[Kara] Chapter 24: Nightmares (Patreon)

Soraan was just an ordinary city guard. No— he was not in the First Company. Nor was he in the Second to the Twentieth Company. He was one of about a thousand dark elves who were hired to guard the city. That was his duty. He was not a soldier.

So he was not sent to patrol the area around the outside of the city, and he especially wasn't sent to patrol the lower tunnels to hunt down monsters either. He was not sent to fight in wars between the Sanctuary Cities. And he wasn’t sent to fight off armies of humans that wanted to also destroy the Sanctuary Cities.

All he had to do was guard the city. Which seemed simple enough. And that was why he took on this job.

After all, there was not much else he could do. All he was raised to do since he was young was to be a warrior. Even if he wasn’t the best at fighting, he was competent enough at it. So when he arrived in Alyona as a refugee with nothing, he thought he would be able to provide for himself if he became a city guard, which was a relatively harmless job.

But over the past few months, his job proved to become more and more difficult. And now, as he took the night shift for the first time, he realized his mistake.

“W-what is going on…?” his partner asked, leaning over the crenellations to get a better look at what was going on in the refugee camp.

Soraan himself could hardly see what was happening. Especially through the translucent barrier shielding Alyona. Even though he could still make out most of what was going on beyond the walls during the day, at night it became a lot more difficult to see anything beyond the vague shape of people moving about.

The only reason he knew for certain that something was going on out there was because of the agonized screams and terrified shouts that were breaking out throughout the refugee camp. The various campfires that had been scattered throughout began to blink out of existence one after another.

The bells of the city tolled as Soraan squinted, and all he saw were shadowed figures moving in between the rows of tents. He saw the flashes of spells being cast, and he caught glimpses of the sparks of clashing metal. But he couldn’t make out anything beyond that, until he spotted a group of dwarves running out of the refugee camp and towards the city.

There were about a dozen of them. They all looked like veteran fighters with how they were dressed, but the fear in their faces betrayed their battle-hardened appearances. They shouted something as they waved their arms wildly towards the guards atop the battlements.

“Storms above, they want us to let them in,” Soraan realized.

“S-should open the gates?” his partner asked hesitantly.

The two of them watched as the dwarves at the back of the fleeing group were cut down by something. One of the dwarves spun around and raised a contraption— like some kind of box with a protrusion at the bottom— in the air as he shouted at his friends. The contraption glimmered, and for just a moment, Soraan thought he saw creatures made of shadows swarming over the dwarf.

But then the contraption exploded. Soraan winced as he averted his gaze. He looked towards his partner who was witnessing this massacre in sheer horror.

“Idiot,” Soraan said, shaking his head. “Even if we wanted to let them in, we can’t. Only Dark Lord Koros and High Magus Xhrkr can dispel the barrier. But if we do that, we’d be opening ourselves up to those things!”

“O-oh…” His partner shrank back in fear, before hesitating. “But shouldn’t we help them?”

The two of them glanced towards the refugee camp as the chaos seemed to continue. Soraan took in a deep breath, before looking back towards one of the towers running along the city walls. A spell circle flashed there as he nodded.

“We, ourselves, can’t do anything. But our city’s magical defenses can help.” Soraan looked towards a smaller but identical spell circle coming into existence right outside of the barrier, in the middle of the refugee camp.

There was a flicker of light, and then a pillar of stone shot into the air, sending some of the shadows flying. More and more spell circles flashed into existence around the refugee camp, each one blasted out into a different kind of elemental attack. Some were explosions of fire, while others were blasts of ice.

“This is the city’s magical defenses?” Soraan’s partner asked with round eyes.

Soraan pursed his lips, watching the towers flash with each elemental blast. “I’ve heard about it. It’s designed specifically to be able to fend off an attacking army even if Alyona’s barrier is erected. It’s powerful. But—”

He looked towards the refugee camp. He saw the magical blasts erupting throughout, targeting the swarms of shadows. However, the attacks came slowly— almost hesitantly. And that was because of the darkness.

“We can’t tell friend from foe,” he whispered and watched as another one of the running dwarves was taken out by a shadow.

