The grain store's yard was chaos—lantern light swinging wildly, steel clashing, boots skidding in mud.
Ethan's blade cut deep into one of the spider-limbed Dark, black ichor spattering his arm. It didn't even scream before collapsing into itself, the flesh shriveling like burnt paper.
"Two more on the left!" Selene called, loosing an arrow into the fog.
Marcus swung his axe in a brutal arc, severing two legs from another creature. It screeched, flailing, but Lily's spear ended it before it could recover.
Rowan was the first to notice. "They're not all here for the grain!"
Ethan glanced up just in time to see three shapes slip past the yard entirely, moving fast along the alley between the storehouse and the tannery—straight toward the inner streets.
"Selene!" he shouted.
"I see them!" She turned to pursue, but another creature lunged from the fog, forcing her to twist and fire point-blank into its eye.
"They'll reach the square in minutes," Lily warned, stabbing clean through another attacker.
Marcus gritted his teeth. "We hold here or the store burns. Without food, this town's dead by winter."
"We lose the store, we starve. We lose the people, there's no one to starve," Rowan snapped back.
The decision hung heavy for a single heartbeat.
Ethan's pulse thudded in his ears. The system flashed in his vision—[Split Objective Detected]—but gave no guidance.
"Marcus, Rowan—hold the line!" Selene barked. "Lily, Ethan—come with me!"
They broke from the yard at a sprint, boots pounding wet cobblestone. The shouts behind them faded into the fog, replaced by the sound of claws scraping stone.
Up ahead, the three Dark creatures had already reached the first row of houses. One was dragging a screaming man from his doorway. Another leapt onto a rooftop, disappearing into the darkness.
"Ethan, left!" Lily cried.
He didn't think—he just moved, sword biting into the creature's back. It spasmed, shrieking, before tumbling into the mud.
From the rooftop came a crash—tiles breaking, a scream cut short.
Selene's jaw tightened. "We can't stop them all…"
Ethan's stomach sank. He knew she was right.
Back at the grain store, the clash of steel rang louder, the scent of burning grain starting to drift on the wind.
Wherever they turned, they were losing something.