The square was a cauldron of chaos. Goblins howled as they poured through the splintered barricade, but Roderick and his men were a wall of flesh and iron. Shields slammed, spears thrust, swords split flesh. Blood slicked the mud until it clung to their boots like glue.
"Push them back! Do not let them through!" Roderick bellowed, his voice breaking from hours of shouting.
The commander was a mountain of motion, his shield smashing skulls, his sword hacking through arms and bellies. Around him, his men fought like men possessed, though exhaustion made their strikes sloppy and their shields heavy.
"Hold! Hold, damn you!" a guard cried, his spear jabbing through a goblin's chest. Another lunged at him, teeth bared, but Roderick's shield bashed it aside, sending it spinning broken into the mud.
They had faced nearly a hundred goblins now, a writhing tide that seemed endless. Every kill cost them strength, every second stretched their muscles and lungs to breaking.
"Gods above," one of the younger guards gasped between thrusts. "How many more..."
"Count the ones still breathing," Roderick snarled, ramming his blade through a goblin's throat. "That's how many more."
The guards gritted their teeth and kept stabbing, spears sliding in and out of flesh, splattering their faces with black ichor.
Behind them, villagers screamed, but they too fought, hacking with axes, with farming scythes, with tools now baptized in blood. Every body dropped into the mud was one less nightmare to crawl toward their homes.
For long, bloody minutes, the humans held, their line bending but not breaking. One goblin lunged over the shield wall and clung to a guard's face, biting into his cheek. The man shrieked, stabbing wildly, but before he could free himself, Roderick's sword cleaved through both goblin and man's arm, saving his life at the cost of the limb.
"Fall back behind me! Keep fighting!" Roderick roared, dragging the screaming soldier behind the line and throwing himself forward to plug the gap.
Blood poured down his own armor, his arms heavy, his breath ragged. But he refused to fall.
And then he saw them.
Through the blur of battle, beyond the writhing goblin tide, his eyes caught silver.
Selvara.
She clashed in the open square with the tall goblin, the one that moved like no other. Their swords blurred in streaks of silver and shadow, their movements so fast that Roderick could hardly follow. Every clash rang out sharp and brutal, sparks spraying as steel met steel.
Their eyes met for a fleeting instant.
Hers were desperate, burning, yet steady as iron. His, bloodshot and heavy, locked on hers. No words passed. But they both understood.
---
Selvara darted in, her silver hair snapping like a whip behind her. Her blade swung low, aiming for Gib's legs, but he twisted with shocking agility, his jagged sword crashing down toward her head. She slid aside just in time, the blow carving a furrow into the mud where she'd stood.
"You're slowing," Gib sneered, his yellow eyes gleaming. "That shine in your eyes, it's fading."
Selvara spat blood onto the ground, lifting her blade again. "Keep talking, filth. The more you speak, the more time I have to kill you."
He laughed, a deep, guttural chuckle that made her skin crawl. "Kill me? You're breaking. I can see it in your shoulders. In the way your sword arm shakes. You've spilled too much blood, girl. You're at your limit."
Selvara lunged, forcing her body beyond its protests. Their blades clashed again, sparks spitting into the night. Each strike rattled her bones, he was stronger, fresher, every swing like a hammer that jarred her arms to the shoulder.
Her speed matched his, her agility letting her dart and weave, but every time she deflected, her muscles screamed, her breath came shorter. Her endurance was running thin, while Gib's savage grin only widened.
She slashed at his chest, but he twisted and slammed his fist into her ribs. Pain burst through her side and she staggered, gasping.
"You're soft inside," Gib hissed. "But I'll make you hard. After I break you."
Selvara's jaw clenched, rage flaring through the haze of exhaustion. She struck again, fast as lightning, her blade slashing across his shoulder. Black blood sprayed, and Gib snarled.
"Good," he hissed, licking his teeth. "Yes. Hurt me. Make me feel alive!"
He surged forward, a blur of muscle and violence. His blade crashed down, and Selvara barely raised hers in time. The impact rattled her to the marrow, forcing her to her knees. Gib loomed over her, strength pressing down, eyes gleaming with hunger.
Her arms shook violently, the weight of his blow threatening to snap her wrists.
"Die on your knees," he growled. "Or live there forever."
Selvara's eyes darted past him, toward Roderick.
She saw him, carving his way toward her. Shield smashing, sword hacking, blood flying from his every step. His eyes locked on hers again.
Her breath caught. This was the moment.
She met Gib's gaze again, forcing a ragged grin onto her lips. "You talk too much."
"What---!"
She twisted her body, muscles screaming, wrapping herself around him like a snake. Her legs hooked behind his, her free arm coiling around his sword arm, locking him tight.
For a heartbeat, Gib froze, startled. Then rage flashed in his eyes. "You dare!"
He thrashed, his immense strength shaking her like a ragdoll, but Selvara held on, her body screaming, her lungs burning, every shred of stamina pouring into this final act.
"Roderick!" she screamed, her voice raw.
Gib snarled, twisting his head just as a shadow loomed behind him.
Roderick was there.
The commander's shield had been lost in the chaos, his armor soaked in blood, his breath ragged. But his fist was clenched, his body coiled with every ounce of strength he had left.
He roared, the sound shaking the night. And then his fist drove forward.
A direct punch, every muscle, every shred of fury and strength behind it.
His knuckles slammed into Gib's face with a crack that split the air.
The goblin's head snapped sideways. Bone shattered, muscle tore. His neck twisted full around with a grotesque crunch, the grin dying on his lips as his body convulsed.
Selvara felt the monster go limp in her grip. She let go, collapsing to the mud, gasping so hard her lungs felt like fire.
Gib's body crumpled beside her, twitching once before going still, black blood pooling beneath his skull.
Roderick staggered back, then fell to his knees, his chest heaving, blood dripping from his knuckles.
For a long, breathless moment, neither spoke. Only the distant clash of steel and the cries of dying goblins filled the night.
Then Selvara lifted her head, her silver eyes locking on him.
"You… you hit harder than any monster," she whispered between gasps.
Roderick gave a broken laugh, coughing blood. "And you… hold tighter than a damned bear trap."
They both lay there in the mud, side by side, chests rising and falling in ragged unison, as the tide of battle ended around them.
The nightmare was over.
For now.