Chapter 84 — The Screams in the Dark
The night was heavy.
Still enough that even the fires seemed to whisper.
A breeze stirred through the camp, pulling at tent flaps and dying embers. The forest beyond stood silent—too silent for a living place. Blake slept lightly, as always, one hand resting near his knives.
Then the scream came.
Sharp. Short.
Cut off halfway through.
He was awake before his mind caught up, adrenaline pouring into his limbs like fire. Roger. It was Roger's voice—hoarse, older, unmistakable.
" Ashley, " he hissed, shaking her shoulder. " Wake up. "
She blinked the sleep from her eyes. " Blake? What— "
" Something's wrong. Get the others. Now. "
He was already moving, pulling on his boots, his fingers finding the familiar weight of steel. The night outside smelled of ash and iron. Shadows crawled where they shouldn't have.
The camp stirred. Figures moved behind the tents—his soldiers, his family—dragging themselves from sleep as the echo of that scream still lingered.
" Everyone up! Gear on! Group on me! " His voice tore through the night like a command from the gods.
He ran toward the source of the noise, bare-chested save for a loose tunic, knives drawn. The world narrowed to breath and motion. The rhythm of his footfalls. The metallic pulse in his veins.
Then he saw him.
Roger lay sprawled in the dirt, the moonlight pooling over his body. No struggle. No trail. The old man's throat was open in a single clean line. His sword was still sheathed.
Blake froze. His stomach dropped through the earth.
Whatever did this never gave Roger a chance to draw.
Ashley arrived behind him, breath ragged. " Blake… "
"He's gone." The words came flat. He crouched, touched two fingers to the man's neck—nothing. No warmth. " Something killed him fast. "
The others arrived in formation—seven left now. Fear flickered in their eyes, the kind that only soldiers understand.
Blake rose, blades glinting faintly. " Pack up what you can. We're leaving. Now. "
Jake frowned. " Where to? "
" Back the way we came. This isn't random. " His voice was tight. " It's them. "
The mention of the Dark Masters sucked the air from the camp. No one questioned it.
They moved quickly—trained, efficient. Within minutes, the fire was out, the tents left behind, the group pressing into the forest. The moon bled through the treetops in thin silver threads.
For a while, all they heard were their own steps and the low hum of insects.
Then the forest began to breathe.
It started as a whisper.
Then came the sound of claws against bark.
Then eyes—dozens of them—igniting in the dark like coals.
"Kobolds…" one of the younger recruits breathed.
Blake lifted a hand. " No. Look closer. "
The creatures stepped from the trees, hunched and snarling. Their scales were black and wet, veins pulsing with molten red light. Their teeth were too long, their bodies cracked with leaking shadow. They reeked of burnt mana.
Dark Kobolds.
Servants of the Dark Masters.
Behind them, the forest shifted again—something taller, cloaked, holding a crooked staff of bone. Red runes glowed along its shaft.
A sorcerer.
Blake's jaw clenched. " Formation! Tight circle! Don't let them surround us! "
The words had barely left his mouth before the kobolds screamed and surged forward.
The world exploded.
Blake moved first—he always did. His knives flared green as poison aura flooded them, the scent sharp and acrid. He met the first wave head-on, ducking under a claw and carving upward, splitting a kobold from jaw to skull. He pivoted, caught another at the throat, spun, kicked its collapsing body into a third.
Jake's lightning cracked through the night—thin bolts arcing from his blade to the trees, frying anything they touched. The air stank of ozone and burnt flesh.
Ashley's daggers shimmered like assassins in the dark. Every step she took left a dead kobald on the grass. She cut through the enemy with deadly rhythm, her movements precise, her aura pressing the air with every slash.
For a moment, it almost looked like they could hold.
But the wave didn't end.
The forest vomited more shadows.
Blake ducked under a spear, slammed his knee into a kobold's ribs, and drove both knives into its skull. He ripped them free, spun again, parried a slash with his forearm guard, and slit the creature's throat in one continuous motion. Every breath was a fight. Every motion bled efficiency.
" Keep moving! " he shouted over the chaos. " We cut our way out! "
The reply was a scream.
