Although it didn’t snow yesterday, traces of snow were still on the ground.

  Arix was surrounded by a group of Nyctona on their horses, and all he had was his sword.

  Arix took a deep breath and ran toward the Nyctona in front of him. When he got within range of his sword, he jumped. The Nyctona raised his sword to attack Arix at the same time.

  Arix swung his sword in the air, and the Nyctona did the same. Their swords sparked when they made contact, but Arix had more strength. The Nyctona fell from his horse, and the impact was hard.

  Arix was about to finish him when another Nyctona came at him from the left. He turned and stabbed the Nyctona who was there in the heart, still keeping his eyes on the one on the ground.

  The Nyctona whose heart Arix pierced fell to the ground, and the others were startled. The Nyctona on the ground started begging for his life with gestures, and Arix stopped.

  He didn’t attack him and turned to face the others, but the Nyctona on the ground grabbed his sword and tried to attack Arix from behind. He failed, as Arix had already guessed this would happen and dodged the strike. Arix’s sword went through him as well.

  He pulled his sword out of the Nyctona, and the others dropped their weapons and ran toward the forest, not wanting to die too.

  Arix took a deep breath and wiped the blood from his sword with the sleeve of his armor when a voice came from behind. “Why are you standing idle, boy? Are you tired already?”

  Arix turned around to find Bromgar fighting Nyctona left and right.

  “Nah. Not yet,” Arix said as he swung his sword to his left, and another Nyctona fell to the ground.

  “Good. I guess our plan didn’t work because the king is not here. That’s sad, because I ran here to help you guys kill him,” Bromgar said, jumping and striking Nyctona from their horses.

  “Yes. He was not here. He is probably in the middle of the field,” Arix said.

  “Then go there. Leave these small ones to us dwarves. You have the power to take on their leader, boy.” Bromgar killed two more Nyctona.

  “Sure. If you say so,” Arix said and ran toward the middle, finding his way through the crowd.

  On his way, he saw many dwarves clashing their axes and short swords with the Nyctona and winning too.

  “These dwarves are more powerful than I expected,” he thought while running. But it was not only Nyctona who were dying. He saw some dwarves’ corpses too on his way.

  Soon after, he stopped because an unusual Nyctona was standing in front of him.

  He had an axe in each hand. He looked directly into Arix’s eyes, sitting on his horse.

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  Arix also got into a stance to fight. "He looks strong," Arix thought. Another Nyctona's voice came from his left. "Look. Our general Draevor is fighting alone – and against a human." Every Nyctona within close range circled them.

  "You are a general, I suppose. That's good. Now there will only be four after I am finished with you here," Arix said.

  Every Nyctona started laughing, pointing toward Arix.

  “A human, killing our general? Pathetic,” one Nyctona shouted. But he was already within Arix’s range, and Arix silenced him. He never saw Arix move – only felt the sword piercing through his body.

  Arix pulled out his sword, and the Nyctona fell, silencing everyone around him.

  Draevor was also shocked by Arix’s speed, but he didn’t let that stop him. As soon as the Nyctona fell to the ground, Draevor charged, and in the next moment, he was directly above Arix on his horse.

  Arix reacted in time, and Draevor’s axe clashed with Arix’s sword. Draevor kept swinging his axes, and Arix kept parrying with his sword. Arix was pushed backward by the force of the blows, and the Nyctona around them also stepped back.

  When Draevor’s next attack came, Arix dodged to his right and swung his sword at the horse’s legs.

  The horse screamed, and Draevor fell to the ground. But before Arix could react, Draevor had already rolled behind and stood up, holding both his axes.

  “Sorry, horsie,” Arix said and straightened his posture. He took a deep breath and ran toward Draevor. In an instant, he closed the distance between them. Arix swung his sword from the left, but didn't realize that Draevor's axe was already cutting into his stomach from the side.

  A splash of water burst from Arix’s mouth as he flew sideways, and the Nyctona circling him started cheering.

  But their cheering stopped soon as the dwarves reached them and struck most of them from behind.

  “Keep your eyes on the fight, bastards!” one of the dwarves shouted as he engaged with the remaining Nyctona.

  Arix stood up again, and this time no one was circling them.

  He was alone, facing Draevor.

  “Shall we start again?” Arix said to Draevor, but Draevor was silent, waiting for Arix’s next move.

  “Fine. Let’s be quiet,” Arix said as he ran again. This time he swung his sword from the left once more, and again Draevor’s axe came from the right—but Arix knew.

  He jumped, and the axe swing passed behind him. Arix’s sword was mid-swing, and it landed directly on the Nyctona’s dark body.

  He was not wearing any armor. Draevor tried dodging, but the sword still left a deep mark. It landed straight on his hand.

  Blood started pouring from Draevor’s hand. The wound was fatal, enough to make him unable to use that hand for now. But he still stood straight and kept looking at Arix. The axe from his wounded hand fell to the ground, and now he was holding only one axe.

  Arix took a deep breath. “Let’s go,” he said and ran toward Draevor. Draevor did the same, and they clashed in the middle.

  Arix was swinging his sword fast, but Draevor matched his speed with only one hand.

  The clash was loud enough to catch everyone’s attention. Dwarves and Nyctona both stopped fighting for a while just to watch them.

  A few scratches appeared on Arix’s body, and a few on Draevor’s. They clashed for a while until Draevor tried to change his attack mid-swing, delaying it slightly. But his plan failed, as Arix, instead of falling for the trick, swung his sword faster.

  Arix’s sword landed directly on Draevor’s neck. The impact was strong enough that Draevor’s neck was slashed in an instant, and his head flew into the air.

  Arix’s sword remained still in the final position of the strike as silence loomed around him.

  Draevor’s head bounced twice before finally resting on the ground.

  Arix straightened up and looked at the severed head in front of him. Tarin approached from ahead.

  "Good job. Now let's go to the king," Tarin said as he reached Arix.

  “Yes. Let’s go,” Arix agreed and moved off with Tarin.

  Both the Nyctona and the dwarves were stunned by the clash they had just witnessed. They stood still for a moment before starting to fight again.