2

Everyone anxiously awaited any word that might have come from inside for what seemed like hours. At long last, a messenger carrying a scroll appeared at the entrance to the castle. He then gave it to King Liam with the instruction that he should read it out loud. He started reading with a gloomy expression on his face. "...or so says the letter that was addressed to me and sent from the community of Cairnhill. Last night, the villagers assert that a large number of monsters broke into their homes and attacked them. It would appear that the beasts broke into their homes, stole their food, livestock, and valuables... and in the process, they killed a great number of people. Earlier in the morning, a few of the survivors claim to have looked up and seen what appeared to be strange creatures flying through the sky. They say that the creatures resemble gigantic birds with glowing red eyes. They are certain that the same thing will take place once more tonight... unless somebody is able to stop them..."

When he spoke, everyone was taken completely by surprise. Were they really thinking that?! This was really taking place, wasn't it? They had heard rumors about some dark spirits; how likely was it that these rumors were true? After all of these years, had they finally come back? Or is it possible that the fact that they picked the same date to come back was just a coincidence? They couldn't afford to waste any more time worrying about that right now. They had no choice but to arm themselves in preparation for battle!

King Liam issued the following command to his remaining subjects: "Take the rest of the men, and form a defensive perimeter around the town." "Make sure that everyone stays inside their homes and stays locked up until we arrive. Anyone who is discovered trying to get away will be shot dead on the spot."

The commander's orders were immediately carried out by each and every soldier. Zara, in the meantime, sat in complete silence by herself, waiting for them to complete getting ready. Soon after, she noticed that one of the women was coming toward her while carrying a bucket that was full of water. She did not give it a second thought before seizing hold of her arm and preventing her from passing. The woman came to a halt suddenly and glared at the other person. Zara smiled nervously. "Could I ask to use your restroom, please? Could you? "She pleaded with them while pointing towards the structure next door.

After a brief period of hesitation, the woman ultimately gave her consent. Zara was quick to offer her gratitude before rushing inside and slamming the door behind her. She made a beeline for the closest basin and drenched her face in ice-cold water before continuing. Her heart was thumping so violently in her chest that it appeared as though it might burst at any moment. This was the very first time she had ever engaged in direct conversation with a person who was not of her own species. And judging by the terrified expressions that appeared on their faces as she entered the room, it was clear that she wasn't the only one who was feeling anxious. The others must have concluded that she intended to put an end to their lives once the sun went down. To our good fortune, none of them attempted to harm her in any way. Instead, they maintained a respectful silence as she washed her hands and drank some water in front of them.

After that, she gave her forehead a quick wipe with a tissue before turning around to rejoin the others. She stopped a few steps away from the entrance and gave careful attention to what was going on there. Nothing. Nothing but silence... She heaved a sigh of relief after hearing the news. Whatever unfortunate thing had happened to those poor souls in the past, it was no longer occurring. They were not in danger. For the time being.

Then, a loud noise could be heard coming from inside the walls of the castle. The hallways were filled with the sound of screams and a sharp cracking sound that reverberated throughout. When Zara realized what was happening, she froze in fear and instinctively dove under the table, where she remained hidden. After a few moments, the door suddenly flew open, and a couple of the soldiers burst into the room, brandishing their swords in a frantic manner above their heads. They yelled out in a loud voice, "Get down!" while brandishing their weapons in a menacing manner. "Hide or die!"

Under the protective cover of the wooden surface, Zara shook uncontrollably as she hid her face from the impending threat. Before moving on to the next room, the soldiers investigated every nook and cranny of the previous one. After that, one of them straightened their posture and looked up at the ceiling. It took a lot of effort for him to get down on his knees and crawl underneath the bed, but he finally did it. The rest of his comrades quickly followed in his footsteps. The young lady remained covertly concealed under the table until they had completed their search of the entire room. At that point, she could feel a slight slowing in the rate of her heartbeat. She mustered the courage to peek out from underneath the table once she realized that they were no longer looking for her. There were a total of four of them; three humans and one wolf made up the group. Their facial expressions revealed that they, like everyone else, were petrified of whatever was hiding within the fortifications of the castle.