There were only three of the dwarves left. They were getting close to the city gates. Their desperation drove them, even if it was a futile attempt. Two of the dwarves spun around and drew their weapons. They stood valiantly as the shadows overwhelmed them, and their screams were all that could be heard.

And only one dwarf was left.

He stumbled up to the edge of the barrier as he desperately shouted.

“The nightmares!” He pointed back towards the refugee camp, wreathed in the shadows. He panted, even as he called out in a panic. “The nightmares are here! Let us in—”

And Soraan flinched as a shadow swooped up to him and dragged him back into the darkness of the night. His dying throes echoed throughout the night, louder than even the elemental spells erupting around him.

The city guards watched as the dwarf vanished from view. And the sounds of fighting continued for a short while, but they were far more muted now. Barely even audible amidst the elemental blasts. Until finally, Soraan heard nothing.

He swept his gaze over what had once been the populated camp of refugees. It was completely wreathed in darkness. The campfires had been completely extinguished. He couldn’t make out a single figure still moving there. And evidently, neither could the guards manning the towers either, because they stopped firing their spells.

How long had it been since the fighting began?

Soraan didn’t know. If he had to guess, it had been slightly over half an hour since the first scream came from the refugee camp. There had been thousands of people out there. From dark elves to trolls to dwarves. Very few orcs. But there were still some there.

And now, they were all dead. Every single one of them had been slaughtered. Only the shadows remained.

But were the shadows even still there? Soraan himself could hardly make out their figures. He wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating the shadows moving through the darkened ruins of the refugee camp. However, if what he was seeing was real, then there had to be a sea of them waiting to attack the city.

“W-what should we do?” his partner asked, breaking the silence that had somehow fallen over the battlements, despite the chaos and the panic mere moments ago.

Soraan gulped, swallowing down the bands of fear tightening around his throat.

“We do nothing,” he said as he glanced towards his partner. “We’re safe as long as we’re behind this barrier—”

But before he could finish, he heard a screech. His eyes widened as one of the shadows shot straight towards the battlements. He recoiled as it nearly crashed straight into him. But he let out a sigh of relief as it was stopped by the magical dome protecting Alyona.

Finally, he could make out the creature’s figure. He could see it as it clawed at the translucent barrier. It was a being with no eyes, its face a massive mouth with sharp black teeth. It had no legs, only a pair of spindly arms with massive claws, and a long tail that seemed to be coated in an aura of darkness. But what stood out to Soraan the most was not any physical trait it bore, but rather what it was capable of doing.

Because it could fly.

It floated there, right at the edge of the barrier, trying to claw its way through. It made garbled sounds that indicated its hunger for destruction, even as it failed to break through.

It was a nightmare. And it wasn’t alone.

Soraan took in a deep breath, almost letting out a laugh out of sheer relief. That’s right, he told himself as the guards lining the battlements stared at the mysterious monster. Even more of its kin shot out of the darkness, swarming onto the barrier and trying to break in.

But they were all stopped at the edge of the translucent dome. They couldn’t enter the Sanctuary City.

Because the barrier is impenetrable— Soraan began to remind himself.

And his partner spoke up, raising a trembling finger. “Uh, is the barrier supposed to do that?”

“What are you talking about?” Soraan’s eyes flickered, then he looked up towards the impenetrable barrier of Alyona.

And he began to see small cracks forming where the swarm of nightmares were clawing. The realization began to settle in as the guards at the battlements backed away.

“Cursed souls— they’re… breaking through the barrier…” he whispered, tightly clutching his spear.

A nightmare’s claw tore through the cracks, before it squeezed itself into the confines of the magical dome. More and more nightmares followed it and they began to swarm towards the walls of the city.

“But how?” Soraan asked no one in particular.

And the nightmares descended onto the battlements, slaughtering the guards as their terrified screams echoed throughout the Sanctuary City.

—--

“Impossible,” Hayder said as he saw the cracks forming throughout the translucent dome.

Tiny holes began to open up, and swarms of nightmares squeezed their way through. Hundreds of them descended onto the walls of the city at once as the Captain of the First Company could only look on in shock.

He stood atop the main tower as it began to unleash the defensive spells of the city once again, trying to slow the deluge of nightmares entering the Sanctuary City. He gritted his teeth as he saw a nightmare descend upon him from above, and he drew his sword.

