Dawn- An age of Darkness

Massive balls of fire rained downed from the heavens outside the city wall. The rain was still here, but barely noticeable after the wave. There was a cannon-like object on top of the wall too, and it was eye-catching: it a bit too fat to be called a canon. If they were firing, then that could have meant only one thing. Those undead must be already here!

"Looks like, this is it," I said. I hated to admit it but our luck was finally over. We were surrounded by undead inside the city and the city itself was surrounded from the outside. We couldn't suppress just these undead, how were we supposed to anything about those outside? The only logical conclusion? We were screwed, there was no doubt about it.

"I hate to say this, but probably it wasn't a good thing we met," Gorgan said with a smile.

If we weren't dying, I'd have surely hit you myself. What was wrong with that guy's sense of humor? Was he high or something?

But just as fate seemed grim, people with torches, pitchforks, knives, and even swords came out. They came in crowds of hundreds- no thousands: men, women, and even the elderly. Heaven might have abandoned us but the people haven't. The smile on my face returned. They looked almost like a mob.

For once in my life, I was glad to be surrounded by people who I didn't know.

"I take back what I said before," Gorgan said. His face looked a little red and he looked away. I really couldn't believe the guy.

"It's a bit too late to say that I think," a familiar but soft voice said.

"My lady!" Gorgan jumped in excitement.

"I think your concern should be the city, but not me," she said.

"Oh my lady."

Gorgan hugged her with passion. I hadn't noticed but the princess got up. Tears welled up in Gorgan's eyes and streamed down his cheeks. The princess didn't protest. In fact, she also hugged him back.

Although under normal circumstances this would have been sweet or cute, I was amazed he could pull that off, while mermaids were going around ripping throats off.

"Ahem!" I still doubted the princess and the situation was critical so I couldn't help but cough. "Let's clear this up first."

They separated from each other turning red. I wasn't jealous okay... maybe a little.

The help from the citizens proved essential for our survival. But, they were only civilians. So, many of them fell, but now we had an edge. With an astronomical increase in numbers, we were crushing the mermaids. But the sacrifice was too great to ignore.

With countless lives lost we thinned the mermaids after a long-long struggle. Roughly half of the volunteers survived. Most of the mermaids were rotting on the floor. A good chunk of them were still alive but harmless. They'd probably be finished once the sun woke up. But won't they be revived once the sun went down again? The thoughts really didn't leave anything to be desired. This town had way too many tragedies on hand.

The metallic scent of the air made my stomach crawl but, I had to bear it. But the other side! They are fighting on top of the wall already! I'd nearly forgotten about the other side of the wall. The cannon-like thing was a good reminder that our work wasn't done yet. "Gorgan, we need to hurry to the wall."

"That is correct," the elf boy said.

For a moment I even forgot that he was there. There was a slight pain in my chest but I ignored it. Without a moment wasted we headed straight for the walls.

On my way, all I saw were cries. People lost everything: homes, family, and above all their means to live. And yet it still wasn't over.

The spiral staircase ate up my stamina as I climbed up the wall, and I was left panting in want of air at the top.

As expected, the undead were already here and banging on the steel-framed large wooden door. Some had gotten on top of the wall by stepping on themselves, making a ladder. Are they really that intelligent? Were undead intelligent, to begin with? All I knew about them that they liked to dine on human flesh and nothing more. But this wasn't the time.

"We heard the news lad. Well done. But we have our hands full as well. Sorry, we couldn't send you any backup," Jocaur said while finishing off an undead. He was in the army so I guess news traveled fast in this town.

I took a breather on top while they were still fighting.

For a moment I felt like punching Jocaur. I don't know why, but I felt like punching anything that I saw. He was worried about me and here I was acting all weird. Was I going mad?

I didn't reply but took a closer look around. There really was a cannon- or cannon-like thingy; I wasn't hallucinating. There was an old geezer with glasses close to it. So there are people like him too?

The princess had come to the top along with Gorgan and now was dishing out orders. The soldiers were surprised but they worked and followed orders with haste and obedience. She was more capable than I thought she'd be.

Most of the undead were fairly close to the city: not many got on top of the wall. So they are out of firing range? However, there were quite a few problems. The most prominent one, there were far, far too many undead. So much so, that even the entire population of the city would pale in comparison. My heart throbbed at the sight of it. It wasn't the pain of fear or anger. I felt as though my soul was being torn. What is this…?

I clutched my hand on my chest and fell on my knees. It was the pain from before that I ignored all this time.

"Are you okay?" the elf boy said, patting my back.

"Argh!"

The pain intensified. I had never felt pain like this. As if my whole body was crumbling down, while my soul was being torn apart from my living body.

"Daarc!" a familiar voice shouted.

"Lianne, you shouldn't be here," I said as I struggled. I couldn't breathe anymore. It was like someone had crushed both of my lungs and my heart.

Lianne had arrived on top of the wall. She was bleeding yet refused to leave. I couldn't believe she was still standing even after sustaining such wounds. But I was glad she finally woke up.

Just looking at her made me smirk. "You're a strange one huh?"

"I don't need to hear that from you." She sat down beside me.

But my heartache didn't stop. A glimmering light covered my chest and slowly parted from me. Sharp, intense, stabbing pain followed afterward. I passed out after hearing two sentences.

"As promised, I will now fulfill my last duty to the people. So you can rest in peace." I saw an outline of Sisrael's body.

The whole world turned too bright and before I knew it, I lost my consciousness.

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