"What do you want from me!" Hewin bellowed and took his Voidsword that rested against the wall.

In front of him, three humans in puppet-like postures stood. One of them was an elderly man wearing a robe. With a balding head and a grey beard, he looked like some holy man and he was holding a mace. Then there was a woman with a long braid, she wore high boots, leather riding pants and she held a saber in her hands. Finally, a servant boy in a simple kitchen shirt and linen trousers was pointing a spear at him. He must have been as old as Hewin, so roughly 18 years old. But Hewin was not entirely sure if humans aged at the same speed as Lynxarians. All three of them had pitch-black eyes.

The old man stuck his tongue out and responded amused: "Kúla nudæ wu kæwawedi."

We intend to destroy your principle, Hewin understood and immediately, and almost unconsciously, replied: "Mølwød ræm hichæ lata me." The Voidsword will protect me.

Although Hewin said it, he was surprised he did so. He did not believe he could survive this.

At last, they all attacked at once. His first instinct was to run away but he had only the mill at his back, the doors locked. Then he remembered one of Falyar's advice from his childhood, Don't give away the advantage of higher ground. Hewin forced himself to stay at the top of the five steps leading to the mill's entrance and swept away the tip of the spear gnawing at him.

This continued for a while until the old man ran up the steps not paying attention to the cuts Hewin had inflicted on him and rammed Hewin down from the top. The robe of the elderly man was stained by blood but the cuts were too shallow to incapacitate him. He licked his bloodied teeth and jumped down to finish Hewin. But it seemed the woman would beat him to it as she cut down towards Hewin's head. And the spear was aiming for his belly as well. Hewin met the saber with his blade and tried to roll sideways to avoid the spear which grazed him on the side as a result. But after this maneuver, Hewin was truly lost. He was now lying on his hand awkwardly, the woman was raising the saber again, the boy was ready to impale his back, and finally, he heard the steps of the old man somewhere behind him as well.

In his last moment, Hewin heard a muffled crunch above him. Golden light illuminated the night and blinded everyone. When nothing hit Hewin, he looked up and his cat-like eyes adjusted quickly. Then he saw it. A shining blade protruded from the woman's chest, her lips covered by black liquid. Lynxbright, Hewin realized. The boy and the old man took a few steps back.

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The woman collapsed to the ground.

"On your feet, boy!" Falyar gave the order.

In the meantime, the two remaining attackers wanted to surround them. Falyar and Hewin stood back to back, fending them back. "What do I do?" Hewin shouted and tried to deflect the mace. The old man in the robe was fighting with a brutal force.

"The mace can mostly hit only in a downward direction, exploit that! Besides, you did something right when you fought in the valley!" Falyar replied and tried to keep the boy at bay. But then, the eyes of the boy leaked the blackness and his blue eyes appeared. The boy started to sob immediately and exclaimed in a panicking voice: "Where am I? What is happening, why are you attacking me?"

This gave Falyar a pause. He lowered his sword and made a step toward the boy. But when the boy blinked, his eyes were black again. He swung the spear and cut through Falyar's calf. Falyar cried out in pain.

Hewin started to turn but Falyar poked him with his elbow to stay in place

"I am fine! Focus on your target!" Falyar said, fuming.

In the corner of his eye, Hewin saw flashes of bright light behind him.

You did something right, Hewin thought when the man ferociously hit the Voidsword with the mace. The impact vibrated through Hewin's arm spreading pain through the joints. Frantically, Hewin put his hand on the blade and cut himself with the Voidsword. As before, a shadow rose up from the wound. This somehow angered the old man who began to attack with unnatural speed, almost like he was consumed by violent seizures. Hewin's blocking ability was weaker and weaker until the man broke through. Hewin felt his shoulder pop out of its socket and intense pain radiated from the joint. The Voidsword was just hanging loosely in his fingers. In an instant reflex, Hewin extended the claws on his left paw wrapped in the shadow. He ducked to the side evading the downward blow of the mace and scratched the old man across the chest. Hewin felt that the shadow wanted to pull. So Hewin let it. Upon Hewin's touch, something moved and cracked inside the old man's body. A spray of blood burst from the man's mouth followed by the familiar black liquid. He fell dead.

Finally, Hewin turned to check on Falyar. He saw the former royal guard sitting on the ground breathing heavily. Nearby, the boy lay motionless, the grass around him soaked in blood.

Falyar's calf looked terrible, the tendons warped weirdly and the slashed muscles were contracting in shock. Moreover, black veins spread out from the wound.

"Listen to me, boy," Falyar puffed: "Take my sword and cut my leg just below my knee, do it quickly, and visualize the result in your mind. Lynxbright should obey you, he will help you with it."

Hewin's eyes widened: "What..I..I don't think I can do it. My shoulder is dislocated."

"Oh my stripes! I can't do it myself either, not from this angle. Run for Shenian, she is in the basement. Hurry! I don't like the look of this black stuff on my leg, the spear might have been poisoned."

And Hewin ran as fast as he could. Tears of pain were rolling down his face, his shoulder aching with each step. I must save Falyar, I must. He saved my life and I won't let him down, I can't let him down, Hewin tried to encourage himself but the fear that he will return to a corpse again was creeping in anyways.