Life in a new Kingdom

"Celia, can you help Lukia down the slope?"

"I think I can go down just fine, thank you." Lukia walks past me, holding her wound on the side. She slowly angles herself and approaches the base of the pit.

What looks like a battlefield filled with corpses is at the base of a couple-meter-high hill. The incline is warped from the weather and potentially man-made. Lukia settles into the pit and begins to examine the bodies laid about. Celia follows after her and joins her. Seeing them looking out for each other, a small smile forms across my face.

I step and jump into the pit, landing on a large armor chest plate. The loud clang of the metal rattles through the air. I find myself standing before them, examining the area for anything interesting.

"I think some of those bandits' friends were killed recently. I can see some fresh bodies laid about." Lukia exclaims. She looks them over, most of their bodies devoured or torn to shreds.

"We are out in the open if we wonder about it. If we are going to use this place as our stand against the Shadow Hunter, we need to make a plan." I say while examining some rusted-looking weapons.

"Correct. I agree we will need a plan, but do you have any ideas? I am all ears."

"My flames can only do so much at range, and I used up some magic earlier. Only if I had my strength from before." Celia curses under her breath, the shame of feeling useless growing dauntless on her shoulders.

"You've been a big help to us, Celia. It may not seem like it, but I appreciate you being with us. For what it's worth, I am sorry for acting cold to you." Lukia extends her hand out toward Celia.

"You know, I would say the same, but you have proved to be a great Ranger; I can see why you are with the best Guild in town. Let's make it back to town before singing each other's praises, okay?" Celia smacks her hand away politely and gives her a cheeky smirk. The cocky side of Celia is beginning to show.

During this time, I noticed that some of the bodies were from a major battle between two warring factions. Not prominent named factions, but scanning the bodies, I uncovered old relics of armor and swords. They had to be at least a hundred years old. I took them and examined the blades to find any that might be enchanted or magical by nature. A weird, thrilling sense of adventure to find one overtook my mind. No luck, unfortunately, but I uncovered some pretty decently conditioned spears.

"Hey, I think I found something we can use." I wave my hand up.

"What is it?" Lukia approaches.

"Some decent spears, not many, but enough to make somewhat a tactical position with a spear in our blind spots. Judging from the area, there might be more. We might get a proper perimeter around us if we can get about twelve."

"How would that work?"

"It would only work once, or it can be disabled if they were disrupted, but if we stick them in the heavy armors and prop them up with shields and any chest plates, we can have them high enough to stop any creature leaping toward us. It should be a solid Phalanx tactic if we have three spears in each direction."

"Where did you learn this?" Lukia looks at me, amazed.

"I stayed inside for some years growing up. I spent a lot of my time reading, and eventually, you began to read some of your fathers' textbooks on warfare and strategy. Let's just say I read them enough in the past few years that I can recite about every tactic and strategy word for word. The only thing lacking is solid experience using them. But the Phalanx is a solid defensive measure. The more spears we find, the better, but the goal is twelve good ones."

"We should have some time to scavenge before the Shadow Hunter returns to this place. Best we hurry." Lukia and Celia both get down and turn over their bodies to reveal any more that can be used.

Half an hour goes by, leaving us enough time to quickly find twenty-six working spears that look good enough to do some damage. With my knowledge of the Phalanx, I instructed them to place the spears as even as we could to provide a circular fort of spears facing away from us. If the Shadow Hunter charges straight at us from most directions, it must either get stabbed or break the spear. Either way, we will know its location for that exact moment and time.

"This is as good as it gets. Hopefully, it will be enough." I say while rubbing the sweat from my forehead. Lukia and Celia look at each other and nod as they settle down.

"We should get as much rest as possible and conserve our strength for the fight ahead." Lukia pulls over her hood and keeps a watchful eye. Celia sits next to her and does the same by scanning in the opposite direction.

I wander inside our position and examine for helpful anything—just a wooden studded shield next to a barely visible decomposed hand. Someone must have been killed here and was covered in dirt. Time crawls past us, and the sky stays clear with some clouds. The air is cold but tainted by the smell of death around us. It causes our stomachs to turn by the vileness it reeks.

Scanning the hill and around us, I feel a weird chill run along my arms and spin. A feeling of DeJa'Vu creeps across my body. Something doesn't seem right. It's almost like we have been here before. I turn my head to look at them. Neither of the girls has the slightest clue about what's going on. Scanning again, I try to spot any tiny glimmer of the invisible creature to make its move. More than a few hours have passed, so it should have arrived by now.

"Hey, Caleb, are you okay? I know how stressful it can be, but-" Lukia is caught off guard as the moment she approaches behind me, she gasps and stares, shock.

In the small patch of shadows, a glimmer of the familiar beast slinks and rises from the ground, cloaked in the shadows. The creature's yellow eyes flash open as its head switches from me to Lukia and Celia. They both jump up and are ready to strike.

"Caleb! It's inside! Turn around!" Lukia shouts, draws an arrow back, and nearly fires until she sees my reaction. "What are you doing?" The Shadow Hunter approaches Lukia and Celia, but it doesn't pounce. Lukia stares confused.

"Is that a copy?" Celia shouts. Her hands held tight on a somewhat decent short sword she took from the battle.

"Don't be fooled!" I yell out. Lukia realizes the trap, turns around, and looks behind, scouting the perimeter. Celia lights up the flames in her hands and brightens the area around us.

The Shadow Hunter image fades behind us, and the quiet sounds of the woods and trees echo around. With determined looks, we stand tall to face our current enemy. A deep breath escapes my lips, and I hold tightly to my damaged blade and let my instincts kick in.

"Time to end this creature once and for all..!"