– Before Starting the Story –

  This is one of the first works I’ve written.

  So there may be parts that are lacking, inconsistent, or could be improved. I’d really appreciate it if you shared any shortcomings or suggestions you notice while reading.

  I hope you enjoy it.

  Chapter 1 – The Call of an Old Friend

  Outside, autumn winds swirled through the trees, scattering yellowed leaves across the roof and the yard; a slight chill hung in the air, and a distant hum mixed with the rustling of the leaves.

  Sentry, an old warrior, sat alone in his house. He thought about the days he had fought since he was ten. From his childhood, he had taken more lives in ten years than a normal person would in an entire lifetime. That was why he had decided to retire early.

  The silence shattered with a knock on the door.

  Sentry stood up. When he opened the door, there was a messenger with a face he could not see. Without a single word, the messenger extended a sealed letter and turned away.

  The seal was old.

  Very old.

  Sentry broke the seal. The moment he read the words inside, his breath caught.

  "If this letter has reached you, it means you are still alive.

  Our homeland is falling. The ashes rise again.

  Remember our vows.

  I wouldn’t want to drag you into this.

  But if you don’t come… everything will end.

  —Your old friend"

  Sentry clenched the letter. He realized he had clenched his hands.

  “No…” he muttered to himself.

  But these words were familiar enough not to be a lie.

  An hour later, the house was empty. The fire had completely died, and the door was wide open. Sentry was ready, sword in hand.

  He could no longer turn his back on the past.

  After his journey, Sentry arrived.

  The ground was burning.

  The sky was covered with ash; it was neither day nor night.

  When Sentry reached the front lines, the battle had already begun. Broken shields were stuck into the ground, spears sank into the mud. Blood was already mixing with the earth. Screams were carried by the wind, and smoke clouded vision.

  He stood next to a kneeling soldier.

  “Hold on,” Sentry said.

  The soldier lifted his head. His face was pale.

  “They’re like monsters… the northern line has fallen. They… they don’t stop.”

  Sentry stood. As he was about to move forward, he saw a silhouette through the smoke.

  His heart tightened.

  That stance…

  That walk…

  “This can’t be,” he whispered.

  As the silhouette drew closer, the truth became clear. He had a deep wound on his shoulder, his spear was broken, yet he was still standing. His face was smeared with dirt and blood; but his eyes…

  The young soldier beside him noticed the man across hesitating.

  “Commander?” he asked. “Do you know that man?”

  The man stepped forward a few paces. Smiling,

  “I know him.”

  At that moment, Sentry saw him too. His eyes widened, and then a bitter smile appeared on his face.

  “So the letter reached you,” he said.

  “You’re not too late.”

  The young soldier looked at him in shock.

  “Commander… who is this man?”

  The man spoke without taking his eyes off him:

  “This is my old friend.”

  “The only person I entrusted my back to before our group disbanded.”

  His old friend leaned on his sword.

  “And now, again,” he said,

  “In the same war, in the same hell.”

  In the distance, horns sounded. A new assault was beginning.

  Sentry readied his sword.

  The ashes were rising again.

  And the old vows were being remembered once more.

  Sentry asked,

  “What’s the situation?”

  The man lowered his face.

  “It’s terrible. They’re strong, but maybe if it weren’t for that giant monster guy…”

  He trailed off hopelessly.

  Sentry prepared himself and, as he moved north, shouted with his last strength to the desperate soldiers,

  “Those who stand here today will look into their children’s faces tomorrow! Those who run today will look at their gravestones! Make your choice!”

  The soldiers, thinking about their comrades behind them, quickly rose and began to follow Sentry.

  Sentry arrived at the front lines with the soldiers.

  He looked at the enemy’s seemingly impenetrable defenses.

  The war horns blared.

  The sound cut through the smoke, spreading across the battlefield. Soldiers raised their shields, spears thrust forward. Footsteps shook the earth, armor clanged against armor.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Sentry clenched his sword.

  Movement began to stir through the ashes across the field. First silhouettes… then armor… then steel. The enemy ranks advanced heavily but determined. There was no retreat.

  “The line will not break!” Sentry shouted.

  “We hold here!”

  A voice rose from the opposite side.

  “FIRE!”

  Arrows rained down.

  Sentry lifted his sword.

  One arrow grazed his arm, another buried in the earth. A soldier beside him fell. Struggling, he got back up. The enemy line collided. Steel rang against steel.

  Sentry struck first. He swung his sword, pushing back the enemy in front of him; with the second strike, he shattered a helmet.

  Blood, hot and heavy. Time slowed.

  An axe passed by his shoulder. He pulled back, slammed his knee into the ground, and met the blow with his shield. A crack echoed. The shield held… for now.

  The battle raged around him.

  A soldier called for help. Another fell. The ground could no longer soak up the blood.

  His old friend came to his side, breathless.

  “The right flank is about to collapse,” he said.

  “The units can’t hold.”

  Sentry looked around. Smoke, shouting, shattered lines…

  This battle was unlike any he had known.

  The enemy advanced.

  Step by step.

  Sentry ran swiftly toward the right flank.

  For a moment, the world fell silent.

  Only the sound of steel remained in Sentry’s ears.

  His heart raced.

  Another strike came.

  This time, it was very close.

  At the last moment, he pulled back and killed the attacker in a single strike. He reached the right flank. When the horns sounded for the third time, the front lines were unrecognizable.

  The ground was no longer mud; it was thick with blood. Soldiers stepped back, ranks blending together. Screams rose not individually, but as a whole.

  Sentry raised his sword.

  “Hold!” he shouted.

  “No retreat!”

  At that moment, while the enemy line was pushed back, movement stirred behind the line.

