The ‘wind’ storm from a few days before, or maybe it was the badger attack, had knocked over the chairs next to the table. She gathered up the six chairs, unfortunately seeing one was bent beyond repair, and set them up around the table. The adults chose their chairs and sat down, about that time they heard the kids coming out the front door giggling and cheering the chance to play outside.

  Callie couldn’t help but smile as she watched them come around the side of the house. Eliza and Dani were in the lead, of course, with Cosette and Josie quickly following, little Giana was doing her best to follow the big girls. Eliza and Dani ran to the playhouses while Cosette and Josie climbed the swingset fort. Poor Giana didn’t know what to do so she first walked up to her mom and then decided the swings were more fun.

  ”Cosette, did Giana have something to eat?” Carlie asked.

  ”Yup, she wanted cheese,” Cosette responded, not breaking her play with Josie.

  ”Thank you!” Carlie called back.

  ”So where do we begin?” Kane asked, watching Jonah settle onto the grass with his legs criss crossed.

  ”What do friends, amicis, want to know?” Jonah asked as he rested his hands on his knees almost looking like he was a wise man in cartoons and they were his pupils.

  “You mentioned Frowler taught the humanura, is that why you are called Frowlers?” Stern asked, leaning forward on the table.

  ”Frowlers are milites, fighters, they are not all humanura. Humanura wanted peace, wanted becoming better, wanted illustratus. Druid Frowler found humanura and offered help. He gave chance to grow, gave chance to integrum fieri, gave chance . . . to become whole. Humanura propositum, . . . . Purpose . . . Is integrum fieri," Jonah struggled through passion to find the right words.

  ”I think we need a Latin translator,” Phillip half whispered, leaning over to Stern.

  Callie and Carlie glared at Phillip for his comment. Jonah just stared at Phillip with his large eyes but didn’t say anything.

  ”Sorry,” Phillip finally said.

  ”Hunters kill druids who try to do as Frowler and help humanura. I learn from seniores because only Druid left in village focused on medella . . . . Health . . . . Not teaching,” Jonah continued.

  ”Jonah, you said Frowler taught your people Latin, is that what the humanura always spoke?” Callie asked when Jonah’s pause lasted longer than usual.

  ”No, Jonah not know what seniores spoke before . . . . Before Latin. The humanura work whole lives towards . . . . . Becoming whole. Jonah’s seniores tell Jonah way to achieve is with great language because we were to be a great people,” Jonah paused here and looked over at Josie and the rest of kids who had all congregated in the top level of the fort.

  ”Jonah, did your people come from Earth? Or what was Earth on your side of the Rift?” Kane asked.

  ”No, humanura come from far away. Jonah did not learn mythos of how our seniores came to Earth. Talk of a great upheaval where humanura are from happened and sent humanura searching for a way to become whole again. Mages were trusted to hold secretum of where humanura are from so not to repeat magna calamitas again. Mages were easiest for magic hunters to corrupt so our secretum will be lost.”

  At this Jonah dropped his head nearly to his knees with a sorrowful expression on his face. A second later Jonah’s head shot up and he stood to stare towards the Rift. In an instant Jonah leaped to the fort where the kids were and covered the opening in the fort that faced the Rift.

  ”Jonah, what happened?!” Callie cried as the adults leaped to their feet, Kane and Stern knocking over their chairs as they went up.

  ”Little Druid, quiet, it looks to you,” Jonah said as a gust of wind came so suddenly and so hard that it knocked all but Stern off their feet.

  Callie had been looking up at Jonah when the wind hit her. As she was falling onto her back she saw Jonah turn at the last second and climb into the fort with the kids. She heard the kids cry more out of surprise than hurt as she felt herself hit the ground and lose consciousness.

  Callie was woken by Kane’s voice and the gentle shaking of her shoulders. When she opened her eyes she saw a red tint in her vision. She tried to sit up, but felt like her head was going to explode. Her ears were ringing and she could barely hear Kane.

  ”What happened?” Callie asked, finally managing to sit up.

