*Date: 33,480 Second Quarter - Iron Confederacy, Safe Hollow*
The final goblin wave emerged from the forest like a nightmare given form.
Fresh troops, eager for blood, sensing victory. They howled and drummed, weapons raised, eyes gleaming with savage joy. "Kill humanz! Take slaves! Burn all!"
Demir stood in the center of the burning square, Wolf's Vow hanging loose in his grip. Around him, perhaps thirty defenders remained standing. All wounded. All exhausted. All broken.
Asena lay beside him, barely breathing, her silver fur matted black with blood.
Sin knelt in the alley, still cradling Timmy's body, unmoving, unresponsive. His eyes were empty, staring at nothing.
Marco leaned on his staff, glasses shattered, robes in tatters. "This is it, then."
Thalia nodded weakly. "This is it."
Roderic spat blood. "We make them pay for every step."
The goblins charged. "Kill! Kill! Humanz die today!"
And Demir felt the frenzy ignite again.
The red haze descended over his vision. His exhaustion vanished, replaced by a burning, consuming need to destroy. His armor felt weightless. His sword sang in his hands.
"COME ON!" he roared, voice raw and savage.
"COME ON!" he roared again.
"COME ON! SONS OF BITCHES!"
He charged to meet them.
Wolf's Vow became lightning incarnate, each swing dropping multiple enemies. He didn't block. He destroyed. He didn't parry. He killed. The goblins that reached him died in pieces, unable to comprehend the storm of violence before them.
Asena, hearing his battle cry, forced herself to her feet. The giant wolf's eyes blazed with the same frenzy, the same refusal to die. She lunged forward, jaws snapping, claws tearing, moving with impossible speed despite her wounds.
Together, they became a wall of death.
Goblins crashed against them and broke. Wave after wave tried to overwhelm them, but Demir and Asena stood firm, their fury sustaining them beyond mortal limits.
Behind them, the remaining defenders rallied. Inspired by the impossible stand, they found strength they didn't know they had.
Marco's hands stopped shaking. His final spell erupted in a column of flame that incinerated a dozen goblins.
Thalia crawled to her feet, drawing a dagger, and began methodically killing any goblin that broke through.
Roderic fought one-handed, each swing precise, economical, deadly.
But it wasn't enough.
For every goblin that fell, three more took its place. The defenders were being pushed back, compressed into an ever-shrinking circle.
Demir's frenzy began to fade. Pain crashed back into him. Bones broken, muscles torn, blood loss making his vision swim. His sword arm trembled.
Asena stumbled, her legs finally giving out. She collapsed mid-strike, unable to rise.
"No!" Demir tried to reach her, but goblins swarmed between them.
He was surrounded now, separated from the others. Goblins closed in, sensing weakness. "Kill strong humanz! Take head! Chief reward!"
This was the end.
Demir raised his sword one final time, prepared to sell his life dearly.
The sky split with a sound like breaking stone.
A shadow passed overhead, massive and impossible.
Demir looked up through tear-blurred eyes.
A bone dragon.
Its skeletal wings stretched wide enough to eclipse the sun. Ribs gleamed like ivory pillars. Eyes burned with eldritch green fire that seemed to pierce reality itself. Atop its spine, a figure in black armor rode, twin scythes crossed on their back.
The dragon descended like judgment itself.
It landed in the center of the goblin horde with earth-shattering force, the impact sending goblins flying like ragdolls. The ground cracked, spider-webbing outward in all directions.
The dragon's jaws opened, and a torrent of necrotic energy poured forth. A beam of death that dissolved everything it touched. Goblins screamed as flesh melted from bone, bones crumbled to dust. "Run! Run! Death beast! Dragon!"
The rider leaped from the dragon's back, landing with predatory grace. Black armor adorned with death motifs, twin scythes that seemed to drink the light around them.
The rider moved through the goblin ranks like a dancer through grass. Each scythe swing killed multiple enemies. Goblins tried to flee, but the rider was faster, cutting them down with brutal efficiency.
From the western treeline, another impossibility emerged.
A giant grizzly bear. Easily the size of a small house, its fur dark as midnight, claws like swords. Atop it rode a massive figure clad in furs and leather, wielding a warhammer that crackled with lightning.
The bear charged into the goblin flank, each swipe of its paws sending bodies flying. The rider's warhammer descended like divine retribution, each impact creating shockwaves that flattened everything nearby.
Behind them, two more riders appeared on horseback.
The first wielded a greatsword wreathed in flames, each swing leaving trails of fire that consumed goblins in its wake. The second dual-cast magic with both hands. Lightning from the right, ice from the left, the elements weaving together in deadly harmony.
The four newcomers carved through the goblin army like gods among mortals.
In minutes that felt like seconds, the tide reversed completely. Goblins that had been savoring victory now fled in mindless panic, trampling each other in their desperation to escape.
The bone dragon pursued them to the forest edge, its necrotic breath creating a wall of death that none could pass.
The grizzly bear and its rider cut off the northern retreat, crushing any who tried to flee that way.
The two horse-mounted warriors swept the flanks, ensuring no goblin escaped.
Demir stood frozen, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. His sword fell from nerveless fingers.
The rider in black armor approached, scythes now sheathed. They removed their helm, revealing a woman's face. Scarred, weathered, but kind. Her eyes held ancient wisdom and recent pain.
"You held well," she said, voice like wind through a graveyard. Soft but carrying weight. "Longer than I would have at your rank, honestly."
Demir tried to speak, but only a croak emerged.
The woman smiled faintly. "Rest now. We've got this."
His legs finally gave out.
