It was a normal night at first. The stars hung crystal clear in the sky, a few nocturnal birds sang their songs, but I could feel the gloomy atmosphere in the air. Maybe it was me, or maybe not, but nobody in the largest house of the village said anything as we listened to the distant marching of an army.
The forest had already been filled by demons since the day before, but for now, the magical defences the church provided held. Outside of these defences though … hordes of monsters. I wasn’t allowed to look, but it was easily guessable by the trembling of the men that did. Even my father, an otherwise calm person was no exception to this.
My life as I knew it had come to an end. I knew that much. I wasn’t able to learn magic during the few days since the goddess warned me, and neither was I able to convince anyone to leave … and even I was still there, begging for the goddess to come save us all.
But thus far, she hadn’t made their move yet. And maybe … just maybe she wouldn’t come to save anyone of us. Still, I was praying to her as the defences gave in and the village was flooded with monsters. I heard it crackling as more and more of the villages magical traps were activated, but they were all rather cheap ones, only capable of fending off a few of them, not a whole army.
We were all incredibly quiet the whole time, hoping they would just leave us alone, but they naturally didn´t. They kept banging against the barricaded door time and time again and filled us with terror. Women and men alike began to cry out, a few babies screamed in their mothers’ arms and the children were weeping loudly as finally, a hint of hope appeared in front of me.
“Sofie, you need to listen to me very carefully now.” Holding the hand of my mother, I nodded towards Irminsul, full of hope, even though she didn´t look that convinced about her plan. “When the demon’s storm through the barn door, you let go of her hand and take that ladder to the second floor of the barn, alright?”
“I will not leave anyone behind.” I claimed bitterly.
“Saving everyone here isn´t an option anymore. Listen to me, this is the only chance at life you have right now, so don’t waste it. Your parents wouldn’t want you to die, would they?” They surely wouldn’t, but on the other hand, I doubted they wanted me to live as an orphan as well.
“No.” I whispered quietly and looked towards my mother one last time.
“Great. I will try to protect them with my powers, but you need to get out of here. They are after you, and the longer you stay here, the more dangerous it becomes for them. Go. Now!” There was a distress in her voice I hadn’t heard before, at least not as far as I remembered. And the reason for that became obvious right away.
The barn door burst apart as a bulky, horned black bull ran into it, sending splinters flying everywhere. One second, I prayed for the goddess to do her wonders, let go of my mother’s hand and noticed how a green barrier appeared in front of the black bull. Immediately, I dashed towards the ladder and climbed it, even though my mother tried to get a hold of me. I needed to get up there, as fast as possible. To save everyone.
While I climbed the ladder, I heard a sword clashing against something behind me, and strangely enough, the sounds of battle outside as well. As soon as I was upstairs though, the sounds of battle died down behind me and only screaming filled the room beneath me.
The barrier the goddess put up was no more, and only a few scattered men tried to fight the invaders in this mess while green, ugly creatures brutally murdered everyone without mercy. I … nobody was saved by me or the goddess.
“SOFIE!” The goddess screamed into my ear, but I didn´t listen. The friends I held dear so much, the villagers I met on the streets daily were dying below me, ripped to shreds by rusted blades, claws and a bull with red eyes.
All of them.
My mother.
My father.
All of them.
I could only scream in terror as I had to watch how my family was massacred right in front of me, and even as Irminsul screamed into my ear to get going, I could only watch, shaking and unable to move an inch.
And even as one of these ugly creatures made its way up, I could only land on my butt and rob backwards. The goddess was nowhere in sight again, probably leaving me there for good. She gave me so many warnings, so many chances, and I failed to act upon them time and time again.
I would die there. The green creature already lifted his hand, a bloody butcher knife in hand. I could only scream as the blade swung downwards. My whole bravado, my toughness I sometimes took pride in didn´t help much in front of this monster. But then, someone grabbed my attire and yanked me backwards brutally, making the blade crash into the wood harmlessly. Someone stepped to my side, threw a knife right in between its two large eyes and grabbed around my waist in one go.
