"Matthaeus!" Reyland screamed, dashing towards the young boy as fast as he could.

The Norlander in question was panting hard, a long, dripping dagger clutched tightly in both hands as the wolf he had just slashed screamed next to him.

Just what's this kid thinking, coming back upstairs?! Reyland thought, gritting his teeth against the pain in his head as he ran. The wolf strained, black fur shimmering in the moonlight, before at last, the boards buckled in completely. In a shower of wooden splinters, nails and broken boards, the beast leaped angrily into the church, howling in excitement to its pack outside. The pack howled in response, the excited cries turning to barking laughter and excited snarling as dozens of beasts swarmed the now open window. The beast inside, now mostly blinded by the gash across its eyes, sniffed the air and turned towards Matthaeus, its unnaturally wide lips peeling back in a fanged grin.

Reyland reached Matthaeus just in time, tackling the boy to the ground a split second before the beast leaped over their heads. Its jaws clamped shut so close to the tops of their heads that a few strands of Matthaeus' long black hair were cut and ripped out as the beast sailed over them.

The crossbow in Reylands arms loosed, the bolt piercing the wolf's flank as it turned around for another strike, but the beast only snarled back. The bolt dangled out in the air, embedded in the creature's sinewy muscle uselessly, barely an annoyance to the massive black beast.

"Kid, listen to me! Now's not the time, get yourself back down-"

The beast lunged again, a black blur that moved far faster than Reyland had expected it to. He put one hand on the center of Matthaeus' chest, pushing him out of the way with all his strength, body moving faster than his mind ever could.

As the open maw closed in, he threw his unloaded crossbow straight into it, throwing himself out of the way as quickly as he could... but not fast enough. The beasts jaws clamped shut around the wooden weapon and crunched it into splinters, before the weight of the wolf crashed into Reyland's shoulder and drove them both to the ground.

The breath was knocked out of him as the beast landed on his chest, before its momentum carried it over his head and past him.

"Aaaaah!"

The sudden warcry was met with a pained yelp, as the wolf found a blade sticking through its belly. It snarled and made a blind snap at the direction of the assailant, but its jaws met only air.

"Terry!" Reyland yelled, climbing to his feet.

The other young man ripped Reyland's shortsword out with both hands, terror and rage in his eyes, but didn't back away. Instead, he thrust it forwards again, and again, and again, overwhelming the blinded, wounded wolf with stab after stab into its body. The wolf shrieked, so loud it left a ringing in Reyland's ears, and turned to try and snap its jaws shut on the young villager...

...Only to find a spear run through the inside of its mouth and into its brain. The older man weilding the spear yanked it out cleanly, letting the beast fall to the ground with a dull thump.

Terry dropped to his knees, blade resting tip down on the wooden floor as he panted.

"You alright, son?" The older man asked, panting nearly as hard. His bare forearms were speckled with flecks of orange blood.

"I-"

Bang!

Every single one of them jumped, as the entire church seemed to rattle in its foundation, the crude chandelier in the center of the room shaking violently around on its chain. They all turned with horror towards the front doors, where the beam barricading them now had a visible bend to it, the wood splintering and cracking inwards like a twig bent to near snapping.

Something colossal had just thrown itself into the doors again, pushing them open wide, but none of them had been able to see just what it was. Instead, what they saw was the sea of dull, orange glowing eyes outside. One of those sets was so close to the entrance that when the doors had bucked open, it had forced its way inside, slinking through with a struggled pop as it came free from the doors and landed inside. It cackled triumphantly, shaking its long, almost horse-like mane, jaws snapping in anticipation... until in a flash of silver, it's head hit the ground with a dull thud.

Griff stepped back, resting the heavy, one sided greatsword over his shoulder, the slightly curved blade glimmering dangerously in the moonlight. It still dripped, slick with blood along half its length. Even from a distance, Reyland could make out the hairs raised on the back of his mentor's neck as the man stood alone in front of the main doors. He couldn't see Griff's face, but he could clearly visualize the terrifying glare his mentor wore when he was serious.

For a brief second, he almost felt sorry for the beasts... almost.

But then, a second wolf leaped cleanly through the window that the first had opened wide, claws digging deep gouges into the wood as it landed, and he didn't have much time to think at all.

"Terry! My sword!" He yelled, already moving, despite the screaming pain in the back of his head.

Terry's blank, panicked expression didn't react in time, so as Reyland passed him, he wrenched the sword from the other man's hand, careful not to cut himself on its razor edge.

He lunged towards the beast, sword tip pointed right at the center of its eye, but the beast snarled and leaped back, entire form blurring as it moved unnaturally fast to avoid his strike. Reyland grimaced, but darted forwards even faster, catching the beast on the top of its head with a light slash, before stopping on a dime and leaping backwards, the beast's jaws snapping shut inches from his shirt.

Finish it quick, more'll come through the window any moment.

