It was like the whole world had gone silent for a terrifying moment. The wind, the flames. Silent. Only broken by the distant echoes of screams and howls. And the fear tainting the air like toxic smoke

Then more followed. Pain and panic and fear. A wave so strong Aaron felt its physical impact. His body was moving before his mind caught up. Celeste right ahead. Her sword already drawn.

Demons.

"Its coming from the Temple…" Marnie's voice was barely audible. A whisper of horror, alone in the dark.

The Squire locked his jaw. He turned to fave Marnie. The fire cast grim shadow over his face. "Stay here. No, better. Go find your grandparents. Make sure they are alright."

Aaron turned towards the door. Marnie grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Wait! Are you crazy? You are unarmed." She argued.

The Squire turned around. He saw fear in her eyes. "I'll think of something. I can't stay here and do nothing."

Marnie understood. Of course she did. They knew each other as far as long they knew themselves. Her eyes darted around the room before resting on a cabinet.

"Here. Take this." She dashed to the cabinet and took out a large meat cleaver from a drawer. "Granny brought a better one. Kill a few bastards for me."

And come back, her eyes said.

Aaron accepted the weapon. "I will."

The Squire took out the bakery. Running as fast as his legs allowed. Cutting corners and taking a few side alleys. Hidden shortcuts only those familiar with the city knew. Too slow. Still too far. Every step was a second wasted. A five minute run at most. Five minutes too much.

An acrid smell of ash and burnt flesh came in the wind.

Why today? Why now? Was it really possible demons had invaded so soon? Last thing he heard, the horde was days from Rivercross. Did something attracted them here? Wait. Of course, idiot. The Spring Festival! Its the only explanation he can think of.

Alleys opened to water. A side street hugging the river. The once happy celebration open wide to be seen across.

It was chaos. Complete pandemonium. Everything was burning. People ran for they lives as winged beasts descended from the charred sky over them. Demonic hounds, black and red like dried blood, ran among the flames. Attacking all living things. Undead husks shambling far behind armed with bow and arrows took those the hounds and imps failed to.

A fight had broke out near the bridge. Soldiers in the battlefield. A brave few groups of warriors fighting a valiant but painful battle to hold the beasts at bay. They were surrounded, over three beasts to every foot soldier. With even more approaching. Aaron saw Tina and the familiar full-plated figure of Paladin Fia had been separated from the main group. Fighting a separate part of the horde near the Temple doors.

A third group rose further behind. Dozens of goblins pillaging anything not bolted to the ground. A few of them had bows. Their crude arrows flew with the ones shot by the undead in all directions. Picking soldiers, civilians and even a few of their own in the chaos.

And corpses. So many corpses. Civilians. Soldiers. Squires, Knights and Paladins. They were unarmed. There just to enjoy the day. Now they laid fallen on the ground, lifeless.

His eyes scoped the corpses. Aaron was terrified he would see Celeste among them. But the elf was nowhere to be seen.

"No…" Aaron felt hollow. Like the world had turned to a blur. Rooted in place by the horrific scene before him. This should be a day of celebration. When did it turn into a massacre?!

"Aaron!"

The familiar voice shook the Squire out of his stupor. Celeste. Running towards him, coming from down the river.

"Aaron! Thank the gods you are safe."

"I was away…" He said. Unable to force himself to disclose more. Gods, he almost… were not for Marnie he would sure be among them. "Teacher. They are all…"

"I know." The sharpness of her voice could cut a lesser man. Barely restrained ire. Not to him, but the monsters across the bridge.

Her gauntlets closed around his arms. "Aaron. Listen to me. I know it hurts. But we cant afford to grieve right now. Now we have to fight."

The words were harsh, but true. He can't falter now. Not- not now.

"Right." He forced himself to say. Incapable to keep the terror out of his voice. Yet he ran along her. White knuckles on the grip of the cleaver.

The last of the people were still fleeing when Aaron and Celeste approached the bridge. A line of archers had kept position on their side holding off the bulk of the beasts. A demonic dog managed to avoid the rain of arrows long enough to pounce a poor man too slow to leave in time. Red stained the stone blocks. One more scream briefly joined the hellish cacophony before dying out. The beast fell to arrow moments later. It body dissolved in darkness.

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"You! Guard. Whats the situation?" Lady Celeste pulled one archer by his shoulder. The man panicked momentarily before he realized who it was.

"P-Paladin Celeste. Gods above, we though- Nevermind that. They came out of the forest all at once. The soldiers on guard fought as best as they could. The others…" The man fell silent for a heavy moment. "Please help us."

"We will. Aaron. Stay close. The rest of you, hold position for now. Don't let a single monster cross this bridge." She ordered.

"Wait. Ce- Lady Celeste? You can' go there. Its madness." The soldier questioned.

"Its our duty." She corrected. Voice freezing the air. A presence larger than the storm around them.

The sound that cut the air when Celeste unsheathed her saber was as cold and sharp as the winter winds. Aaron could feel the temperature dropping even near that hell. The blade reflected the pale light of the moon. Almost glowing in a faint baby blue.

Aaron firmed the grasp on his cleave in vain hopes to be a necessary need.

Another demonic hound appeared from the flames. It howled in defiance at the heavens. The beast ran savagely and jumped, aiming for Celeste.

The Paladin never broke her pace. A single swing of her sword cut the air, leaving behind a faint trail of white. Its head flew, separate from the body. The separate parts ell each on each side of the bridge past Aaron. The putrid corpse dissolved in dark smoke.

Other hounds felt the magic. A larger part of the pack approached. Arrows rained on them. Celeste and Aaron took off. Stepping on the other margin amidst the chaos of flood and fangs.