  The smoke parted.

  First, a shadow appeared.

  Then the shadow straightened.

  A human… a shadow of a human.

  He was over two meters tall. His shoulders were broader than any man’s.

  His lower armor was intact, nothing covered his upper body, as if nothing existed on him besides the smell of blood. His weapon was not a sword; it was a thick, curved iron dagger. His face resembled a human’s, but his eyes were empty. No anger, no fear.

  He simply advanced.

  Sentry realized this was the man his friend had mentioned.

  One of the soldiers beside Sentry grabbed his arm.

  “That’s him…” he said, voice trembling.

  “He… he’s not human.

  Don’t try to fight him. We couldn’t defeat him; he took down nine men in a single strike.”

  The giant’s steps shook the ground.

  He caught a soldier and slammed him down with his shield. The sound of bone cracking was louder than steel.

  The line broke.

  Soldiers retreated. Fear spread.

  Sentry took a deep breath.

  “Step back,” he said.

  “This bastard is mine.”

  His old friend shouted,

  “Don’t go alone!”

  But Sentry had already moved forward.

  He closed in on the giant and met his gaze, sliding down from his head to speak:

  “What did you eat as a kid, huh?”

  The monster did not answer.

  Sentry pursed his lips in frustration and continued:

  “You’re not answering, huh…”

  “Well, I don’t talk to the dead anyway.”

  A smile appeared on his face.

  The monster’s eyes widened like saucers when he heard this. Then a roar that shook the front rose, and he swung his weapon from above.

  Sentry raised his sword and blocked the blow, but the force was so strong it nearly knocked him down. His arms trembled, but he held.

  He skillfully dodged under the attack. As the blow hit the ground, earth and stones flew into the air. Sentry counterattacked swiftly from below; the giant tried to catch him, but each strike was followed by another, repeating several times.

  As Sentry prepared a strike from above, the watching soldiers’ eyes widened. The giant struck at Sentry’s neck at a speed almost impossible to track.

  For Sentry, everything slowed. Before the blow landed, the world seemed to freeze.

  Sentry stood alone, bloodied hands over the corpses of his friends. A woman approached, shockingly beautiful. Her eyes shone like stars in a dark sky. She gently touched Sentry’s cheeks with her delicate hands.

  Feeling the coldness and grace of her skin, Sentry held his breath.

  “Don’t be afraid, I’m here for you,” the woman said. Her voice was soft yet strong, carrying a warmth that sent shivers down his spine.

  Sentry’s heart tightened. He did not know her, but he remembered those he had lost years ago. He recalled the merciless face of war.

  Sentry collected himself. His eyes, bloodied, disappeared in an instant. As the soldiers and the giant tried to understand what had happened, Sentry appeared again, leaving a trace of wind behind.

  He struck the giant’s right leg; the sword flew, the armor shattered, the leg broke. The giant fell to his knees, dropping his weapon, screaming in pain.

  But Sentry did not stop. He had no weapon; only his own strength. He fell onto the giant’s neck and began raining punches.

  The ground shook with each strike. The giant tried to block with his hands, but Sentry broke through, advancing with relentless blows.

  Outsiders couldn’t tell which one was the monster.

  One of the opposing commanders muttered in a trembling voice,

  “W-what kind of strength is this…”

  While soldiers watched in fear, Sentry continued. The giant’s head began to break; with the final blow, he smashed it to pieces.

  Silence fell over the front lines. Soldiers looked at each other in awe. But they all shared one question:

  “Did he really kill that monster with his fists?”

  Enemy soldiers, frozen with fear, didn’t know what to do, when a commander next to Sentry shouted:

  “Charge!”

  The soldiers moved at full speed; the front was once again filled with screams and clashing steel.

  Sentry paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. He breathed amidst blood and dust. His old friend approached:

  “You okay, Sentry?”

  Sentry nodded slightly, a glimmer of determination and exhaustion in his eyes.

  “Yes… but it’s not over yet,” he said, a faint smile at the corner of his lips. He looked at the giant’s body, stood, and walked toward his sword.

  The battle continued.

  Sentry, his old friend, and their team advanced swiftly. The enemy defenses collapsed one by one; most soldiers surrendered as soon as they saw Sentry or fell before they could understand what was happening. Shields broke, spears shattered; screams and the clashing of metal fell silent in an instant.

  Sentry did not stop. The ground shook beneath his steps; with every strike, enemy lines shattered. There was no one left to oppose him; the war itself was now in his hands.

  Hours later, silence fell.

  The smoke that had filled the front slowly dispersed. The ground was covered in blood and ash; swords broken, enemies retreated. Sentry’s soldiers were tired but standing tall. The scent of victory hung thickly in the air; the area was filled with shouts of triumph. Soldiers looked at each other and shouted,

  “We won! We won!”

  Sentry, the red fire still burning in his eyes, stood tired but upright. He walked toward his old friend.

  The man greeted him with a smile:

  “I guess there’s nothing left for us… Yes,

  we did it. Without you, we would have already lost. Thank you, Sentry.”

  A faint smile appeared on Sentry’s lips:

  “See you then. I have to hit the road now.”

  The man raised his eyebrows:

  “You’re not joining the victory feast?”

  Sentry shook his head:

  “My path is long. If I leave now, I’ll barely make it,” he said, bidding his old friend a brief farewell.

  The soldiers looked around, shouting in victory and congratulating each other. Sentry noticed their admiring glances. With every step, he felt the weight of both the battle and the victory.

  Then, quietly, he set off on his own path; his eyes on the horizon, mind carrying the weight of past and future. He left the front behind and headed home.

  For those left behind, he was no longer just a leader; he was a legend.

  End of Chapter 1