Lyki regained consciousness to the sound of Reef’s frantic shouting. Both he and Oscar struggled to find their footing, their bodies still reeling from the immense pressure of the arcane shockwave that lingered in the scorched air.

  "Hurry! This way!!!" Reef bellowed, waving them over. Lyki moved in a half-run, a persistent high-pitched ringing buzzing in his ears like a thousand hornets. They scrambled after Reef until they reached the thicket where their horses were tethered.

  "Are you two alright?" Reef asked, his fingers flying as he untied the reins with practiced urgency.

  "I'm... I'm okay," Lyki managed to mutter, though his vision remained blurred. Reef handed them a waterskin; the icy water splashed against Lyki’s face, snapping his wandering mind back to the grim reality.

  A thunderous roar erupted behind them, closer than before. It wasn’t the cry of any beast they knew—it was the bloodthirsty howl of something crawled out of an abyss. Reef leaped onto the back of Oscar’s horse, while Lyki hauled himself into his saddle, flanking them as they spurred their mounts into a gallop.

  "Lyki... to the left..." The mysterious whisper echoed in his mind again. It wasn’t a shout, but a cold, commanding murmur that pierced through the frantic rhythmic beat of galloping hooves. "Go left, now! Do not look back!"

  "To the left! Oscar, break left, now!" Lyki roared with a sudden, inexplicable certainty.

  "Are you insane? The forest exit is straight ahead! We have to regroup with Titania!" Oscar shouted back, struggling to keep his horse on the main path. But Lyki didn’t waver; his eyes burned with a newfound intensity. "There’s no time to explain! Just trust me, just this once!"

  With death nipping at their heels, Oscar made a split-second decision and jerked the reins to the left. Just as they veered into the thick brambles, a colossal shadow erupted from the earth exactly where they would have been a second later. It was a mass of mist coiling into a shape—a demonic hand reaching out to claim its prey.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "What in the gods' name was that!" Oscar yelled, his face draining of color.

  "Doesn't matter! Just get away from it!" Reef cried out. He swept his hand through the air, chanting a swift incantation. A burst of light, brilliant as a miniature sun, exploded outward. The shadow shrieked and recoiled in agony, buying them the precious seconds needed to escape the blighted zone.

  "Thank you, Lyki! Otherwise, I’d be sharing a drink with my ancestors by now," Oscar gasped, his voice thick with relief even as cold sweat drenched his back.

  "How did you know, Lyki? How did you know something was waiting for us?" Reef asked, his expression grim. The look he gave Lyki was heavy with questions that Lyki himself couldn't answer.

  "I... I don't know. A voice just told me. It felt like... instinct," Lyki stammered, his hands still trembling against the reins.

  Before the confusion could settle, a chorus of guttural roars from the Orcs brought the terrifying reality back into focus. The sound rippled through the Onis forest, as if the very trees were screaming in warning.

  "They aren't just a raiding party... there's a whole army behind us!" Oscar’s panic was palpable. "Faster! The edge of the forest is just ahead! Yah!!!"

  Minutes later, the three of them thundered into the temporary camp at the foot of the mountain. The atmosphere was thick with tension; soldiers were already drawing steel, alerted by the unnatural echoes from above.

  "Commander Titania! Commander Titania!" Oscar shouted at the top of his lungs.

  "Report, Oscar," the Commander said, stepping out from her pavilion. She was a vision of lethal calm amidst the brewing storm.

  "Orcs... a massive force is descending from the peak!" Oscar reported, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

  "Orcs?" Titania’s brow furrowed, her eyes flashing with a mix of disbelief and calculation. "They haven't been seen in our history for centuries. Are you certain your eyes didn't deceive you?"

  "I saw them clearly, Commander. They are massive—driven by a madness far beyond any human!"

  "Reef and I can confirm it," Lyki added, his voice steadying.

  At that moment, a fresh wave of roars shook the very foundations of the mountain. The vibration was so powerful that flocks of birds took flight in a panic, and even the warhorses began to rear and neigh in terror.

  "A hundred... two hundred... perhaps more," Titania mused, her gaze sharp as she assessed the wind and the encroaching sounds.

  "Then... we stand and fight, right?" Lyki asked, his blood pumping. The adrenaline from their narrow escape had transformed into a fierce warrior’s spirit; he wanted to prove himself.

  "No," the Commander replied, her voice short and absolute.

  "Listen to me, Lyki. First, we do not know the enemy's true numbers or their capabilities. Fighting an unknown foe in the dark is suicide. Second, this camp is too exposed; we would be flanked in minutes. I am a Commander—my duty is not to throw lives away to prove bravery, but to secure victory with the least blood shed."

  Titania’s words felt like a splash of cold water. Lyki’s bravado vanished, replaced by a stinging realization of his own naivety. He saw then the chasm between a 'warrior' who seeks glory and a 'Commander' who carries the weight of lives on her shoulders.

  The signal for retreat blared through the camp. The Gelf soldiers moved with lethal efficiency—no questions, no hesitation, only the rhythmic clatter of armor and decisive orders. Titania mounted her horse and led the vanguard, galloping down the mountain toward Nefia Village... the place where the true war was about to begin