The sky was clouded with fire and ashes. Tolemac was nothing but a graveyard. Bodies of the unfortunate were scattered on every street, and the color of blood painted the walls and roads of Tolemac like fireworks in a night sky as the smell of rotten flesh and fresh blood sickened anyone unfortunate enough to sniff the air. And fighting inside that Hell, the brave soldiers of Tolemac.

“Holy shit !!! I DON’T WANT TO DIE !!”.

In the dead center of Tolemac, 4 soldiers were stuck behind the enemy line, hiding away inside an abandoned house. Their squad and captain had left them behind and ran for their own lives. Now, surrounding them were the cries of the innocent and the growls of the monsters.

“Those bloody bastards left us !!!” A young man whispered loudly to his fellow friends, whose eyes were as brown as the dirt and hair as red as fire.

“Shut it Oliver, the monsters might hear you. Do you want to get all of your friends killed ???!!!” the guy next to him called out.

“I’m sorry … I’m sorry, Allan, I didn’t ….”

“It’s ok, it’s ok, we understand …” but a hysterical scream vibrated in the air before Allan could finish his word.

“PLEASE HELP !!!” A weak high-pitched voice begging for help. Allan, Oliver, Kyle and Roney peaked their eyes outside the small window to see who and where it came from. And they wished they hadn’t. Just like they thought, the voice came from a helpless young girl. A very young little girl, no more than 5 years of age, bruises and cuts all over her body, blood had bathed her raggy dress, and worst of all, a 6ft tall skeleton warrior slowly walking from behind her.

“HOLY FUCK! HOLY FUCK !” Oliver cried out. If it was any other circumstances, they would have dashed out of there, no question asked. But in front of that bonny skeleton monster, their legs quivered, their arm felt as weak as an old woman, and their eyes closed shut.

“Fucking Hell why us !!!??” Allan mumbled. “This wasn’t supposed to be like this. How can we ever be prepared for this.”

“Allan, should we …” Oliver turned to Allan but seeing how he looked made the answer all so clear.

“Bloody Hell, I swear, If we manage to get through this, I’ll head straight back to our village and live the rest of my life as a farmer.”. Roney, the brown eyes, short man, talked out loud.

“I second that, Roney,” Roney's older brother, Kyle, spoke up.

“Why did we ever leave Lianyu anyway !? We were poor but safe! How could we be so dumb?!” Roney continued to cry out. In their darkest moment, all of a sudden, everything they had suffered before felt so comforting. The long and harsh farming work day by day, the poor and starving condition of their village, constantly living in fear of bandits or neighboring countries' forces attacking them. Everything did not sound that bad compared to what they were facing now. The four were brothers and friends who came from the same poor village and grew up together. And though they joined the army for different reasons, they all shared a goal in life. They did not want to be a mere poor farmer their whole life. That was one of the reasons why they all decided to leave the village together and join the army. If one served well and for a long enough time, they would be rewarded with a piece of land of their own and a handsome sum of money. And those who had managed to climb the ranks would get even a bigger pension once they retired. That was what those four were aiming for. But after three years of relentless harsh training, their small dream might end up in a nightmare.

“HELP !!!!” the little girl screamed again and again, and each time, their hearts ached. Finally, the four looked at each other once more, hoping that one would manage to stir the courage.

“Hey, don’t look at me !” Allan waved his hands. “You all know that I have a sick old mother back home that I need to take care of. If I die, who is going to send her money ?! Who is going to take care of her when she is sick ?”.

“You all know that I’m not good with the sword !! The Captain yells at me everytime he sees me practice. If I go there it would just be suicide !” Oliver shook his head.

“Not us !!!! No way !!! We didn't sign up for this !!! We are in the reserve !!! Maybe if the enemies were humans, but monsters !!!??? No fucking way !!! We are not equipped for that !!!”

“HEEEEELP” The girl screamed her lung out, possibly for the last time, as the monster picked her up with its bare-bone hands, about to rip her in half. And from inside that old abandoned house, the four could only watch in horror. Those teary eyes, too ashamed of themselves to even look at the girl's face any longer. Allan even turned his back and covered his ears, praying for this moment to be over. Soon, the other followed his lead. It all went dark and silent to them. The only sound they could hear was their rapid beating hearts and their heavy breathing. But then, the silence was shattered by the sound of drumming horse hooves.

“What !?!” Oliver was the first to see what was going on. A young man, eyes as bright as the stars, hair as black as coal, riding on a noble steed while wearing no armor of his own, charging toward the monster. The rest of his friends soon caught up and saw how the young man took down the undead creature. Just one simple but decisive cleave of his blade and the monster's head came crumbling down. It was so basic and simple that any one of them could have done it in practice. The young man stopped for a brief second to talk to the little girl.

