A Night of Terror

That evening, Mait told his daughter Sally a few bedtime stories. Once the little girl fell asleep, he propped a longsword against the head of the bed and slipped a dagger beneath his pillow.

He also checked that his door was locked and hung a cup on the handle. That way, anyone trying to open the door would be sure to wake him.

With everything done, Mait was about to return to bed, but before he had gone far from the door, he suddenly heard footsteps in the corridor.

Mait's nerves went taut. Moving slowly, he gently lowered himself to the floor, hoping to glimpse what was happening outside through the gap beneath the door.

But apart from a little dim yellow light and standard-issue combat boots, he could not even make out how many people there were. Still, he heard the footsteps stop outside the room next to his.

The room next door housed two army priests. Why would anyone come looking for them in the middle of the night? Mait shifted over and pressed his ear to the wall. He heard the door open on the other side.

"Who is it...?"

One of the two priests was rather old and slept lightly. Even that faint noise seemed to have woken him. But as his question rang out, Mait heard a sudden rush of footsteps, followed by the old priest's muffled whimpers as someone covered his mouth and the dull sound of blades piercing flesh.

Drip!

He heard liquid running down the wall and dripping to the floor. Mait's heart clenched-that was unmistakably the sound of dripping blood.

Terror swept across his face. He carefully felt his way back from the wall and sat on the edge of the bed, shielding his daughter with one hand and gripping his longsword with the other. He stared at his door, tense with dread that someone would burst in.

The noises in the corridor continued. This time, Mait could hear something being dragged more clearly, along with footsteps heavier than before. The sounds receded from his room, then abruptly stopped.

Thud, thud, thud!

One set of footsteps hurried back. This time, they stopped outside Mait's door.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Doctor Mait, are you asleep?" The voice outside was very young. Mait remembered it as belonging to Corporal Carl, who had come to him for treatment not long ago.

Mait had wanted to stay silent and pretend to be asleep, but the kerosene lamp in his room was still burning. The light spilling through the gap in the door must have drawn the "person" outside.

Forcing himself to keep his voice from trembling, Mait walked to the door and said quietly, "Who is it? My daughter just fell asleep. Please don't speak so loudly."

Corporal Carl politely lowered her voice as well. "I'm sorry, Doctor Mait. Sorry for disturbing you. It's Corporal Carl. I just wanted to ask whether you heard anything strange. A stray cat or some other animal may have slipped into the doctors' quarters."

"No, I was just telling my daughter bedtime stories. I didn't notice any animal noises," Mait answered quickly.

"Then I'm sorry for the trouble. I hope I haven't woken your daughter. If you see the little kitty, please tell the guards outside, and we'll catch it. Good night, Doctor Mait."

"Thank you for your hard work."

Once he was certain everyone outside his door had left, Mait let out a long breath. The back of his clothes was already soaked with sweat.

If his earlier suspicions had been nothing more than guesses, what had just happened was telling evidence.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Mait's thoughts were in turmoil. He had no idea what was really happening in the camp. Were these strange soldiers only a small minority, or...?

Even after nearly ten years of military life, Mait's mind had now gone completely blank. Their safe camp might well have become the most dangerous place of all. Even if he escaped with his daughter, danger lurked everywhere in the surrounding mountain forests.

Despair began creeping into Mait's heart, but when he saw his daughter's sleeping face, he forcibly pushed that bleak feeling down. He could not lose hope. If he did, they truly would have no way out.

Mait took several deep breaths and used a basic Holy Light spell to soothe his mind, trying to calm himself again.

I have to escape... not just for Sally. I have to let the outside world know what's happening here!

He did not know how many people in the camp had become monsters, but recalling everything that had happened, along with Commander Wesley's strange behavior, Mait prepared himself for the worst.

Why would these people come to assassinate the priests in the middle of the night?

What distinguished the priests from ordinary soldiers? Mait could think of only one answer: they were blessed by the Holy Light and could wield its power.

In other words, that influence could not directly corrupt priests protected by the Holy Light. Could that also explain why he and little Sally had not joined them?

And because he was not a priest in the true sense, he was less of an obstacle than they were. Was that why he had escaped disaster tonight?

Mait suddenly felt that his guess might very well be the truth. If so, Thassarian, who had joined the camp only a few days ago, was the person most likely to still be normal!

But that also meant he and Sally were already in danger. Perhaps tomorrow night-or even later tonight-they would come and dispose of an "outsider" like him while they were at it.

But the doctors' and priests' quarters were some distance from the soldiers' barracks. Mait had no confidence whatsoever that he could slip past the guards at the entrance and the patrols to find that recruit.

He was frantic with worry. Was his only choice to sit in his room and wait to die?

Knock, knock!

The familiar tapping made Mait's heart jolt. He hurriedly gripped his longsword and stared at the window beside the desk. That was where the sound had come from.

Mait swallowed, wiped the sweat from his palms, and held the sword hilt tightly in both hands as he edged toward the window.

"Mait, it's me! Thassarian!" An extremely low voice came from outside the window.

The doctor froze, but he did not lower his guard. If Thassarian was one of them, or someone was impersonating him, he and Sally would have no chance of survival.

Hearing no movement inside, Thassarian suddenly realized something. Keeping his voice low, he said, "This afternoon. The woodcutting area by the supply depot. Two cigars."

Mait considered it for a moment, then decided to open the window.

Thassarian climbed nimbly inside. He wore a thin, coarse-cloth shirt, and his boots were covered in dirt. Once in the room, he quickly and quietly closed the window.

Looking at Mait, who held his longsword raised and watched him warily, Thassarian gave a bitter smile. "I'm normal. I'm not one of those monsters."

"You saw it too?" Only after hearing Thassarian's words and noticing that he carried no weapons did Mait finally relax completely.

Thassarian shook his head. "I didn't see it. I smelled blood."

"I remember you're not on night duty today. How did you get here?"

"I'm not on night duty today. I was going to sleep-but some damned cat kept crying outside, so I decided to chase it away." Thassarian's expression was grave. "But the moment I stepped out of my room, I felt something was wrong."

"What was it?"

"I was too slow to notice. It wasn't until I stepped outside that I realized the entire forest was frighteningly quiet. Where could any cat cries have come from? Then I smelled blood."

Thassarian still seemed unable to believe what he had just witnessed. His expression and words showed unmistakable shock. "While I was hiding in the bushes, I saw Carl and the others... gnawing on something."

"Urgh!" Understanding what that "something" meant, Mait pictured the scene, and a sickening wave of nausea rose inside him. Even as a battlefield doctor accustomed to bloody sights, he could not stop dry heaving at the thought.

"I think you're right. Something really has gone wrong in the camp. It isn't safe here anymore."

Thassarian had gone to great lengths to avoid Carl and the patrolling soldiers. To avoid alerting the guards at the entrance, he had been forced to climb up to Mait's window and tap softly on it.

"What do we do now?" Mait asked. When it came to fighting and breaking out, Thassarian surely knew more than he did.

"I don't have any armor or weapons on me. There's no way we can escape unarmed," Thassarian said seriously. On his own, he might have had a chance to sneak out.

But with Mait and his little daughter Sally along, getting away without alerting the guards was little more than a pipe dream.

"There's a spare set of leather armor in my storage chest. As for weapons... can you use a two-handed sword?"

Mait's gaze drifted toward a greatsword hanging on the wall nearby. The weapon was too heavy for him, so it served as nothing more than decoration in his room.

"I'd like to say we're better off without a heavy weapon, but as things stand, it's better than nothing."