The nearest creature lunged before Cel could fully process. Its too-long limbs unfolded mid-leap, claws extended, eyeless head tracking him with impossible accuracy despite lacking the organs for sight. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8i3H7BIezB
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutq2haX8TO
Sylvaine’s whip-sword cut the air between them - segments separating, blade flowing like water while maintaining its edge. The steel caught the creature across its torso mid-flight, opening it from shoulder to opposite hip. The body crashed past Cel in two pieces that hit the blood-slicked floor and slid.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCFkrsjJJf
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZp3mJ4wUBD
Two more came in behind it.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg9zbdbEkqZ
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ziDxqHRln
One stayed low, cutting left. The other went high, straight for Sylvaine.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8OyYWKQfNv
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvCu3Vzj0Z
Cel moved right, drawing the low creature’s attention. Silent Moon came around in a horizontal slash that lacked finesse but carried enough speed to compensate. The violet blade caught the thing across what passed for its face. The cut opened it from jaw to crown, splitting the eyeless head. But the body kept coming anyway, limbs still working despite catastrophic damage. Cel twisted, letting momentum carry him sideways. The corpse shot past, crashed into the wall hard enough to crack wood.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgAvoD9cPQ
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTErOP6CFCH
Sylvaine’s whip-sword had extended fully now. The segmented blade wrapped around the airborne creature’s limbs mid-flight, coiling like vines around prey. She pulled. The weapon’s joints locked rigid for just a moment - long enough for her to redirect the creature’s trajectory. It slammed into the floor with force that shook the room. Her blade unwound, segments snapping back into a single rigid length, then came down in a clean vertical thrust that pierced through the thing's torso and pinned it to the floorboards. It thrashed once. Then went still. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgUcvPKpb0
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOTRkKTEaid
The fourth creature had circled during the exchange. Positioned itself near the doorway, cutting off retreat. Its burnt-leather skin caught the minimal light, bones piercing through in places that wept something dark and viscous. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEed0B2tQb6
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnThgdDYtVv
The next moment, it charged at Sylvaine's back.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡozi3Osy14T
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwJNu0Y7cT
Cel intercepted from the side, Silent Moon rising to meet its limbs. The violet blade sliced clean through one outstretched claw, severing it at the joint - but the creature barely seemed to register the loss. The creature redirected mid-strike, another limb lashing out. Cel twisted but wasn't fast enough. Claws caught his side, tearing through Cinderward's leather, drawing a thin line of blood beneath. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAudhgZXMaw
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkL7jHatrJ
Sylvaine’s whip-sword came around low, segments extending. The blade caught the creature’s legs, wrapping, pulling tight. It stumbled. Cel drove forward while it was off-balance, Silent Moon coming down in an overhead strike that had no technique behind it - just enhanced strength driving violet steel through the thing’s back. The blade pierced easily through. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gY98zvfYh
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0qkMXlUFl
The creature went limp. Cel pulled Silent Moon free, let the body collapse.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHzGoW8k2V
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCKIMKHXmA
Cel’s breathing came too fast, chest heaving with exertion that his enhanced body barely registered. Beside him, Sylvaine stood with her whip-sword still extended, blood dripping from segmented steel in a steady rhythm that marked time passing.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7rwaz6R1A
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk6S4MEbnv7
Both waiting for silence to settle.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pOjk6Bncy
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU46QmWIU0i
But the silence never came. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVXHyC7MaY
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhPayaaQMk5
Instead… screams. Distant but clear. Multiple voices overlapping, raw with terror. Shouts of alarm. Combat sounds - weapons meeting flesh, impacts, things breaking.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2hStL46Wc
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlP3lgyjOWU
Cel’s head snapped toward the doorway as understanding crashed through.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkupWMhbEgV
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpqNPp7tU8
The merchant’s alarm. His shouts about creatures attacking. Nobody had come. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YBbywBU50
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhojv037CLr
…because they couldn’t.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQM3HU1ykP
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbQuMbwykkJ
The entire village was under attack.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2dbCjb7UA
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHT3A0Ze5V
Panic edged into Cel’s chest, sharp and immediate. Lior and his parents were out there. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0YfKTeNFo
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrstpd40LYd
His feet moved before conscious thought caught up, carrying him toward the exit.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBxx0J9oYb
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmtbhk2jsAj
Behind him, Sylvaine remained standing in the blood-soaked guesthouse. Her gaze tracked toward the doorway where Cel had vanished, then swept back over the interior. The carnage. The bodies. The mercenary they'd found first, cut clean in half.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKNInv5LJpd
