As the highest ranking person for our division, Sir Paso had us take a ‘comfortable pace’ through the empty streets of Svenia City which had been placed under lockdown, so we could reach the encampment on the city’s boundary in good time without being exhausted.

It would have been good logic…if Sir Paso was aware that his definition of ‘comfortable’ meant ‘just barely doable’ for the rest of us. The majority of the instructors had no problem maintaining the half-sprint for the approximately one hour it took for us to reach the encampment from the academy, but most of us students were heaving and puking our guts out before we even reached the hard-packed earthen walls of the encampment.

Thankfully, I was not among that group, as I was out of breath but not to the point of collapsing on the ground in weariness. I had my foresight to thank for my improved stamina, as running laps during general combat class and starting an exercise routine had improved my endurance greatly from what it was six months ago.

“All of you should know that the reason Svenia has no walls is due to the presence of the defensive formation laid around the city. That formation is the strongest and last line of defense the city has. It’s our job to make sure those monsters don’t get the chance to test it out.” Sir Paso declared, his voice somber as we walked through the encampment.

“Do your duty. Listen to your seniors. Don’t die. And don’t give in to fear.”

With that profound final message, he exchanged a few more words with the instructors before heading off and leaving us near the first aid area, navigating the encampment’s field of tents like he was born there.

“Alright everyone, to your professors!”

I and the other second years, roughly ten or so whom I recognized as being in my healing class, circled Teacher Passen, whose eyes were closed as he stood with his hands atop a plain, unadorned wooden staff. Once he somehow discerned everyone was present, he opened his eyes, addressing us. “Most of you will be in the healer’s tents as aides. Three of you will act as guards, and two will be runners. I’ve been informed that the city guards can spare two men to act as your guards, but they may be called away if the need arises. The runners will be two third-years, and the guards will be another third-year, Desnae, and Rhaaj.”

As he spoke, he pulled the two of us to the side, apart from the other students.

“The mages have already cleared the area outside the city, so there’s nothing for you to trip over. They should be building fortifications and trenches now, so if you get separated from the others somehow, make your way back to the walls or one of the towers. If you don’t see anyone in need of rescue, come back here and help the other healers.”

“Do either of you have any questions?” He asked, looking both of us in the eyes one last time before sending us off to our posts. There was no response, the weight of the situation too heavy for words. “Then you’re to wait here for now. After the battle starts, form up behind the barrier and wait for the signal to start running. The sentries in the towers will relay the location of the wounded to one of the guards, and they’ll inform you.”

And then it was Passen’s turn to leave us, grasping our shoulders, before he spoke with the other students. Not long after, the majority of the healing students were ushered into various tents and buildings as three other students approached my position, likely the third-years.

The third-years introduced themselves to us, Enandel, Wetoile, and Javorn Dia, all of whom were well-built and athletic looking in their armor. They explained that their, and now our, jobs were relatively safe, as the wounded would either be still fighting, in which case we’d have the frontline to protect us, or staggering to the backlines anyway, so the job was almost ridiculously simple for the points they were receiving in exchange.

Points were nice and all, but I’d have to be alive to use them. I couldn’t be as cavalier as the others, despite their prior experiences.

Desnae, my partner and a noble student in my healing class, was standing just out of my line of sight behind me. I only noticed her standing there due to her high-pitched sneeze. She was looking aloof about everything, though her facade of nonchalance was betrayed by the shaking of her hands. We were never close to each other in class but I figured now was as good a time as any to bridge that gap. I wouldn’t want lives to be lost because we didn’t know how to address each other. She was fine with me calling her Des or by her last name, Wysog, but I’d stick to Des. The conversation died down as the others readied themselves or tried to calm their nerves. I was distracting myself by looking around and observing the scene before me.

From our position near the healers’ tents, I could see the land that would be the battlefield. The monsters were approaching the city from the northeast, and so that area had been smoothed and flattened until it resembled a dry and arid desert. There was a large river that meandered around the east side of the city before it continued on and eventually reached the eastern coast, but the earth mages had apparently diverted the river to the battleground, creating a thick tributary and another obstacle for the enemies to contend with.

The sky was dark and grey, storm clouds being generated at the behest of nature spells to be used as yet another weapon. Tall, tall towers were erected just outside the edge of the city’s defensive formation, archers stocking their quivers in every visible opening. In the distance, I could see Professor Rhubadesh conversing animatedly with a group of other women about…something.

Finally, I felt it.

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The ground started shaking, immediately escalating from its normal steadfast and stable nature to earth-shaking vibrations that threatened to pull down anyone caught unawares to their knees. “To your stations! To your stations! To your stations!” The order came from above, magically amplified to reach the ears of everyone it needed to. Guards, professors, and students were all running about, heading to their posts before the battle could commence. Apparently, the army wouldn’t be called in unless whoever was in charge felt that the situation required reinforcements. As we were one of the four cities closest to the capital, they would reach here extremely quickly, but I knew that in combat, every second mattered.

“You guys ready for your first rescue mission?” Enandel said to us cheerfully, his smile at odds with the gravity of the situation. “Don’t worry, we’ve done this plenty of times. Stick with us, and nothing will go wrong.”

I couldn’t help but feel that he had just doomed all of us to a terrible fate.

