The undead inched their way through the grass, and the mage watched like an executioner who enjoyed his job—eager to witness the last moment, to hear the final screams, to imagine the pain as the heads rolled. He must’ve had many morbid wishes, but Reinfried and I promised that none of them would come true.

“Lance, create an opening. I’ve got your back.”

The light of Reinfried’s sword, Silverthorne, was getting brighter.

“You can count on me,” I said. “Just tell me when to attack.”

I watched the undead as they dragged themselves closer. They were evil and menacing in appearance, but I knew that they only wanted to leave this boisterous world and return to the silence of death. It was an unforgivable crime to reanimate bodies in such a way, and it was a human duty to right this wrong.

“Now!” Reinfried gave the signal, and I ran into the crowd.

I slashed through a zombie’s chest and kicked another before it could grab my leg. My sword danced in the air. I anticipated the attacks, leaped out of the zombies’ reach, and struck with rapid blows. I was digging the tunnel out of this predicament, slowly creating a path toward the mage.

Reinfried, meanwhile, protected my back and waited for the chance to lunge at the puppeteer. With consecutive battle cries, he swung Silverthorne and unleashed its powers. The sword shone like a shooting star. It defeated the undead with its consecrated blade and left piles of ash to be carried away by the wind. Nevertheless, Reinfried seemed to be in pain. It was not his left arm’s injury that made him suffer; it was the sight of the faces that he slashed with Silverthorne.

I can’t imagine how you’re feeling, Reinfried, but you must stay strong.

I kicked aside another undead and finally opened a path to the mage. We leaped forward and passed through the small opening, avoiding the gray arms that reached for our necks. What awaited us, however, was another surprise.

“Duck!” Reinfried said. “To the ground!”

The warning came in time, and I dropped on my stomach. Fireballs flew above my head, hit some of the undead behind me, and reduced them to ashes. I looked up and saw five more fireballs floating around the mage. He was able to use both fire and reanimation magic, and this combination meant trouble.

“Move!” Reinfried said. “We have to split up. Aim for the mage!”

Reinfried disappeared into the chaotic scene. I couldn’t see where he went because I had to focus on my own survival. The undead reached for me, and fireballs flew across the sky and exploded near my feet. I avoided the gray hands, jumped over the flames as if in a circus act, and raced on the scorched grass. My goal was near: I could see the mage’s black robes fluttering in the wind.

“No! No!” the mage shouted and threw his grimoire at me. “Stay away!”

“It’s too late to beg for mercy.” With another step, I was right in front of him.

“I warned you.” He suddenly grinned.

A trap?

I looked at the ground and realized why he was so cheerful. Lights were shining under his feet. He hadn’t been idle while the zombies attacked us; he had drawn a destructive rune on the ground. With a predetermined word, he could activate it and cause an explosion.

“Ekrageite,” the mage said. “I can’t win, but I’ll take you down with me. For Lord Belphegor’s glory!”

I had fallen for his trick, and I was now caught up in a kamikaze attack. The rune’s ancient characters released a blinding light. A deafening sound rocked my ears, and only darkness followed.

I hadn’t had time to react. The explosion had occurred as planned, and hot smoke rose toward the sky, so the mage and I must have died together. But why was I still breathing? Why did I feel the ground beneath me and a heavy weight over my body?

I opened my eyes and found myself lying flat with Reinfried on top of me. He had noticed the rune, leaped forward at a decisive moment, and carried me away from the center of the explosion. His heavy armor had shielded us from the brunt of the blast.

“It’s over,” I said with relief. “That lunatic blew himself up.”

The undead were turning into ashes, and nothing was left of the mage’s body. Even the fragments of his black robes were burning away. As the sun began to rise, I could finally declare that we had survived the endless night.

Reinfried stood up and said, “We’re heading back to the town.”

“You saved my life again,” I smiled.

But he didn’t smile back. He limped a few steps, bent over, and picked up the mage’s grimoire. It was the only thing that had survived the explosion.

“We need to show this to Lord Faust,” he said. “We need to find out who this mage was, what he was doing, and whether he has any friends. I won’t rest until the vermin are dead.”

***

The walk back to Ashenbrook was long. Reinfried and I were afraid that more enemies would appear, so we proceeded with caution and followed a circuitous route. What slowed us down even further were Reinfried’s injuries, which proved to be more severe than mine. His legs wobbled under him like those of a newborn calf. He took off his damaged armor and threw it away, since it was only a burden, but even after he did, he had to lean on me to take a forward step.

When we arrived at the town, the streets were lifeless and empty. Our first stop was the local barracks. Reinfried had gone to fight the giant Aberration with only half of the town guards; the other half had gone to investigate the midnight lights, and we thought that they would’ve returned by now. But that didn’t turn out to be the case: the barracks were as desolate as the dunes of the Groji Desert, the driest region on the planet.

“Take me to the castle,” Reinfried said, “I need to know what happened to the rest of my men.”

“You’re joking, right? We will stop by the inn first and treat your injuries.”

“There’s a medic at the castle.”

“You need to rest. You can’t go up the mountain like this.”

“I won’t be able to convince you, right?” Reinfried looked askance at me.

“No.”

He sighed.