“I will not let you monsters take my city!” he shouted, before slashing up.

The nightmare was sliced cleanly in half as he drew back. And he watched as the remains of the creature faded away. His brows snapped together when he saw that. But a female voice called out to him, drawing his attention back up.

“Look out!”

Hayder’s gaze snapped back up, only to see a nightmare being struck down by a crossbow bolt before it could reach him. He narrowed his eyes and turned to see the Captain of the Second Company striding up to his side.

“Captain Tashia,” he greeted her.

She smirked back at him. “You shouldn’t get distracted in the middle of the battlefield, Hayder.”

“This is no time for small talk,” he said as he saw another pair of nightmares flying down at him. He leapt into the air and cut them both down before they could reach him. Landing next to the dark elf woman, he continued, “Alyona’s fate is at stake. We cannot let another Sanctuary City fall.”

“I know that. That’s why I’m here.” She rolled her eyes and fired more crossbows bolts into the air.

Hayder watched as even more nightmares fell from the sky, struck down by her attacks. Their bodies faded away before they even landed on the ground. “They aren’t strong. But they are fast, and there are too many of them.”

He turned towards one of the towers across the walls of the city. Hundreds of nightmares swarmed onto it, even as the soldiers and guards there desperately tried to fight them off. But the sheer number of nightmares won, before the spell circle shining from the tower faded, and one of the magical defenses of the city fell.

Their numerical superiority was evident. Even though hundreds of the nightmares had to have already died, they still continued ceaselessly coming through the cracks in the barrier. However, Hayder felt something was odd. He didn’t think that this would have been enough to have felled a Sanctuary City like Vera.

The nightmares were too weak. And yet, they were also strong enough to tear through a barrier that should have been able to repel an army of a million soldiers.

It didn’t make sense to Hayder. He looked down into the battlements from atop his tower as a nightmare reached a group of soldiers and swiped its claws through them with ease. They fell as if they were all struck in their vitals, despite some of them having barely been brushed by the claw.

Something was off about these nightmares. Hayder didn’t know what it was, but he wasn’t going to let his guard down. His lips twisted as he faced Tashia.

“You need to find Dark Lord Koros,” he said as he swept back towards the stairway leading back into the main tower. “Tell him that the Dreamers are attacking. And tell him that the barrier isn’t holding.”

She pursed her lips, before opening her mouth. “But I—”

It looked like she wanted to protest. Like there was something she wanted to say. However, before she could speak, the ground shook.

Both the captains blinked. They exchanged a confused glance, before they looked towards the distant horizon. Their brows snapped together as they saw the dark clouds parting. The night sky finally began to reveal itself, shining light into the swarms of nightmares that were still converging on the Sanctuary City.

“Just how many of them are there…?” Tashia asked, round-eyed.

They watched as the night sky continued to emerge from the horizon, from behind a nearby hill. But then the night sky seemed to fall down into the hill, seemingly covering it with its black expanse of stars. It was almost a confusing sight to them.

Until they realized that they weren’t staring at the night sky.

“What is that?” Hayder breathed.

The two captains watched as a massive creature began to float towards the Sanctuary City of Alyona slowly. It wore a constellation of scintillating stars on its blackened skin, and it had dozens of tendrils protruding from its bloated body like it was some kind of twisted creature that could only be found in the darkest depths of the sea.

“That’s a sleepwalker,” a voice said behind them.

They spun around to see an elf sitting on the edge of the tower, staring up at the swarms of nightmares pouring into the city.

“Caius?” Hayder frowned. “What are you doing here—”

But the elf continued, ignoring the captain’s question. “Or at least, one version of a sleepwalker. The ones I saw back in Catherine were different. They were even more massive than this.”

Hayder blinked a few times, before nodding slowly. “I… understand.”

He took in a deep breath as Caius stood up and stepped forward.

“What will you do, Caius?” Hayder asked, glancing at the elf fractionally.

“I will help out, of course. But I doubt that will really change things.” Cauis shrugged and began to loose arrows into the sky.

Nodding, the Captain of the First Company spun around and started down the stairwell. “Then I wish you good luck.”