“Run straight back. I have made a path. You’ll be safe _” But before he could finish talking to the little girl, a spear came flying straight toward him. As if he had spotted it a mile away, the young man caught it mid-air, inches from hitting the girl. Charging right toward him, two undead cavalries were running at full speed. Still, the young man showed not an ounce of fear. He gladly returned the spear to the monster by throwing it back at them. It was so powerful and precise that one of the monsters got beheaded almost instantly. The other did not have to wait long for its turn. The young man easily dodged the monster's blade by a swift turn of his head and slashed the monster in half with his counter.

“WOW ! WHO IS HE !?!?” Oliver said.

“Who cares, didn’t you hear what he said ! He had opened a path ! We are safe ! Let's run !” Allan shouted to Oliver and the rest.

“LEONA !!!” The young man shouted out loud, almost giving the four of them a heart attack.

“Leona ..?” the second Oliver heard that name, all sorts of unwanted haunting memories started rushing back. And when he stood up and saw who Leona was, all of those memories and feelings flooded his mind. The wavy hair, those innocent brown eyes, that little fragile body, getting chased by at least a dozen enemies, Oliver could not help but remember.

“Come on, Oliver, here is our chance !” Allan snuck to the door and called out. But Oliver did not reply. Instead, he sat flat on the floor with his eyes spacing out.

“Oliver !!??” The three called him.

“Do you remember … what happened … 20 years ago ?” Oliver said in an almost lifeless way.

“Oliver … you know we don’t want to talk about that …” Roney replied.

“Yeah … But I could never forget….” Oliver spaced out of the moment and relived the incident 20 years ago.

“Did you know that there was a time when I could not close my eyes without seeing her face haunting my dream.”

“I could still hear their screams, my family. The night when it all falls apart. The night when the Citnaltan laid waste to our village ....”

“I can still feel the heat of the fire … and how cold and lonely I felt at that moment.”

“They were coming for us, destroying our home, burning our crops.”

“Those men slaughter my mother and father … They were farmers, they were defenseless, yet those people showed them no mercy….”

“My sister, Leona, she carried in her arms and ran away … she was only 10 years old, and I was only 4 … so there was no chance for us to outrun them ….”

“So she hid me … under a fallen tree, in the shadow of the night … and distracted them away from me ….”

“What they did to her … inhuman … and I could only watch and cry …” tears fell uncontrollably from Oliver’s eyes. His hand was shaking, his lips trembling. “I can still remember my reflection in Leona’s dead eyes … And today, I saw it again … I saw my reflection in that young man's eyes for a brief moment. And it's the same, me crawling under safety, hiding from evil, crying my eyes out ….”

“Oliver …” Allan sat beside him and put his hand on Oliver’s shoulder, “I know … I was there too,... remember … that’s how I lost my father … he died fighting to protect my mother and me….”

“How can we ever forget Oliver …” Roney and Kyle sorrowed. “Everyone lost someone that night … our little brother … they … ”

“And then it happened again and again, Citnaltan, monsters, bandits, we always have to live in constant fear …” Oliver continued. “Do you still remember, in all of those times, what did we ask for … ?”

“For it to stop … For someone, anyone, a hero, a knight, … to come and save us …” Allan replied softly.

“But no one ever came …” Kyle said low and weakly.

“We were always on our own …” Roney added.

Their moment of silence could not escape from the harmony of screams and cries of the innocent, the roars of monsters and the sound of destruction.

“Remember when we were small, and we used to play knights. We told ourselves that one day we will be strong …” Oliver stood up. His legs were still shaking, but he managed to straighten himself.

“Oliver … Those were just games, this is the real deal !!!” Allan replied quickly.

“And I’m not a kid anymore, " Oliver spoke aloud. “Allan, Roney, Kyle, I don’t want to run and hide anymore.”

“I want to be the man that we were always praying for ! I want to be there for people that are like us, scared, lonely and defenseless ! I want to be able to look at my family in the eyes after I pass away, knowing that I have lived a life that made them proud of their sacrifice for me !” Oliver took about a small bag of silver coins and handed it to Allan. “Here …”

“What !?! What are you doing Oliver !??” Allan's eyes were filled with confusion.

“These are my savings, it's not much, but it’s all I have.” Oliver smiled faintly. “After my family passed away, your mother took me in and raised me as if I were her own, even though you were also poor. Take this and return to her, alright, Allan.”

“Oliver no, … we …” Allan tried to mutter some words

“I understand, you all have families to take care of, you can’t do this. … But I have nothing to go back to anyway …” Oliver struggled to keep a smile on his face.

