A deep rumbling sensation, like a stampede. Mixed in were angry shouts and ferocious roars. I could smell blood. Its scent tainted the air. I lay face down in a pile of hay, not daring to move. If I was found, there was no doubt in my mind that I would be killed slowly. The enemies of the humans were vicious, mindless animals. Monsters, in all shapes and sizes. It was said that a human soul was a thousand times more powerful than a monster's. If that was the case, we should be winning the war. This war, which was started because of mankind's fear of the monster's ability to take their souls and become gods, had escalated beyond anything anyone could have foreseen.

It had never been so fearsome. Still, cries of pain pierced my ears, blood curdling screams echoed across the village. The monster army was still killing. They were lost in a bloodthirsty frenzy. This wasn't right. The war had always been controlled. Both people and monsters had always avoided killing. It just wasn't in our nature to kill without reason.

It wasn't right.

Justice had to be served.

A writhing tentacle shot into the pile of hay and wrapped around my ankle. It hoisted me high into the air and I saw a mass of wet, sticky tentacles below me. A pair of red, glowing eyes peered out. From the monster, another tentacle sprouted, this time barbed with spikes. Like a morning star. I was going to be shredded and whipped to death.

In front of us, two hearts appeared. Our souls. The monster's was white, and mine was a gleaming gold colour.

This isn't right.

My soul rippled. Searing golden beams burst from it's surface like sun rays. The first one shot straight into the tentacle heap, dissolving it into ashes. The other rays curved and spun through the air like comets, seeking out monster targets. One by one, the enemy fell, reduced to dust.

I lay on the ground, covered in monster dust, hay and sweat. Everything had gone dead silent. Humans who had been fighting were stunned, and the monsters were dead. My yellow soul shimmered, then vanished. I reached out and waved my hand where it had been. Nothing.

Getting to my feet, I noticed that the silence was fading. I could already hear speculations as to what had happened.

"Was it all a hallucination?"

"Did we kill them?"

"Was it God?"

"Where did they go?"

I ran as fast as I could behind the houses. They might come looking for the source of that searing light, and who knows what could happen if they knew it was me. I eventually came to a stop behind a row of wooden houses, in front of which a group of people had gathered. They had obviously been fighting. Many were bleeding, and most of their clothes were torn and dirty.

Okay. I thought. Act natural, you're a scared little kid.

"Um… hello?" I peered around the houses at the crowd. "Are the monsters gone?"

Several of them turned. They seemed surprised to see I was alive – a large portion of the people I'd seen die were children who couldn't defend themselves.

"Well, hi there!" One of them who I vaguely recognised feigned cheeriness. "We big strong adults killed all the monsters!"

His friends glanced at him sceptically, but I pretended to buy it and they nodded as if they knew what had happened.

"That's a relief." I sighed and walked from behind the house, stepping on a hard, oval shaped rock as I did so. "I was getting tired of hiding. I'd better go check on my sister. We hid her in the house under my bed."

"That might be a good idea." He responded. "I think-"He was cut short by a low, angry growl coming from the rock behind me.

As it turns out, not a rock. It sprouted arms and legs and a head with beady little eyes and a short, tough beak. A tortoise. It reached around into the tall grass behind it and drew a shining silver war hammer. The hammer's head was almost as big as my torso, but the tortoise wielded it like it weighed nothing. I dodged it's first swing straight down. The hammer pulverized the mud where I had been standing. The adults behind me couldn't get a good shot with their guns from this distance, especially with me in the way. I looked over my shoulder and reached out my hand, hoping they would understand.

Thankfully, one did. He drew a revolver from it's holster and tossed it to me. I caught it by the barrel and ducked the tortoise's next swing. I spun the gun around and aimed, then shut my eyes pulled the trigger as fast as I could.

BAM! One. BAM! Two. BAM! Three. BAM! Four. BAM! Five. Click. Nothing happened. I opened my eyes to see the tortoise standing, visibly exhausted. It's hammer had five deep dents in it's broad side. Had it really deflected those bullets?

The tortoise glared at the us, realized it was outnumbered and launched itself away, into the corn fields behind it. There was no use trying to follow it. The tortoise was just too fast and we'd never find it in time before it escaped to the mountain, where the monsters were hiding.

"Those were some nice shots." The man who threw me his gun stood behind me and patted my shoulder.

"Thank you." I shuddered. "Do you want this back?" I held out the revolver.

The man hesitated. He was clearly making a tough decision – morally, that is. Give a kid a gun, or potentially let a kid get slaughtered by monsters. Eventually, the man shook his head. "No, thanks. You might need it."

"Are you sure?" I laughed. "Thank you so much!"

I began the walk back to my house, examining the revolver. There should be six shots in the chamber, but only five had fired. I turned the chamber slowly and realized it had jammed. The barrel didn't turn the right distance – not surprising with the commotion. I clicked it into place. One bullet left, for whatever monster might be hiding in my house.

I stepped up onto the porch, and pushed the door open silently. I stepped in and listened hard. Nothing. I called my sister's name.

"Chara!"

A short pause, then; "Is that you?"

Yep. My sister's whiny six year old voice that I loved/hated so much.

"Yeah. The monsters are gone, you can come out now."

Chara walked cautiously down the stairs, then ran up and hugged me.

After several rib-crushing seconds, she released me. "What's for lunch?"

Lunch? The question seemed so distant, unimportant after the fighting. Food would be nice though – I was pretty hungry.

I was making lunch several minutes later. My mind, however, was on other topics. The magic I'd performed earlier – that was something that would be helpful in the war. If I could learn to use it…