“And what are you going to do, captain?” the elf asked as he tilted his head curiously.

“I will do what I must,” Hayder said simply.

And Tashia broke out of her stupor. She turned towards him and opened her mouth. “Hayder, you can’t be serious, right? You’re going to get yourself killed!”

“I am the Captain of the First Company,” he replied as he glanced back at her. “It is my duty to protect the Sanctuary City of Alyona with my life. It is your duty, too. So do your job too and go find Dark Lord Koros.”

“I—” Tashia opened her mouth, then gritted her teeth. She took in a deep breath and nodded as she drew back. “Alright.”

And with that, she leapt off the side of the tower, before dashing further into the city, heading for the Dark Lord’s tower in the distance. Hayder watched her go, then nodded to himself. He strode past Caius as the elf continued loosing arrows at the oncoming nightmares.

The sounds of fighting grew muffled as Hayder made his way down the steps into the main tower of the city walls. He watched as guards and soldiers rushed out of the armories, charging out into the battlements.

He ignored them all as he came to a halt before a pair of ornate double doors. Taking in a deep breath, he steeled himself, before he reached out.

And Hayder opened the doors to the vault of Alyona as the siege of the Sanctuary City continued.

—--

Kara heard the tolling bells. She heard the panicked voices erupting through the streets of the Sanctuary City. Everyone knew what was going on as soon as soon as they heard the shouts coming from the battlements. The people of the city fled into their homes, hoping that they could find safety there. A few brave souls poked their heads out to see what was going on.

And at first, it almost seemed like it was a false alarm. After all, after the city’s towers fired off some spells, nothing else happened for a long moment. But now, as the magical barrier was slowly being breached, and swarms of shadowed creatures invaded the walls, before spilling into the streets, it was clear what this was.

“The Dreamers are attacking…” Kara whispered as Angel whined next to her.

The two of them stood at the edge of upper tunnels. They watched as crowds of civilians began to flee away from the main city. Patrols of soldiers and guards rushed across the busy streets to reinforce the walls. But that was a pointless endeavor. Because the walls failed to be a chokehold to keep the nightmares back.

Kara looked up to see swarms of the shadowed creatures flying through the ceiling of the cavern, sweeping across the city with no one able to do anything to stop them except shoot some spells and arrows their way.

“Those must be the nightmares everyone keeps talking about,” she said, watching a group of nightmares descend into Sentinel Square, followed by terrified screams. “No one told me they could fly…”

No one in the city was safe. The nightmares fell from the skies, attacking civilians and soldiers alike. Some of them even began to reach the upper tunnels as Kara drew her lips into a thin line.

She turned to Angel and met his worried gaze. “We’ll be fine—”

Kara opened her mouth, trying to reassure the utlas bear. But she heard a screech coming from above. A nightmare swooped down at her, swiping its claws for her head. She leapt back and narrowly dodged its attack.

But the tip of its claws grazed her hair. And she felt her dragonsoul flicker ever-so-slightly. A familiar feeling. Almost like the Antimagic Domain, but slightly different.

“What…?” Her brows snapped together as she landed.

The nightmare swerved back around for her once again as she burst into flames. Her Dragon’s Scales and Dragon’s Claws immediately wreathed her body as she swiped up, killing the nightmare in a single strike.

“Angel,” she said, turning to the utlas bear as he rushed to her side. Even more nightmares began to descend from the sky towards her. But she reassuringly nodded at her furry companion. “Find Arjin and Dammir. Keep them both safe. Do not engage with these monsters, unless you have no other choice.”

Blinking, Angel almost seemed to hesitate as he looked up at the shadowed creatures descending upon them. But she shook her head.

“I will be fine, I promise. I will find you after this is all over.”

The nightmares reached her, and she leapt into the sky. She tore through them with ease as she landed on a nearby rooftop. She called out to Angel as he stared at her apprehensively.

“Go!”

And he listened. He took off, bounding into the upper tunnels. Even though he was a massive utlas bear, he almost seemed to vanish amongst the panicked crowds fleeing away from the city walls.

Kara took in a deep breath as she eyed the nightmares circling right below the stalactites hanging overhead. And she looked back down at the ones she killed, vanishing into nothing.

