The endless sea of black-armored soldiers advanced toward the walls, forming vast lines as they scaled the ladders.
One after another, the ladders were set against our defenses, and we could do nothing but watch in terror as the enemy slowly overtook the walls.
It's over…
My grip tightened on the hilt of my blade, my teeth grinding together.
Bastards...
As if it wasn't enough that they began conquering our kingdom, now they're taking our fortresses—the only barrier preventing them from reaching the heart of our land.
And for what?
We never provoked them.
They're taking everything from us.
My vision blurred with rage as I focused on the ladder nearest to me.
I knew I was holding Jamie, but for a brief moment, I let go and reached for the ladder, gripping it tightly.
"…Doy…le, it's cold."
I heard Jamie say something, but in the chaos, I wasn't sure what he said.
Its weight was immense, and even as I pushed with all my strength, it took every ounce of effort just to set it in motion.
There were already soldiers climbing up, a blade already pointed at me the soldier on the top, desperate to stop me.
"Bastards without a shred of honor! I hope to meet you all in the afterlife so I can kill you again!"
I screamed at the top of my lungs as I shoved against the ladder.
The soldier on the top swung his blade.
"ARGH!"
I gritted my teeth, blood gushing from my hand as the iron blade tore into my skin, mustering all my strength to push the ladder back.
It wavered, suspended for a moment in midair, before the weight of the soldiers dragged it backward, sending them plunging to their deaths.
Their screams were barely audible to me, my ears were still ringing.
One down!
But there was no time for satisfaction, no space for triumph. I didn't even glance down—I knew all that awaited me was the sight of their broken bodies.
I wanted to tell myself that I found no joy in their deaths… but I would have been lying, as I looked around on the top of the wall, the only color I saw was red…
The iron-like smell of blood made me retch, just that sight… just that stench was enough for me to gloat from the death of my enemies…
I felt myself becoming a monster.
"Jamie!"
I spun around to see him lying motionless on the ground, his strength completely drained.
His face was pressed against the cold stone floor, now dusted with snowflakes falling softly from the sky, covering one of my last remaining friends in a cold, icy shroud.
"Get up, Jamie! The bastion's not far—get up!"
I yelled, desperation seeping into my voice, but he didn't respond. His eyes were open, but there was no life behind them. He was just... a shell.
"No, no, no, no… NO!"
I refused to let him die here. The bastion was close—so close.
"Get up, Jamie, GET UP!"
My muscles screamed from exhaustion, my body was barely under my control, but I wasn't about to give up.
I pulled Jamie up from the ground, wrapping my arms around his neck, and started to move again.
He was heavy, towering over me. Thankfully, he only wore chain mail—otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to lift him.
"Come on, don't give up on me, not yet!"
I muttered, but the words were just the desperate ramblings of a madman. Jamie didn't answer, didn't even move, but I knew—I had to believe—that he was still alive.
He had to be.
His life couldn't end here. He had told me so much about home... about his family. He had someone to return to, a son to raise.
He couldn't just die here.
"Don't you dare give up on me, you bastard! You promised to introduce me to your family, how am I going to woo your wife away from you like this?!"
I shouted, tightening my grip on him as we trudged closer to the bastion. Each step became harder than the last, my legs feeling like lead, but I couldn't let go.
Not now. Not after seeing so many die...
As I glanced around the nearly 10-meter-wide wall, it felt like a graveyard. Bodies littered every inch, scattered like broken toys.
Some were crushed beneath the stones hurled by enemy catapults, others pierced by the relentless swarms of arrows that had blackened the sky.
That was the first strike—the moment I lost most of my friends, my brothers and sisters. I never got the chance to say goodbye. Grief and rage were the only things that stayed with me.
But Jamie was still here, still with me. I couldn't let him die, not now.
"Come on, fight! Don't leave me alone, you dumb bastard!" I wanted to scream, but my throat was raw, the cold and constant shouting pushing me to my limits.
All I had left was fury and grief, burning in my veins like fire.
"Come on!"
I dragged his limp body across the wall, stumbling over corpses and gaps where the stone had crumbled away.
