Cassidy ran into the den to find her mother and father reading their books. 'Mom! Dad! We have to leave now!' she shouted at them both looked up from their books with inquisitive looks on their faces 'why do we have to leave?' her father questioned. She faltered in her attempt to persuade them. Realizing that she was trying to make them leave their home over a dream.
The images of her mother being cut in half and the odd crystals tearing her father apart drifted into her head. It was not a dream she convinced herself and went on even more convinced.
'I had a dream… you and dad were killed by these bugs. But it wasn't just you the guardsmen and everyone else on the planet was slaughtered.' Her parents sat silent for a moment then burst into laughter. 'You want us to leave everything we own just because you had a nightmare?' her mother said while laughing.
'It was more then a dream' she yelled in anger, silencing the laughter. Her anger subsided and sadness filled her. 'Kav was in the dream to… but he wasn't himself, he spoke through someone else.' Her mother got up from her chair and embraced her daughter. 'Its okay Cassidy, we will find Kav tomorrow. I'm sure he is just spending the night at a friends house.' Embraced in her mother's arms she realized how stupid she must of sounded. It was just a nightmare caused by Kav disappearing. 'Something is coming and if you don't get out of Teris you will die so please listen to me and get out.' Kav's rang out in her head and she pushed her mother away from her.
'If you don't want to listen to me thats fine! You can stay and die but I'm not going to!' and she turned and ran towards her parents room. When she reached the door, she fumbled with the doorknob for a moment before opening the door and quickly darting to her father's dresser. After opening the bottom drawer her arm plunged into the drawer and rummaged around for what she was looking for. Smiling she drew out her prize, her fathers las-pistol. Her father was a great hunter with any weapon. It was fortunate that he was so skilled with the pistol or she might not have it now.
She tucked the weapon into her pants the hilt resting on her pant's lip. She covered it with her shirt. Her arm plunged back into the drawer, withdrawing a few clips for the gun, she stuffed them in her pocket. She slammed the drawer closed and raced out of the room. She stopped in the den to see her parents paid her no heed and went back to reading. 'Last chance to leave with me' she said while reading her mother said 'honey, I'm telling you there is nothing to worry about.' Without another word Cassidy put on her shoes and ran outside into the rainy night
She ran threw the city as fast as her drenched legs would carry her. Her brother's words still fresh in her mind. 'Cass listen to me you have to get out of Teris now! Try and get mom and dad to go to the capital city do whatever it takes but just get them out of Teris.' I tried to get mom and dad out, they wont leave with me so I go alone she thought to herself.
She felt like crying for leaving her parents but she could not bring herself to do so. By the time she reached the transportation hub, she was drenched. She ran through the revolving doors and entered a silent waiting room. Across the room from where she stood a single man sat behind a glass wall reading a book. She rushed over to the man 'I have to get to Strivium!' she said while still trying to catch her breath. The man jumped at hearing her voice and almost fell off the stool he was perched on 'damn girl' he said laughing 'you scared me half to death' she tried to smile but could not. 'So going to Strivium? At this hour?' he questioned and she nodded 'well sorry but we don't have any buses that go there'
Her heart sank. She was condemned to die here. 'Yea, no buses straight there at this time but we have one bus that goes to two other cities then the capital would you like a ticket?' she perked up 'yea I would love that' better then nothing she thought. 'Twelve credits' he said. Realization struck her like a rock to her head. 'I didn't bring any credits' she squeaked, her eyes filling with tears. The man sighed and rubbed his chin. 'Alright listen, I can't stand girls crying so if you stop ill let you get a ticket.' Her face split revealing the biggest smile she ever cracked. After getting the ticket and being pointed towards the awaiting bus she ran towards her transportation but then stopped and waved to the man who waved back 'Emperor protect you' she said under her breath and ran to the awaiting bus.
Sitting alone on the entire bus she started to get sleepy. Sitting at her seat, she watched the landscape speed by. Exhaustion caught up with her and she slumped in her seat. She looked behind her and saw the wide silhouette of Teris standing against black sky. 'Goodbye mom and dad, the Emperor protects' she whispered before drifting off to sleep.
A few moments later, a lightning bolt cracked the sky in half, illuminating the night sky. Should Cassidy stayed awake for a few more moments she would of saw the awesome display of nature. She also would of saw the hundreds of objects falling from the sky and landing amongst the city.
While she slept, she dreamed of the armored men again. They were fighting alongside the men in black and red again. This time though they fought an uncountable number of bugs. She ran amongst the carnage looking for the one that Kav spoke through in her recent dream. She spotted an armored figure a top a mound of bugs bearing claws on each fist that glowed blue and crackled with power. She watched as bug after bug leapt at the figure to be dissected by the glowing claws. She smiled and knew he was the man that Kav spoke to her through. The giant stuck down another bug then stopped in his frenzy of killing, the blue glow fading from his weapons.
He titled his head back and took up a howl that pierced the battlefield. The other armored giants took up the howl as they fought. She took a few steps closer to the figure but stopped in her tracks. The man was violently shaking. He slowly stopped shaking except for a twitch or two. Two bugs the size of small cars charged him raising their blades to strike him down. With a roar that shook Cassidy to her bones the man launched himself at the first bug crashing into it full speed.
They tumbled to the ground and Cassidy saw the man lift his arm and plunge the claws repeatedly into the body of the bug. Stab after stab the bug finally stopped squirming and the man jumped to his feet to face the second car size bug. The second bug lowered its head and screeched at the figure. In a movement that she could not even follow with her eyes the figure leapt forward and drove his right claw into the underside of the bugs head while the left claw punched through the left side of the head. The body jerked a few times the came to a stop. The figure threw the body away from him and let out another feral howl.
Once the howl was finished, the man approached her and stopped a few feet from her. She stared into the yellow eyes expecting to find hate and bloodlust. Instead, she found justice and power. She half expected the man to cut her in half with his crackling claws. The slash never came and the weapon's blue glow faded along with the yellow eyes. The yellow eyes were replaced with dark black eyes.
'They come' the man said. 'Who come?' she finally asked. 'The tyranids' the figure replied. At first, she wondered about whom he meant but then realized its what these men called the bugs. 'They will come and devour everything on this planet. We are coming but we wont be able to save everyone. Most likely not even you wont survive.' The man said in a confident sounding voice. 'No!' she screamed at it 'I will survive! I'm heading to the capital as we speak.' The man shook his head 'we' he said as he waved his clawed hand to the other giants around him 'Wont be at the capital, that is the first place the tyranids will land. To land there is suicide. We are landing at a town farther away from the capital. Everyone there is dead to us. If you wish to die continue to the capital, if you wish to live get off at the next town.' The armored man said.
Cassidy woke to find the driver of the bus shaking her lightly. 'Were at the first town get off and stretch your legs'