We crossed several streets in silence and arrived at the inn. I pushed the front door and immediately heard Marie’s voice: “Lance, Sir Reinfried, what happened? What’s all this blood?” She got up from the front desk and approached us with messy hair and baggy eyes. Did she wait for us all night?

“Blood? What blood? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I scratched my cheek with my finger. “Say something, Reinfried.”

“We suffered a few injuries,” he said and sat on a bench. “Cuts and bruises.”

“Stay there. I’ll be back.” Marie hurried upstairs.

As soon as she disappeared, I heard Demetrius’s voice: “My tarot cards don’t lie.” I turned around and saw him sitting in his favorite corner. Would he mock me? He had warned me that the night would be dangerous, and the past hours had proved him right. A show-off like him wouldn’t miss this chance; he would claim to be an oracle.

“Where are the rest of your men?” Demetrius asked without tact.

Reinfried remained silent.

“Leave him alone,” I said.

Demetrius stood up and walked away, spluttering, “No one listens.” He went into his room and locked the door. A noise came from inside, but neither Reinfried nor I could tell what was happening. Demetrius was another mystery that had found its way to Ashenbrook, and we didn’t have the means to solve it.

Shortly afterward, Marie and her father appeared on the staircase. Drowsy and half asleep, Gabriel carried bandages and antiseptics while his daughter pulled his arm and urged him to go faster. He almost tumbled down the stairs but managed to stay on his feet with an acrobatic move. When the two had finally made it and were about to tend to the open wounds, however, Reinfried didn’t let them.

“I can wrap bandages on my own, but I need your help with something else, Gabriel.”

“Uh? Oh. Yes… yes, how can I be of help to you, Sir Reinfried?”

“You have a wagon. Could you drive us to the Hall of the Mountain King?”

“Of course, I’ll fetch the horse.” Gabriel ran outside. After a few seconds, however, he returned and said, “Marie, I need your help.”

“Please give him a hand,” Reinfried said.

“Are you sure I should go?” she asked.

“Don’t worry; we’re fine.” I clapped Reinfried on the back, only for him to cough blood. “See, we couldn’t have been better!”

Reinfried gave me a scolding look. Then he turned to Marie and said, “We’ll be fine. I need you to help your father. It’s an emergency.”

“We’ll be back in a minute,” Marie said and hurried outside.

Now that Reinfried and I were alone, I said, “A wagon to the Hall… Didn’t I tell you to rest?”

“And I told you I can’t.” He wrapped bandages around his arm. “The midnight lights may have led my men to more mages or ghosts. I lost half of the town’s forces; I can’t lose all.”

“I understand…” I said slowly.

“But we’ve defeated the giant Aberration, so there’s no need for you to come along.”

I scoffed, “Are you joking?”

“You completed the quest. Go back to Azuria, where it’s safe.”

“The quest isn’t over until we’ve restored peace to Ashenbrook.”

“Please understand, Lance. I don’t want to see more people die. I’ve had enough of this.” Here he paused pensively before he said, “I told you before that I served Lord Faust’s daughter, Lady Serena… the girl who died in the accident…”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“I didn’t tell you the full story.” He interlaced his fingers and looked at the ground. “I was a fresh graduate who lacked skill and confidence, but Lady Serena always smiled and cheered for me. When I left on errands, she worried all night. When I received new honors, she celebrated with me. Silverthorne is a gift I got from her. She treated everyone as her equal, regardless of position or status. She even said that it was her duty to protect me as much as it was mine to protect her.

“Serena was innocent like a child. And it was enough for me to watch over her... But that arrow ended her life. That arrow devastated me. I didn’t lose a single drop of blood, but I was left with a wound that could never heal. Was I complacent? Was I inattentive? Could I have prevented the tragedy? I asked myself every night. I hated death. I hated myself.

“And Lord Faust wasn’t as forgiving as he is now. He punished me for negligence and sent me away. I left but returned years later when I was appointed to my current post. It wasn’t a coincidence, Lance. I wanted to confront the past. I wanted to earn Lord Faust’s forgiveness. And most of all, I wanted to serve the town that Serena loved.

“But look at me now, and look at what I’ve done.”

He started to cry.

“You’re too hard on yourself, Reinfried.”

“I’m not.”

“No, you are. I know how it feels to lose someone you love. I lost my parents, and I don’t even remember how or why. The world’s not fair, and whoever says it’s fair is dreaming. We lose the people we love without reasons or warnings.”

“But it was my fault. I was supposed to protect her.”

“You couldn’t have stopped the arrow.”

“But…”

“Master Azemir told me once, ‘Forgive yourself as you would another.’ If we don’t forgive ourselves, we can’t move forward.”

“I moved forward and repeated the same mistake.”

“Then forgive yourself again and try harder.” I patted him gently on the shoulder. “I don’t want to die, Reinfried. No one does. I’m choosing to help you because I want to, because you inspired me to try harder. No matter what awaits us, I won’t let you fight alone.”

He wiped his tears and began to collect himself.

Before I could say another word, Gabriel and Marie called for us from outside. Reinfried refused my help and stood up on his own. Only now did I understand the source of his strength. It stemmed from many hidden emotions, from the distant memories, from the scars of his youth.

“I’m sorry for the wait,” Gabriel said when we walked outside. “The wagon is ready, Sir Reinfried.”

We were heading up the mountains with a black grimoire in our hands.