I crouched high up in a birch tree, admiring the beautiful, star-spattered sky.

Mountains
rose in the just visible distance- dark shadows that loomed high above the rest of the
world. There was nothing but silence tonight. It was a first. The first in almost eternity
that we could have peace. Silence and peace so we could stay with our thoughts, our
minds, our souls. Images of the hundreds of recruits we had lost years before flooded
my mind. A single tear spilled from my eye, glimmering like a shard of splintered
diamond as the moonlight was reflected off its almost crystalline structure. It appeared
to freeze for no more than a millisecond, then continued its unstoppable death-plunge
towards the earthen ground below. The night was so calm and peaceful... could it stay
like this forever?
A soft wind caressed my dark hair as I listened to the voices of the other recruits in the
base down below, which was quickly hushed. My hood flapped in the wind. A nearby
river splashed against the mossy banks, the only audible sound apart from my own
breathing. A wolf howled in the distance. It was a truly touching sound- a barely audible
whisper that gradually intensified, then faded into nothingness. I sat there, gazing into
the depths of space, all sense of time lost. I did not know how long I spent gazing into
the enchanting, silvery sphere of the full moon. Darkness enveloped me in its soft,
velvety arms as I drifted further and further away from the earth, travelling towards the
lands beyond the stars....
~~~~~~~

Suddenly, a sharp, rancid scent snapped me back to reality. A deafening bang cut
through the still air. I turned around and saw a bright flash of an orangey-red. I gagged
as the thick, choking smoke engulfed the tree I had been sitting in. My eyes watered as
the stinging smoke got to them, and waves of heat brushed against my face. The ground
insufficiently cushioned my fall as I leapt down from the tree. Just in time. I watched in
horror as the tree went up in flames. Within seconds, it was nothing but a smouldering
twig poking upwards from the ground.
A loud siren blared as dozens of tired, sleepy recruits dragged themselves out of their
beds, clumsily pulling on clothing and pieces of armor. Weapons clattered against the
steel bars of the rack as the sleep-deprived recruits fumbled with the iron chains around
the bars of the rack. I turned back towards the blazing fire. An enormous hole had
opened up in the southern wall- the thickest (approximately 2.5m thick) and best
defended. Fear set in as I approached the crumbling wall. Rubble was strewn about
everywhere.
'No... not again... not so soon!' I thought as I drew my titanium dagger from its
sheath.....
I blinked as the intense heat scorched my cheeks. Dark, wraith-like shadows moved
about in the burning flames. They were advancing slowly; dark red, tentacled creatures
with gaping red-black mouths. They were here again. And so soon as well. It had barely
been a few days and they were back again. The peace that all the recruits had been
looking forward to so much had been shattered in mere moments. Panicked shouting
arose from the mob of recruits as their worst nightmares materialized before their eyes.
The chains finally gave way to the dozens of hands pulling at it. A frantic clattering could
be heard as everyone struggled to get their own weapons. Something shoved me from
behind, knocking the breath out of my lungs as I hit the ground. I watched as my dagger
flew out of my hand. Time seemed to slow as it buried its point into the earth a few feet
away.
Firelight glanced off iron blades, sending beams in every direction. Sounds of metal-onmetal reached my ears, although I did not care about that now. Without a weapon, I was

as vulnerable as a turtle out of its shell. The gleaming hilt of my dagger was tempting,
since it was far closer than the scythe. But I knew it would not offer me much protection.
I looked up. Moonlight illuminated the polished blade of my obsidian scythe. That single
flash ignited a spark of hope. I managed to stand up, then make my way to the rack,
albeit slowly and rather off-balanced-ly. 'There was something different about those
squids in the flames than those we had fought before. Something... something that I
just could not make into a complete thought'... I reached for it, barely managing to grab
hold of the wolf-pelt encased handle before the relentless waves of the nightmare-ish
creatures were upon me.
The unseeing pitch black eyes, surrounded by a large expanse of white (the pupils
appeared terrifyingly small in contrast). Their eyes were crazed (if they even did still
have them, since many had theirs ripped out, leaving gaping, bleeding pits), like those
of one put through 30 sleepless nights, yet forced to stay awake. They were covered in a
dark red, soft, yet leathery skin and the long, slimy tentacles grasped onto any poor
recruit that came into their reach. A putrid scent wafted out from the squids. The
mindless and rotting corpses had no heart- they were not alive... nor were they dead.
They were zombies, yet much worse. Much, much worse. A faint groaning could be
heard as they swayed. The squids had torn skin in patches that hung off in thin strips,
exposing the bone-white flesh beneath. Blue blood-like liquid oozed from these wounds,
slowly dripping onto the floor, hissing as it came into contact with the rough earth. They
were the perfect painting of creatures from the very foundations of hell.
A blood-chilling scream laced the air. I turned my head slowly and watched with growing
horror as a young recruit was strangled by the tentacles. The liquid burnt holes in her
clothes and skin; whichever it came in contact with as she attempted to slash them
apart. It was stronger than any acid I had ever seen or encountered. Squids with half
their bodies cut away roamed the grounds, dissolving everything in their path. I gasped
for air as the mass of tentacles slithered over me, completely obscuring my sight. The
handle slipped out of my hands and into the slimy lump.
I felt myself slipping further and further into darkness as the weight on top of my chest
increased, each and every breath drawing in less air. A burning sensation flowed through
my entire arm as I reached for my scythe. Then I went limp as the number of squids
doubled.
'Would this be the end? The end for all of us?'