I woke up to the sound no adventurer likes to hear. The guild bell ringing in the middle of the night.
It wasn't a common call. It was urgent. Rhythmic. Insistent.
I opened my eyes in the darkness of the room and, for a moment, didn't know where I was. The exhaustion of the past few days weighed on my body like stone. But the bell kept ringing.
I stood up before even thinking.
When I went down the stairs, Elara was already on her feet, putting her cloak over her light sleeping clothes. Liriel was tying her hair in a hurry. Vespera checked the bow on the wall, her eyes still half closed, but her hands steady.
"Village of Dorhan," Elara said. "A messenger arrived running. Attack in progress."
I didn't ask anything. I grabbed my sword. We left.
The night was moonless. Clouds covered the sky. The path to the village was made almost in the dark, guided only by distant torches and the smell that was already reaching the road.
Smoke.
When we saw Dorhan, part of the village was already burning.
Screams. Running. The sound of wood breaking.
The monsters were in the middle of the houses.
"They came in silence," Vespera murmured.
We ran down the slope.
The first demon emerged between two houses, crooked, elongated, with limbs too thin for its body. It didn't see me. I drove my sword through its chest before it could make any sound.
Night combat was different.
Vision failed. Shadows deceived. Any movement could be an enemy.
"Light," Liriel asked.
She raised her hand and small bright spheres spread through the street, illuminating parts of the village like small suspended moons.
It was enough.
Vespera began firing. Arrows cutting through the air with precision even in the faint light. Each shot found a target.
Elara raised her hands and the ground trembled. A wave of fire swept along the side of a house where three creatures were climbing the wall.
I advanced down the main street.
A group of demons surrounded a door. I heard people banging from inside.
I ran.
The first lost its head. The second was split in half. The third tried to leap at me, but I stepped on its knee before it gained momentum and drove the blade into its skull.
"You can come out," I shouted.
The door opened with an entire family trembling.
"Run to the road. Don't stop."
They obeyed.
Another scream echoed deeper in the village.
Vespera appeared at my side.
"There are more coming from the back."
We followed together.
Liriel's light no longer reached that area. We entered almost blind, guided by sound.
I heard steps too fast to be human.
I turned at the exact moment something leapt from the darkness. The blade met flesh before my eyes identified the shape.
The body fell at my feet.
The darkness forced instinct to work more than sight.
Elara appeared behind us, out of breath.
"They're spread out. It's not a concentrated horde. They're hunting house by house."
That wasn't a disorderly attack.
It was systematic.
Liriel approached, keeping the floating lights behind her.
"The barn," she said. "I heard noise coming from there."
We ran.
The barn was farther away, almost at the edge of the village. When we arrived, the door was already broken.
I went in first.
Three demons were cornering a group of people at the back of the building.
I didn't hesitate.
The space was tight. There was no room for wide movements. I used short, direct, precise cuts. The sword went through flesh as if it met no resistance.
Vespera fired over my shoulder.
When the last one fell, silence took its place.
The people were crying softly.
"It's all right," Liriel said in a calm voice. "You're safe."
We left the barn.
The village was quieter now. Fewer screams. Less movement.
But that didn't mean it was over.
I walked slowly along the main street, watching the houses still intact.
Then I heard it.
A faint scraping sound coming from the roof.
I looked up.
Two silhouettes crawled over the tiles, almost invisible against the dark sky.
I pointed.
Vespera already had her bow raised. Two shots. Two bodies slid from the roof and fell into the street.
We stood in silence, listening.
Nothing.
Gradually, villagers began to come out from where they had been hiding. Some crying. Others simply looking around in disbelief.
The fire still consumed two houses, but Elara was already walking in that direction to contain the flames.
I remained standing in the center of the street.
My heart still racing.
My body exhausted.
And my mind working too fast.
"They came without making noise," I said.
Liriel looked at me.
"They didn't want to draw attention."
I nodded.
"It wasn't to destroy the village. It was to kill as many as possible without anyone noticing."
Vespera watched the surrounding shadows, still wary.
"They're changing."
Yes.
They were.
It was no longer just about numbers.
It was about method.
I looked at the covered sky, at the heavy night that still blanketed everything.
The Fifth General wasn't just sending monsters.
He was teaching them how to hunt.
And that was far more dangerous.
When silence finally took over Dorhan, I realized my hands were still gripping the sword too tightly.
I wasn't trembling from fear.
I was trembling from exhaustion.
And the war was only just beginning.