Instantaneously, the other soldiers who had been outside returned, this time carrying additional buckets of water. Zara sprang from her hiding place just as they were walking through the door, and she yelled angrily at them as they passed. "Wait! You are not allowed to enter that room!"

One of the men stopped for a moment and turned around to look back at the woman. After that, he brandished his sword in an erratic manner and kept moving quickly in the direction of the stairs leading upwards. "Get out of our way if you want us to live," they yelled.

"No!" Zara yelled in a panicked tone. "Don't make this mistake!"

The soldiers disregarded her pleading and continued their ascent together up the stairs. When they reached the top floor, they pushed the doors aside to reveal a pitch-black hallway that stretched on in front of them for an indefinite amount of time. Each step they took made a menacing creaking sound under their weight, which resulted in a low groaning noise that reverberated throughout the hallways. As they proceeded further inside the castle, the dim lights suddenly began to flicker on and gradually became brighter.

As they proceeded further along the corridor, the sound of their footsteps became increasingly audible and heavier. Zara maintained her silence in the hopes that they would not discover where she was hiding. But then, a man yelled to his friends who were with him. "Hey, what do you think of this?"

She peeked over the edge of the table in a very careful manner in order to see what he was talking about. There was a crack or opening in the wall just next to where she was standing. She got a better look at what was inside by moving in closer. On the inside was a bulky bundle of cloth that was wrapped very tightly around a heavy object. She strained her eyes and concentrated very hard in an attempt to figure out what it was. After some time, she became aware that what she was looking at was another human body... covered in blood.

"Whoa..."

Her words trailed off in the middle of her sentence, which made her aware of what she had just articulated out loud. She recoiled in shock and hunched over the table, pressing her back firmly against the edge of the table. Oh gods, was her thought at the time. Not again!

The soldiers abruptly turned around and began marching back down the staircase before she could even process what had just happened. They were just about to leave when one of them suddenly kicked open the door behind them, causing it to slam shut. Zara heaved a sigh of relief before diving backwards under the table in an effort to conceal herself from the others. It took her a few minutes to work up the nerve to crawl out from under the table, but once she did, she was off and running. On the other hand, when she did so, she found that the entire room had been turned into a chaotic mess. It appeared that every piece of furniture had been thrown to the ground and shattered, leaving a path of destruction across the ground below. The majority of it had been reduced to ashes, but there were parts of it that were still smoking from the heat of the flames. She walked carefully over the debris, taking care not to lose her footing and fall as she did so. Unconsciously, she shivered. It was a blessing that nobody had seen her. We can only hope that they hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary either.

After what seemed like only a few moments, the three remaining soldiers emerged from the basement with gloomy expressions on their faces. Before proceeding to the door at the other end of the hall, they performed a careful search of the area. However, just as they were getting close to it, they came to a complete and abrupt halt. One of them indicated the heap of ash that was located on the floor in the immediate area. "Here, take a look at this..."

He got down on his knees to conduct an in-depth examination of the ruins. After a quick examination, he stood up with a perplexed look on his face and rose to his feet. "What exactly is going on over here? What is it that's on fire?"

The soldier who was standing next to him made the observation, "There isn't any smoke coming out from anywhere." "Perhaps the person who lit it got tired of it halfway through?"

A different soldier jerked his head violently to the side. "Nope, that doesn't make any sense at all. I was there and I saw him turn the light on for himself."

"I have to admit, you're probably right," the first one said. "Let's not waste any time and get going. We have an urgent need to report this matter to the captain."

They gave a single nod and then dashed out of the room, leaving Zara behind in the isolated space. She let out a muffled sigh before closing her eyes. What a waste of time it was trying to get rid of them...