›A horde of monsters has just breached the gate!‹, Velvet exclaimed.
Vern's heart started racing, and his tiredness instantly vanished. What was going on? It was just like a nightmare, but he knew he wasn't asleep anymore.
He jumped out of his bed and took his newly acquired weapon in hand.
›Velvet, what's going on exactly?‹, he asked as he hurried to the door.
›I don't know. Monsters have entered the yard, but some are already in the interior.‹
›How many?‹ Vern opened the door and peaked around the door frame.
›Don't know. Can't count them. They move so fast, and there are a lot. One is coming this way.‹
Vern sighed, glancing at his mana ring. He couldn't engage in prolonged fighting like this, and his body still hurt. Another plan was needed. The screams had all gone silent, and Vern hoped the ones on guard duty had regrouped and managed to fight them off. But as a monster appeared at the corner, these illusions of his instantly shattered like glass.
Twenty meters in front of Vern, there stood one of the wolves that had hunted them out of the forest. Its jaws were red-stained, and its massive body filled out the entirety of the corridor. After it managed the turn successfully, the wolf immediately increased its speed and pounced on Vern.
He was ready for this, but the limited space made it not only difficult for the monster. So Vern bent his knees as he closed in on it and swung his sword from above, making sure it didn't clip too much of the ceiling. The blade traveled straight through its head, splitting it in half. But the body still had its momentum and crashed into Vern, forcing him to use mana to protect his body from receiving major damage.
›There are all converging towards us now!‹, Velvet informed him and frantically jumped around through the walls.
Now Vern knew for sure that this attack wasn't a mere coincidence, not that he'd really believed that in the first place. But the timing was rather strange.
Vern couldn't think too much about it now, much less about the fact that most of his comrades were most likely already dead. He had come up with an escape plan.
›Keep me up to date on their movements‹, Vern said while he climbed over the wolf's corpse.
›Yes, best to turn left, I think. Quickly. And then turn right.‹
He followed Velvet's instruction, buffing his speed to the maximum. The way he was forced to take led him further up, an area he did not really want to end up in. As he reached a dead end atop one of the open guard towers, he stopped and looked at the yard below. The corpses there were clearly visible, even in the moonlight.
›Velvet, how does it look?‹, he asked as he tried to suppress the thoughts telling him all this was his fault.
›They've split up again … somewhat. They don't know where you are. Seems like your monster magnet is only a thing in bailiwicks … oh, no, wait … they're all coming toward us again.‹
What? How? Did they smell him or something? No, that couldn't be it. He looked up into the dark sky as a possibility came into his mind that fit everything that had happened too well.
›Velvet! Do you see anything in the sky?‹ He jumped off the tower onto the wall, trying to get into cover from above.
›No, don't go there!‹, Velvet shouted, but it was too late. A wolf smashed through the wooden door in front of Vern like it was made of paper and ran at him. Its unexpected appearance caught him off guard, so he had to tap into his mana once again to dodge and get his sword up.
›It's alright‹, Vern told Velvet as he struck the wolf and pushed it off the wall. ›Focus your attention on the sky. I can handle this.‹
As the wolf's body fell off, another one, but alive, took its place. Vern didn't hesitate and ran towards it. This was actually an excellent spot to fight from if he didn't get attacked from behind too. The wall was only wide enough to allow one wolf at a time to move at him, while Vern was relatively free to swing his sword however he wanted without having to worry about it getting stuck in a wall. He killed the four wolves in front without much effort, but unfortunately, he had to use mana each time to match their speed.
›I think … there's something in the sky … some blurred red dot maybe‹, Velvet said. ›But if so, it's really high up there. And you should get a move on. There's a large group behind you.‹
Vern's suspicions had been confirmed. The eldritch must have had tabs on him all this time. And now it also knew he had this sword which explained the timing.
›Velvet, we need to get to Marlow's chamber. Please guide me there at all costs.‹
As there wasn't any way to deal with the reconnaissance unit in the sky, he could never get away from here. He had to fight or hide until reinforcements arrived, hoping someone noticed something and informed someone. It didn't lie in Vern's hands, so he could only try to survive as long as possible.
Luckily, Marlow's room was located high up and was therefore nearby, meaning he could maybe reach it.
›No … it's no good‹, Velvet told him while Vern sneaked through the corridors. ›There are too many … I mean, they are too bunched up. You should stop for a moment and wait for them to split up again.‹
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Vern didn't question Velvet's assessment and stopped at a room with an already broken-down door. The chamber had a window leading into the yard, which he could use as an emergency escape, but Vern hoped they wouldn't check in here or smell him out. The last part was probably not happening due to the blood and limbs that littered the entire floor. He tried not to look at it, but the smell assaulted his nostrils and made his resolution waver. A single scream pierced through the silence before it abruptly stopped.
Vern's hands started shaking as his adrenaline levels declined from just standing, and images flashed through his mind, filling the darkness of his closed eyelids.
He couldn't do this. He needed to focus and forget everything else for now. There were no consequences aside from his own life or death that mattered anymore. He gripped his sword so tightly that his nails pierced his hand, but it helped him not to lose concentration.
Another scream. As suddenly as it started, it also stopped.
›We should be good to go now‹, Velvet said.
›Al … Alright.‹ Vern took a step forward and opened his eyes.
He quickly left and followed Velvet's guidance.
›Uh, that's good and bad‹, Velvet suddenly said. ›Run as fast as you can now.‹
Vern did it immediately, leaving all efforts to reduce the noise of his footsteps behind.
