The Eroturge Ch. 03

The song was from the perspective of the man as he was beginning to drown. Perhaps a bit heavy to start out their set with, but the lyrics were all in Loutran, so she doubted most people in the audience would understand them.

She sang, and her voice became raw, the lyrics spilling out of her with the force of a tsunami. In the back of her mind, she thought that maybe, if she sang hard enough, Evie would be able to hear her anyways. She was so caught up in the song, that she didn't even notice when the ground started to shake. But then came the end of the song, and as she raised her hand to play the last chord, a sharp sound rang through the air, like a thousand windows being shattered at once.

She stopped playing, as did the others. The sound rang out again, shaking the ground beneath their feet. It was all Lisette could do to keep herself upright, and by the time she found her bearings again the sound rang out a third time, accompanied by a rush of sweet-smelling wind. She looked up past the buildings to the southern hills, and she saw the massive hole that had been torn in the barrier over the Wall. And the creature that had torn through it.

She had never seen anything like it. At first, it kind of looked like a giant manta ray, with a wide flat body and a thin tail trailing behind it. But where the fins would normally flatten out at the end, they turned in to massive claws, and as the creature approached she could make out an enormous lizard-like face growing out of the front. It was like the child of a manta ray and a wyvern. And judging by the ear-shattering roar it emitted as it crossed over the Wall, it was not one of the friendly wyverns of Westerlind folklore.

Within seconds of Lisette seeing this creature, the crowd in front of her began erupting in panic; they had gotten a glimpse too. And the guards at the Wall would obviously know about it, meaning...

Sure enough, sirens began sounding off throughout the city. The city was now on lockdown, and everyone needed to get inside.

She felt Ciel grab her shoulder and shout, "We need to leave!"

She couldn't argue, obviously. Of course they needed to leave. City ordinances aside, that thing was clearly headed their way. Who knew what would happen when it got there. Her mind went back to the conversation she'd had with Evie that morning, and she prayed with every fiber of her being that this was completely unrelated

Unable to do anything else, she unplugged her guitar from the amp and, in a petty show of defiance, struck the final chord of the song. 'Evie,' she thought, 'If you're behind this, you better hope the Army gets to you before I do.'

--

Evie stood there in stunned silence as she watched the creature break through the barrier.

"W-What on earth is that?"

"We called them Anomalies," the girl next to her said. "No one knew for sure what created them, save for some imbalance in the flow of natural energies."

"Have you ever actually seen one?"

"Not as far as I can remember."

The creature roared, the sound of it shaking the solid concrete beneath their feet.

"Where is it going?" Evie asked.

"From what I remember, they're generally drawn to places high in energy. Usually places with a lot of people, lights, and sounds."

Evie's heart sank. 'The Festival!"

She immediately stepped forward, preparing to climb up the ledge running along the edge of the roof, when she felt the girl grab her sleeve.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her eyes wide with panic.

"I think I know where it's heading!"

"But that thing is really dangerous, you can't—"

"My best friend is out there! I have to go to her."

The girl paused as she studied Evie's face. She let go of her sleeve and climbed onto the ledge herself, her eyes now level with Evie's.

"Just take me there. I'll deal with that thing."