The Dawn of the New World

It was almost an hour ago when Hao Xuan had rushed out of the tent in an all-consuming fury. He didn't have a destination in mind but hearing all the things the Grand Priestess had to say, it was either walking out or start throwing punches so he chose to recuse himself from the situation.

He ran for a couple of minutes through the bustling city streets that were all lit up like a Christmas tree before coming to a stop on the roof of a white stone structure.

His chest heaving up and down not from running out of breath but from trying to suppress his raging emotions. His face contorted in anger while his veins bulged through his skin as he tried his best to keep himself in check.

But after a few seconds he couldn't help but slam his fist against the stone roof in annoyance, leaving an inch-deep imprint and shaking the entire structure.

"Who the FUCK does she think she is? Telling us all that bullshit like I don't- Argh! I outa skin her alive for that! For showing us such disrespect. Even death would be far too easy of-"

Hao Xuan's tumultuous emotions had gotten the better of him. A veil had been pulled over his eyes and he didn't even realize that the world around him had started to change.

"Old bitch, thinks she knows more about us than we do!"

He was so absorbed in this dialogue that he didn't even realize the change of pronouns. He had started to refer to himself as 'us' for some reason. Whatever the grand priestess had said to him had significantly impacted his mental state, enough to shake him to the core.

Hao Xuan had become uncharacteristically expletive, much more so than usual. He sat down where he was, breathing heavily and forcefully like an earth dragon.

It was only when he smelt something burning that he awoke from this stupor. He looked around and saw that the lively city from a moment ago was replaced by a blazing ember of death and destruction.

He got back up on his feet, mouth agape.

"Another hallucination?" he whispered under his breath before rubbing his eyes but opening them again the same scene welcomed him.

"This is real?"

He extended his hand and felt the heat on his skin. The smell was still there and was getting stronger. Just then, as if to prove to him that it was all real, heart-wrenching screams came from somewhere nearby.

Hao Xuan jumped from one rooftop to the next until he was right next to the source of the screams.

"Please! We give up, we surrender! we aren't fighters, you said you would let us go if we accepted-"

*Squelch*

"AAAAH!"

Hao Xuan peered over the side and saw a group of five men surrounding a demihuman couple. The male had a stab wound in his chest which was bleeding profusely while the female demihuman was unsuccessfully trying to stop the blood from pouring out.

The five men were dressed in white garbs that had some special insignia on them, ones Hao Xuan was completely unfamiliar with. The only thing of note was it looked like a cross with two halos on top.

With wide grins on their faces, they watched on as the female demihuman tried her best to save the male while calling for help. They were making bets with one another on how long the male would last but one of them couldn't take it anymore and stepped forward.

"This is taking too long. I want her, now!" he announced before quickly grabbing the female demihuman by the hair and pulling her away.

She kicked and screamed, cursing him out while struggling to get free but the man didn't budge an inch. In fact, his smile grew wider.

Hao Xuan, already fuming, felt like he would explode from pure anger. He jumped down and landed behind the group.

"Oi, what the fuck are you people doing!?" he shouted but got no response.

Furious about being ignored he threw a punch towards the nearest man aiming to blow his head away but his hand went through him like it wasn't even there.

"Huh?"

The man turned around and looked right at Hao Xuan but didn't see him.

"What's wrong?" another one asked.

"No...nothing. I thought there was someone behind us."

*Argh*

Hao Xuan screamed as a searing headache brought him to his knees. It felt like there were razor blades inside his skull that were fighting to get out.

"AAAAH!"

He finally screamed out loud and smashed his head against the ground.

*THUD*

Instead of the soft ground he was standing on, a cold, hard surface impacted against his skin. He fell back and forcefully opened his eyes.

He was in a different place now. It was still the city of Argham but there were no fires this time. Instead, the air was saturated by the stench of blood and the screams for help were much louder this time.

"To the gate! We cannot allow more of them to enter the city!"