the story of andreas, the most loyal shade--
he had not meant to get separated.
in the chaos of battle, his fellow soldiers had broken rank. his shield had been damaged in the skirmish, and his spear, his lifeline, was held so tight in his hand he feared it might snap. protect the polis at all costs, his commander had screamed as the monsters, the foul demons of the dark had attacked. things of myth and legend, they were supposed to be. not the enemy at the gates.
they had swarmed, and andreas had fled further into the city to avoid being swallowed up. spear in hand, he killed beast after beast, but more followed in their place. everywhere he turned, another one lunged at him, trying to sink its claws into his flesh.
a scream erupted from behind him, and as andreas turned he saw a beast slamming its doglike body into a door, clawing at the wood until it began to splinter. andreas lunged, stabbing his spear through its heart, and the creature crumpled. he took a moment to catch his breath, and approached the building. the door creaked open, and a tiny face poked out from behind.
“you can’t stay here.” andreas said gruffly, but the poor young girl shook her head.
“we can’t leave our papa.” she whispered, and swung the door open. behind her were two more small children, one boy and one girl, and they crouched next to their father who was clearly very sick. andreas grit his teeth.
“its not safe.” he continued, warily eyeing the street for any sign of the hellhounds. “i can escort you, we need to move inward.”
“we can’t move him!” the tiny girl insisted, eyes wide with tears. “he’s--”
she was cut off by a horrible growl, and andreas turned in alarm. three hounds approached, and he stepped in front of the door with a glare. “close the door, now.”
the little girl did as he bid, slamming it shut behind him. the first hound lunged, and he batted it away with his spear. the second roared, racing towards him at full speed. he stabbed it through the throat, barely tugging his spear free in time for the third who pounced. it hit andreas full in the chest, and he stumbled backwards, into the door which splintered beneath the weight of them. he crashed to the floor between the family, screams echoing in his ears. with his left hand, he pulled his knife free and drove it into the skull of the beast -- but not before its maw dug into the flesh of his shoulder.
andreas howled, and shoved the now-dead creature off of him. he stumbled to his feet, and stabbed his spear at the first creature. he had brought friends, another two hounds growling and barking at him in the street. blood poured from the wound on his shoulder, one that ached horribly. his vision was blurry, but the children were still behind him. he would not let the hounds reach them.
andreas swung, batting them away with his spear. one creature made an effort to lunge, and cut the blade in its ribs. another lunged, managing to slash him across the calf. andreas fell to his knee, but stabbed the beast through the chest and it fell.
“watch out!” the little girl shrieked, and andreas barely had time to deflect another hound’s attack with his spear. his vision continued to swim, but he felt an overwhelming rage fill his chest.
“stay away!” andreas bellowed, stabbing another beast through the chest. it wasn’t fated to last, the final beast bypassing his spear entirely. claws raked his chest, too deep. andreas cried out in pain, stumbling backwards. as his back hit the ground, he felt the hounds weight on top of him, the pain unbearable, the burden suffocating. the edges of his vision went black, and he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak.
he did not know how he did it. his spear was not in his hand, his dagger back at his hip. but his hands wrapped around the hilt of something -- a broom, broken and splintered. with it, he stabbed the creature, again and again until the strength in his arm gave out.
the creature went still. andreas dropped the broom, breath coming in tiny, sharp gasps. outside the street was quiet, empty. he closed his eyes.
“no... no, sir, please wake up.” the girl cried, her voice distant and far away. she shoved the creature from his chest, struggling as she went until her siblings joined in. the three of them sniffled and wept, shaking him. andreas felt pain, but relief too. “wake up!”
in the distance, he heard the sound of voices. “over there!”
a smile crossed andreas’ face.