When they returned to the small town it was in a rush as trumpets blared into the air. Hunters were running all over the roads hefting their weapons and getting ready for something. Confusion was thick in the air and Daryl felt worry fill his chest. He pushed through it all and headed straight towards the guild. The quests could wait.

Orin was running around the guild entrance and Daryl took a quick knee cutting off the path the young man was taking towards the walls of the town. “What’s going on Orin?”

Panic was in his eyes as he looked at Cindy and Daryl. “There is a wave of monsters coming towards the town. There is something wrong with them that has driven them to madness.” He loaded his crossbow then smoothed out his clothes. “Everyone is being mobilized towards the northern wall. Scouts report that the monsters have been slaughtering everything in their path. Any beast in their way has been destroyed.”

Cindy’s face paled heavily as she looked down and listened to what was being said. “Dad, maybe we shouldn’t stick around.” Her voice was barely above a whisper and even Daryl had a hard time hearing her.

He looked over his shoulder at the young girl and shook his head, “You said we are supposed to be heroes. We can do this and help everyone at the same time. Maybe this is part of the threat we are here to stop after all. I mean, I haven’t heard anything about a demon king or overwhelming monster to fight.” Daryl didn’t notice the sheen of cold sweat on his daughter as he stood up and nodded. “Let’s get some last minute upgrades and head to the wall to help.”

Cindy clutched onto her chest as fear filled her heart. A gnawing thought at the back of her mind eating away at her resolve. What if Dad finds out?

Shoving the feelings aside, Cindy focused her mind. She was supposed to be a hero. That is why she was here after all. No matter what Mom said. Steeled and ready Daryl and Cindy ate a quick buffing meal that everyone was stopping for as the restaurant poured them out trying to make sure every hunter in the town was ready for the wave of monsters. The blacksmith was hammering away at dozens of pieces of new gear. Focused entirely on what he needed to do.

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After just a few minutes of item creation and refilling their potions Daryl and Cindy stood next to the wall to the town looking out across the plains and taking in the terrifying sight. A black haze of smoke drifted across the ground as around fifty monsters stood smashing everything in sight that was moving.

A menagerie of monsters was standing there. From stone apes, boroclops, sand serpents, and more. All of them were spiderwebbed with black smoking cracks of energy. Their eyes pools of inky darkness that swallowed all the light around them. Their breaths came in ragged bursts of smoke that added to the haze along the ground.

Three dozen hunters slung weapons over their shoulders. All the ranged warriors and mages stood upon the walls ready to sling spells, arrows, and bolts. Cindy stayed propped on her father’s shoulder and took a deep breath. Her eyes scanned everywhere for Mom. This was her doing. But why was she doing this?

An older man in resplendent metal armor and a bow as tall as himself stood upon the wall. He held a horn at his waist and as he blasted it out a wave of energy flowed from him coating every hunter ready to defend the town. Daryl noticed his stamina recovery double with a timer of three hours fill his notifications. The horn disintegrated in the space of a heartbeat.

“Men and women! We defend the town! This is not the first time we have needed to stand our ground against a flood of monsters. Though these seem different and more numerous we will stand and fight. Who fights with me!?”

A wave of cheers erupted from everyone’s throat. The very air and walls shook with the shouts of defiance and energy.

Cindy started to through out as many trap runes as possible across the wall in order to prepare for the monsters. She downed potion after potion as she laid her traps. Dozens of pit traps were thrown out as well as every item they could prepare. Daryl looked over it all and felt something settle in his gut.

Like a hundred other tournament moments Daryl felt his mind settle into a dead calm that was like staring at a flat lake of water. He counted the monsters, it took two to three hunters per monster and the group was woefully outnumbered. “Badger,” Daryl pulled her from his shoulder and set her on the wall. “I’ll keep you safe, go buck wild. Unleash everything you can and go through those potions if you need to.”

Cindy looked up at her dad with questioning eyes, “What are you going to do?”

“That wall is going to be the most important thing in this defense. I’m going to be doing everything I can in order to defend it. I’m betting stone apes are going to leap over it. All us melee types will have to be ready to intercept them.” Daryl rolled his shoulders, “We got this.”

Cindy nodded, resolving herself as she burned through her potions laying her traps. Daryl tossed a potion in his hand a half dozen times as he prepared for his only ranged attack.

The monsters stilled and looked at the town with a collective hunger that shook the souls of everyone standing there. Everyone on the wall was ready.

Cindy took a deep breath and whispered to herself, “Mom, whatever you are doing. I’ll stop you.”