A wight had burst through the window, heading directly for Triss. It was incredibly fast, but I was faster.
In the blink of an eye, i covered the distance between myself and the wight.
And with a single, fluid strike, I severed its head from it's shoulders. The body twitched, clawed fingers still reaching for Triss before slumping lifelessly against the window frame. The severed head hit the floor with a wet thud.
Triss gasped, pressing herself against the wall, eyes wide in horror. But that was just the beginning.
Then it happened. A guttural screech echoed from outside... then another. Then many more.
Shadows shifted beyond the broken window. Glowing blue eyes flickered in the darkness, growing in number. Then... movement. The trees beyond the cabin rustled violently as figures emerged, their unnatural, jerking movements unmistakable.
More wights. A lot more.
I clenched my jaw. "Shit!"
The barrier was supposed to keep things out, but if these bastards were already inside when I activated it...
This wasn't an ambush. It was a trap.
Triss swallowed hard. "Ronald..." Her voice was unsteady. "Tell me that's not what I think it is."
I gripped my sword tighter as the first wights began advancing, some climbing over the cabin's porch, others creeping along the shattered window frame, their soulless eyes locked onto her.
"It is..." I muttered. "A fucking horde,"
And then they attacked.
The front door blasted open, a swarm of wights pouring in like a tidal wave of rot and decay.
I didn't hesitate. I moved.
I met the first wight head-on, sidestepping its lunging strike and driving my sword through its chest. With a twist, I ripped it free, black ichor spraying across the floor. Another wight clawed at my back.. I spun and decapitated it in one clean motion.
But they kept coming.
The cabin was too small, too cramped. I needed space to fight, but they were forcing me to defend rather than attack.
"Triss!" I barked, barely dodging a swipe aimed at my throat. "Stay behind me!"
She didn't argue and quickly moved behind me.
Another wight lunged. I ducked, then drove my blade upward, slicing through its skull. It collapsed, but three more surged in its place. Too many.
"Think, dammit!" I exclaimed
Then I saw it.. the fireplace. The flames were still burning.
An idea formed.
I dodged another attack, grabbed a broken wooden chair from the floor, and threw it into the fire. The dry wood ignited instantly, flames roaring to life.
I turned to Triss. "When I say run, you run. Got it?"
She hesitated. "But..."
"Got it?!" I yelled, and she nodded in response.
A wight lunged at her... before she could answer, I grabbed it by the skull and slammed it into the burning fireplace. Its inhuman screech filled the cabin as flames consumed it. The stench of burning flesh filled the air.
"NOW!" I roared.
Triss bolted for the door.
I followed, slashing through two more wights in our path before kicking the door open.
We burst into the night... Only to stop dead in our tracks.
Because standing in the clearing, bathed in moonlight, were dozens of wights.
All waiting.
Triss cursed under her breath. "We're so dead,"
I exhaled, my crimson aura flaring. My sword shifted in my grip, transforming into a wicked, curved greatsword.
I smiled. "Not yet,"
And then I charged.
The night air burned with the scent of rot and blood as I lunged forward, my crimson aura flaring like a wildfire. The greatsword in my grip pulsed with raw energy, responding to my will as I cleaved through the first wight in one brutal stroke.
Its body split apart in a spray of black ichor, but there was no time to admire my work. Another came at me from the left, I twisted, using the momentum of my first strike to drive my blade upward, bisecting the creature from hip to shoulder.
The wights shrieked, their unnatural voices grating against my ears like rusted metal.
More lunged from the darkness.
One tried to flank me... I let it get close before shifting my grip and impaling it through the chest. Another leapt from the trees... I sidestepped and spun, decapitating it mid-air.
They were fast. But I was faster.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Triss stumble back, her body aura glowing faintly. The power inside her was unstable, flickering like an unsteady flame. But she didn't even notice it.
"Triss, stay back!" I warned, slicing through another wight.
She clenched her fists. "Like hell I'm just standing here while..."
Before she could finish, a wight shot toward her from the side.
I barely had time to react.
"MOVE!"
But before I could reach her...
BOOM!
A sudden shockwave erupted from Triss's body. The air cracked like a whip, a pulse of energy exploding outward. The wight was blown backward, slamming into a tree with a sickening crunch.
The ground beneath her cracked. Even I had to brace myself.
I stared at her, eyes narrowed. That power... It wasn't just leaking anymore. It was expanding, spreading across her entire body.
Triss looked down at her hands, wide-eyed. "Oh, God. It's happening again,"
I didn't have time to explain. More wights were closing in.
"Try to keep it at bay," I said
I surged forward, cutting through another wight. But they were still coming, swarming like starving wolves.
This was taking too long. I needed to end it. Now.
Taking a deep breath, I let my aura surge to its full strength. Crimson energy crackled around me, and my sword responded, shifting... growing. The blade lengthened, dark veins of power pulsing through it.
Then I moved. One second, I was standing beside Triss.
The next... I was everywhere. Flashes of red cut through the night.
One strike... three wights fell. Another strike... a shockwave of force sent them flying.
I twisted, carving through them in blinding succession. Every movement was precise. Calculated. By the time I stopped, bodies littered the ground.
But much to my horror, they had suddenly increased in number again. Making it seem like my efforts were for nothing.
