Just as the distance between us shrunk and we were only six feet apart, the widow maker lunged towards me with its jaw wide open, revealing rows of sharklike teeth. And just like that, I found my opening.

I shoved my sword deep into its mouth as we collided, but the sheer impact of the creature barreling into me sent me flying backwards. I was knocked on my back on the ground, only a few feet away from the struggling creature which now had my broad sword jutting out from its mouth. Reddish green blood poured out of the creature’s mouth as the monster swung its head from side to side, trying to force the steel out of its throat. I sighted my bow in the grass where I had tossed it, and utilized the brief moment of distraction to get up and go grab it. by the time I had picked it up and nocked in an arrow, the creature still hadn’t stop struggling with the sword in its mouth. Then I smiled to myself as taking it down was going to be much simpler now.

***

Meanwhile, Lumia was focused on doing her part.

She had continued riding the horse forward as Hunter had instructed, moving ahead for an additional two and a half yards before she made a turn and began to circle round the field. She checked and there were no widow makers chasing after her. She completed the turn and began riding down the far side of the farm lands, making her way towards the barns ahead of her where she hoped the injured people inside were still alive.

From the corner of her vision, she saw Hunter running towards one of the six legged beasts which was also running towards him. He had a sword and a quiver full of arrows on his back but that was it. unlike most of the knights and volunteers from town, Hunter wasn’t wearing any armor. He had on a brown coat jacket and a pair of very strange looking trousers and boots. She had no doubt his lack of any sort of armor or protection contributed greatly to the injuries he suffered in the time he spent in the slayer’s forest shortly before coming to town. Although she was starting to worry for his safety, she could only pray that he came out of the fighting alive. She had to stay focused. She had her own part to play.

Approaching the back of one of the barns, she slowed the horse to a trot before eventually stopping by a tree and climbing down. Securing the horse to the tree, she then hurriedly made her way to the back of the first barn and repeatedly slapped her hands against the door while she called for the people inside to open up. While she waited, she could hear the chaotic nature of the battle field, of soldiers screaming, and of the guttural growls of the Sigumanju as they attacked the soldiers. The whole thing made her heart to thump in her chest and she really wished Hunter was okay. Finally, the wooden back door of the barn was unlocked and a scared mother holding her baby opened the door for her to enter.

There were so many people. All of them scared, all of them hiding. There was life stalk inside as well. cows, goats, a few horses, chickens. She immediately began to ask around for the injured, as many of them already knew she was a healer. Then she saw a man who was bleeding from the side of the head, and she immediately rushed over to help him.

The man was seated on the ground by the front doors of the barn. He rested his back against the wall and was breathing heavily. Lumia came to a squatting position in front of him and began to apply her magic to the side of his head. Outside, the battle raged on and didn’t seem to be coming to a stop. Through the gaps in the wooden planks that formed the doors, Lumia could see Hunter shooting a barrage of arrows at a widow maker which had a sword sticking out of its mouth. The creature seemed to have lost a lot of blood and hunter was now trying to finish it off. “Be careful.” she whispered. Then she returned her attention over to the man she was healing. He was unconscious, but he was now stable and had stopped bleeding out. she got to her feet and went to head out the back doors. And after glancing around the room and confirming no one else was hurt, she pushed open the doors and stepped out, telling the people to lock the doors behind her before running in the direction of the next barn.

Stolen novel; please report.

***

I had two arrows left in my quiver but I wasn’t a least bit worried. The creature I had been fighting still tried to attack me even with my sword firmly lodged in its throat, so I proceeded to nearly empty my supply by shooting a steady stream of arrows at its face. Most of my shots found home in the side of its neck, but some of them ended up in its eyes. The thing had lost a lot of blood and was gradually slowing down as a result, making it rather easy to dodge its attacks while I pressed on with my assault. Now that it was almost down for the kill, I needed to finish it off and go help the others.

From where I stood, I could see that the vanguard had taken down one of the three widow makers they had been fighting. There were dozens of spears sticking out of the thing’s body and it was now lying on its side lifeless. The thing had also taken a bunch of arrows to the face from an archer in the company, and it was probably trying to run away when one of the knights jabbed his spear into the side of its neck. But even after suffering significant casualties just to kill one of the creatures, there were still two other widow makers they had to deal with.

I turned my attention back over to the downed widow maker in front of me and began to walk forward. The thing couldn’t even stand anymore. It was rapidly bleeding out on the ground and I needed to get my sword. I reached for an arrow from my quiver and held it in my hand. “Careful.” Rachel said in my head, but I already was cautious.

I reached over to where it lay on the ground then shoved the arrow I held repeatedly into its remaining eyes. then I dropped my bow and pulled out the sword from its mouth causing a wave of blood to gush out from its throat.

It was dead. I didn’t even need to do anything else. But when I lifted my head up to observe how the rest of the vanguard were performing, I almost lost my balance and dropped my sword.

They were dead.

All of them.

Out of the 20 soldiers that had responded to come help the farmers, only three people remained. A monster hunter who was a woman, a knight from the temple, and an ordinary civilian who just wanted to help. The rest of the field was littered with the bodies of dead horses and people, too many to count. The remaining two widow makers however, were now slowly closing in for the kill.

The woman tried to stand her ground as one of the creatures approached her. She rushed forward to attack, and was skewered through the face an instant later by the creature’s massive stinger.

The temple knight tried crawling away from the widow maker slowly following him, but the creature suddenly sprung forward pinning him in place, before lifting its massive front legs and utilizing them to simply beat the man into the ground.

I suddenly found myself unable to move or think. I just stood there. Watching the horror as it transpired in front of me. there was nothing I could do. There was no way I could take on both monsters at the same time when a single one was already a handful.

To ad to the hopelessness of the situation, there were still people hiding in the barns. Men, women, children who had been counting on us to take them back home to their families.

We had failed them.

I didn’t know if back up were on their way yet, and if they were, there weren’t close.

I guess this is game over then. I thought, dropping my sword and picking up my bow instead. I took the last arrow from my quiver and nocked it. I aimed it at the two remaining widow makers who had turned their attention over to the civilian volunteer who was laying on the ground, too injured to even move. Then I released the string and watch as the arrow zipped forward and struck one of the creatures in its leg.

I wasn’t even trying to kill the thing. I was trying to get their attention.

And it worked.

They both turned around simultaneously and saw me standing there. I didn’t have a secret plan; I didn’t possess a secret technique I was waiting to unleash at the very last moment.

I just wanted to buy as much time as I could for the Cavalry to arrive.

That is, if they were even coming.