The great moon eclipsed the sun and darkness fell upon the world. David approached the gates, hurting with every step. Around him, everyone was waiting with bated breath. Most of the guards split away to patrol the village, with only a group of archers remaining on the fortifications.

  Sir Viel led the knights through the gate and past the trenches. They assumed loose ranks in the middle of the field between the forest and the village and stabbed their torches into the ground.

  Brenn still hadn't returned from wherever he’d walked off, so David made his way over to Darryl, who was fixing his cape and scanning the treeline.

  “Mister Darryl,” David said, keeping a short distance from the scary-looking soldier. “Are we going to be fine tonight? Can the knights protect us?”

  Darryl smirked. “Haven’t you seen their weapons? Every last bit is enchanted. With toys like that, monsters don't stand a chance.”

  David thought back to the predator monster who took Brenn's arm. The chief’s shield was enchanted too, wasn't it? “What about the unique monster, mister Darryl?”

  Darryl narrowed his eyes. “They'll still win… if the bastard doesn’t run away again.”

  A loud screech pierced the night and sent shivers down David’s spine. The knights closed ranks, forming a semi-circle. Spears and shields in the front, archers in the back, Sir Viel in the center. Boarmen brutes emerged from the forest and charged down the hill. Knights drew their bows. Arrows whistled. Two brutes fell.

  The ground under David’s feet rumbled. The hulking beasts, each close to three meters tall, crashed into the braced spears. All of them died in an instant. None released golden strands, like human corpses did.

  Hundreds of boarlets, dozens adults and another group of brutes charged down from the edge of the forest, trampling their dead comrades. The monsters outnumbered the knights at least thirty to one.

  Darryl hollered at the fortifications, “Archers, ready!” Sir Viel turned, smiled at him and raised his hand. It seemed the knight commander didn’t want the village to participate.

  The bow-wielding knights released a volley of glistening red arrows into the dark. Where they hit, they exploded, sending pieces of flesh spinning into the air. A wave of heat streamed down from the field and rustled David’s hair.

  The knights loosed another volley of the enchanted arrows. David could hardly believe what the magic could do. If the village archers had ammunition like that, they could have held back the monsters with ease. But the village probably couldn’t afford a single volley. Mom mentioned such things were incredibly expensive.

  The braced spears and explosions broke the monster charge apart. Many brutes and boarlets tumbled to the ground and bled out on the dirt, but more of them reached the knights. They climbed over the bodies and jumped over the line of spears. The knights swapped their weapons for swords and cut them down.

  The monsters spilled to the sides, threatening to flank the knights. A knight faced the village and knelt, holding a burning mote in his crimson gauntlet. He threw his arm, as if sowing seeds and a wall of fire flared up behind the knights, covering their rear from the flanking beasts.

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  Unable to get the knights’ rear, some monsters ran past and toward the village gates. David flinched back. Darryl gave an order and village archers drew their bows. Arrows rained down on the beasts, mercilessly punching through flesh and bone. None made it past the first trench.

  With the fire behind them, the knights cut down more than half the monsters in one relentless advance. Some of the adult boarlets turned and ran, some kept fighting.

  Viel shouted something David couldn’t hear over the melee—he was hiding behind Darryl’s legs—and the knights separated into four-man groups and charged the monsters. Each one of them carved forward relentlessly, but among them, Calland’s group stood out.

  Along with his team, he was the first to engage and the one to push the farthest into the horde. He mowed the monsters down spraying blood everywhere. A wounded brute jumped at him from the side. Calland matched it, moved closer as if to grapple the beast, then struck his shield against his chest plate. A shockwave exploded around him and tore the brute’s arm off.

  A sour taste filled David’s mouth. The knights began to celebrate, but a teeth-rattling shriek erupted from the forest. Everyone froze.

  The predator monster emerged from the darkness like a massive arrow, swinging its scythes and claws, and crashed into Calland’s group. David peered into the haze, trying to see who would win the deadly clash. If only they could both die.

  The knights in the rear pulled the bows again and shot their enchanted arrows at the predator. Explosions burst off the beast’s carpace. It shrieked and dodged. Calland thrust at it with his sword but missed. Another arrow exploded just above the creatures beaming red eyes. It swung a scythe claw at Calland, missed, turned and ran back toward the forest.

  Sir Viel ordered the knights back into their initial formation. They stared straight into the forest, waiting. The predator emerged from their left, charged, slammed its scythes into the knights’ shields then jumped back, disappearing into the darkness before they could retaliate.

  Sharp thumps seemed to come from every direction. The knights picked their spears back up, readied their bows and swiveled the field. The monster emerged again, this time from the right. Dark tentacles swung from its back, cutting the enchanted arrows mid-flight. It crashed into the spears. A few broke, but half a dozen bit into the carapace.

  The predator skittled sideways, screeched again, slashed an arrow out of the air with its scythe then swung the other one at the line of spears, breaking several of them.

  Viel ordered the knights forward, moving to surround the monster. The beast slashed forward with its scythes and claws, while attacking behind with the tentacles from its back, forcing the knights to keep a distance too great for counterattacks. One of the knights stepped into the death zone, swung her sword at the tentacle flying her way and sliced it off. Another knight rushed up next to her and thrust at the creature’s back. The predator monster whirled around, grasped the blade with its claw, smashed it into pieces with its scythe, then swung the other at the knights.

  The two knights chained their shields together and caught the blow but were thrown back. The brave woman who stepped forward first lost her helmet, and her face was covered in blood. Others dragged them back and covered them with a hastily formed shield wall. Grotesque flesh poured out of the tentacle’s stump. The bladed limb reformed and rejoined the assault on the knights.

  At last Calland called archer knights to cover him and dashed toward the creature from its side. Lunged. The exploding arrows rattled the creature just as he got close and he carved a deep gash into the monster’s carapace. Black blood spurted and splattered Calland’s helmet and chest plate.

  The predator staggered back, hissing, and leapt away. Calland pressed forward, leaving the formation.

  “Halt, Calland!” Sir Viel bellowed.

  Calland stopped, then inched back, taunting the monster with his bloody sword.

  The predator lurked at the edge of the torchlight. It swiveled its six-eyed head, scanning the palisade. The knight archers launched another volley, but it swatted the arrows away with its tendrils. Then it seemed to spot David behind Darryl’s legs and bore into him with its blazing red eyes. The monster cocked its head.