Night and Day

Alexander kneels on the ground. He puts his right hand, closes his eyes, and starts counting the scale of the horde walking through the shadows. "How there are so many of them are here?" He says with a wondered look on his face.

"Captain, how do you think we'll be handling them?" Jocel speaks standing behind him. "We've seen no undead in person, let alone have enough experience to handle them."

"We are not, I am," Alexander replied as he stood back up. "I have tasks for both of you. Jocel, you'll be going to the capital to inform the situation. There might be other places like these. If this is the case, then this is a dangerous situation and they might not understand what's coming." Alexander tells Jocel. "And you'll be going to nearest towns evacuating the people to a safe location." He tells the other night.

"But, captain, can you handle them alone?" Jocel asked. "This many undead are way too many for even you to handle alone."

"Maybe be you're right, however, I am a captain for a reason." He replied. "If you think I can't, then head for the capital as fast as you can and send a backup for me. I'll be taking undead towards the wall northwest." He tells him, laughing, and both of the knights leave the forest.

"Now they are gone. I don't have to worry about them". He muttered as he looked ahead jumping on a tree, and started moving through the trees toward the horde. "They are truly way too much and what is this hideous smell? I'll pass out if I didn't get off the forest quickly." He said, and he saw the undead horde underneath him through the trees, slowly starting following him. "There are thousands upon thousands undead are here and they are slow." He thought, "and I don't think this way we'll reach halfway to the walls before morning." As he was moving through the trees, he saw the torn-up limbs, guts, and blood spread everywhere. "Poor animals didn't even see them coming. I should be careful if don't want to end up like them and I have to do something about their speed." He said as he stopped on a tree and sat down, looking behind him. "I think I am quite ahead, that'll give me some time to think." He thought as he sat there waiting and the undead approached nearby. He looked at them pulling his eyebrow down, wrinkled nose, and stretched lips grinning his teeth. "God, they are still ugly. How many times I see them I still want to throw up." as the undead started gathering under the tree piling on each other however Alexander was sitting calmly looking at the moon. "That's a good balance between light and dark." He said and put his left hand on the tree trunk in the shadow and a dark liquid-like substance started pouring out of the shadows from the shadows and started forming a dark pool. All the undead slowly sank in the dark pool and after a while, every single undead disappeared in that dark liquid and Alexander jumped down from the tree. "This will do." He said and put his hand in the pool and the liquid started disappearing in his own shadow and suddenly Alexander fell on his knees, his veins were popping out on his skin and he was breathing heavily as his whole body was shaking. "I didn't think they were that many. I have taken nothing of this scale in my shadow pocket. This will be hard to handle and I have to hurry." He spoke as he slowly stood back up taking a deep breath and started moving towards the end of the forest in the northwest, leaping through the trees.

"May the spirits guide you and you come home safe." Isabel saw Eva sitting in front of her, silently closing her eyes. "Hey, is everything okay? You are quiet." Isabel asked after a while. "I was just thinking about something. Never mind, is there something you want?" Eva replied, putting a smile on her face. "I know there's something you are hiding and the way he left was not like him. Tell me what happened and where he went?" Isabel asked in a low, saddened voice. "It's nothing. You being worried is a part of being a mother," Eva replied in a gentle voice.

Alexander's feet are getting deep, and the sand is kicking in the air. It was getting harder to pull his feet from the sand. It was getting harder to maintain speed, and he was getting exhausted with each step he took. His arm and chest are visible through his white shirt drenched in sweat and leaves and straws stuck in his greasy damped hair. Sunrises from behind him and the empty desert glows in the sunlight. Dunes and rocks are casting long, streaky shadows and there's nothing as far as he can see.

"Ah, this cool breeze, I should stop for a while," Alexander speaks to himself as he falls, laying his back on the cold sand. "Am going to run out of mana soon and being exhausted at the same time would be bad." His breath, his lungs out and after a while, he slowly stood back up, brushing his clothes. "I am all fine now." He says and started running towards a dune and puts his hand on his shadow on the sand and a dark liquid started appearing from his shadow flowing downwards and the undead started appearing from it as it disappears into the sunlight. "I have enough mana to keep them chasing after me." He sighs as he saw the undead start rushing towards him wildly like a wild beast chasing its prey. "Phew, that was close! I could become your breakfast if I act any carelessly." He said as he jumped out of the way of a leaping undead and started sprinting as undead is at his tail. He dogging them right and left, kicking them and punching them. "This is bad, this is terrible. I didn't account for the sun."

