The archers hesitated. For a split second, they looked at each other, waiting for a punchline to a joke they didn’t understand. But my voice had a jagged, frantic edge to it—the sound of a man who had already felt his lungs fill with blood.

  “Fire!” I screamed again.

  Two arrows hissed into the gloom. One vanished into the pines, but the second found a mark.

  A sound tore through the night—a high-pitched, vibrating shriek that was half-human, half-violating static. A pale shape rolled out of the shadows, thumping onto the snow fifty yards away. It wasn’t a man. It was a mass of white, translucent flesh, clutching an arrow that had pierced its elongated thigh.

  The camp went cold. Joric’s hand froze on his whetstone. The resentment in his eyes died instantly, replaced by a wide, glassy terror.

  “What in the hell is that?” Leo whispered, his voice cracking.

  “Don’t look at it!” I commanded, drawing my longsword. “Eyes on the perimeter! They don’t come alone!”

  The open Basin, which the men had mocked an hour ago, was now our only salvation. Because there were no trees to hide in, the demons had to sprint. And they were coming—dozens of them, silhouettes blurring against the white snow like ink drops in water.

  “Shield wall!” I roared. “Circle formation! Lady in the center!”

  The Iron Guard moved. The sound of twenty shields locking together was the only thing that kept my heart from jumping out of my chest. I assigned Lady Elena as her bodyguard as we formed a ring of steel around Lady Elara and the horses.

  “Here they come!” Sir Marcelle yelled.

  The first wave hit like a tidal wave of muscle and bone. These things didn’t fight like soldiers; they threw themselves at our shields with suicidal ferocity. I felt the impact of a body slamming into my shield, the force nearly snapping my collarbone.

  “Hold!” I leaned my weight into the wood. “Thrust your swords between the gaps! Aim for the joints!”

  Beside me, Joric was a whirlwind of steel. He was a natural talent, but I could see his hands shaking. He stabbed a creature that was trying to climb over the shield wall.

  ‘‘ there were no sighting of demons in the North for decades!” Joric choked out, his voice rising in panic. “Are they invading us? ”

  “Leave the question for later !” I barked, hacking at a pale limb that tried to grab my helmet. “For now we must get out of here alive ! Kill everything that comes your way !”

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  The battle was a chaotic blur of silver armor and white flesh.

  We were winning—or at least, we weren’t dying yet. For the first time in four loops, the snow wasn’t immediately stained with the blood of my men.

  We cut some of them down.

  For the first time I saw them bleed and we kill some of them.

  It felt like we could somehow predict their movements. Probably due to us being cut down by them but I was right to have decided to fight them in the open.

  But then, the whistling started.

  It came from the dark, behind the first wave of monsters. A low, melodic tune that sounded like a lullaby. The demons stopped their assault, retreating just out of sword’s reach. They stood in the dark, their pale bodies panting, their black eyes fixed on us.

  “Why did they stop?” Leo panted, his shield sagging.

  “Stay in formation!” I warned. “Don’t break the circle!”

  From the darkness, a figure stepped forward. It wasn’t a pale monster. It was a man in North man’s armor. It was Sir Valen—the scout we had sent ahead two hours ago. He looked weary.

  “Captain!” he shouted, waving his hand as he reached on his horse. “I found a way around! There’s a cave to the east! We can hole up there! Open the line!”

  seeing as the creature didn’t came back. It was a chance to find a better ground to defend.

  ‘‘On your horse! We must reach that cave before the monsters come back at us!’’ I barked as I jump on my horse’s back with the Young Duchess behind me.

  ‘‘Young Lady you come with me! We will come for carriage later.’’

  The knights immediately followed suite and we started a desperate scramble towards the said cave. We did good to move as the creatures started to chase us down.

  ‘‘ Ride shoulder to shoulder! The demons are after!’’ yelled sir Joric to the scared knights.

  One of the monster gained on us and launched his talons toward an inexperienced knight but fortunately sir Valen parried the blow with his sword.

  “ Watch your flank! Is the cave still far?” I screamed.

  “A few minutes away. I inspected it thoroughly and it is spacious enough for the horses!”

  The moral of the knights rose they saw a chance for us to survive the night and for us escape the cold.

  A snowstorm started to fall on us. It unexpectedly helped us creating a gap behind us and the creatures.

  Soon reach the cave and fortified the entrance. The cave open to large dome like space with a smaller second chamber deep inside. We wouldn’t succumb to the cold either.

  “What do we do if we survive the night?” suddenly demanded Ser Joric.

  Without looking away from the freezing emptiness of the cold valley in front of the cave I replied

  “We are too far from the duchy to go back and despite the ferocity of these wicked things, the duchy is not at risk!”

  All the men looked at me their doubts long gone. A heavy silence fell on the group as they reflected on what we went through.

  “The young Lady has been summoned to the capital so we cannot just forget about our duty!”

  Fortunately this time we manage to survive the night without any death.

  I decided to have a meeting with my trusted men and Lady Elara. So that they know what really happened.

  “I have an ability that let me reset the time if I die and keep the knowledge of what happened to me.”Elara said.

  The shock could be read on the faces of Sir Marcelle, Sir Joric, Sir Valen, sir Gareth and Lady Elena the medic of the Iron Guard and the only female knight of the Duchy.

  ‘‘The young lady is right!’’ I said abruptly. ‘‘All of us here have already died to these creatures multiple time!’’.