The beginning

India walked to the center of the camp where vendors were packing their stalls and moving quickly towards shelter. "What the hell is going on?" she mumbled. "Is this normal? To get attacked so often?"

Moa, giggling to himself, followed Tira. Mid-step, he felt a strange swarm of dizziness take over his senses and stopped in the empty streets between the old universities. Sleepily, he closed his eyes and stepped slowly towards the chattering of his siblings, almost without any control over his own feet.

"Maybe we should get out of here. Dead babies and evil myth-gods? No way. I don't want to hang around." Nee started to back away slowly, then ducked under an overturned truck. "Misers!" she exclaimed as they launched over head. "Why so many?"

Isolde followed, pulling her hood back to see above her. "They're coming from the camp near here," she said while watching the demon looking monsters crawl walls and break windows. "I don't see any sign of a fight... and they aren't feeding..."

"That's a good sign," whispered Nee. "Then we can make it to the camp and take refugee there. Maybe someone can tell us why a demi-god is creepin' through the city."

Isolde carefully crept along the spike of cement stabbing from the ground and looked for the closest escape. "I don't think that's a good idea. If we get mixed up in any of this, they're going to have the imperial guards come about the kid and his family. Then they'll take our home. Again. I didn't see anything. No baby, no little boy, and no demi-god. Neither did you. We'll go back, get what we can, and spend the night in the camp. They'll have an inn or something we can go to."

"... alright," Nee sighed. "I'd rather deal with the Imperials over a demi-god... Man, what is he doing in the city? Just chillin' with Misers? It doesn't look good... The demi-dogs travel in packs, barking and biting anyone they like. Then... doesn't that mean the Light Lord is nearby? Jeez... I'm not excited to find out."

"You hurt my feelings," Aelius remarked with mock sadness from behind the two women. He'd followed Hayes a ways before noticing Raith, but took a greater interest in the whispering outside Raith's residence. "I wanted my return to be enjoyable."

Nee twisted her torso quickly, her shoulder colliding with the cement. She yelped and fell back against Isolde, grabbing her arm in staring in awe. "You're kidding me... No way! This isn't my lucky day."

Without hesitating, Isolde reached and grabbed Nee's arm and pulled her up behind her, running for the clearest path to the camp. "Keep up!" she ordered, letting Nee go.

Nee panicked while gaining her balance and cried out in surprise. Catching her footing, she followed Isolde, looking back where they'd hid, whimpering loudly. "I don't care! I'm go to that camp and I'm screaming for help!"

"What is going on?" Seth thought aloud, hearing screaming. He moved away from the path he was taking to his rundown apartment and watched from a window sill above the center road. When two women appeared, he found himself jumping in front of them, concerned and confused. "What's going on?" he asked. And why do I suddenly care...

"DAMMIT!" Tira roared and punched a wall in her decrepit home, crushing it in a cloud of dust. She ignored the residue and blood dripping from her claws, twisting around towards the robed Misers.
"Tell me one of you have information! Why is Hayes strolling through the city? Where is the Light Lord? WHERE IS MY KRIOS?!" She screeched in an unearthly wail.
A robed Miser stepped forward, kneeling before her. "My Queen," he said quietly. "we have not been able to find information regarding the Dark Lord, nor about the Light Lord."
Tira promptly decapitated the Miser with one stroke of her blade. "Enough of this!" She commanded the still-falling headless body. "I want more information! We are running out of time." She noticed William slouched against a pillar, now wrapped in chains, and smiled. She skipped over the blood of the Miser and fell to her knees in front of the unconscious boy. "Sweetie, I need you to wake up," she crooned softly, touching his chin with a bloodied fingertip.

Leon frowned while watching the Misers disappear into the city and the group disperse. He tucked the lens cap into his pocket and made to leave the camp.
"Sorry, sir," the guard at the gate shook his head. "Nobody leaves or enters the camp. We're on lockdown."
"I'd like to get home..." Leon muttered.
"Lockdown means you stay here," the guard said tiredly. Then, in a softer voice, "Misers have been spotted nearby. We have to be careful." 
"Here..." Leon sighed and looked behind him. "Where's the nearest inn?"
The guard gave him quick directions to the nearby inn. Leon nodded wordlessly and began at a casual pace towards the inn. On the outskirts, he noticed the boy he saw with Five earlier jump in front of two women from a window.
He looked around the camp, amused at the ignorance these people had of Miser power. "You know," he said, approaching the group. "jumping effortlessly from a second story window's just going to look suspicious. You can't blame that on an 'eye infection.'"

"I couldn't care less," Isolde snarled as she reached for her sword, "what you want, Miser. Just get out of my way."

"I'm getting sick of human's and their condescending attitude. You know, I'm not the one running around screaming like a psycho. The sword's cute, lady, but really, do you think it's as efficient as, say, a gun?" Seth dusted his coat off and pulled his mask back over his face. "I'm beyond caring if these people see me. Idiots... Half their defenses today were Misers and look at how thankful they are? They want to stab me with a fancy sword. Look at this!" Seth jabbed a finger under his blue eye. "Something weird about this?! You're just going to stab a blue-eyed Miser and not ask questions?!"

"I don't care what you are, I just need to get through. NOW." Isolde looked over her shoulder and cursed under her breath. "Just move."

"This isn't working!" Nee complained. "Listen, bub. We just saw an Imperial family dead, their kid running around with a dead baby that MOVED, and then the Light Lord AND the Shadow Lord both in the city. I'm done, buster. Move it! I'm not hanging around here!"

Seth stepped aside. "Dead baby?" he repeated, looking at the other three. "What is a shadow lord..."

"I don't care to find out," Nee replied while running passed the others.

"You know, once you're in the camp now, you can't really leave..." Leon remarked, looking bored and shrugging. "They're on lockdown."

Nee slowed to yell, "still better than out there."

"Why are they locking the camp down?" Isolde asked, tensing more.

Leon shrugged again. "Heard something about Misers in the camp. I think they plan to do a sweep and find them all."

Seth sniffed and shook his head. "There's none. There's a funky smell, but it's not a Miser."