We were so close now, I couldn't give up, not when I could see it.
Only 125 meters... not far at all.
The bastion loomed before me, just within reach, but it felt impossibly distant as if the weight of the world stood between me and that sanctuary.
My legs felt like they weighed tons, every step a battle of its own. I could feel the veins on my forehead throbbing, straining as I forced myself forward.
Please!
Please, God, just let us reach the bastion.
It's so close, so damn close.
I was never one for religion, but in my darkest moments, I found myself praying, hoping there was something—anything—greater than this horror.
I wanted to believe... to believe that this struggle had meaning, that there was still light beyond the endless night, that we could live to see another dawn.
"Jamie, listen to me, the bastion is close now."
I called out to him again, desperation clawing at my voice. Still, nothing. Just the silence of his limp body in my arms as I dragged him along.
Every step being heavier than the last.
But then, my heart froze.
More ladders—too many of them—began to rise along the wall beside us, enemies swarming up faster than I could possibly fend off.
I couldn't push them back like before; even that had nearly drained me. And I couldn't leave Jamie behind. Not again!
"Come on, you bastard!"
I shouted, my voice breaking with the strain, bloodshot eyes burning as I held back tears. My throat throbbed from the pain of it all, from the screams that begged to escape.
"Please... just let us reach the bastion."
My prayers were answered with mockery as I saw heads emerge along the side of the wall.
The enemy was swarming us from the left, while Jamie's weight dragged me down on the right.
Even God was against us…
There was no light at the end of this tunnel.
We weren't worthy of seeing the dawn—only to be swallowed by the cold, suffocating darkness of the night.
Forget spring, the biting chill of winter would be our final embrace.
Grasping my short sword tightly in my left hand, I kept dragging Jamie forward, step by agonizing step toward the bastion.
More heads popped up with each passing moment, the enemy climbing the wall faster than I could count.
One or two had already leaped from the ladders onto the floor, their boots hitting the stone with a sickening thud.
The battle was coming to me whether I wanted it or not.
But I couldn't put down Jamie's body, not again.
I already regretted leaving him once; his body heat was dangerously low as it was.
I tried to ignore the enemy soldiers for as long as I could, stumbling closer to the bastion, even as their shouts echoed in a foreign tongue.
I could feel the warm breath of the reaper creeping up the back of my neck.
Clenching my short sword tighter, I raised it just in time to parry a strike aimed at my head.
The enemy's blade was strange—curved, slim, and sharp on only one side, unlike anything I had ever faced before.
I unleashed a desperate thrust, but the heavy armor of my attacker absorbed the blow effortlessly.
My sword barely made a dent. Instead, the armored soldier rammed into me, knocking me to the ground.
"Jamie!"
I screamed as his limp body collapsed beside me, landing in a pool of blood, a mix of his own and that of our fallen comrades.
Before I could react, another soldier rushed forward. One pinned me to the ground, his weight crushing my chest, while the other raised his blade, preparing to finish us both.
But not me first.
"No… no, no, no! Wait! Come at me, you cowardly bastard! I'm your opponent!"
They ignored my cries. Instead, I was met with a brutal strike to the mouth from an iron gauntlet.
Blood filled my mouth as I struggled, powerless.
I fumbled desperately for my dagger, feeling the blade inching ever closer to Jamie's neck.
Bam!
Another strike slammed into my face, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, but my hand finally found the hilt of my dagger.
With a surge of desperation, I drove it into the visor of the knight pinning me down.
His scream pierced the air as he toppled backward, writhing on the ground like a wounded animal.
But then, amidst the chaos, another sound cut through the battle—the unmistakable slice of steel through flesh. My heart sank.
I turned, my vision swimming in shock, just in time to see Jamie's head roll lifelessly to the blood-soaked ground.
"Jamie?"
The world around me spun violently, soldiers closing in as I struggled to stand. Everything blurred together, a whirlwind of chaos and despair swirling in the icy air.
I felt my vision blur even harder.
I was on the verge of puking out my guts.
But just before that happened, something strange flashed up before my eyes.
It was blue and it was shining.
'What is that thing?'