All my breath left my lunges as said person swung me over the shoulder and immediately turned away from the still ongoing massacre down below. The floor blurred beneath us as a shoulder was rammed into my belly while I was brought towards a window.
My saviour was in no way careful as he unsheathed a black sword, jumped out of the window while turning around and slid down the wall while cutting through the wood with the incredibly sharp sword in one hand.
For the first time, I could actually hear a battle outside and noticed hundreds of riders swinging their swords all around them, killing monster after monster while endangering themselves. Screams filled this area as well, humans and monster ones alike. No time was wasted as someone else lifted me off the shoulder and put me in front of him onto the saddle. He took the reins of the neighing horse immediately again and spurred it into action.
Once again, I couldn’t do anything but look to my sides as hundreds of humans fought a bitter fight against a sheer endless number of monsters. It must have been thousands filling the complete village, all heading towards us as we battled our way out of this mess, with no end in sight. Still in shock, I could barely process that I was in the middle of this formation, secured by all of their lives.
Suddenly, I heard it cracking again, this time a lot differently though. It sounded like electricity erupting a few hundred metres away, hitting hundreds of these things until it died down in an instant again. All of these monsters died right away, leaving only a hooded person on a horse behind us. Said horse immediately sprung into action as well, running south west while we headed south east. Someone was playing the decoy for us, so that we could get away, so that I wouldn’t waste my life. And somehow, it worked.
We still had to fight through masses of enemies, but I doubted it were all of them as quite a few decided to follow behind my saviour. One last time, I looked at the burning barn in the valley that was my home.
“Don’t look back. Nothing good will ever come out of it.” The man behind me said and grabbed around my belly as I leaned over to my side dangerously. Not a second later, I fell unconscious, still hearing the sounds of humans dying around us and knowing that my parents were dead … everyone was dead.
It was a normal night at first. The stars hung crystal clear in the sky, a few nocturnal birds sang their songs, but I could feel the gloomy atmosphere in the air. Maybe it was me, or maybe not, but nobody in the largest house of the village said anything as we listened to the distant marching of an army.
The forest had already been filled by demons since the day before, but for now, the magical defences the church provided held. Outside of these defences though … hordes of monsters. I wasn’t allowed to look, but it was easily guessable by the trembling of the men that did. Even my father, an otherwise calm person was no exception to this.
My life as I knew it had come to an end. I knew that much. I wasn’t able to learn magic during the few days since the goddess warned me, and neither was I able to convince anyone to leave … and even I was still there, begging for the goddess to come save us all.
But thus far, she hadn’t made their move yet. And maybe … just maybe she wouldn’t come to save anyone of us. Still, I was praying to her as the defences gave in and the village was flooded with monsters. I heard it crackling as more and more of the villages magical traps were activated, but they were all rather cheap ones, only capable of fending off a few of them, not a whole army.
We were all incredibly quiet the whole time, hoping they would just leave us alone, but they naturally didn´t. They kept banging against the barricaded door time and time again and filled us with terror. Women and men alike began to cry out, a few babies screamed in their mothers’ arms and the children were weeping loudly as finally, a hint of hope appeared in front of me.
“Sofie, you need to listen to me very carefully now.” Holding the hand of my mother, I nodded towards Irminsul, full of hope, even though she didn´t look that convinced about her plan. “When the demon’s storm through the barn door, you let go of her hand and take that ladder to the second floor of the barn, alright?”
“I will not leave anyone behind.” I claimed bitterly.
“Saving everyone here isn´t an option anymore. Listen to me, this is the only chance at life you have right now, so don’t waste it. Your parents wouldn’t want you to die, would they?” They surely wouldn’t, but on the other hand, I doubted they wanted me to live as an orphan as well.
“No.” I whispered quietly and looked towards my mother one last time.