“If they touch me, they steal mana from me,” she whispered, before placing a hand on her chest. “And if I kill them, they don’t give any mana to my dragonsoul. Just what are these things?”

It was a question that had no answer. Not like she expected one anyways. Kara simply dashed forward, leaping from rooftop to rooftop as she cut down the nightmares flying overhead.

—--

As soon as the bell of the city tolled, Kurg immediately abandoned the mission he was given. Olarg had protested, saying that they should complete their goal and kill the prostitute before returning. But every other member of the group of orcs had overruled that decision. So Olarg begrudgingly followed them back.

Now, there was a gathering of all the orc clans in the middle of the upper tunnels. Elder Klogg sat at the very center, eyeing the city’s barrier from afar. The orcs all watched as chunks of the magical dome were ripped open as a deluge of shadows poured in.

“Father, what do we do?” Kurg asked as he made his way to the front of the gathering.

Klogg harrumphed, turning to face his son. “We shall wait until the barrier has fully fallen. When that happens, we shall flee from the Sanctuary City.”

Kurg hesitated as he heard those words. He wanted to protest that decision. But he knew his place. His father was the Elder of the Swordtooth Clan: the largest orc clan in Alyona. No one could challenge Klogg’s authority—

“Flee the Sanctuary City?” a voice boomed, drawing the attention of all the gathered orcs. “Are you all bloody cowards?”

Klogg frowned and faced who it was who challenged him. “Elder Golag.”

Kurg himself blinked, seeing the Elder of the Ironehide clan emerge for the first time since his son was killed. All the gathered orcs glanced between the two elders hesitantly.

“We are not cowards, Elder Golag. We simply do not want to die fighting for a city that does not care for our people,” Klogg said, meeting the other elder’s gaze. “I am sure you of all people would understand that sentiment.”

“And where shall we flee to, Elder Klogg?” Golag spat as he pointed further down the upper tunnels. “Cursed souls, there is nothing down there.”

Klogg rubbed his chin. “It will be risky, but if we descend down into the lower tunnels—”

“We will die running,” Golag cut off the Elder of the Swordtooth Clan. “And I am tired of running.”

The Elder of the Ironhide Clan strode forward and picked up a sword. He raised the weapon into the air as the nearby orcs gaped at him. He pointed at them, even as Klogg gritted his teeth.

“I shall not die a coward. And those of you are tired of this nightmare, come with me!”

Golag roared, and his clan cheered with him. He rushed forward as a few of the other clan elders exchanged glances, before rising to their feet. They followed him as the horde of orcs made their way out of the upper tunnels and into the main section of the city.

Klogg could only watch disapprovingly as they went. But Elder Golag didn’t care, his voice bellowing throughout the cavern.

“We shall face this nightmare and win!”

—--

Arjin sat up in bed as she heard the shouts coming from outside the city. She had a tired day of training, so had fallen asleep like a log, and she must have slept through the bells of Alyona tolling. Because when she looked out the window, she saw chaos washing over the streets of the Sanctuary City.

She rubbed her eyes as she tried to process what was going on.

“What…?”

But when she looked back up, she saw a shadowed creature flying straight for her. Her eyes snapped wide open as she backed away, and the monster broke through the window of the innsmith.

Arjin screamed as she scrambled for her silver dagger. But the shadowed creature moved faster than her. Its claws swiped for her head—

And the doors to her room swung open. Dammir stepped in as he threw a warhammer at the thing.

“Take this!” the dwarf shouted.

And his hammer crushed the shadowed creature easily. Arjin sat there, panting as she watched the thing vanish.

“Mr Dammir? What is happening?” she asked as she turned to the dwarf.

He wore a grim look on his face as he picked up his warhammer. “The nightmares have finally reached Alyona. We gotta get outta here before it’s too late.”

He proffered her a hand, and she accepted it. The two were just about to exit the room, when they heard a crashing sound coming from below. They tensed and faced the doorway, hearing a set of thumping footfalls draw closer.

“Another one?” Dammir cursed and raised his warhammer.

Arjin picked up her silver dagger as a bead of sweat slid down the back of her neck. The two of them waited with bated breath as whatever it was broke into the innsmith drew closer. Until finally, they saw a looming shadow reach the doorway.