›There's a white presence in Marlow's room, so he's still alive in there, Velvet filled him in. ›But some red ones are approaching the spot as well, so it might not stay that way.‹
Vern didn't know if Marlow being alive actually made this easier, but at least he had the ring on him for sure. His steps echoed from the stone walls, and he reached the intact door to Marlow's chamber before the monsters.
He tried to open it, but it was locked. So Vern pushed his sword through the part of the door containing the locking mechanism. The metal creaked painfully, but the door swung open.
»What are you doing?«, Marlow snapped. He held his sword up, his hands trembling. His window was open to the courtyard, so he must have seen a lot.
»Give me your mana ring!«, Vern commanded and walked in.
»No, no!« Marlow moved backward, pointing his sword at him in a way that hid the ring on his finger from Vern's sight.
»Give it to me, or we'll both die«, Vern said, trying to convince him with as few words as possible. »I can protect us both and–«
But before he could finish, Marlow had taken advantage of Vern coming closer and circled him, heading to the vacant door frame.
»Don't!«, Vern shouted and tried to intercept him. However, Marlow left the room before Vern could do anything about it. As Vern entered the corridor, Marlow had already passed the next corner. This was bad.
He heard Marlow scream right after and saw him run back towards him, but a wolf swung his head around the corner and closed its mouth around Marlow's head and upper body. The muffled scream stopped as the wolf's fangs cut him in half. Vern watched Marlow's left forearm being severed and dropping to the ground, instantly pushing himself forward while the wolf was still distracted and stuck at the corner.
›There are behind you now too!‹, Velvet reported and Vern focused only on his surroundings and his body, shoving any thoughts far back into his mind.
The wolf spat out Marlow's body and immediately fixed his eyes on Vern as it tried to squeeze its body around the corner. But Vern couldn't stop. This was his only chance. He took out one of his shurikens with his free hand and hurled it at the wolf's head. There wasn't much force behind it, but as it hit the wolf's nose, it roared in pain and swung its front paws at the approaching Vern. Instead of swinging his sword, Vern slid below the wolf's body and grabbed Marlow's arm with his left hand, his sword only grazing the wolf's belly. The wolf howled but couldn't turn in his current position. However, as Vern turned the corner below it, the next one behind it snapped its fangs at him. He hit his sword against the wall to slow himself down. It worked well enough, giving him time to bob up and get his sword ready. He quickly initiated the attack and ran forward to avoid the hind legs of the stuck foxed that lashed out uncontrollably. With Marlow's ring, he wasn't too stingy anymore in preserving the rest of his own mana and put a lot into his strike to finish the wolf quickly. As it collapsed, Vern turned around and released the other one from its suffering. Due to the corpses blocking both ways, he had enough downtime to detach the ring from Marlow's finger and put it on himself.
As he checked it, an exhausted smile appeared on his face. Marlow had done a good job in keeping it filled up. Velvet updated him on the recent enemy movements while one of the corpses was pushed in Vern's direction. He quickly climbed over the other one to avoid getting hit and spotted more wolfs turning a corner.
Although he could now handle them easily, this wasn't a good spot for him to fight in. So instead, he ran back into Marlow's room and cut away the window bars so that he could get through. While two wolves tried to push through the door frame at once, Vern dropped himself down into the courtyard and stuck the sword into the stone at the last meters to slow his fall. It worked out quite well, and he could only appreciate how broken such a weapon really was. Having it in enemy hands would actually be terrifying.
›You got a rough idea now how many are left?‹, Vern asked as he crossed over the open area. ›Also, are more coming?‹
›I would guess around thirty inside. Some seem to patrol the outside. But the numbers haven't increased as far as I can tell.‹
This was finally some good news, but Vern's mood turned to rage as he saw somebody's familiar corpse lying close by. Even though Vern hadn't expected him to still be alive, seeing the conformation of his torn body hit him hard. Especially since it had been Vern who had sent him to the front lines. If he had stayed behind with him, things might have turned out differently.
He changed his course, engaging the closest wolf that came forth onto the courtyard, and started hacking away, hunting down everything that appeared in his sight.
Velvet warned him that he was burning through too much mana, and Vern eventually agreed, reluctantly going back inside. He took the quickest route to the dining area and arrived with just one encounter. It was a large room with thick stone walls and no windows that would funnel the wolves one by one into his sword while he had the space to maneuver. Now his head felt a bit lighter after some mindless slaughtering, and he made sure to ration the rest of his mana.
The first wolves appeared, and all of them were met by his sword. The mountains of corpses to either side continuously grew. After he had killed the first wave of wolves without them being able to do much, the rest did not rush in immediately but acted more strategically. They lashed out and moved back, trying to lure Vern into the corridor. He took the bait to get a few hit's in but always retreated when he was about to get pinched. This kind of back and forth continued for hours until the rows of living wolves had eventually all turned into corpses.
Vern heard howling in the distance. Velvet informed him that the one's guarding the perimeter retreated, and three people had entered the fort. He knew immediately who those must be, considering that there weren't many who could take on these wolves. Realizing things were over for now, Vern sat down, leaning against a spot on the wall that wasn't stained in blood. His body and mind were completely exhausted.
He stared at the mess he had made but didn't really perceive his surroundings as that required too much effort. Muffled voices eventually came closer, and there was one among them he even recognized in this state as he had heard it many times before.
Vern closed his eyes, and his body slowly fell to the side, but Irina caught him just before he hit the ground.