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4mXqTWswC
Her gaze lingered on the corpse a moment longer. Then she turned and followed him outside.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtq2kXQRB97
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzzpfBXFGv
The village had transformed into a nightmare.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡebPFV3sjRH
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAYp8XrwgV
Fires burned in scattered locations - houses catching, maybe where fire pits had been knocked over during fighting. The flames threw orange light that painted everything in shifting shadows. Screams came from multiple directions at once, layering over each other until individual voices blurred into one sustained cry of terror.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYrfkZvGj6
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSgAYWXpPJ
Bodies lay in the street. Some still moving, crawling toward safety that didn’t exist. Others already still, blood pooling beneath them in the dirt.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKadm5HXz1f
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvsIZSQCXC2
And creatures were everywhere.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2QMQUGrEq
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxC0TEmUCr
The same type he’d just fought - burnt-leather skin, wrong-jointed limbs, eyeless heads with mouths full of curved teeth. But also others. Larger ones, built heavier, moving with different gaits.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrq5UdN6W9Z
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4otlCLRiK0
Combat happened in pockets throughout the village. Isolated fights where residents tried to defend themselves with farming tools, kitchen knives, bare hands. Most losing.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyHXAt6uSo
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBk6gDPk3qv
Cel ran through it.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPsPaba84mu
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI325f2VvlQ
His enhanced speed carried him past a fight where three villagers struggled against a single creature. Past a woman dragging a wounded man toward a house. Past a child crying over a body that wouldn’t respond.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9yCIxMMLk
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yS4PnARbV
He didn’t stop for any of it. His focus narrowed to a single point - finding Lior and his family. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9w2f6MS373
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7fjWPLH93
But the streets had become a maze of chaos. What should have been a straight path was blocked by collapsed structures, by fires, by creatures that forced detours. He scanned every cluster of people he passed, looking for wheat-blond hair, for Lior’s slight frame, for his parents’ faces.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu979v7oBsu
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwrPzhXUOcf
Nothing.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbxNxQxjCC
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ264ts5UOyV
Panic built with each passing moment. Each second where they remained unfound felt like confirmation of the worst possibility. What if they were already dead? What if he was running toward corpses instead of people who needed help?60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmNAsaxmMA
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7qvlISQQL
A voice cut through the chaos. Female. Commanding.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnuRQr3ASb
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJUFH6lfmkB
“Hold formation! Do not break the circle!”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QFuCPbl3g
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL9ZoxwbNLN
Instructor Saren.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGafzzoEhBP
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YjsF7SIv1
Cel’s path shifted. Drew him toward the source of that voice with desperate hope burning in his chest.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YpCpu4TYG
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcRBEUeduiq
A defensive circle materialized through the smoke and darkness. Perhaps fifteen students arranged in a ring, weapons out, facing outward. Inside the circle, villagers huddled together, some wounded.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhM6pvTk9BQ
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFG1n9HxyLD
Instructor Saren stood at one point of the formation, her posture rigid with command. She moved with practiced efficiency, calling out threats, directing students to shift position. Beside her, Instructor Calder held another section, his scarred face grim as he cut down a creature that got too close.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCaAGNimFp
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfe7R0pRyYM
On the third side, Owen Peakscale stood like carved stone. His warhammer rose and fell with methodical precision, crushing anything that came within reach. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeHGGlYs5QE
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8Ydq1EyOr
And on the fourth side - Cordelia Tidecall. Cel’s cousin. Light blue hair catched firelight as she moved. Her dual swords moved with defensive precision that kept her section of the formation intact. She fought with obvious skill despite the terror visible in her expression.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLVaBsEm4h
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qg3vD0MnA
The other students struggled to hold their ground. One near the gap between Saren and Owen fumbled his defense. A creature got inside his guard. Its claws opened his throat before Saren could intervene. The student went down choking. The creature died a moment later under Saren’s spear, but the damage was done.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3vnYlWUxA
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEE8Rr7GhoH
Cel’s gaze swept across the huddled villagers. Scanning faces with desperate speed.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJsds784Y10
