We were raised before dawn and quickly formed up.
Silver Norris walked along the line, checking strap knots and blades on belts, then said dryly:
“Stay close.
More than three meters — not a step.
I won’t save you if you scatter.”
We nodded.
Even Finn was silent.
March
We were given horses — not war mounts, but fast ones.
We mounted and galloped across the morning fields toward the half-ruined city gates.
A messenger ran toward us — young, covered in blood, cloak torn.
“H-half the city’s been retaken…” he rasped.
“But the losses… are huge…”
He wanted to say more, but Norris cut him off:
“Later.
Lead.”
The messenger nodded, and we rushed onward.
The Sight of War
When the distance to the epicenter shrank to forty meters, I saw war up close for the first time.
People died like cut grass.
Spears pierced bodies.
Arrows knocked down entire ranks.
Black demons rolled through the streets, and from somewhere above —
slowly, like a sunset —
a massive fireball fell.
Finn sucked in air convulsively.
Elinia went pale, as if her heart had been torn out.
Beyond a shattered wall, I saw a group of demonic mages:
they stood in a line, moving their hands in sync, creating explosive circles of flame.
Norris didn’t let us freeze:
“INSIDE!
MOVE! NOW!”
We ran under a scorched stone arch — the only shelter.
But it wasn’t shelter for long.
The Wounded
From the opposite street, a squad of fourteen soldiers was running —
and spears were flying into their backs.
Norris barely managed to roar:
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
“WALL!”
I lunged forward, slammed my palm into the ground —
and stone exploded upward, growing into a massive wall that shielded the soldiers.
While spears rattled against the stone, I was already dragging the wounded by their collars into cover.
“Inside! Faster!”
I didn’t think — I acted.
Mana flowed on its own.
Vibration
The ground beneath our feet trembled.
At first barely noticeable, then with a heavy, booming удар.
I understood everything a second before I saw it.
A massive shadow blocked the street.
An ogre.
Four meters tall.
Covered in bony growths.
A club — bigger than me.
Norris ground out:
“Retreat. Immediately.
No heroics.”
But I couldn’t.
The wounded lay nearby, still breathing.
If we left — they would die.
The ogre shook the street with a roar and raised its club.
“ZENHALD, RUN!!!” Norris bellowed.
The air shuddered.
I barely managed to jump aside — the club passed centimeters from my chest, slamming into the pavement and throwing up a cloud of stone dust.
We locked eyes.
The ogre — and me.
And then I got angry.
“Come on, then…”
Ice exploded from beneath my feet, long sharp spears shooting forward, piercing the monster’s feet.
The ogre howled and collapsed to its knees.
I hurled more — stone projectiles, torn chunks of pavement, fragments of walls.
I created ten ice and stone golems — they picked up the wounded and dragged them into cover.
And then…
Impact
Shadow.
A rush.
Pain crushed my chest.
I was thrown aside like a doll.
Black fur flashed through the air, claws, a predatory profile.
A werewolf.
Gigantic.
Faster than the wind.
It struck again — a paw raked across my chest, the air ripped from my lungs, the world twisted.
“ZEN!!!”
Finn’s voice.
“LIVE!!!” Astra screamed.
Finn rushed to me, grabbed my shoulders, covered us with a dome of fire and wind, slamming me into the ground.
“Hold on, hold on… blood… damn it…”
Through the haze, I saw the werewolf being turned into a sieve:
Elinia struck it with wind arrows, Tara slashed at its legs, Siren passed through in a flash of light.
The monster collapsed before it could take another step.
But it was only the first.
Enemy Column
We heard footsteps.
Many footsteps.
When the dust cleared — we froze.
Goblins were advancing down the street.
Not ordinary ones.
Not wild.
But armored.
In formation.
With a clear rhythm.
A metallic march, like a human army.
There were… too many of them.
Finn went pale.
Astra exhaled, pressing her palms to her lips.
Elinia clenched her teeth.
“NORRIS!!!” I shouted.
But he was already behind me.
He grabbed me by the collar like a kitten and threw me toward the squad.
“RUN!!!”
We bolted.
Our legs sank into dust, the air was hot like a furnace.
Norris was reporting to the commander; we caught only fragments:
“…armored…”
“…formation structure…”
“…magical support…”
“…this is a strike wedge, not just a pack!…”
The troops began reshaping the lines.
Forming a wedge.
Preparing to counter.
I stood, clutching my side, pulling the remaining blood back into circulation, stitching tissues together.
When I finished — the others ran up.
“You alive?” Finn asked.
“For a first day… fine,” I muttered.
Elinia was breathing hard:
“Are we… are we really supposed to be here?”
But Silver appeared again, fast as a blow.
“Don’t shake.
You’re not children anymore.
You’ve seen what you can do.
And yes,” — he jabbed a finger into my chest, — “you’re stronger than all those soldiers put together.”
He looked at all of us:
“We flank the enemy.
Go deep.
Target — demonic ranged mages.”
He smiled at the corner of his mouth — predatory, tired:
“If we kill them — the wedge collapses.”
Then he added:
“And I think…
that you
are definitely stronger than half this army.”
We swallowed.
And stepped after him.