  ”I don’t know, Jonah says we need to get inside,” Kane’s muffled voice said, pulling on her arm to get her to stand up.

  ”Why is it red?” Callie asked, still not comprehending what was happening.

  ”You are bleeding! The mage attacked through the Rift!” Kane’s muffled voice came again, “Callie, I need you to stand up, we need to go!”

  Callie wiped her eyes feeling the liquid on the back of her hand. She saw her hand covered in fresh blood when she took her hand away but her vision was clearer. She tried to stand up but her ankle buckled as soon as she tried to put weight on it. When she looked up she saw Stern, Carlie and Phillip stumbling towards the back door. Jonah had two kids in his arms and was thrusting them through the open door.

  Callie tried to move again, but this time didn’t put her full weight on her injured ankle. She managed to take a few steps and then saw Jonah had grabbed two more children and was putting them in the house. The other three had made it to the door. Callie looked behind her to see Kane had run to the top of the hill behind their house and was looking to the North.

  ”GET INSIDE!!!!!” Kane screamed as he turned around and came running back at a full sprint towards the house. Kane scooped up Alex on his way. Callie turned and hobbled the best she could into the house behind Jonah and the last two kids. Kane followed behind her slamming the door after himself.

  ”What is out there? What is coming?” Stern asked.

  ”Batzls, lizawks and another flying creature I haven’t seen before,” Kane panted putting Alex on the ground and then looking around mentally taking a head count.

  ”Kane, the animals!?” Callie cried leaning against the door jam leading upstairs.

  ”Shit!” Kane screamed, “Who’s fit enough to go outside?”

  The room was silent, “I am,” a little voice finally said.

  Kane looked around the room and saw Eliza raising her hand, “No, Eliza, I can’t send you out with those creatures coming," Kane told his daughter, though a little burst of pride came that she would even volunteer.

  ”I can go,” Phillip said.

  ”I will help,” Jonah also replied.

  ”Where are you going to take them?” Callie asked with tears in her voice.

  Kane thought for a moment, “Jonah, if we get them to the opposite side of the house will the creatures circle around to attack them?”

  Jonah thought for a moment, “Flyers are not . . . Smart . . . Will not hide them but should help protect.”

  ”Okay, then we get as many of the animals as we can to the south sides of the buildings. We start with the cowks and cows, they have lost enough already. Then if we have time we grab the goats,” Kane said, running for the stairs.

  Callie watched them go and then limped over to the basement door and made sure it was locked before making her way up the stairs. When she got to the top of the stairs she saw Zeus looking out the living room window at the swarms coming from the north.

  ”Mom, I need to pee. Mom, can I fight? Mom, I want out!” Zeus was saying with more excitement than was warranted.

  “Zeus, we are trying to get the animals to the safety of the house. You will scare them away,” Callie told the excited pup.

  ”Please, I will pee quick and come back!” Zeus was now jumping around Callie’s feet.

  ”Fine, do not make the job harder for Kane and Phillip!” Callie instructed limping over to the front door and opening it. Zeus and Olive rushed out. Zeus stopped at the bottom of the steps and peed on the pavers looking at Kane and Phillip ushering the cowk herd towards the house through the broken fence. Olive had rounded the corner to the backyard but stopped dead in her tracks. She carefully walked backwards and peed on the corner of the house before running back inside. Zeus followed her.

  ”That is not good, that is not good!” Olive had been yelling as she ran past Callie back into the house.

  ”No it is not,” Callie mumbled to herself as she heard the plop of, she thought Stern, sitting on the couch.

  Callie hobbled over to the living room. Stern was in fact on the couch, Carlie was standing by the window but holding her left arm, Callie could see that her shoulder didn’t look right again. Josie, Eliza, Cosette and Dani were looking out the large living room window at the swarm that was approaching them fast. Callie stood by the couch watching. As she watched, a handful of creatures from the swarm would dive down randomly.

