12 Southern Camp Skirmish

The shadow let out a growl and tore the tent apart with a single swing, revealing its physique to the person before it.

Charles trembled, he kept his shaking hand at the hilt of his blade but it's as if he couldn't find the strength to pull it as the tattered sheets of his measly home flew around him. His heart pounded like a beast desperate to break out of its cage but it unnerved him to the point that the faster it beats, the faster its sound faded in his ears. With its long biting claws, its sharp enormous jaws and the muscular physique that seemed to be chiseled by the moonlight itself in its black fur, at that moment, Charles felt that the only thing that he could do was wait to get killed.

But even so, he tried his best to move as the monster stepped forward. With a few shallow breaths lying in the middle of his deep ones, he was able to see himself pulling the hilt of his sword until he saw a bit of its edge. He made it so by disregarding the monster and beyond his field of vision but then, something caught his attention.

A wave of bright light illuminated the grass beneath his feet and when he raised his head to see where it came from, he saw a ball of light flying towards the skies until it exploded, illuminating the camp in white light as if sunrise had just arrived.

"I..." He whispered.

That wave of light didn't just show him the path towards his safety, it gave light to the monster in front of him as well. He saw its thick black fur along with its claws that looked like it was wet of fresh blood. What he had dismissed as a shadow now moves towards him with its arms wide open and with a murderous cheerful smile. His mouth began to freeze as his limbs began to harden and with a voice filled with grief leaking out of his crumpled face, he cried,

"Who the fuck used that spell-"

The noctem raised slowly raised its hand as it kept its petrifying gaze on Charles and when he was about to close his eyes, something jumped over his back and punched the noctem with his bare hands, along with a crack that sent the monster back.

"Mister Melvin..." Charles said with relief carrying his words until he got to look at his savior's side. "Your arm is broken…"

"No, it isn't."

"Yes, it is…"

"No, it isn't."

"Ye-" Charles bit his tongue as soon as he saw Melvin's arm twisting itself back in place until he was able to make a ball out of his fist.

"No, it isn't and you shouldn't be worried about it," Melvin said with his eyes watching the noctem growling at his feet. "You should head back to camp and go with the others while they're still dealing with the first wave."

"So…" Charles drew his blade and kept it close. "There's a second one?"

"Yes, coming from the west and they're heading towards that watchtower. You should head there too with the others."

"Sure, but will you be fine?" Charles glanced at him with concern.

"Don't worry about me," Melvin replied as he stepped back towards him. "And about you… I'm sorry. I should have known."

"But dude, you're topless… and you have no weapons. What are you gonna do?"

"Yes."

After that word, the noctem stood up from his ground and showed its breast over Melvin. The monster soon puffed a breath through its fangs and into his face but Melvin responded by smiling back as he clenched his fist.

"Go," Melvin shouted and as soon as Charles turned his back from them, he stepped forward and hammered his fist into the Noctem's face once more.

Charles ran straight towards the watchtower and through the grassy path drawn by broken tents and some carcasses of those monsters. He kicked the ground with all of his might, barely even taking a breath as the cold wind blasted through his face. He saw the others keeping some of those beasts at bay with their weapons while some of them were getting overwhelmed, but to this, he hardened his heart and set his eyes on that beacon of safety in the distance.

At least that was so until one of the outpost's soldiers blocked his path after throwing himself away from a noctem's attack. Charles saw the monster lunging forward to secure his kill so he took a deep breath and jumped to bury his sword into its neck.

It let out a shriek as it fell to the ground along with Charles. It struggled for its dear life by attempting to push him away but Charles was able to grab ahold of his footing. He raised his blade and grabbed it with both hands, and after a sharp breath, he shoved his sword in the middle of the monster's breast. The monster's roar even grew louder along with its movement becoming wider and more desperate but to that, Charles' answer was to raise his weapon and to stab him again and again along with a grunt that soon turned into a beast-like scream.

He lay there on top of the monster that he murdered, wide-eyed with his face colored with blood and stricken with fear. A moment filled with silence passed as he looked into his tainted trembling hands but after a minute, he slowly turned his head to the soldier at his side, and whispered, "You okay?"

"Ye-yea… help… help me!" The soldier replied, struggling as he showed him the huge gash at his side.

"Okay… okay... Sit tight… I'm gonna heal you okay?"

Charles knelt down and placed both of his hands over the man's wound, and soon, a white light began to burst forth from his palms that brought some warmth to the soldier's cold dreaded face. He forced himself to smile but his eyes looked as if he was gazing beyond the man's wounds.

"Now all done…" Charles said with a tired sigh before he raised his head to survey his surroundings.

To his surprise, he saw two noctems with one running at his front and one to his side. He gasped as his body trembled once again. It's as if it was his body telling him to run but with his new companion in mind, he looked down with a smile to which in the end, he saw nothing.

"Hey… hey… hey… what the hell…" He let his eyes wander despite the pressing threat to see where he was until he found him getting jumped on and devoured by a noctem on his way towards the tower. With his heart now feeling heavy, he clenched his fist and shouted, "You were supposed to help me you little bitch!"

He then turned his back from the other two beasts coming his way and ran as fast as he could towards the tower. There, he saw the others standing on their ground as they tried to protect the others behind them and soon, he met Roland's smile that brought a bit of security in his mind.

He thought that he finally felt a sliver of hope but then, everything turned dark when he realized that there were now three noctems chasing his back. Without the guts to turn his head back so he could see it for himself, he just pressed on with his eyes closed as he felt their presence coming in closer and closer. He felt their breaths brushing at his back, their growls running by his ears and a claw that was about to reach him, and when he felt that he's done, he saw a flash of light beyond his closed eyes and what came after were their shrieks and utter silence.

Charles stumbled and fell down to the dirt but he got on his knees as fast as he could to see what just happened. He just saw Roland holding a white flickering blade and beneath him was the bodies of three cleaved noctems as the smell of burnt meat lingered in the air.

"Did… Sir Roland?" Charles asked along with a sigh of relief as if a huge burden was suddenly taken from his shoulders. "Magic? How-di… How?"

"What?" Roland then smiled and replied, "I am a trained knight in case you forgot."