Aaron focused. Channeling the mana dwelling inside him once again. All the times Celeste beat that teaching in him until it became second nature. A golden glow covered the tool

The wind picked up. As if nature herself had sensed the tides changing. Celeste was a seasoned warrior and Aaron, her pupil. Even armed with only a small cleaver, he slashed a good portion of the pack in no time.

A Paladin moving like a winter storm. Her blade danced in ample arcs. Cuts and slashes flowing into one another in an uninterruptible chain. Flaunts of her wrists unleashed cold waves on the battlefield and frozen shards upon the demons. Beautiful and well executed, yet still wild and unpredictable moves. From outside, a beautiful dance. To her enemies, a deadly tango. Unconventional by all means. Even among Paladins.

Aaron was the opposite. And perhaps what people would expect from a Knight. His strikes were short, measured bursts of movement. Deliberate hack and slashes aiming for vital points with terrific precision. No flashy moves and attacks balanced by no wasted movements. Aaron knew his strengths and stuck to them. Celeste projects her mana. Aaron infuses it on himself.

The combination of both styles proved to be as lethal as the situation needed. Celeste absolutely shredded any enemy who dares stand in a ten meter radius. A walking tundra where all flames came to die. Aaron as her loyal defender. The air grew fetid with the acrid vapes of all the demon bodies dissolving.

"Help has arrived!" One of the soldiers howled in cheers. The few remaining pushed back against the horde with morale renewed. Fighting more like demons than the horde around them. The tides began to change in their favor. More soldiers and Wayfarers still in town joined the desperate front. Arrows and swords and the odd spell cut the wind.

A loud thunder ripped the air near the temple. Tina and Fia making a stand still. Fighting among a field of roses and lightning strikes. Fia's blade, crackling with electricity, tore apart a bigger hound.

Aaron dared hope they could survive. The horde felt infinite, but even the greatest armies can be reduced to its final man. The real question was which side would see that final man fall. By how things were now, none could really tell.

"Soldiers!" A man of apparently higher rank shouted from the bridge. Aaron recognized him. The captain of the local guard. He must have been away in the barracks when it all started. "Their forces are becoming sparse! The horde grows thin! Hold your ground and we shall prevail!"

Finally. The hell is ending. Just a bit longer and-

A roar. So feral and vicious the world itself held its breath. Far away, from the flames feeding on the forest. A massive shadow stepped on holy ground. Huge as an oak. Humanoid in shape. Red muscles upon muscles to the point of being disgusting. Hooved feet, long dark claws. A pair of black horns on top of a bull-like animalistic head.

"Bovan!" The captain shouted. The cacophony returned along another roar. The beast walked slowly. Ignoring the front, herding instead to the Temple.

"The sword!" Celeste shouted. He saw a flash of fear in her eyes. Aaron had no time to ask more. His teacher was already running to the Temple with an urgency he never saw on her before. A purple flash of ice and death bee-lining to a point between the Bovan and the beauty duo.

Aaron followed by instinct. Avoiding allies and foes as beast as possible. Something was wrong. More than the obvious. There was nothing special in that sword as far as he knew. That assuming Celeste was talking about the one in the Wayfarer's statue hand.

On the corner of his vision he saw Fia disappearing inside the Temple and Tina fighting her way down the small hill towards the bridge. A cloth package of some kind under one arm. Aaron changed course to meet her halfway. Near the river margin.

"Aaron! Run!" Aaron stopped. Despite the hell around them, he was genuinely taken back by the sheer fear in her eyes. Out of everyone, Squires, Knights, Paladins and all others. Tina was the one he could never imagine actually scared. "Just run!"

Run he did. Alongside her. Keeping the demons and goblins at bay with the cleave. He wished he had thought of picking one of the many swords fallen on the ground before this. If just to return to a casket later.

"Arrows!' Aaron's body acted before his mind. He parried an arrow aimed for Tina straight out of the air. Many more struck the ground around. He felt like every single goblin, demon and husk had their rotten eyes on them.

All except the Bovan. The massive beast was entangled in a fierce battle with Celeste. The demon was too slow. Celeste was basically dancing around him. Daring a few cuts and icy strikes before jumping away from its grasp. The problem was its resistance. Celeste may as well be chirping away at a solid bolder in the way her sword scrapped at its hide.

A moment of distraction, which almost proved fatal. He felt one arrow glaze his leg. Trying to parry all of them would be suicide. They were almost there. Less than twenty meters away. He just needs to escort Tina safely. Something in him was screaming this without stop. Keep Tina safe.

A flash of gray in his peripheral vision. Pain. Piercing, bone scrapping agony. A bite deep in his left shoulder where a little green bastard got him. Aaron didn't stop. Tina was still ahead and oblivious at his injury and he wanted to keep her like that.

"Keep going! Just keep-" Another bite. This one on his torso. Damped by adrenaline. Aaron swallowed the feeling of wet sand filling his lung. Keep going! Keep goin! Keep-

A roar. A huge husk broke the line of defense. Bulky as the Bovan, still somewhat human-sized. Rushing towards Tina with a rusty javelin raised over its head. Aiming for her head.

Aaron never felt the attack. His body moved on its own. He pushed Tina out of the way, towards a group of Wayfarers.

Next thing he knew, he was flying. Tina's scream was a distant echo on his ears. The last thing he saw was his home, lit aflame. His teacher in a deadly dance with a greater demon. One of his best friends reaching for him with tears in her eyes. And the javelin. Buried deep in his chest.

Then his body hit the water. And the world went black.