  Callie watched as the swarm got closer darkening the sky as it came. She could now see that the creatures were diving down aiming at other houses and properties on its way towards them. Callie silently prayed that the entire swarm wouldn’t come crashing down on their house. After what Jonah had said about the Hunters targeting druids she couldn’t help but fear for their family.

  “Josie, Eliza, let’s move away from the window,” Callie finally said.

  ”Mom, are they coming for us?” Josie asked, turning to look at her mom.

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  ”I don’t know, why do you think they are?” Callie asked after a moment of thought.

  ”Jonah said the mage will come,” Josie said.

  Callie couldn’t help but feel a wave of anger, she was trying to protect her kids without scaring them and it felt like Jonah had done the exact opposite.

  “Maybe the mage will come, but those aren’t mages,” Carlie said looking at Callie and shaking her head, clearly trying to tell Callie something without using words, “Can you girls go downstairs and play? I’d feel better if you weren’t near a window right now.”

  Callie finally composing herself thought quickly, “Like drills when the really bad wind storms happen. Why don’t you go down and play like during those practices.”

  ”Okay!” Josie said excitedly, “Come on Eliza!”

  The rest of the girls hesitated before following Josie down the stairs.

  ”Me too mama?” Giana asked, touching her mom’s leg.

  ”You too Giana,” Carlie said with a half smile.

  ”Mama, I hungry,” Giana said.

  ”Okay, when dad and Mr Kane come back in we will make lunch,” Carlie reassured her daughter. That answer seemed to satisfy Giana because she ran off after her sister and the other girls.

  Callie could start to see the individual creatures in the swarm when she heard Kane and Phillip and Jonah come inside.

  ”Damn goats didn’t want to leave the shed. I left the goat door open for them to go in,” Kane grumbled, shutting and locking the door once Jonah had made it in.

  ”Are the cowks and cows okay?” Callie asked, limping over wincing with her step after having stood in one position for too long.

  ”Yeah, as soon as we told them where we were taking them they went freely. Some of the cowks are still hurting from last night's fight so they weren’t moving very fast. They put the babies and the yearlings next to the house and the bulls and older cowks are standing guard in case anything swings back around,” Kane explained.

  As he finished they heard the first series of thunks hitting the side of the house.

  ”WHAT THE FUCK!” Stern cried from the couch as Carlie let out a scream next to the window.

  The lizawks were ramming their bodies into the window and scratching it with their massive claws trying to break through. Callie ran, the best she could, to her bathroom, she couldn’t remember if she had shut the bathroom window that morning. Thankfully it was shut but she could see the bird-like creatures shredding the screens on the other side of the glass panes.

  The first wave seemed to slow down. The hits were down to maybe one every five to eight seconds but then the batzls came. The bat-creatures seemed to be hitting the roof. Callie could hear the cowks and goats screaming outside. She started running towards the door. Kane stopped her.

  ”We can’t help them!” He yelled as the pummeling of their house began again.

  Callie collapsed on the ground crying. She couldn’t protect her animals the night before and now she was listening to their slaughter. Callie started hitting Kane’s arms that were still holding her, preventing her from going outside.

  “My Lady,” Alex was crying next to Callie. Callie felt an unfamiliar sting and then she passed out.

  “What did you do to her?” Kane asked in rage as he felt his wife’s body go limp.

  ”My Lady was hurting you. She would feel worse when she saw the bruises she was leaving. She will be okay,” Alex said gently stroking Callie’s arm.

  ”She sleeps,” Jonah said standing over the three of them.

  ”You had no right!” Kane screamed at Alex. Alex for his part jumped back with fear at the anger in Kane’s voice and the rage on his face.

  ”Alex, trying to help!” Alex’’s voice was full of emotion and fear as he continued to retreat.

  ”Amici, she shouldn’t hear what is next,” Jonah said, suddenly turning and walking towards the window. Kane hadn’t realized it but the sound of the batzls hitting the window had stopped. Kane gently put Callie down and then walked over to the window. The noises outside had stopped as well.