He collapsed, armor clanging against the blood-soaked ground. His vision swam, darkness creeping in at the edges.
Through the haze, he saw the grizzly bear rider dismount. A giant of a man with a braided beard, laughing despite the carnage. "That's what I'm talking about! Finally easy fight!"
The flame sword wielder, a lean man with burn scars covering half his face, helped pull wounded defenders to safety. "Get the healers moving! We've got critically injured here!"
The dual-casting mage, a woman with silver hair and calculating eyes, began dispelling curses and treating magical wounds with practiced efficiency.
Around Demir, the remaining defenders collapsed in relief. Some wept. Others laughed hysterically. Many simply stared in shock.
Marco crawled over to Demir, tears streaming down his face. "We made it. By all the gods, we actually made it."
But Demir's eyes found the alley.
Sin still knelt there, holding Timmy's body, rocking slowly. The newcomers' arrival hadn't registered. The victory meant nothing.
His brother was gone.
Thalia stumbled over, supported by Roderic. Both were crying. "It's over. It's finally over."
The bone dragon rider knelt beside Demir, pulling out a potion. "Drink this. You've got internal bleeding, three broken ribs, and your left shoulder is shattered."
Demir drank automatically, the healing magic spreading warmth through his battered body. Pain receded slightly, enough to think clearly.
"Who..." he managed. "Who are you?"
The woman smiled. "Name's Naira. Death Knight, Level 85. These are my companions." She gestured to the others. "Gorreak, Beast Master. Alef, Pyro-Knight. Lysara, Elemental Mage."
"Players," Demir whispered.
"Like you," Naira confirmed. "Lex said to look around here."
Demir looked around at the ruins of Safe Hollow. Buildings burned. Bodies littered the ground. The walls were rubble.
But people were alive. His people.
"You saved us," he said hoarsely. "You saved everyone."
"Not everyone," Naira said gently, following his gaze to Sin and Timmy.
Demir's chest tightened. "No. Not everyone."
Asena whimpered nearby. The giant wolf was being tended by Gorreak, the Beast Master, who worked with gentle efficiency despite his size. "This one's tough," he rumbled, voice deep and resonant. "She'll live."
Relief flooded Demir. At least Asena would survive.
Naira helped him sit up. "You mounted one hell of a defense. A small town of low levels against five thousand goblins? You should all be dead."
"We nearly were," Roderic said, limping over. "Few more minutes and..."
"But you weren't," Naira said firmly. "You held. That takes strength." She looked around at the survivors. "You've built something worth protecting here. That's rare these days."
Alef, the pyromancer, approached. "We've cleared the perimeter. No stragglers. The goblin army is scattered. Won't regroup for weeks, if at all."
Lysara joined them. "I've stabilized the critical cases, but you need proper healers. What you have here won't be enough."
Priestess Neya appeared, supported by two guards. "We'll manage. We always do."
Naira nodded approvingly. "Tough bunch." She looked at Demir. "What's your plan now? Lex sent us to protect people who wish to come back to our city."
"We will come," Demir said quietly.
Safe Hollow had burned, but some survived.
But the cost was written in blood and ash.
Demir found himself drawn to the alley where Sin knelt. He approached slowly, each step heavy.
"Sin," he said softly.
The dark twin didn't respond. Didn't move. Just kept rocking, holding Timmy's body.
Demir knelt beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "He saved you. He died protecting you."
"I know," Sin whispered, voice broken. "He was always the brave one. The good one. And I... I got him killed."
"No. He made his choice. He chose you."
Tears streamed down Sin's face. "What do I do now? He's gone. My brother is gone. This game took everyone."
Demir had no answer. No words could fix this.
So he just sat there, silent, sharing the grief.
Gorreak, the Beast Master, appeared at the alley entrance, dragging something behind his massive bear. A lengthy, thin goblin, different from the others. Its arms were bound, face twisted with hatred.
"I caught this one," Gorreak rumbled. "It was directing the elites from behind the lines. Doesn't look like a chief, but it's something."
The goblin spat. "You kill, humanz. You all die. More come. Always more come!"
Naira examined it with cold eyes. "A tactician. Rare among goblins." She looked at Demir. "What do you want to do with it?"
Demir stared at the creature. This thing had helped orchestrate the attack that killed Timmy. That killed dozens of his people.
"Lock it up," he said finally. "We'll question it. Find out where their main camp is."
The goblin laughed, a harsh cackling sound. "You never find! Chief hide good! Chief strong! You weak humanz!"
"We'll see," Demir said quietly.
As the sun began its descent toward the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and red, the survivors of Safe Hollow began the grim work of counting their dead.
Sixty-three defenders killed. Nearly half their fighting force.
But over one hundred and fifty civilians saved.
The math was brutal, but it was survival.
Demir stood at the edge of town, looking out at the forest where thousands of goblin bodies littered the field.
Naira joined him. "You did good, kid. Better than good."
"Doesn't feel like it."
"Never does." She was quiet for a moment. "But you kept them alive long enough for us to arrive. That's what matters."
Demir nodded slowly. "Thank you. For coming."
"Thank Lex. He's the one who sent us." Naira smiled faintly. "Said he had a feeling you'd need help. Guess he was right."
As darkness fell, the survivors of Safe Hollow gathered around campfires, too exhausted to do more than exist.
And in a quiet alley, Sin finally stopped rocking.
He laid his brother's body down gently, closing Timmy's eyes one last time.
"I'll make them pay," he whispered. "Every last one of them. I swear it."
Demir heard the words and said nothing.
Sometimes, grief needed its vengeance.