One down.
Four more to go.
But there was no time to breathe-no, no time to celebrate or even register that their plan had worked once.
Because just as the first abomination fell, the forest trembled again. Not one, but two of them barreled through the trees, crashing past roots and trunks like stampeding titans.
No signal. No warning.
They arrived.
And the trap—still in place—was forced to trigger early.
"Positions! Attack!" Commander Valerie bellowed again, her voice strained, still soaked in the adrenaline of the first kill.
The knights responded with discipline—but even then, two abominations were too many.
Blades flashed out from behind trunks. Limbs were targeted just as before—slashes, jabs, and stabs darting like insects through the dark. But the abominations… they were adapting. Or maybe it was just the chaos of two of them overlapping. Their sheer bulk shattered any sense of order.