Reyland twisted himself around a wild swipe the creature made with its claws, not backpedaling but closing in even more. In one fluid motion he spun like a dancer, barely avoiding another bite, and sunk his blade deep in between its ribs.

It shrieked, twisted to try and reach him, but he leaped up, rolling across the beast's back and over to its other side, his blade swiping upwards in a bloody crescent as he carved what would normally be a fatal wound into its other flank.

This time, when the beast twisted to try and bite him, he was waiting for it, the tip of his sword finding its eye and piercing through to the brain.

The black wolf dropped to the ground slowly, its legs buckling under its weight as the life left its body and Reyland's sword left its head. He flicked it towards the ground to free it of most of the spattering of gore along its edge.

"Blimey, Reyland..." Terry muttered, catching his attention.

The tawny haired villager was staring in shock, still breathing hard but not as panicked as he was a moment ago. Reyland opened his mouth to reply, but before he could even start, the scratching of claws at the window drew his attention. He twisted back to face the window, sword held ready in front of him and a murderous gleam in his eyes.

What he saw however, wasn't something he was really ready for.

It was another wolf, just the same as all the others had been... but it was so big, it couldn't fully fit through the window. It was still nowhere near the size of the monster outside the front doors, which continued to slam into them every few moments, but even still it dwarfed the one Reyland had just killed easily.

The wolf seemed frustrated that it couldn't fit through the opening, and with a dangerously intelligent look in its eyes, snarled, then clamped its jaws shut around the bottom of the windowframe, and tugged.

The pit that had been stuck in Reyland's gut for hours now seemed to double in size, as the entire bottom section of the wall was ripped away, and the sight of half a dozen wolves waiting eagerly outside greeted them.

"Griff!" Reyland screamed, before clenching his jaw shut so tight he felt he might crack a tooth.

The beasts outside snarled and barked, before rushing the gaping hole in the wall the larger beast had created. Behind him, Reyland noticed Matthaeus, dagger in hand, take a single step forwards, towards the opening.

Reyland's hand met the center of the boy's chest, his open palm pushing the young boy backwards, where Matthaeus landed on his behind with a small oof.

"Kid, stay out of this!" Reyland yelled, steeling himself as best he could. "Get back downstairs, now!"

He didn't wait around to get an answer. Reyland dashed forwards, sweeping low to scoop up some wooden debris in his free hand as he ran, before throwing it ahead of him and into the face of the first wolf to reach the opening. It didn't do much, but it was enough. The creature slowed just long enough for the one running beside it to make its way through first, alone, instead of both creatures rushing him at the same time.

Reyland let his sword hang loose at his side, exposing his neck and upper chest to the beast, which took the bait. As it jumped at him, he quickly leaned to the side, bringing the shortsword up and plunging it deep into the creature's neck, before letting the weight of the wolf carry the wounded animal past him.

"Finish it off! Don't let it get back to its feet!" He ordered, not even looking behind him. The second wolf was already upon him.

He had to jump back from this one, slashing at its face as he danced backwards once, twice, then thrice, lining its black furred face with deep cuts that seemed only to anger it.

After what was only a second or two at most, he finally caught it along one eye, and the beast shrieked in pain, staggered just enough for him to dart forwards again and plunge the blade into its temple, dropping it on the spot.

With a terrifying realisation, he noticed that three more wolves had reached the hole, and the large one that had ripped open the wall was standing right behind them, glaring inwards with a hellish grin.

Now that he could see it fully, the larger creature was even bigger than he had imagined. It was the size of a horse, nearly all black, but the ends of the hairs on its horse-like mane ended in vibrant, glowing shades of orange and red. Its shaggy fur bristled upwards as they locked eyes, puffing the creature up to an even bigger size as it towered over him.

...We're actually going to die.

The realisation hit him harder than he had thought it would. He thought he had been prepared to die, it wasn't exactly uncommon for the Order. Even during his Initiation, the first layer of training he had undertaken, there had been deaths in his own group of twelve. Only seven of them had lived to graduate their training, counting Reyland. So when he had thought about it before, he had thought he had come to terms with it.

But seeing his own death reflected back at him in the merciless eyes of a beast, he realised something he hadn't before.

He wasn't ready to die. Not even slightly.

His grip tightened around his sword, as the three creatures at the opening rushed him, moving unnaturally fast yet somehow as if in slow motion to Reyland. He didn't even look at them, his eyes still locked on the giant beast that loomed in the night shadows behind them.

The pit in his stomach twisted into something ferocious, threatening to eat him alive from the inside out. It was like a red hot knife, twisting sadistically in his gut.

He wanted to be sick. He wanted this all to end. He wanted to be just about anywhere except here, right in this moment.

Instead, he tightened his grip on his sword, and readied himself. 

Can't just lay down and die with a kid behind me, can I?

Not just Matthaeus. The entire town sat terrified downstairs, betting the fate of their lives on two monster slayers upstairs they had hardly spoken a word to. As much as he wanted to leave, he couldn't. It wasn't an option, one way or the other.

So instead, he grit his teeth and lunged.