The group made it back to the settlement just as night fell, their faces pale and their breaths still uneven.
The loss of Doran hung over them like a storm cloud. They had barely escaped, and worse—they still had no idea what they were dealing with.
Leon knew one thing for sure. Their settlement wasn't safe.
As the gate of the wooden palisade shut behind them, Garrick turned to him. "We need to talk."
Leon nodded, leading him toward the Lord's Mansion.
---
Inside the mansion, Leon pulled up the system interface, his mind racing.
If those creatures attacked… could the settlement hold?
---
[Defensive Structures Available for Construction]
Watchtowers (50 Logs, 25 Stone each) – Provides early warnings of enemy approach.
Traps (10 Iron, 10 Wood per set) – Slows down and injures enemies.
Reinforced Gate (100 Logs, 30 Iron) – Strengthens the entrance against attacks.
---
Leon exhaled sharply. They needed these. Now.
"Garrick, I want watchtowers built immediately. One on each side of the settlement."
Garrick nodded. "Agreed. We need a warning system."
"And we're setting traps. If those things try to come close, I want them bleeding before they reach the walls."
Garrick smirked. "Now you're thinking like a lord."
---
With defensive plans in motion, Leon turned to the second issue—the ruins.
That abandoned outpost east of their settlement had been there since the start, yet he hadn't explored it. Now, with the presence of those creatures, he needed answers.
If there was anything left from the previous inhabitants of this land, it was there.
The next morning, Leon, Garrick, and a new scouting team set out.
The journey was uneventful at first, but as they neared the ruins, a foul stench filled the air.
The outpost was little more than a crumbling stone structure, half-buried in vines and decay. Time had not been kind to it.
Leon stepped forward cautiously, his sword drawn. The ground beneath his boots was littered with bones.
Human bones.
Garrick muttered a curse. "Well, that's not a good sign."
---
Leon pushed open the rotting wooden door of what remained of the outpost's main hall. Dust and debris coated the floor, but something else caught his eye—
A skeleton, slumped against the wall, clutching a rusted sword.
And beside it, a faded leather-bound book.
Leon crouched, prying the book from stiff fingers. The cover had nearly disintegrated, but as he flipped it open, the first page was still readable.
Scrawled in shaky, desperate handwriting, it read:
---
"To whoever finds this… We were not the first. We will not be the last. They come at night. They take us one by one. If you still draw breath, leave this place. The darkness belongs to them."
---
Leon felt a chill crawl up his spine.
He slowly closed the book, standing up.
This settlement… This land…
They were living on a graveyard.
-