
John then balls his hands up, raising his fists, "Alright. You can get your ass kicked first. Then I'll shove your axe up your buddies ass!"

The gargantuan man lets out a deep chuckle before reaffirming his grip on his axe. He then swings down, trying to cut John in half, but John steps to the side. John then quickly hits the man with a few body shots before hitting the man with a left hook to the jaw.

John immediately loses any sort of pseudo confidence he had however, as the man just looks at him before giving another chuckle.

"Oh shit."

The man then swings his right-hand back, catching John and sends him off his feet. John lands about four or five feet from where he stood, and realizes that he is even more outmatched than he previously thought.

John then gets back to his feet, a little stumble in his step as he does. He raises his fists once again, but doesn't plan on attacking like he did last time.

The large attacker then steps forward, trying get John to move away from the cart as the other figure currently holding Terra hostage, begins to manoeuvre toward the back of said cart.

The goliath begins to swing once more, but John ducks underneath the sideways slicing blade before trying to create some more space between the two.

Meanwhile, Terra is still trying to struggle as a second kidnapper rushes over to grab her legs. Terra takes the opportunity to kick the second figure in the face and quickly changes her momentum whilst in the air to flip the one that was holding her.

As the first assailant crashes down hard onto his back, Terra immediately tries to make a run for the house. Unfortunately, she's quickly intercepted by the man she kicked as he tackles her to the ground before she can get too far.

The first man then comes back, grunting in pain, "You just couldn't come quietly, huh, Princess? Guess I have no choice."

The first man then pulls out a some sort of plant pod before piercing it with their knife. A blue coloured gas then sprays out, hitting Terra directly in the face. She coughs and splutters for a few seconds, but not long after, Terra's eyes slowly close, and she passes out.

John is still trying to figure out how to beat the humongous son of a bitch that's still swinging his axe again and again.

One of those swings would prove to be costly however, because as the axe swings down, it gets stuck in one of the pieces of stone.

John then quickly gets an idea, so he rushes up to the man before trying to dig his thumbs into the axeman's eyes.

John manages to get a thumb into the man's right eye, causing a sickening squelch to be heard. However, as John tries to push his thumb into the left eye, his arm is grabbed by the meaty paw of the axeman.

John is then thrown to the ground with a hard thud upon impact, seething as he comes to a stop.

The attacker then grabs the pommel of his axe before ripping it out of the cobblestone street, "You should've just let us take the damn girl. Now... you won't see anyone ever again."

The attacker lifts his axe up high with a quick grunt of effort before getting ready to swing down toward John. The mountain of a man gets ready to swing down, and John realizes just what's about to happen.

John looks up at the man, unsure if he'll be able to get away from the swing in time, but luckily for him, someone is looking out for him as an arrow is loosed, and begins to soar through the air.

The arrow cuts through the crisp night air like a bolt from the heavens before finding its mark in the right pectoral of the gigantic attacker.

John is surprised by the sudden save, so he looks back and sees Virra standing on a balcony with her bow in hand. She then gives John a little salute before grabbing another arrow. The second arrow isn't for the large man however, as it lodges into the cart, seemingly aimed at the figures carrying Terra.

As John is looking at Virra, the larger attacker grunts in pain, stumbling back a few feet while grabbing at the arrow. After a few moments, the man rips the arrow out of him, dropping it onto the street below. He then puts his hand over the wound, now using his left hand to hold the axe.

"You little bastard! I'm gonna rip your head off and shit down your neck!"

A hefty swing comes toward the now standing John, forcing him to duck down once again. The axe is suddenly stopped in motion as it has come into contact with another large axe.

John then looks to his left, and sees a very pissed off Kyuala, "I'll take over from here! Go get Terra!"

Kyuala then throws John a dagger which he catches before taking off toward the cart which has begun to move even with Virra's suppressing volley of arrows.

John is running as fast as he can, trying to catch up with the horseless cart. His lungs feel like they're on fire, his feet feel like they've been on hot coals, and his back is definitely going to be bruised all over after all the dodging. Even without those, everything is going to be in agony tomorrow, regardless of if it's going to be bruised or not.

Step after step, he keeps sprinting before getting close enough to get his fingers onto the back of the cart. He then tries to leap up onto the cart, but as he's jumping up, the third man, who was hiding behind the back of the cart, sits up with a small crossbow in hand.

The small bolt is then fired and lodges itself into John's left shoulder.

The sudden attack causes John to lose his grip, and falls to the ground. John tumbles and rolls for a few moments before coming to a stop.

John lets out a groan of agony, looking on at the still moving cart. John realizes that he failed, so he tries to move, but his body fails him. In addition to his back which is already in ruins, his left arm has already gone numb.

The sensation quickly spreads throughout his body, and soon, John begins to feel trapped within himself as he can't help but watch as Terra is stolen away.

His eyes then begin close on their own as he mutters one single word.

"Terra..."