The Dawn of the New World

The guards looked at each other only for a moment before shaking their heads in unison.

"Go back to what? We will only be burdens to them," the first guard chuckled. He was a burly man with a bushy beard that came down to his chest.

The second guard was a scrawny-looking youngster barely in his twenties. He gestured towards the window where Wern was standing, "And it's not like we can escape. Even if there was a way to outrun these weaker ones their master would still catch up to us."

Wern still held some hope but upon hearing of the 'master' his expression became dull.

"You're right...I forgot about them..." he peered out of the window towards a lone figure that was standing almost a hundred meters.

Unlike any of the others it was calmly watching from afar.

"It's toying with us," Wern whispered, "Waiting for us to get tired and let our guard down."

The guards could only agree with him. They had all seen how it operated, and worst of all-

"It's not alone. They are never alone. For every single one that we see there are at least a couple more hiding in the shadows somewhere."

"Yeah but...why? Why don't they just kill us and get it over with? If they all came together we would never be able to stop them," the younger guard questioned their motives which only made Wern scoff in contempt.

"Because there is no fun in that. They are toying with us...they're demons, that's what they do. Watching us slowly break down from the inside out, they like to see us struggle needlessly."

His expression turned uglier and uglier the more he spoke until all he could see was red.

"I've already lost everyone I cared about, I don't care anymore. I am not going to play their little games."

"....What do you want to do?" the bearded guard inquired. They were in the same boat as him.

Their world was all but gone, overrun by demons, unknown monsters, and invaders from another world. Whatever duty they still had had long since been over.

Wern picked up his longbow with one hand and withdrew another three arrows with the other, "I don't want to run anymore. We take the fight to them and die with honor...like real men!"

The bearded guard silently signaled to the scrawny one and they both began moving towards him, "That's...good enough for us."

But when they stood behind him their expressions suddenly turned ugly just as their spears were thrust forward with full force.

In one fell swoop a spear pierced Wern through the abdomen and the other through his chest. And since he had his back turned to them there was no way he could defend against such an unexpected attack.

Dumbfounded, he looked down at his body which had a couple of new holes in it now. He could see the speartips poking out of his skin and feel the sharp metal grinding against his ribcage.

Every breath sent waves of unbearable pain throughout his body but what hurt him the most were not the wounds but this act of betrayal.

"W-Why? I am...on your side... why do this...?" he muttered hoarsely, throwing up a mouthful of hot blood in the process.

The bearded guard spat at Wern's feet, "Phthew! Same side?! You did this to us, your fucking people! Everything was fine before you showed up. We lived simple but fulfilling lives and look at us now...there is nothing left...no one..."

But when he looked at Wern the sorrow was swiftly replaced with a mix of anger and viciousness, "But no more. We refuse to die in a war that you people started. We will live...even if it means joining hands with the devil."

Hearing their plan Wern tried to pull himself free but the guards twisted the spears further into his body completely impaling him through and through.

"Argh!" he fell to his knees, "You fools! You cant make a deal with a demon! Are you really...willing to surrender your souls?! You can't trust them!"

"No, but if we offer you in exchange for our lives then there is a chance," the scrawny one nervously replied before kicking Wern out of the window, "This is the least you can do after everything you have done to our world!"

All the creatures that were trying to get to them a second ago froze wherever they were. They looked at Wern and then at the guards in the window trying to figure it out.

The bearded guard leaned forward and shouted at the top of his lungs, "TAKE HIM AND LET US LEAVE! WE WILL BRING YOU EVEN MORE OF HIS KIND IN A FEW HOURS!"

The lanky figure standing in the distance jumped down and slowly made its way towards them. Its appearance became clear when it was just over 10 meters away.