He turned in time to see a battle-axe cleave through one of his men—right through the chest. The young man's body folded in on itself, lifeless before it hit the ground.
Blake's mind went white. " Don't stop! Keep moving! "
They pushed deeper into the forest, slashing through anything that blocked their path. The kobolds came in waves—screaming, climbing over their own dead.
A shriek sounded to his left. Blake saw a shape disappear into the swarm, swallowed whole. He couldn't even tell who it was.
The poison in his veins burned hot. His aura thickened, leaving trails of emerald smoke as his blades cut through flesh and shadow. He was faster now, every strike a blur. But for every one that fell, two more replaced it.
Reggie and AJ tried to hold the flank. Young, eager, still green. Blake saw them fighting side by side, deflecting claws and spears—then something big hit them from behind. They vanished under a pile of bodies before he could reach them.
He heard Ashley scream their names but kept her moving. " They're gone! Keep going! "
Now they were five.
Blake. Jake. Ashley. Jess. Stephan.
The kobolds pressed tighter, the darkness closing in like a living thing.
Blake's arms were slick with blood. His poison aura hissed every time it met the pressure of Ashley's aura. They fought back-to-back now, panting, their movements perfectly synchronized—years of training paying off in instinct and desperation.
A roar split the air.
Blake turned just in time to see Jess, her sword flashing in the firelight. Then a black blade pierced through her chest—from behind. It exited clean, right through her heart.
Her mouth opened soundlessly.
Then she fell.
" JESS! " Stephan's voice cracked. He froze for half a heartbeat—then snapped.
" No! NO! "
He threw himself into the horde, roaring, cutting, tearing through kobolds like a man possessed. His strikes had no form, no reason—just fury.
" STEPHAN, WAIT! " Blake shouted—but he was gone.
Dozens of kobolds swarmed him. He didn't even scream when they brought him down.
" Stephan! " Ashley's voice trembled. " Blake— "
He didn't answer. There was nothing left to say.
Now it was three.
The last three.
The ground was black with ichor. The forest burned faintly where Jake's lightning had struck. The air was heavy, poisonous, thick with mana and smoke.
Blake's lungs felt like fire. His arms shook. His vision blurred. But he didn't stop moving.
" Blake! " Ashley shouted over the noise. " We can't hold! "
He gritted his teeth. " We don't hold—we survive! Move! "
They cut their way forward again.
Then—the chanting stopped.
The air itself seemed to freeze.
From behind the kobolds, the sorcerer stepped into view. Its red eyes gleamed. It raised its staff. Shadows coiled at the tip, spinning into a sphere of compressed night.
Blake knew what was coming, but there was no time.
The darkness exploded from the staff and struck Jake square in the back.
There was no scream.
No pain.
Just a flash of red light—and Jake was gone.
His body disintegrated into fragments, scattering like ash.
Blake froze mid-swing.
The world went quiet again.
Even the kobolds paused, as if savoring it.
" Jake… " he whispered. His voice broke on the name.
That was his brother in all but blood. They'd grown up together. Fought together. Dreamed about climbing ranks together. And now—nothing. Not even a body to bury.
Ashley's daggers trembled in her hands. " Blake— "
He didn't answer.
The kobold sorcerer laughed, its voice a sickle scraping against bone.
Blake's aura erupted.
Green fire tore through his veins. The air around him hissed. Poison mist rolled out in waves, corroding the ground where he stood. He looked up, eyes glowing like emeralds in the dark.
"You, " he said, voice low. " You die first. "
The sorcerer shrieked and launched another sphere of darkness.
Blake's knives crossed—meeting it head-on. The impact blasted a crater through the trees. Ash and wind howled.
When the smoke cleared, Blake was still standing.
Ashley's aura clung to the poison mist, turning it into glowing green crystals that hung in the air around them. She looked at him, eyes wide, breath sharp.
Neither spoke.
They didn't need to.
They knew this was the end.
The kobolds hissed, circling again. The sorcerer's laughter echoed from the trees.
Blake and Ashley turned toward each other—bloodied, exhausted, surrounded. For a single breath, their eyes met.
No words.
No promises.
Just the silent understanding of two souls preparing to die together.
Then, the forest screamed.