  As Kane stopped next to Jonah he saw it. It looked like a giant snagon but so much more. The creature reminded Kane of the Chinese dragons that actors got inside and moved in videos of the Chinese festivals. But this one wasn’t red, it was blue and green. It was preceded by smaller vulture-like creatures. On the dragon was a human, at least Kane thought it was a human.

  Jonah took off running towards the stairs and leaped over the half wall making barely a noise as he landed on the steps. Kane followed him. When Kane got to the bottom of the stairs he saw Jonah had gathered all of the kids into his outstretched arms and there was a yellow-ish orb surrounding them. Then Kane felt a pressure in his head that quickly turned into a searing pain like someone, or something, had put a hot poker into his head in the area just above his ear.

  Kane couldn’t help himself and he let out a scream falling to his knees and grabbing his head. Kane could hear Phillip and Stern and Carlie scream out in pain upstairs too. He didn’t hear Callie, but she was probably still where he had left her passed out on the ground. A few seconds of searing hot pain and suddenly the heat was gone, but the pressure was still there. Then he heard the voice.

  ”We know there is a Druid in this area. If it surrenders now we will have no more killing. Choose to keep hiding it and we will be forced to designate this area as hostile and you will be treated accordingly. You will be deemed as hiding traitors and enemies. Surrender now or face the consequences,” the voice finished.

  Kane didn’t say anything. He looked at Jonah inside the yellow orb. Jonah shook his head at Kane. Kane looked at Josie and Eliza huddled with their friends. Kane took a deep breath and then walked up the stairs. As he rounded the corner to look out the living room window he didn’t see the dragon anymore. There were a few of the vultures trailing behind that he could see. He went to the kitchen window that faced south. He saw the dragon and its rider first head south then turn left.

  Kane ran from window to window watching the dragon make a large circle in the air. The way it was flying Kane took a sigh of relief, he didn’t think the rider knew where the Druids were, he had the dragon make a circle ten plus miles to the interstate to their east and the same distance to the north. It only seemed to go about five miles to the west, but then started heading south again.

  Before it took the final turn to the south though, Kane heard and felt the wind hit the house saying, “Traitors and enemies! This area is designated hostile and will be dealt with appropriately!”

  As the dragon took off to the south, some of the vultures broke off and Kane could see them swooping down towards the different properties and fields. As they got closer to the ground Kane saw them start spraying flames at the ground.

  ”SHIT! FIRE!!!!” Kane screamed, running to the bedroom to grab his rifle. He couldn’t let those things get close to the house. Their area wasn’t in red flag fire danger, but they weren’t far from it. If the grasses in their pastures went up in flames he didn’t think he would be able to save the house.

  As Kane ran outside he heard Phillip and Stern scrambling behind him. The first vulture was swooping down as Kane rounded the corner of the house to go to the backyard. As the creature opened its mouth, Kane took his shot straight into its open mouth. The creature dropped out of the sky.

  ”Time for bird hunting,” Stern said, coming up next to Kane.

  ”Yup,” Kane said without looking at his friend and heading to the top of the hill.

  ”I’ve got the front!” Phillip shouted.

  Kane heard his friend but was already taking aim at the next vulture that was swooping down. As flame started to come out of the bird's mouth Kane took his shot. Thankfully killing the creature just before the flames hit the tops of the grasses. Kane could see the withering of the tops of the grasses from the heat though. Kane took a breath.

  ”Shit, I can’t let them get that close again!” He screamed at himself. He wasn’t sure if he said it out loud or not. He heard shots being fired in the front yard and he heard shots behind him to his left. That had to be Stern.

  Kane didn’t bother looking to verify.

  “MARK!” Kane yelled activating HUNTERS MARK on a vulture that was coming straight at him. Kane didn’t give it a chance to open its mouth before taking his shot. Kane felt a surge as the bonus of HUNTERS MARK kicked in.

  ”No shit we are in battle!” Kane heard Stern yell next to him. Kane couldn’t help but smile at the statement from his friend. As he was setting up aim on the next ignistura, Kane got hit from something.