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NLfwITza5
Not there.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTb46iNEI9
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnie9ayum2Y
Lior wasn’t there. His parents also.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFW8PHRU4S5
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTcBwIHpuqQ
Relief and terror mixed in equal measure. Relief that they weren’t among the wounded inside the circle. Terror at what their absence meant.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWup5CVIQy
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrMWnYyNHw
“Celvian!” Saren’s voice cut toward him. “Get inside the formation!”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWZ7O09mwu
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMYyDe6k4ba
He didn’t respond. Didn’t even look at her. Just turned and ran.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Y69lwlhRX
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAqfWrBayH
Away from the defensive circle. Away from relative safety. Toward the hut where Lior’s family lived.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0YVoX0iad
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiEF9Yl7QwF
The streets narrowed. Houses pressed closer together here, built with less space between them. The chaos felt more concentrated, more immediate. Screams echoed off walls. Combat sounds multiplied.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLanBEgdYV
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fVaCy4aih
Silent Moon’s glow shifted. The three moon phases that had been lit along its spine receded until only the outer crescent remained lit - pale and steady, casting minimal light.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡik8VNvhE2O
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1pf2Z0HuBR
Cel’s breathing had gone ragged. Not from exertion. From fear that pressed against his lungs and refused to ease.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISF6ncLjQi
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDo6694rm5
‘Please…’ The word repeated in his mind without direction. ‘Please let them be alive. Please.’60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2iLWNU2jm1
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OJvi2g6AO
The hut came into view.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIp32oFQoKU
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3C3hYBQ89
Still standing. No visible damage. No creatures immediately around it.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36OG217hLV
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMPyzBeHrp
Hope flared sharp enough to hurt.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjv4OAusjSB
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnj6jVbXeT8
His feet carried him faster. Across the final stretch of open ground. Up to the door that stood closed, untouched.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxOpETuz0I
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qdpjJwdbw
He hit it with his shoulder. Wood exploded inward, the simple latch breaking. Cel stumbled into darkness that swallowed him immediately.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJdIY2rB0l
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQoUmR2Q3hm
“Lior!” The name came out too loud, too desperate. “Lior!”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxk268RLVN
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhu37b09dp
Silence answered. Horrible and complete, meaning everything he feared might be—60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ZAmUdEysE
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRmZaLYaBI
“C-Cel? Is that you?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ51tCXCzunQ
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKKIdxejPh
Lior’s voice. Scared and uncertain, but alive. Undeniably, unmistakably alive.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJyBgVPw5C
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zM7sK7JMd
Relief crashed through Cel with force that nearly buckled his knees. His eyes adjusted gradually to the darkness, shapes resolving in increments.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJJoijABab
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNkbnFxNTa
Lior stood at the room’s far end. Dagger gripped in both hands, blade pointing toward the door with shaking determination. Beside him, his father held a wooden chair raised overhead like a club, his weathered face set with the particular desperation of a man prepared to do anything to protect his family.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGGnwpzymC
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnqSppOr7z
And behind both of them, pressed against the wall, Lior’s mother. Her face was stricken with terror, hands covering her mouth, whole body trembling.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxGNVLOaTE
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKz3dXLYyc2
They were alive. All of them.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcFyEGK5PHr
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡorCarQuEVw
Cel’s mouth opened. “Yeah, it’s—“60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNigO6VYCR9
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLf2gs3vVs
Something hard crashed into his back.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQbUcm2keh
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7WR328A0TB
The force lifted him off his feet, sending him flying forward with momentum he couldn't control. Silent Moon tore free from his hand as his body crashed through the far wall, wood exploding around him. He hit the ground outside, rolled twice, came up empty-handed. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxgPcniylN
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIMVJg0bzlv
Pain radiated from his back where the impact had landed hard enough that normal human bones would have shattered.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVOX1JpEKK8
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUcT8EQ7tt
He turned, looking back at the hut.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwi64BCh61R
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxfQhbROZd
In the destroyed entrance, silhouetted by the faint light from inside… stood a creature.
and then Add to home screen.