On a quiet brick road, Zach Alfred who was exploring the place with a lantern in his left hand was yawning from sleepiness.
He would occasionally wipe his gray eyes and let his black hair wither in the cold wind.
Occasionally he would look around to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary. This is his job as a Gate Keeper.
Apart from guarding the city's main gate, He would also occasionally go around monitoring the city's condition. But it won't be farther than the main Gate.
The city of Obsidia was surrounded by a wall almost 10 meters high, with a large gate for people to enter and leave. The Gate Keeper's main job is to keep an eye on people entering or leaving the city.
It was because of some danger from the mountain bandits that might enter the city. Even the occasional pirate would be seen on land just to wreak havoc on the town.
As the moon hung high, Zach who returned to the gate with obvious eye bags slightly bent his back as he walked leisurely.
"...Somehow I feel sorry for shortening my time off..." Zach complained softly.
When a small light from the fireplace came into the eye, Zach hastened his pace. The wall that was previously only seen as a silhouette because of the darkness of the night is now clearly visible.
It stands firm with a bit of moss that spreads on several sides. The huge heavy iron gate with two sides of the door opened wide.
On the side there is a fireplace with a little steaming smoke. Zach approached and joined two of his fellow Gate Keepers there.
It was Ben Stilford and Kyle Fiona. The first is wearing a dark blue outfit with a bullet mark on his back the same as Zach and the other is a blonde haired woman with dim amber eyes.
"How was it?" Ben opened the conversation when Zach lowered the lantern and sat beside him.
"Nothing in particular" Zach thrust his palms toward the fireplace to warm himself.
"You look like a living corpse..." Kyle scoffed at the sight of his best friend yawning over time.
"..." Zach didn't say anything as his gaze stayed on the fireplace.
At that time Ben chuckled, "Haha, it's his own fault. The captain gave him time off and shortened it instead..."
Zach sighed as if to clear his thoughts. The regret was clear on his face as he said, "I didn't expect it to be this bad..."
"I'm surprised Emma allowed you to go back to work" Kyle slightly frowned.
"Even if she doesn't agree, I'm not sure if she will say it directly. It's also quite wrong to let She marry Zach"
Kyle nodded in agreement. Meanwhile Zach was yawning again.
"Where's Vilion?" Zach asked not seeing any of his comrades.
Kyle pointed at the top of the wall. There is a special wooden ladder that can be used to climb up the wall. To oversee something is indeed better from above.
As his eyes became heavy, sparks of red liquid flew through the air. Zach lost his focus as he blinked back to his senses.
He glanced in all directions before yawning again.
"You look like a living corpse..." Kyle's soft voice was heard.
Again Zach said nothing.
Then with a slightly muffled voice, Ben chuckled, "Haha, it's his own fault. The captain gave him time off and shortened it instead.."
Zach felt something strange frowning. Staring at his two comrades thinking they were joking. They've had that conversation before.
Then Kyle said again "I'm surprised Emma allowed you to go back to work" Her words echoed in Zach's head, as if carrying a strange familiar feeling.
"What are you doing?" Zach couldn't help but say that to stop the jokes of his two colleagues.
Instead, it was Ben and Kyle who gave Zach strange looks. "Sitting by the fireplace?" Ben answered with a confused face. The response was what he was doing at the moment.
Zach felt this strangeness continue when he saw the confused expressions of his two comrades.
It wasn't until a moment later that a black shadow was cast as the glint of a rusty sword swept through the air, in the second blink Ben Stilford was hanging over the wall with the rusty sword at his neck!
Zach held his breath in confusion and shock. After turning to the side, red blood flowed under his feet, slowly soaking his black shoes.
Tracing the origin of the blood, Zach saw Kyle lying with the arrows, some of the feathers had fallen out. The scarlet blood reflected the dark black figure, the shadows and the smoke billowed into a single entity together with the beautiful moon.
Zach looked up only to realize that the figure in front of him was a shadowy creature he had only seen in history books!
It had a tall body with red eyes that burned like burning coals. it The gaping mouth reveals depth endless darkness.
Zach couldn't give any additional reaction as the smoke extended like an arm and penetrated his chest!
"Astral?" Zach was mulling over this word in his mind without noticing that fresh blood was coming out of his mouth and his chest was pierced by black shadows.
Zach regained his previously delayed reaction and flusteredly screamed out in unimaginable pain.
"Aaaaah" Zach was slowly picked up by the shadow creature suspected of being Astral.
As the pain centered, Zach slowly lost consciousness without being able to put up a fight. At the same time that figure destroys Zach's Heart!
In his last resigned blink, he noticed something strange. The aching feeling in his chest was momentarily ephemeral as it left behind a strange sensation.
The situation in his surroundings changed in an instant. It was a slightly dark environment, he broke out in cold sweat as he gripped the collar of his nightgown.
The environment he saw now was his room!
Zach panted hard as he tried to stay calm. He glanced sideways only to see his wife, Emma, who was fast asleep.
"Dream?" Zach who was still in a daze without being able to shake off the sensation of pain he was feeling swallowed his own saliva.
"No, it feels so real..."
Without caring about other things, he got off the bed which was decorated around him by roses, he hobbled to the bathroom.
Washing face and regaining his righteous thoughts. Looking into the full body mirror, he saw his own reflection. His hair was disheveled but withered, his eyes gray and deep as if they had a hidden side. His lips would tremble every now and then.
His eyes showed obvious tiredness. It was clearly him. He didn't find anything else out of the ordinary when he calmed himself down.
After washing his face and taking a sip of water, Zach returned to the room and glanced at the clock on the wall. It shows 1 am. "I had a bad dream after sleeping for two hours..."
Without waking Emma, Zach went back to bed. Pulling the blanket and covering most of his body as he felt Emma's hand to hold.
The moment his mind was adrift, even though the sensation had disappeared, the memories in his mind were still vividly engraved. This makes it difficult to fall asleep again.
He held Emma's hand as he tried to close his eyes. Thinking of different things to forget the strange dream. Until he finally fell asleep.