  The force of the hit nearly knocked Kane over. Kane turned to see what had hit him. He didn’t get his rifle all the way around before an ignistura, with claws fully extended, hit him in the shoulder and started digging its claws or talons into his shoulder. Kane cried out in pain but reached for his pistol with the one hand he had available, letting the rifle fall on the sling towards the ground. Kane shot the creature, killing it. It released the pressure on this shoulder but another ignistura was right behind it, this one with its mouth open and flame already coming out. Kane tried to duck out of the path of the flame but felt it hit his right shoulder. He dodged the claw attack. He quickly took note of where Stern was and took a shot as the ignistura caught the grass by the table on fire. The bird dropped but the damage was done.

  Kane ran over to the hose attached to Stern’s camper and quickly started trying to unscrew it. Feeling the pressure he realized his mistake and shuffled over to the spigot to turn the water off.

  ”FIRE!” Kane screamed at no one in particular but hoping it wasn’t spreading too fast.

  Kane heard more shots being fired from the front yard and heard two more shots from Stern before he got the hose undone and turned back on. He ran to where the fire had moved within a few feet of the house and had fully engulfed the table. Kane turned the hose first on the area threatening the house.

  ”FUCK!” Kane heard Stern scream.

  ”I HAVE FIRE!” Kane heard Phillip screaming from the front yard.

  ”Help Phillip!” Kane screamed at Stern as he drove the fire back from the house. Thankfully the short grass wasn’t giving much fuel to the fire so Kane’s hose, though not great at combatting the flames, at least wasn’t allowing it to spread. He heard yells and commotion from the front yard.

  Kane took the moment to look up at the sky. The last of the ignistura had stopped their dive bombing and were flying south the way the dragon and the rest of the flying creatures had gone. Kane took a sigh of relief at that. Kane continued to water the flames until they were smoldering piles. The table and chairs were a complete loss, but at least the house and the play structures hadn’t been affected.

  Kane decided he needed to see what was happening in the front yard. He walked around the eastern edge, turning off the water as he went. There wasn’t as much noise coming from the front yard now, so Kane took that as a sign that maybe, the flames were becoming under control.

  As Kane rounded the corner he saw a couple cowks stomping on scorched earth between the goat pen and the house. Kane was surprised after hearing the horrible noises that there were any cowks still alive. Kane paused as he rounded the last corner of the house and took a count of the cowks and cows. Everyone was still alive. A few had little trails of blood but none of them were seriously injured.

  Kane’s mouth dropped, having not expected that. He caught himself and started looking for Stern and Phillip. Kane saw Stern next to the animal spigot turning off the water. He looked for Phillip, he found a very scorched looking Phillip sitting on the front steps.

  “You okay?” Kane asked his friend stopping in front of him.

  ”Yeah, I just decided to turn myself into a bar-b-que,” Phillip said looking up at his friend, revealing a scorched mark on the side of his face.

  ”Shit!” Kane nearly jumped back, “You did try to turn yourself into a brisket!”

  Phillip tried to laugh, but Kane could tell the pain in his face stopped him.

  Stern walked over, “Well, our fire is out. Yours?”

  “Need to go stomp out the cinders, but yeah, we are good for now,” Kane said slowly peeling his eyes away from Phillips’’ scorched body.

  ”I need to get this flambe inside, hopefully Callie is awake to help him,” Stern said, reaching to help Phillip stand up.

  ”It’s brisket, I’m smoky and tender and all things delicious,” Phillip smiled through the pain.

  Kane and Stern couldn’t help but laugh. Kane continued his walk around the house making sure there weren’t any fire spots they had missed. Thankfully it looked like it was just the two spots. He went back to the hose and turned it on to give the hot spots another dousing.

  After he was done he walked to the top of the hill. He wanted to see how much damage had been done to his neighbors. He could smell fire in the air. As he made it to the top of the hill he could see there were still fires going to the north and to the east. Kane could also hear people yelling, not so much from pain but more frantic yells like they were trying to put out the fires. Kane could see the fire trucks in the distance heading towards the areas that were still smoking. Kane said a quick prayer for his neighbors and then headed back inside.