"Damn it, my magic is the worst in this situation and I am really at a disadvantage in the daylight." He yells as he is running for his life in front of the horde, barely staying ahead. "If I had only one spatial knight with me, I think am going to pass out soon." He's losing his breath and getting lightheaded. "I can't sense anyone nearby. This means there will be no backup. Is this the end of the line for me? I can't give up now. If I fail here, this undead will spread throughout the land. I have to stop them." He's lost in his head as the undead start jumping him right, left. "Damn it, this isn't how it should end." He yells his lungs out as he is neck-deep in the horde and a black shield orb around him shielding. He moves his right hand in front of his face, making a gesture as he folds his two fingers and thumb on his palm keeping his index and middle finger straight, and starts chanting.

"From the darkness, I born. From the fear I grew, on despair, I feast. If there's light there shall I be?"

As he is about to complete his chant buried under the horde, out of nowhere, a portal appears beneath him and falls on the sand with the rotten limbs falling around him.

"Are you alright? What is your name, and how is it you are not dead?" Giles asked as he leans forward, extending his hand. "My name is Giles Hamo from the Hammer of God squad."

"Kid, you saved my life, I owe you a great deal," Alexander replied as sat on his back. His whole body is rocking. "I am Alexander. Nice to meet you kid and how did you find me? I was practically out of mana." He asked.

"You mean Alexander as in Captain Alexander of the Black cloaks," Giles replied as his eyes lit up with excitement. "It was pure luck. Our captain had given us directions, and we followed them and saw a horde nesting in the open over something and sensed a faint mana single. And it was you. I'm glad we got you out in time." He speaks, widening his shoulders. "But how did you end up there anyway, Captain Alexander?" He asked curiously.

"Just Alexander, am off duty." He replied. "Maintaining a spell for an entire night is not an easy feet kid, and I got careless." He said as he saw undead rolling down from a dune from afar. "How do you plan to handle these? I am useless as a broken hammer right now." He said he moved his finger towards the undead.

"How long would it take to collect your mana if you had a healer?" Giles asks looking towards the undead. "Probably five minutes to get back on my feet," Alexander replied. "Take Alexander and the healer with you about a mile back. We lure them there and we'll need your help to restrain them, Alexander." He orders the knight with spatial magic, who took both of them and disappeared into a portal.

"Hi you've sent those back, but how would you plan to take them there? They have scattered all around." A knight asked, standing behind him.

"We'll run first," Giles replied as the horde grew too close. "You four rise a sand wall behind us and leave a small opening straight behind us and make the sand light as well." He told the knights of earth magic as the undead chased them.

As an undead leaped towards him from behind, a giant ball of fire turned into ash. "That was your plan, to make us all undead food?" A knight yelled.

"This is insane. I feel like my strength leaving my legs. This is crazy. I never thought I would be this close to a horde. It's terrifying yet I never felt this excited." Giles replied in a broken laugh, terrifying.

"I like you, kid. I thought you were just a little crybaby on the walls." A knight on his left said, laughing. "This is how you know you are truly alive. There's nothing in the world that can be compared to this feeling." As he was saying, an undead jumped over him. Knight, with fire magic, threw a fireball and turned that undead into a lump of burnt coal. "That was close." As he was speaking, his right foot sunk into the sand deep and he fell and overran by the undead.

"Hey, Bob." His fellow knight screamed looking behind in terror as he also got swooped by an undead. Giles and the other two knights heard their screams behind them as they got torn apart alive.

As Alexander was being attended by the healer, the other knight spoke. "They'll be reaching any moment now." As he saw three knights running down from a dune in front of him followed by the undead. "Where are the other two?" He shouted.

"Open the portal, open the portal". Giles and other knights shouted, running towards him as the undead rolled down behind them in a line. "Captain. It's your turn." He spoke in a shallow voice as he fell reaching there and he was breathing heavily.

"Where are the other two, damn it? I asked you something." Knight yelled at Giles as he was creating a portal. "They got taken by the horde," Giles replied, laying on the ground, couldn't able to move as his body felt pearlized.

"Let's put these creatures on the steaks," Alexander said as he slowly stood back up, staring dead at the horde, and slammed his fist in the sand, and shadows beneath the undead turned into black spikes. "See you on the walls, boys." He said as he walked into the portal, dragging the horde behind him.