Chapter 116: The Village on the Ridge
The first creature reached the bottom of the hill.
It stopped.
Its head lowered.
Then it charged.
Kael stepped forward.
"Hold the line."
The soldiers formed ranks across the village road.
Behind them, villagers rushed into their homes, pulling children and the elderly inside.
The creature came faster.
Its claws tore through the dirt with every stride.
Kael waited.
Ten steps.
Eight.
Six.
The creature opened its jaws.
Kael moved.
Ice spread beneath his boots.
He slid forward instead of backward.
The creature’s claws swept through the space where his chest had been.
Kael twisted beneath the attack.
His sword flashed upward.
CRACK!
Ice formed along the blade as it struck the creature beneath the jaw.
The monster staggered.
Kael didn’t give it time to recover.
He stepped onto a thin sheet of ice and launched himself upward.
His body turned in the air.
He brought the sword down with both hands.
The blade struck the creature’s shoulder.
It crashed to the ground.
Kael landed beside it.
The creature tried to rise.
He drove his sword through its chest.
The body went still.
Kael pulled the blade free.
He barely had time to breathe.
Another creature was already coming.
"Left!"
Lyra shouted.
Kael turned.
One of the monsters had broken through the soldiers.
A young soldier raised his shield.
The creature struck.
BOOM!
The soldier was thrown backward.
Kael moved.
Ice erupted from the ground between them.
The creature’s front legs froze.
Kael rushed in.
His sword struck once.
Twice.
The third blow severed the creature’s horn.
It screamed.
Kael stepped inside its reach.
His shoulder slammed into its chest.
Blood power surged through his body.
His strength increased.
He drove his fist into its ribs.
The creature flew several feet backward.
It crashed into a wooden fence.
Kael followed.
The monster swung wildly.
Kael ducked.
Its claw passed over his head.
He caught its wrist.
Ice spread across its arm.
The creature tried to pull away.
Kael tightened his grip.
"Stay."
The ice climbed toward its shoulder.
Then Kael drove his sword through its frozen chest.
The creature collapsed.
Behind him, another roar shook the village.
Kael turned.
There were still six.
And the soldiers were struggling.
"Lyra!"
"I’m handling them!"
She stepped between two creatures.
Her blade struck the first across the face.
The second attacked from behind.
A soldier intercepted it with his shield.
The impact sent him to one knee.
Lyra spun.
Her weapon cut across the creature’s throat.
It fell.
"Get up!" she shouted.
The soldier rose.
"I’ve got it!"
Kael looked across the battlefield.
They were winning.
But something bothered him.
The creatures weren’t fighting like animals.
They weren’t attacking randomly.
They kept trying to push through the village.
Not toward the people.
Not toward the soldiers.
Toward the well.
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
"Torren!"
Torren turned.
"The well!"
Torren looked toward it.
Two creatures were moving in that direction.
"Keep them away!"
Kael ran.
Ice formed beneath his feet.
He accelerated down the road.
One creature reached the well.
Kael slammed into it from the side.
The creature flew across the ground.
It rolled several times before crashing into a stone wall.
The second creature lunged toward the well.
Kael threw his hand forward.
A wall of ice erupted from the earth.
The monster slammed into it.
Kael breathed heavily.
The creature slowly stood.
Its eyes remained fixed on the well.
Not him.
Not the villagers.
The well.
Kael looked at the creature.
Then at the water.
His expression changed.
"What are you trying to reach?"
The creature roared.
Kael’s blood power stirred.
For a brief moment, his night aura flickered around his body.
The creature stopped.
Its pupils contracted.
It took one step backward.
Kael noticed.
"You recognize that?"
The monster turned.
It ran.
Kael stared.
The creature wasn’t fleeing from him.
It was fleeing from something else.
Then the ground beneath the well shook.
BOOM.
Stone cracked.
The villagers screamed.
Kael turned.
A thin line split across the ground.
It ran from the well toward the northern road.
Then another.
Then another.
The earth trembled.
Torren shouted:
"Kael!"
Kael looked toward him.
"The water!"
The well began overflowing.
Water poured over the stone rim.
It wasn’t clear anymore.
It had turned dark.
Almost black.
Kael’s expression hardened.
The creatures suddenly stopped attacking.
All of them looked toward the well.
For a few seconds, the entire village became silent.
Then every creature turned toward the mountains.
And ran.
Kael watched them disappear into the darkness.
Nobody chased them.
There was no need.
Something had frightened them.
Something beneath the village.
Something connected to the water.
Kael approached the well.
He didn’t touch it.
The system appeared.
[Unknown energy detected.]
A second message followed.
[Energy signature recognized.]
Kael’s eyes widened.
The same energy.
The chamber beneath the river.
He stepped backward.
"Everyone away from the well."
The soldiers immediately obeyed.
The villagers moved farther back.
The ground shook again.
This time, the crack beneath Kael’s feet widened.
A deep sound rose from beneath the earth.
Not a roar.
Not a growl.
A vibration.
Kael felt it in his bones.
He looked toward the northern mountains.
The creatures had been fleeing from the river.
Now they were fleeing from this place.
Which meant something was moving beneath the land.
Something that was spreading.
Kael looked at the soldiers.
"We’re not staying here."
Torren nodded.
"Agreed."
Kael turned toward the village headman.
"Gather everyone."
The man’s face was pale.
"Where are we going?"
"Back to the western village."
"But the creatures—"
"Won’t return."
The headman looked confused.
"How can you know that?"
Kael looked toward the mountains.
"Because they’re afraid of whatever is coming."
Nobody spoke.
Kael looked back toward the well.
The black water continued spilling onto the ground.
He knew he had seen that energy before.
He knew where.
And for the first time, he wondered whether the seal beneath the river was truly holding something inside.
Or whether it had been holding something back.
Kael turned away.
"Move."
The villagers began gathering what they could carry.
Behind them, the cracked earth remained silent.
But deep beneath the ground...
Something shifted.