Snow drifted slowly from the sky as a gentle breeze swept through the streets. Guards patrolled to ensure the peaceful night remained undisturbed.
But peace was an unattainable dream, especially in this world.
From the darkness, red eyes emerged.. watching, waiting and hungry.
"Incoming!" a soldier shouted just before an explosion shattered the city gate.
Black smoke curled into the night, casting eerie shadows across the battlements. Guards rushed to extinguish the flames. Others snapped into defensive positions without a single command. None was needed. Every man there knew what to do.
Only fifty men positioned themselves along the broken wall while the archers readied their arrows, aiming toward whatever force had launched the assault. Tension filled the air. You could see it in the eyes of the soldiers behind their helmets, hear it in their heavy breaths as each second crawled by.
But then slowly, a creature raced on all fours like a beast, claws scraping against the shattered stone. Its eyes glowed a sickly yellow, and the jagged, rusted blade it carried could poison any flesh it touched. They were small, sinewy and snarling
"It's the Green Army!" one soldier screamed, as the archers loosed their arrows into the oncoming wave of goblins. Many fell, but it was nowhere near enough to halt the hundreds or perhaps even thousands charging toward them.
"Hold your position!" A command echoed across the wall as soldiers tightened their ranks and raised their battle cries. A heartbeat later, the goblins surged through the breach and slammed into the shields of the defenders.
Steel met shrieking fury. Swords flashed in the firelight. The clash was immediate and chaotic. shields shattered, blood sprayed and the screams of men and monsters filled the night. Shoulder to shoulder, the defenders fought desperately and doing everything they could to keep the swarm at bay.
The guards were locked in brutal combat. Shields splintered, armor dented, and yet still they stood. Goblins climbed over fallen bodies like rats, shrieking, stabbing and biting. The defenders fought with grim determination, but their line was thinning.
Halric, a seasoned soldier, stood in the widening gap, wielding a blood-slick axe in one hand and a battered shield in the other.
"Hold the line!" he roared. "If they get past us, the city will be lost!"
A goblin lunged at him with a shriek. Halric met it midair, burying his axe in its chest. Another followed. Then another. And another. He stood his ground, but his breaths grew heavy and his aging body was nearly at its limit.
Halric's arms were shaking whether from exhaustion or fear. Yet he stood firm, feet planted in the snow turned red beneath him.
A goblin lunged at his throat. He smashed it aside with his shield, feeling the brittle wood crack further. His breaths came in ragged bursts, each one colder than the last.
He stole a glance at the youth beside him, a boy who barely had whiskers on his chin, whose hands trembled around the hilt of his sword. The boy was breathing too fast, eyes wide with terror.
Halric's stomach twisted.
Because in truth... He had been that boy once.
"Get word to the commander now boy!" Halric barked, forcing strength into a voice that was breaking. "*Pant*… Let this old man handle this. Go, MOVE!"
He didn't say 'Run because if you stay, you'll die in the next breath'
He didn't say 'I've lived my life. Yours is just beginning'
He didn't say 'I won't let another child die under my watch'
The boy hesitated just for a heartbeat, tears burning in his eyes as he was still in shock. But the fierce eye of Halric gave the boy a signal to snap out of it.
Then he turned and ran.
He sprinted through the carnage while his armor clanging with each desperate step. And all he can do is to keep running while hearing the screams of his comrade behind.
He wanted to stop. To turn back. To help Halric. Every instinct in him screamed that running made him a coward.
But Halric's words hammered in his skull.
"If they get past us, the city will be lost."
Pride didn't matter. Honor didn't matter.
The people behind these walls did.
So he forced his burning legs to move faster.
He didn't notice the tears freezing on his cheeks. He didn't look back to see Halric facing the tide alone. He only ran because the fate of everyone he loved depended on it.
"Outta boy…" Halric muttered with a weary smile as he watched the young man sprint into the distance. For a brief, fragile moment, pride warmed his chest for the boy's courage and for the slim chance that someone would warn the commander in time.
Then after a brief moment passed.
He turned back toward the breach.
Dozens of goblins snarling and screeching, their jagged blades dripping with poison. Their shadows twisted and danced in the firelight.
Halric tightened his grip on his axe. His hands were slick with blood, his shield barely holding together, but he held them high all the same. His breath steamed in the freezing air as he braced for a fight of his life.
"Come get me, you stupid goblins!" he roared, voice cracking with equal parts rage and defiance.
"AHAHAHAHA!" A wild and fearless laugh that echoed across the battlefield.
He knew his life might come to an end.
He knew he would not survive the next few minutes.
But if he could buy the city even a heartbeat more… then death was a price he would gladly pay.
And so Halric charged, meeting the tide alone laughing in the face of death as the swarm descended upon him.