– WEST WOODS –
Two moved.
Fast. Too fast.
He lunged forward and cut through the first intruder, one slice across the neck, bone blade dragging through the flesh as it belonged there. The man gurgled and dropped, legs twitching.
Another reached for his sword.
Too late.
Two spun low, both bone knives flashing in the dark. One in the thigh, the other under the ribs.
No scream—just collapse.
He moved like the shadows were a second skin.
From behind a trunk, a blade came,Two sidestepped and buried his knife under a man's chin, twisted hard. Blood spattered from his jaw.
The Screams begin. Distant. Close. Everywhere. Soldiers backed into each other, slashing at trees, at air.
They couldn't see him.
He was the dark. Moonlight bled through the canopy, but it didn't catch him.
Until it did.
A soldier—bigger, faster—swung his sword at just the right time. Two blocked, but the force knocked him off his feet and slammed him back into a tree.
He groaned in pain, blood gushed out from his nose, his hand instinctively reached for his head, and his palm was covered in blood.
Before he could fully grasp what was going on, he heard the soldier's footsteps approaching.
Close. Too close.
His hand reached out for his bone knives, but they were clattered by now the soldier was in front of him.
The soldier raised his sword for a deathblow—
THWIP.
The blade was knocked clean out of the soldier's hands by a flying arrow.
Then—
THWIP.
The second arrow went through the man's skull.
He dropped.
Two blinked, startled. You could see the fear carved into his face.
Then from above—Six dropped from a branch, bow slung across his back, crouching low beside Two.
"You good?" Six asked, then unwrap the cloth rap in his hand, he lower himself leaning close towards Two, as he wipe the blood from his nose.
Two Hissed, pain rushed through his spine. "Sorry" Six comforted as he place the cloth on his bleeding head to stop the bleeding.
"I'm Okay" Two said trying to force a smile, he pushed himself to stand up with the support of Six.
"Let's go back to the temple to get you treated before your injury get infected" Six said as he tried to pull Two to move but dude just stood straight, his eyes focus on ahead in the dark.
"What's wrong?"
"Him," Two muttered, jaw tight.
They both turned as a man stepped into view from the dark, sword drawn. Nothing odd at first glance—but then the chill came. The air changed. Thickened.
"What about him?" Six asked, sensing the shift.
Two's voice dropped, cold. "Not that one. The one behind."
The swordman stepped aside.
And then he emerge from the dark.
His skin pale with a texture of ash, his bony hand firm against his crooked staff with vines all over it. He walked like the ground wasn't real beneath his feet.
His plain white eyes hold no pupil but yet it … smiled.
And then he showed his teeth.
All one hundred of them.
Predatory.
Six instinctively stood in front of Two, he drew and arrow ready to attacked,The mage's eyes flashed. A rippling wave of force spiraled through the air toward them.
Two's pupils contracted to pinpoints. He seized Six by the collar and yanked him backward, then thrust his hand forward. Red light crackled from his fingertips like lightning, his eyes blazing crimson as he fought to deflect the attack.
It wasn't enough.
The force slammed into them anyway, hurling both boys through the air. Their backs crashed against a tree trunk with a sickening thud.
They could hear the ringing in their head and for a moment they lost themselves.
Smoke leaked from the man's sleeves, curling around the dead like it knew where to go.
Then, with his hand raised and his voice like silk crawling over a corpse, he said:
"Oh you're mage…"His eyes fell on Two, "how about a rematch?" he added.
The smoke engulf the fallen soldiers.
And they rose.
Not bodies. Souls torn from the corpses. Hollow-eyed. Cold-burning.
Shadow versions of the intruders, wrapped in black echo. Blades in hand. Armor flickering like candlelight.
Six crounch on one knee as he helped two up, who squatted.
"He's controlling their souls"
"Yeah," Two said, Six pull out his bone knives and gave it Two then draw out three arrows from his slung. "And worse… they can't die." Two added, his eyes fall on the knives in his hand, it was short compare to it but he can make do.
They charged.
Two met them first. His knife tore through a throat—no blood spilled. No body fell. The creature reformed mid-lunge, its blade already swinging.
He ducked low, slashed at its leg. It crumpled but kept crawling, relentless.
Another lunged from the left. Six's arrow punched through its shoulder—it didn't even flinch.
"You can't kill a shadow," Six called from higher ground, nocking another arrow. "But maybe we can scatter them."
Three shafts flew in quick succession, each finding its mark.
The shadows slowed. But they never stopped.
Two fought like a caged storm—every slash desperate, every movement precise. A brutal dance of survival. When he drove both knives into one creature's chest, it only laughed.
"Nothing stays dead," it whispered.
Icy fingers clamped around his wrist. He wrenched free, but another tackled him from behind.
"Two!" Six's shout rang out.
THWIP! An arrow struck one in the eye—useless.
THWIP! Another hit its chest.
The creature staggered, then split down the middle. Now there were two of them.
Six cursed.
High above, the mage simply watched. Staff humming. Eyes glowing. Savoring every moment.
Two twisted free and hurled a knife at the staff—it passed straight through.
Illusion.
The real mage was already gone. Only laughter remained.
Then Two felt it—a frigid breeze against his neck. His pupils shrank to pinpoints. Before he could turn, a hand slammed him against a tree.
Six reached for another arrow, but the mage materialized before him.
The staff came down with terrifying speed—
CRACK!
Six caught it on his forearm and screamed. Pain exploded through him like wildfire. Where the wood touched skin, gray-green rot spread fast. Poison.
His knees buckled. His bow clattered to the ground.
"Six." Two's voice cut through the haze as he staggered upright, blood streaming, ribs screaming. He gripped his bone knife. Their eyes met.
The mage's voice slithered closer. "So much rage... so rare in a child." He dragged his staff lazily. "But in the end, you're still no match for me. Because when all is said and done..." His smile widened. "...you're just a little boy."
Two roared and lunged—
The mage raised one hand.
The vines came alive.
WHAM! A thick tendril whipped across Two's chest, lifted him off his feet, and slammed him into a tree. He gasped. Ribs cracked like kindling.
The vines coiled around his limbs, pulling tight, stretching him like a sacrifice. His vision swam.
The mage raised his staff once more. "You won't even leave a shadow."
Two's body shook. The pain drowned everything.
"I'm sorry..." he whispered, barely conscious. "Six... I failed you."
The vines snapped open.
Two collapsed into the dirt.
Through blurred vision, he saw a figure cutting through the smoke and soul-shadows like they were nothing.
One.
Not as fast as Two. Not as silent. But every strike was clean. Brutal. Final.
He fought through the vines—dodging, slashing, rolling beneath thrashing branches. Bleeding. Hurt. But still moving.
The mage snarled. "Another fool?"
One looked up, lips curling into a grin. "Probably."
He reached into his cloak and pulled out a crystal—glowing silver-white, radiant as starlight itself.
The mage froze.
Too late.
The crystal erupted.
Blinding light flooded the clearing. The shadows shrieked. The soul-creatures began dissolving like ash in sunlight.
"No!" the mage roared. "What is that?!"
One stood firm, light blazing in his eyes. "A stone that erases even the dead."
The mage's form flickered. Fractured.
He vanished—his scream torn apart by the light.