“But that doesn’t mean you have to do this ! There could be so much more we can do !” Roney stepped forward and tried to change Oliver's mind.

“All my life, I have let the world decide my fate, my dear friends …” Oliver turned to the door and drew his sword out. “This time, I want to decide my own fate. This time, if I run, I want to run forward, toward the enemies, toward the cries for help, ….”

Oliver desperately tried to hold back his tears as he said his final words, “You guys were always for me through thick and thin. From when I was just a lonely skinny 4 years old orphan, or through the harsh journey to become a mere soldier, … You are my best friends … no you are the best brothers I could ever have … Thank you !”

Then Oliver left the house, leaving the other three behind speechless. As they caught a glimpse of where Oliver was heading, they saw a warrior dashing forward, steel blade in hand, charging toward where a young girl was in dire need.

As for the three, they looked at each other, then one by one, they got out of the house and ran the other way toward safety. But as they ran for their lives, their hearts started to ache more than ever before, and their eyes could not hold the tears running down their face until Allan stopped.

“What is this !? Monsters !!!???” Kyle asked. Allan said nothing. He just dug inside his pocket and threw two bags of silver for Roney and Kyle.

“Allan NO !!!” Roney shouted.

“Give it to my mother, alright,” Allan sniffled. “And tell her I … tell her … that her son died while fighting alongside his brother … to protect his home … to protect you …” With eyes red with tears, Allan raised his sword and ran back,

Only Kyle and Roney were left, the only two real blood brothers. They looked at the bag of silver, then looked at each other.

“Roney, I …” Kyle shook his head.

“Our brothers are waiting for us, Kyle !” Roney hefted his sword.

“Let’s not keep them waiting then …” And finally, Kyle raised his.

*********************

Leona was within reach, but there were just some tiny obstacles, 12 obstacles between Azar and the little human girl, to be precise. If he could just unleash his power, it would be so simple, but he cursed those eyes still observing his every move.

Leona's lung could only last for so long. She collapsed under the fatigue, and the undead creature caught her. An undead cavalry was about to skewer her with its spear … but it never got the chance. Instead, a shining blade came flying to the back of its head and completely destroyed the skull. Azar lunged toward Leona from his horse, pushing her away from the incoming attack from the other undead creatures.

“What the fuck are you doing here !!!???” Azar’s eyes filled with fury toward the little human.

“I … thought I could help …” Leona gave the sad puppy eyes and answered weakly. “LOOK OUT !!!” she screamed.

“Don’t you change the subject” Azar casually tilted his head to the side and narrowly dodged the incoming rusty sword without a scratch. Next, Azar ripped the skeleton monster's arm off and slammed it against the other one that was coming for him at the side. Then, picking up the newly dropped axe, Azar swung it straight down the head of the one-arm skeleton monster. Two down in less than 10 seconds, the little Leona could only watch in awe.

“Wow …” She unintentionally let out those words.

And Azar turned to Leona again, with eyes still filled with judgment

“I’m sorry …” Leona tilted her head down. “You’re really scary … mister ….”

“Not as scary as Sasha is going to be when she finds out what you did !!!”

“I knooowww …” The girl sighed longingly.

But when Azar tried to have a conversation with the little human, he was rudely interrupted.

“Read the room you stupid brainless peice of shit !” Azar easily swiped away the incoming spear to his face like it was nothing, then uppercut the skeleton warrior. Its head when clean off and smashed against the ground like fragile glass. Azar turned his focus back on the annoying undead creatures,

“If you had had half a brain, you would be running away …” Azar cracked his knuckles. The rest came to Azar at once, a good decision based on the circumstance. And it would have taken down anyone unless they were Azar. With one arm securing the little human child, Azar dashed and danced through all of them as if he could see the future, at least through Leona’s human eyes. But to Azar, it was just basic side-stepping away from what seemed to be the slowest series of attacks he had yet to face. None of them even came close to touching him, and even if it did, it would hurt the blunt weapons more than it would hurt him anyway. It was only because there was a human child in his arm, while also hiding his true power, that made it a little bit harder than usual. With two kicks, the first shattered the knee bone, and the second, a perfect roundhouse kick to the right temple, and Azar eliminated another creature.

“WOW,” Leona smiled. “Do it again !!!”

“Hey be quiet ! You’re not out of trouble yet !”

With Leona still cradled with his arm, Azar turned and faced the rest of his obstacles with a smirk on his face.

“Don’t have time, you freaks …” Azar whispered. The monsters kept charging at Azar, and to his frustration, the watching eyes of the annoying humans still hadn’t left him alone. And without actually tapping into his power, this would be troublesome.