We took our places at the rear of the massed fighters, ready to dive into the fray as soon as we were needed. The guards at the vanguard had their shields outstretched and interlocked with their neighbours' shields, spears extended outward to meet the enemies. The academy fighters were at the rightmost flank, where the fighting would theoretically be the least concentrated. Scouts mounted on flying creatures were returning from the north, ready to provide aerial support despite their low numbers. The defensive formation shimmered, rippling in the air as it received enough power to become visible.

At first, the change was practically unnoticeable, just a tiny dot in the horizon. Then, it extended out to the right and left into a thin line, a dark spot slowly but surely lengthening outwards. Finally, the line grew closer and darker, thicker and larger than before, more compact and visible as details of its composition began to show themselves.

I couldn’t even count how many there were. All I knew was that what seemed like a manageable number of monsters had rapidly transformed into something resembling an ocean of blackness. All manner of sounds escaped from them, creating a tumultuous avalanche of noise that grated on the ears. Snarls and howling interspersed with roars and barks to create something…unholy.

There was no uniformity at all in their appearance, save for the ubiquitous black that was present in all of them. There were mutated versions of common animals and freakish-looking behemoths that looked like an amalgam of various animal parts mashed together.

Giant worms that twisted forward and spiralled as they moved, apes with six arms and shark teeth, a lizard with no eyes and seven tongues darting from its singular mouth. That was all I could see from my position at the back, and only because those were the largest ones.

Thankfully, I couldn’t see any flying monsters, though whether there were none to begin with or if they were simply lurking out of sight was a matter of contention.

The army of monsters first attacked with sound as they stopped on the opposite side of the river, unleashing an almost palpable wall of their various growls and screeches.

“HOLD FAST! STAND TALL!”

An unknown commander’s voice rose above the racket the monsters were making, attempting to inject a dose of courage into the combatants.

But there was no more time for raising morale, as the army of darkness inevitably began its approach. Some leapt across the river in a single bound, some swam through the river’s waters with no issues and emerged sopping wet on the closer shore, some were picked up and launched by the larger of their brethren, crashing on the other side without any visible injuries.

It might have been funny were it not so serious.

Their prey in sight and within reach, the monsters picked up speed, sprinting and dashing with all the celerity their limbs could provide, rushing towards the feast right before them when all of a sudden –

“NOW!”

Lightning descended from the storm clouds onto the soaked and dampened monsters, electrifying them and turning them into ashes. The white columns were like a heavenly decree that none could resist as they instantly spasmed from the initial strike before collapsing on the ground, leaving no doubt as to their condition.

The earth rose up in a wall covering the entire breadth of the battlefield as it pushed the encroaching monsters away like a broom, before swiftly falling down and pulverizing anything underneath.

A tornado formed in the middle of the horde and restrained hundreds of bodies in its grasp, as it cycled and contorted, before violently flinging them skywards and ensuring they crashed to the ground in a broken heap, gravity making sure their only remains were mangled corpses and twisted limbs.

The waters of the river twisted and churned, quickly turning into a massive vortex that eviscerated all that foolishly entered its maws.

The black blood of the fallen voranders slowly flowed out of their corpses before all of it was manipulated into separate streams that joined with others and rose into the sky, forming a large whirlpool which floated above the battlefield. In the blink of an eye, the whirlpool spun like a top, rotating faster than the eye could follow, before it deconstructed itself into countless spears and they rained death onto humanity’s oldest enemy.

With the mages’ first strikes, the area surrounding the vanguard had been scoured clean. But despite the effectiveness of the spells being flung around, they couldn’t last forever, and finally, the battle shifted to one of individuals clashing for survival.

“HOLD THE LINE! HOLD THE LINE! HOLD THE LINE!” the commander shouted vigorously, his voice a beacon of certainty in this ocean of chaos for his subordinates to cling to.

I heard the first clash before I saw it. The squelch of bodies throwing themselves onto the spears of the defenders. The thump as the front ranks shook them off their weapons onto the ground. The clinging and clanging of metal as fellows inadvertently bumped their shield into their neighbour’s side. But most of all, I could hear the excitement in the monsters’ voices, as their sounds of frustration changed to ones of unmasked glee and frenzy.

The archers in the closest towers finally began loosing arrows into the mass of enemies, their arrows guaranteed to land a hit when there were so many bodies packed together. Their rate of fire was impressive, as a full row consisting of hundreds was downed in a few seconds.

But for every enemy slain, there were more to take its place. The dark tide of monsters still stretched from here to the horizon, a black carpet that promised death. In their haste to reach the city faster, their ranks broke into chaos as they attacked each other tooth and claw for the chance to bite off the tempting meat that was waiting for them.

The carnage only escalated, as blood, water, rain, and sweat all fell onto the land and formed a muddy slurry that threatened the peoples’ balance as their feet slipped or slid unexpectedly. The monsters acted without any strategy or reason, but what they lacked in brains, they made up for with brawn. Their claws were the equal of the best forged swords, as they rent armor and tore gashes into skin. The mages had intentionally targeted the largest monsters with their spells so the guards only had to deal with the relatively smaller species. That wasn’t to say the fight was easy, only that the worst case scenario had been averted.

Finally, the call to action reached my ears, sending a twinge of fear through me as I heard the words I had been dreading.

“Healer! We need a healer!”