The moon hung low over the kingdom, pale and watchful, when the first scream tore through the night.
Leo was already running.
Steel rang as he drew his sword, boots striking stone as he reached the outer square. Villagers fled in every direction—lanterns shattering, doors slamming, fear spreading faster than flame.
Then the ground shook.
From the shadow beyond the walls, something immense emerged.
It was not shaped like any creature Leo had faced before. Its body was vast and dark, slick like wet stone, with massive tentacles dragging behind it. Each movement left cracks in the earth, each breath rattled the air itself.
An ancient beast.
"Form ranks!" Leo shouted. "Protect the civilians—now!"
Knights surged forward, shields raised, but the creature lashed out with terrifying force. Stone shattered. A tower wall groaned and split. Panic rippled through the square.
Leo charged anyway.
His blade struck the beast's hide—and slid off, sparks flying uselessly into the night.
Too thick.
The beast roared, a deep, echoing sound that shook the moonlight itself. One massive limb slammed toward him.
Leo barely raised his shield in time.
The impact sent him skidding across the ground.
"Commander!" someone shouted.
Leo forced himself upright, chest burning. This thing… isn't meant for steel.
Then—
A voice cut through the chaos.
"Get everyone out of here."
Leo turned sharply.
A figure stood at the edge of the square, calm amid destruction. Cloaked in dark fabric, face hidden behind a cat-shaped mask, eyes gleaming faintly beneath it.
"You—" Leo began.
The masked figure stepped forward.
"Take the villagers and run," the voice said again—soft, steady, unmistakably commanding. "You can't win this."
Leo clenched his sword. "I don't abandon my people."
The masked figure met his gaze.
"And I don't let them die."
Before Leo could respond, silver light flared around the stranger's hands—delicate, vein-like threads of magic spreading outward across the ground.
Magic.
The air shifted.
The silver veins surged forward, wrapping around the beast's limbs, climbing its body like living chains. The creature roared in fury, struggling as the magic tightened.
Leo stared.
The Masked Mage…
"Go!" the mage snapped. "Now!"
Another tentacle tore free from the binding, whipping through the air with brutal force.
"Look out!" Leo shouted.
The strike caught the mage mid-motion.
They staggered—but did not fall.
Silver light flickered.
Leo hesitated only a second.
Then he turned, shouting orders, dragging villagers toward safety as the battle behind him raged on. He didn't look back.
He couldn't.
The screams faded. The streets emptied.
And beneath the moonlight, alone before the ancient beast, the last mage stood her ground—bleeding silver light into the stones of a kingdom that would never know her name.
Written by-
Shreyashi Singh