And then, out of nowhere, a voice shattered the brief moment of silence. A random human just popped out of nowhere, eyes as brown as the dirt and hair as red as fire. Azar definitely hadn’t seen him before. And his skill wasn’t that admirable either. It was rough, inexperienced, almost just instinctive. A lonesome weak human dared to face a squad of skeleton warriors. Azar did not know if this human was brave or stupid.

“NOT THIS TIME !” Wildly swinging his sword, the human shouted, “NOT HER !!!”.

Azar did not understand the situation, but he could understand the gesture. For whatever reason, this lonely human was helping him. Though he did not make much of a difference, the puny human did create a good distraction, and Azar took full advantage. Azar grabbed his sword and jumped into action. One weapon and one arm, but Azar could still easily take care of 3 undead creatures in one go while keeping Leona completely safe. However, the same could not be said for humans. The monsters quickly overpowered him with an overwhelming disadvantage in numbers and the lack of necessary skill. Disarmed and injured, the human was knocked to the ground and faced death at the end of an old and rusty blade.

“At least … I didn’t run this time …” He closed his eyes and whispered his last word. Everything went silent as he took a faint breath. All he could hear was his heart and his inner voice … until a loud voice woke him up,

“OLIVER !!!! HELP !!!!”. He couldn’t believe his eyes. In front of him was his best friend, Allan, desperately holding against a 6ft tall monster. And then more familiar voices came to ear,

“We got you !!!”. Kyle and Roney rushed behind him and cleaved their blade, cutting the monster into three. Allan quickly helped Oliver up.

“You came? …” Oliver's eyes got teary while his voice filled with emotions.

“What did you think !?! We were going to leave our brother behind ??? Not a chance !” Allan replied proudly.

“It’s not over yet people !” Kyle called out to the two as more monsters were coming their way.

With a little help from the four unknown humans, Azar easily took down the remaining undead creatures. But while Azar was very much unharmed, the four did suffer some injuries. Luckily, none were serious. Looking at the eyes of the first human he saw, Azar caught a glimpse of a faint smile on his lips and a bit of tear in his eyes.

“YES !!! WE DID IT !!!” Allan shouted from the bottom of his lungs. After the battle, the white horse casually ran back to Azar, and he and Leona got on his back. However, before running back to the castle, Azar still had one question. He got next to the human with red hair and asked.

“Why did you come ? Don’t you fear death ?” Azar coldly asked the puny human.

“We all fear death, sir …” Oliver glanced at the little girl who reminded him so much of his sister. “But if it means cowardly running away and letting others die. Then I would rather choose death.”

“Brave … but your skills and postures are severely poor ….”

“Well, that’s what happens if farmers and lumberjacks decide to take up the sword,” Oliver chuckled. But their moment of joy was again cut short, the cries of other humans begging for help, and the monsters' roars echoed into their ears.

Looking at those determined eyes, Azar understood that those four wouldn’t stop. They would keep going into danger to rescue those in need. And Azar pitied them. It was a lost cause. Tolemac was falling. It was only a matter of time. And based on their potential, they could not hold up against the upcoming waves of enemies. Their fates were sealed. But they did help Azar back there, granted it was much. So Azar granted them a gift, a little bit of farewell encouragement, not that any of them would survive to tell the tale anyway.

“If you want to keep fighting, then know this. To find true strength, don’t just fight for glory or fame. Erase all of that in your mind. When you hold that sword, think of what you are protecting, your country, your family, your people. Fight for a course, Fight to preserve lives, fight for the fellow soldiers standing next to you right now !”

“I can see it in your eyes, … fear. Fear is good, you should be afraid, your life's on the line. Fear will give you the strength to do things you never imagined, and helps enhance your senses more than ever before….”

“But don’t let fear run your hearts and minds. When you’re afraid, when you feel fear, it’s just the world granting you an opportunity. A chance to be brave, a chance to overcome fear, a chance to become more than who you are !”

“If you want to keep fighting, then know this. To find true strength, don’t just fight for glory or fame. Erase all of that in your mind. When you hold that sword, think of what you are protecting, your country, your family, your people. Fight for a cause, Fight to preserve lives, fight for the fellow soldiers standing next to you right now !”

All four humans were fired up. There was no room left in their hearts at that moment for fear and doubt, only courage. Oliver turned to his friends and yelled.

“FOR AVALON !!!”. They charged forward, heading straight to the nearest voice for help.

As for Azar, he turned the other way and raced back to the castle. Dashing through the street like the wind, Azar took down the few obstacles left on his way back. Here and there, Azar saw there were more and more humans in Avalon's uniform charging forward and fighting back against the Red Mist as he got closer to the castle. But just when he thought it was over, Leona shouted.

