"We're done with this place, let's move on to the next one," Samantha said, wiping the monsters' blood from her sword.
"Don't waste your energy," Isabella said, patting Samantha on the shoulder. "We're still at the beginning; there are still many monsters to kill."
"I know that," Sam said, "but the faster we kill them, the more lives we save."
Her teacher stopped walking, gripped her sword tightly, and shouted, "Get ready! Something's coming!"
Sam said, "What's wrong, teacher? The 'next' location is still far away. What do you mean by 'something coming'?"
Isabella said anxiously, "I don't know, but something is coming in large numbers, so all of you should be ready to fight."
The ground began to tremble beneath their feet, and the cries of monsters echoed louder with every passing second. Tension tightened every face, every hand gripping the hilt of a sword with desperate strength. They stood ready to fight—ready to survive—but nothing could have prepared them for what emerged from the darkness.
A massive horde of creatures, in every shape and size imaginable, surged toward them. Several members of the group staggered back, instinctively trying to flee, to grasp at the smallest chance of survival. But it was already too late.
The monsters struck all at once.
Everyone fought fiercely, blades flashing and spells roaring, but the sheer number of beasts was overwhelming. One by one, they fell. Isabella was slain while trying to save one of her companions, and soon Sam was the only one still standing—barely. Her body was covered in wounds, blood dripping from gashes she could no longer feel. Her grip on her sword was weak, trembling.
A creature lunged at her from behind.
Its jaws sank into her shoulder with brutal force. She tried to resist, to push back, but her strength had long since left her. Her final thought was of her family. At last, she whispered to herself, I'll see them again.
Then everything faded into darkness.
Sam never expected to open her eyes again.
But she did—blinking against a harsh, blinding light. Everything was hazy at first, shapes blurring into one another. After a while her vision adjusted, and she found herself lying on a small bed in a tiny room. A room that felt… familiar. So familiar that a strange pressure grew in her chest as she tried to remember where she had seen it before.
Suddenly the door swung open.
A woman stood in the doorway, her voice warm and angelic as she said, "Good morning, sweetheart. Come on, get up—you'll be late for school."
Sam stared. What is this? What's happening? Am I dreaming?
She was certain she had died.
The woman approached, gently taking Sam's trembling hands. "Are you alright? Why are you looking at me like that?"
With a shaking voice, Sam whispered, "Mom…"
Then she threw herself into her mother's arms.
Her mother laughed softly and hugged her back. "What's wrong, darling? Did you have a bad dream?"
But Sam only cried harder, clinging to her, repeating the word she'd thought she would never say again—
"Mom."
!