A furry face poked into the room, and they readied themselves for a battle. Before they both paused.

“Angel?” Arjin blinked, seeing the two-headed bear standing there.

He whined in response and gestured at them to follow him. Arjin and Dammir exchanged a glance, before they nodded. They started after him as he led them away from the innsmith.

And Arjin looked towards the walls of the city, swarming with nightmares, before facing Angel’s back.

“But where are we going?”

She didn’t receive an answer. The three of them just continued deeper into the upper tunnels as the fighting in the distance raged on.

—--

Kara landed on top of a shop at the corner of Sentinel Square and swept her gaze over the sea of terrified faces as they tried to escape from the main city. A stampede had formed, and there were many civilians being crushed by the fleeing horde.

She wished she could do something about that— she wanted to be able to save those who had fallen. But she couldn’t. She had to turn the other cheek and focus on the nightmares flying overhead. She spotted a group of them streaking across the sky, before splitting up as they befell the panicked crowd.

Kara leapt off the rooftop and threw herself at one of the nightmares. She cut it down from the sky, but the others had spread out too far from where she landed. The nightmares began to tear through the crowd, although some of them were stopped by the soldiers scattered through Sentinel Square.

She gritted her teeth as she spotted a nearby nightmare ripping a soldier to shreds. It flew back into the air, and she was about to intercept it, but a battleaxe soared through the sky and sheared through the shadowed creature, before swerving back to the hand of a bulky man standing at the base of a building.

He pointed at her as she paused. “Ye! Come ‘ere, human!”

Kara landed next to him. He was a large dwarf wearing heavy plated armor. His battleaxe shimmered with a blue light. Some kind of enchantment that allowed him to guide the weapon through the air.

He hurled the battleaxe at another group of nightmares as he faced the young woman.

“Aren’t ye the human who betrayed yer own kin and took down that human thief?” he asked with a raised brow.

“I mean, I guess?” Kara said, not wanting to get too into the details right now. “And you are?”

“I am Warlord Dhofruid— the Destroyer of the Espos Kingdom,” the dwarf replied with a smirk. “I have slain nearly every single human I have encountered. But you will be one of the few exceptions.”

Kara pursed her lips. “Uh, thank you?”

She wondered why he had called her over for a moment, when she heard a few more screeches echoing from above. The two of them looked up to see over a hundred nightmares descending from the sky towards them.

It was a whole swarm of them. They would have been hard to kill all at once, even with a Dragon’s Breath. They readied themselves for a fight, but there was a glint from the side. Kara looked up to see a hail of needles shooting forward like a swarm of locusts.

The tiny metallic objects cut down the shadowed creatures by the dozens with each passing second. And the last of the nightmares were wiped out, just like that.

“What was that?” Kara asked with round eyes.

And as she asked that question, Dhofruid glanced towards a hulking figure as he made his way towards them. It was a minotaur. But not just any minotaur. It was—

“Zlo’tan?” Kara blinked, staring at her friend in shock.

He carried a red staff as the needles returned to him, almost accompanying him like a blanket of metal. He nodded at them.

“I know ye as well,” Dhofruid said, narrowing his eyes. “Ye are Zlokerotan the Cursed Mystic. Yer unique style of magic is talked about even throughout the Mountain Fort of Helias.”

“This one is humbled by your praise, Warlord Dhofruid. But this one has long since given up his fighting his ways.” The minotaur bowed his head in response.

“Well, ye better find them quick, because I ain’t staying here,” the dwarf harrumphed as he drew back from Sentinel Square. “Ye two can deal with the nightmares in this area. My strength is better suited to the front lines.”

His eyes flickered towards the walls of the city. Kara followed his gaze, before blinking as she saw a flash of light. There was a blast of lightning that streaked through the edge of the barrier, taking down hundreds of the nightmares at once.

“What was that?” Kara frowned. The attack had opened up a brief gap in the outpouring shadowed creatures, but even more began to descend into the city.

“High Magus Xhrkr,” Dhofruid growled, before shaking his head.