“Great. I will try to protect them with my powers, but you need to get out of here. They are after you, and the longer you stay here, the more dangerous it becomes for them. Go. Now!” There was a distress in her voice I hadn’t heard before, at least not as far as I remembered. And the reason for that became obvious right away.
The barn door burst apart as a bulky, horned black bull ran into it, sending splinters flying everywhere. One second, I prayed for the goddess to do her wonders, let go of my mother’s hand and noticed how a green barrier appeared in front of the black bull. Immediately, I dashed towards the ladder and climbed it, even though my mother tried to get a hold of me. I needed to get up there, as fast as possible. To save everyone.
While I climbed the ladder, I heard a sword clashing against something behind me, and strangely enough, the sounds of battle outside as well. As soon as I was upstairs though, the sounds of battle died down behind me and only screaming filled the room beneath me.
The barrier the goddess put up was no more, and only a few scattered men tried to fight the invaders in this mess while green, ugly creatures brutally murdered everyone without mercy. I … nobody was saved by me or the goddess.
“SOFIE!” The goddess screamed into my ear, but I didn´t listen. The friends I held dear so much, the villagers I met on the streets daily were dying below me, ripped to shreds by rusted blades, claws and a bull with red eyes.
All of them.
My mother.
My father.
All of them.
I could only scream in terror as I had to watch how my family was massacred right in front of me, and even as Irminsul screamed into my ear to get going, I could only watch, shaking and unable to move an inch.
And even as one of these ugly creatures made its way up, I could only land on my butt and rob backwards. The goddess was nowhere in sight again, probably leaving me there for good. She gave me so many warnings, so many chances, and I failed to act upon them time and time again.
I would die there. The green creature already lifted his hand, a bloody butcher knife in hand. I could only scream as the blade swung downwards. My whole bravado, my toughness I sometimes took pride in didn´t help much in front of this monster. But then, someone grabbed my attire and yanked me backwards brutally, making the blade crash into the wood harmlessly. Someone stepped to my side, threw a knife right in between its two large eyes and grabbed around my waist in one go.
All my breath left my lunges as said person swung me over the shoulder and immediately turned away from the still ongoing massacre down below. The floor blurred beneath us as a shoulder was rammed into my belly while I was brought towards a window.
My saviour was in no way careful as he unsheathed a black sword, jumped out of the window while turning around and slid down the wall while cutting through the wood with the incredibly sharp sword in one hand.
For the first time, I could actually hear a battle outside and noticed hundreds of riders swinging their swords all around them, killing monster after monster while endangering themselves. Screams filled this area as well, humans and monster ones alike. No time was wasted as someone else lifted me off the shoulder and put me in front of him onto the saddle. He took the reins of the neighing horse immediately again and spurred it into action.
Once again, I couldn’t do anything but look to my sides as hundreds of humans fought a bitter fight against a sheer endless number of monsters. It must have been thousands filling the complete village, all heading towards us as we battled our way out of this mess, with no end in sight. Still in shock, I could barely process that I was in the middle of this formation, secured by all of their lives.
Suddenly, I heard it cracking again, this time a lot differently though. It sounded like electricity erupting a few hundred metres away, hitting hundreds of these things until it died down in an instant again. All of these monsters died right away, leaving only a hooded person on a horse behind us. Said horse immediately sprung into action as well, running south west while we headed south east. Someone was playing the decoy for us, so that we could get away, so that I wouldn’t waste my life. And somehow, it worked.
We still had to fight through masses of enemies, but I doubted it were all of them as quite a few decided to follow behind my saviour. One last time, I looked at the burning barn in the valley that was my home.
“Don’t look back. Nothing good will ever come out of it.” The man behind me said and grabbed around my belly as I leaned over to my side dangerously. Not a second later, I fell unconscious, still hearing the sounds of humans dying around us and knowing that my parents were dead … everyone was dead.