"Fuck! How do they keep coming?" I voiced out in frustration, as I severed the head of a wight with my bare hands. I was enraged, but at the same time exhausted.
The stunt I pulled off earlier took a toll on my energy, but I still kept fighting anyways. My stamina made up for it.
I slashed through another wight, my blade carving a clean arc through its rotting torso. The creature crumbled, but more surged from the shadows, their glowing eyes gleaming with insatiable hunger.
They just kept coming. And I still couldn't figure out where they were coming from, it was mysterious.
I gritted my teeth, shifting my stance. My aura burned brighter, crimson energy flaring as I struck down three more in rapid succession. But for every one I killed, two more took its place.
This wasn't working.
I could feel fatigue creeping into my limbs. Even for me, sustaining this much power while fighting off an endless horde was pushing my limits. Both my energy and stamina were now almost depleted.
And the worst part? The damn things weren't even after me.
I spared a quick glance at Triss. She was standing frozen a few feet away, her breath uneven, hands trembling. The energy inside her was thrumming, wild and chaotic, barely restrained.
She was panicking.
"Triss, listen to me!" I barked, parrying a clawed strike before slicing upward, severing a wight's arm. "You need to focus that energy! Breathe! Center it... control it!"
"I... I don't know how!" she stammered, eyes darting between me and the advancing wights.
"You don't need to know! Just do it!" I growled, forming a crimson barrier as I took a defensive stance.
The wights slammed against it, their claws scraping against the blood-forged shield. Cracks started forming.
Shit.
Triss sucked in a sharp breath, then another. She squeezed her eyes shut, her hands clenching into fists.
"Steady..." I urged, feeling the barrier weaken under the relentless assault. "Channel it. Focus it in one place... your hands,"
She exhaled. And then... The wild energy around her body began to converge together in her hands.
A surge of violet energy swirled around her arms, condensing, thick and potent. Her fingers twitched as the raw power settled in her palms, glowing with a deep, pulsating intensity.
Her eyes snapped open. "Okay," she whispered. "Now what?"
I didn't have time for a plan. The barrier was shattering.
"I don't know! Do anything... quick!" I shouted.
The wights slammed against my shield one last time. It cracked.. splintered... Then shattered.
I braced myself... But before they could lunge...
CLAP!
Triss brought her hands together.
A deep, resonating pulse erupted from the impact.
A circular wave of pure energy expanded outward, slicing through the air.
It wasn't an explosion like back at the café. No, this time it was controlled.
A blade.
I ducked as the wave tore through the battlefield, a perfect, precise arc of violet light.
The wights didn't even have time to react.
The energy cut clean through them, severing heads, torsos, limbs. Their shrieks filled the air for a split second... then silence.
Their bodies collapsed. Every last one of them. And for the first time, they didn't keep coming. It was truly over.
Sweet relief.
I slowly stood, brushing dust off my coat as the glow from Triss's attack faded. My eyes swept over the carnage... the efficiency of the destruction. Tens and Dozens of Wights lay dead on the ground.
"Damn," I turned to her.
She was panting, staring at her hands in shock. "Bloody hell,"
A smirk tugged at my lips. "Remind me never to piss you off," I chuckled, and she laughed as well.
"Noted," she said. "But you owe me for saving your life,"
I scoffed. "I saved your life first, so that makes us even,"
She pouted and went to sit by the cabin entrance. While I began to investigate the occurrence of the attack.
Something wasn't right. That many wights couldn't have been waiting here all at once, there were atleast a hundred of them.
Which means most of them appeared in the barrier after the fight had begun. But how?
I exhaled, my crimson aura dimming, but my instincts remained sharp. I was scanning the area for anything odd.
As Triss sat catching her breath, I moved toward the spot where the wights had occurred the most. The ground was disturbed... scorched slightly from her attack, but something else caught my eye. A faint shimmer in the air, barely perceptible under the moonlight.
I crouched, extending a hand. The moment my fingers brushed the space, a residual pulse of energy rippled outward. I immediately recognised it.
A portal.
Or at least, the remnants of one.
I cursed under my breath. I was right all along, someone had sent those wights here deliberately. And they were sent using a portal after I had put the barrier up, knowing we would be stuck inside it till sunrise.
This was bad, it meant the portal could open again at any moment.
I needed to check the area.
"Stay put," I said over my shoulder.
Triss groaned. "Yeah, I'm way too tired and hungry to even stand,"
I smirked but didn't reply as I moved around the cabin, my gaze scanning the treeline. The shadows stretched unnaturally, shifting as though alive. I stayed on guard... wights could blend into the darkness, slipping in and out of sight.
My senses sharpened. I moved carefully, my aura subtly flaring around me. If another one tried to lunge, I'd be ready.
I kept inspecting and monitoring the surrounding for anything that seemed off, to make sure a portal wouldn't suddenly open when I was off guard.
I was walking across the backyard of the cabin when I saw something... A severed carcass, its upper half missing. The lower body of what might have been a boar... or an antelope, lay limp, blood pooling beneath it.
I crouched, inspecting the wound. The flesh had been ripped, not cleanly severed like Triss's attack. The wights must've caught it and feasted a bit before they decided to attack us.
Afterall, they were drawn to flesh. And to her.
Not wasting time, I grabbed the carcass and hoisted it over my shoulder. At least we could make use of it.