Another blast of lightning exploded into the barrier, and this time, Kara saw where it came from. A figure standing at the base of the city’s walls— one she could barely make out, but she almost thought she saw a giant spider standing there with a human body.

“Show-off. Dead scales, I will show her what real power looks like.”

Dhofruid harrumphed and started forward. He barreled his way through the crowds of people, heading straight for the city’s walls. Kara watched him go, before she turned to Zlo’tan standing next to her.

The minotaur sent out another swarm of needles to cut down a group of nightmares circling over the giant statue in the middle of Sentinel Square.

“Should we help him?” Kara asked apprehensively.

And Zlo’tan shook his head. “This one believes it is unwise to fight alongside Warlord Dhofruid. While he is brash and proud, he is correct when he says he is better suited to fighting at the front lines of a battlefield.”

“I see.” Kara nodded slowly as she stared at where the dwarf had gone, before she saw a flash of light.

A massive slash cleaved through hundreds of the nightmares at once. Dhofruid was leaping through the air as he swung up, cackling and pointing down at High Magus Xhrkr. He landed atop a section of the wall that had been overwhelmed by the shadowed creatures. They surrounded him. They charged at him from every direction. But with a single swing, he culled their numbers and cleared the battlements as the brickstone beneath him cracked.

With Warlord Dhofruid joining the fighting at the walls, it almost seemed like the oncoming nightmares would have been quelled. Their numbers slowed to a trickle, very few of them leaking into the rest of the city. The combination of the dwarf’s powerful strikes that even felled nearby buildings and the High Magus’ intense magical attacks turned the tides of battle.

At least, for a few minutes. And as Kara shredded through another nightmare, before landing next to Zlo’tan, something caught her eye from behind the breaking barrier.

She squinted and saw something massive peeking over the wall of the city. It looked like the night sky at first. But then she saw tendrils reaching out and striking for the magical dome protecting the city. The tiny cracks that had opened up from the swarms of nightmares were replaced by a giant hole that opened up more space for thousands of nightmares to enter.

And Kara could only look on in horror as a single hole opened in the false night sky, staring into the Sanctuary City with a blackened eye.

“What… is that?” Kara asked the question as a tendril whipped down into the walls of the city, knocking over one of the towers with ease.

—--

Caius watched as the sleepwalker finally reached the city. It was massive. It was larger than any building in the Sanctuary City. It had to have been the size of a small hill, perhaps nearly a thousand feet in length, including its tendrils. It had hardly even been slowed in its approach, despite the barrage of elemental spells that had been unleashed by the magical defenses of the city.

And when it reached the magical barrier, it had easily ripped straight through the barrier, opening a large hole for countless nightmares to pour in. The Captain of the Seventh Company stood along the battlements, shouting orders to stop the breach.

But he was impaled by one of the sleepwalker’s tendrils before he could even react to what was going on. The remaining soldiers standing there were swarmed and wiped out by the nightmares pouring in.

The elf closed his eyes, remembering what had happened back in Catherine. He recalled the dozens of sleepwalkers that had assailed what had once been the fifth Sanctuary City.

And he chuckled bitterly. “Good gods, it’s happening again. Just as I thought…”

He looked back up and saw a blast of lightning coming from High Magus Xhrkr strike the sleepwalker, making it flinch. But it wasn’t nearly enough to defeat the massive monster. It was all pointless.

Caius had already come to accept his fate, even if he still helped the Sanctuary City of Alyona fight back in futility against its inevitable destruction. Raising his bow, he loosed an enchanted arrow at the sleepwalker, drawing its attention.

All he did was anger the massive monster. He loosed more and more arrows its way, and in response, it swung a tendril down at him. The attack had been so fast, he couldn’t even react. He was knocked off the walls of the city as pain engulfed his body.

The world spun around him, and blood coughed out of his lips. As he was flung back towards a nearby building, he caught one last glimpse of this city that had accepted him. This city that was soon no longer going to exist.

And even though he knew the outcome, he couldn’t help but have a sliver of hope holding up within him. After all—

Dark Lord Koros had yet to join the battle

So maybe they still stood a chance… right?

And as that thought flashed in his mind, he crashed into the building, before darkness engulfed his vision.

Author's Notes:

6k words. What thonk?

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