“BEHIND YOU !” A spear cut through the air and headed straight at them. Azar just smirked, he did not know what it was like through the eyes of humans, but for him, it was still miles away. Azar turned his body back and reached forward, aiming to catch the spear. But he didn’t get to. The spear bounced off a light shield right before he could grab it. For a brief second, Azar thought that he had instinctively used his power, however,

“I told you I could help !” Azar looked down at Leona, holding her glowing hands forward. No doubt, it was her that created the shield. Leona looked so proud of herself, and as for Azar, it was just a mixture of surprise and intrigue.

“What kind of church are you people running !?!”. First Sasha, now Leona as well. The orphans in that church were just filled with surprises.

Finally, it was all over. Azar had reached his final destination, the castle. His horse was exhausted. If not for Azar’s help, it would have crumbled long ago. However, Azar received less than a welcoming atmosphere.

“HOW DARE YOU !!!” A small number of humans, whose armors were still new and shimmered, swords still clean and unused, came up to Azar and raised their voices.

Azar chuckled to himself as he helped the little human down from the horse.

“When the sky is covered with fire and smoke, when the cries of your people fill your ears, when the blood of your friends soil the ground you stand on … and all you care about … is a horse !?” the cold and deadly stare from Azar was enough to make all of the weak humans take a step back. “Well, here you are then …” Azar handed a human the horse's rein and whispered to his ears, “Pathetic !”

“YOU !! _”

Not letting the human spit out another word, Azar showed him the sword he carried. It was all dented and chipped all over. All the humans took one good look at it, a weapon that had faced battle and immediately shut up.

“I borrowed this as well …” Azar softly spoke, “ So how about get the fuck out of my way … I need to give this back to his owner ….”

Simple as that, Azar walked past all the soldiers standing in his way. They looked at them with different emotions in their eyes. Some were scared, some were angry, and some couldn't even look him in the eyes.

Needless to say, everyone on the high tower had seen what he did and what he was humanly capable of, so when Azar stepped back into the chamber, their reaction to him changed completely. Gone with the wary eyes, they all had within them a certain level of respect and fear toward Azar.

When he saw the young human, Harry Phillip, Azar threw the sword on the ground and spoke aloud.

“Thanks for the sword, kid … But be careful, it might be too heavy for you ….” The playful tone of Azar’s voice made the taste in Harry's mouth all so bitter.

Azar then casually lifted Leona onto his chair and again gave her the judgy eyes.

“Oh come … how long are you going to keep this up …” Leona sighed.

“Azar !!!” the princess quickly pulled his hand and pointed toward the front.

“Oh …” The situation was much worse than Azar imagined. Already, two/third of Tolemac’s army had fallen. And upon the wall, Geralt was left with his last 100 soldiers. The wall would fall at any moment. This was Telemac's last stand.

“Sister !!!” Leona shouted.

Sasha was in a dire situation herself. The Tolemac army under her command could only last for so long before the overwhelming Red Mist army took over. Sasha was left in the middle of it all, in the depth of the enemy on her own. Her once shiny armor was riddled with her comrade's blood and of her own, her face covered with dirt, ears ringing, legs shaking tired, and her arms could barely move. It was just monsters after monsters charging at her. And it did not matter if she had slain a hundred or a thousand of them. They just kept coming while her army reduced into stacks of dead bodies trampled under the feet of the Red Mist army. The gate was wide open; some of the Red Mist living humans had already entered and continued to lead the creature from within. And no matter how hard she tried, no matter how powerful her will was, her body could not keep up any longer.

Another undead cavalry charged at her, and Sasha’s legs couldn’t move. Its spear pierced through her steel armor and left a deep cut to the left side stomach. Sasha had fallen, and there was no one else to come to for her aid this time. A skeleton warrior stomped on her wound and held Sasha in her place.

“NO !!!” Leona shouted her lung out from the high tower.

“It’s time …” Azar thought to himself as he was about to call for the Soul Taker to give Sasha a boost and fly her out of there.

As the blade of an undead monster was about to dove down Sasha's heart, the quill on her side started to shake. But then a blinding bright light, like a shooting star, fell down on the battlefield. It was so bright and powerful that everyone stopped what they were doing, humans, undead, …, they all closed their eyes. Only two people saw what just happened, Azar, the dragon and Liam, the leader of the undead legion. And in that split second, Azar’s eyes were popping out of his head. He could not believe what he was seeing.

“What the heaven !!??” whatever was going on, it was not Azar's doing. He hadn’t activated the scythe yet.