Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 3

Steel Eye Files, "Gods of War"

The sky was dark with ash, and despite Chal, Astar, shining down from above, the land below languished under cover of darkness more profound than night as even the two moons and stars were hidden by ash. The ground was coated in a fine layer of grey, and the colorful, almost whimsical landscape became an apocalyptic hellscape.

Just a few miles distant from the human Forward operating base, a unit of Drev soldiers hid in the cover of ash, separated from the base by half a mile of open ground and a small rocky gully where they made their camp. They had no tents or lights like the humans did but crouched next to the leeward side of stones their knees tucked to their chests, their arms clasping their legs, and their, once colorful, cloaks wrapped around them now stained with ash.

In this way they were camouflaged from outside notice by way of ash, and the breathing holes at the bases of their necks were kept clear. Spears were gripped tightly in hands, metal dulled and muted under a coating of cinders, and like that they were practically invisible in the dark landscape,

Not that they were worried of course.

Ever since the dark season had come, they had been the ones to initiate conflict, not the other way around.

This was their world, and they were in charge.

They understood how to navigate her in al weather.

But now was not the time for movement, or navigation. In the dark and the swirling of the storm, it was time to rest.

The wind died down slightly, and the ashfall reduced.

Some light filtered down from high above, and the visibility improved to that of a middling blizzard back on earth. It was still dark, and the landscape was difficult to make out, ash flurries kicked up with some regularity as they sat.

Their sentinel crouched at the head of the group tucked next to a rock.

It was him that heard it first.

It was difficult to make out over the sound of the wind, a sort of distant hissing.

He lifted his head peering through the amber goggles that had been supplied to him. Drev didn't normally practice combat during the dark season, but they knew a tactical advantage when they saw one, and this seemed to be the only time of year they were going to have a leg up against the humans. It was a controversial decision, but eventually they had collectively decided that goggles did not constitute technology enough for it to be heretical.

Ans so he peered out into the ash his eyes narrowed.

Drev do not have the greatest night vision. They are primarily a daytime creature that relies heavily on color differentiation which is not commonly present at night.

He saw nothing.

Still, something was off, and he shifted forward on his knees to peer out from behind the rock.

Ash gusted into his face, but still he saw nothing.

Something still felt wrong.

Was that an echo he heard over the sound of the wind? Rocks clattering down a hillside?

It was hard to tell, the sounds were so muffled.

A few of his clan members stood to peer out at the ash with him, his anxiety bleeding over into his soldiers.

What was that.

The ash kicked up again, and his vision was mostly obscured.

He stood now, cape billowing behind him in the ashfall. He stepped out into open ground head titled to one side as he tried to make out the sound through the darkness. It was not a sound that he recognized, and indeed he was sure he was hearing SOMETHING.