Dawn broke over Ashen, casting golden light over the fortified village. The air was unnervingly still—too calm for the storm of blood and steel that was about to begin.
Ethan stood at the highest point of the village, overlooking the surrounding fields. His heart pounded in his chest, but his hands were steady.
The enemy was coming.
From the east, a black tide of soldiers advanced, their armor gleaming under the rising sun. Hundreds of men, marching in perfect formation. Banners bearing Lord Varkos's sigil—the coiled serpent—fluttered in the wind.
Behind them, siege weapons rolled forward—large wooden rams meant to break through Ashen's defenses.
Ethan exhaled slowly. This was it.
Lyra climbed up beside him, bow in hand. "They're moving faster than I expected," she murmured.
"They want this over quickly," Ethan said. "They think we'll break as soon as they charge."
Joren joined them, gripping his axe. "They're in for a hell of a surprise, then."
Ethan turned to the villagers behind him—now warriors.
Men and women who had once been farmers now stood with weapons in hand, their faces set with grim determination.
"This is our home," Ethan called out. "They think they can take it from us."
He pointed to the approaching army. "They have numbers. They have weapons. But they don't have what we have."
He pounded his fist over his chest. "They don't have the will to fight for something real. They fight for orders. We fight for our lives!"
A murmur of agreement spread through the crowd.
Ethan raised his sword. "And we will make them regret ever coming here."
A cheer erupted, loud and defiant.
Lyra pulled an arrow from her quiver, notching it to her bowstring. "Then let's show them what Ashen is made of."
The enemy army halted just outside arrow range. Their commander, a tall man in dark armor, raised his hand.
A moment of silence. Then—
BOOM!!!
A war horn shattered the morning stillness.
The soldiers surged forward.
Ethan raised his sword. "Archers! Loose!"
A volley of arrows streaked through the air, descending upon the charging soldiers like death itself. Men cried out as they fell, clutching at arrows buried in their flesh.
But more came.
The first wave reached the barricades.
Spearmen drove their weapons forward, impaling the first soldiers who tried to climb over. Swords clashed, steel on steel, as the battle erupted in full.
Ethan leapt into the fray, blocking a strike from a soldier's blade before driving his sword into the man's side. He yanked it free just in time to parry another attack.
Joren swung his axe with a roar, cleaving through the enemy ranks. "Come on, you bastards! You wanted a fight? Here it is!"
Lyra moved through the chaos like a shadow, her arrows finding their marks with deadly precision.
But for every soldier they cut down, more took their place.
And then, the siege weapons arrived.
A battering ram slammed against the outer barricade. Wood splintered, cracks forming in the defenses.
Ethan cursed. "We need to stop that ram!"
Lyra's sharp eyes darted toward the siege crew. "I can take out the drivers."
Ethan nodded. "Do it."
She sprinted to higher ground, climbing onto a rooftop for a better shot.
Ethan turned to Joren. "We need fire. If we can burn the ram, they'll lose their way in."
Joren grinned. "Now you're talking."
Together, they fought their way toward the siege weapons. Arrows whizzed past them. Ethan cut down another soldier, his blade slick with blood.
Joren grabbed a torch, lighting it from a burning rooftop. With a powerful throw, he sent it flying onto the wooden ram.
Flames erupted.
The soldiers manning the ram scrambled back, shouting in alarm as the fire spread.
Lyra's arrows picked off the engineers trying to put out the flames.
For a moment, hope surged through Ethan's chest.
Then he heard the second war horn.
Reinforcements.
Another wave of soldiers appeared over the hills. More than before.
Ethan's breath caught. "Damn it. They had another battalion waiting."
The villagers were already exhausted. If this second wave broke through, Ashen would fall.
He gritted his teeth. We're not going to win this.
Fear crept into his heart. He had promised to protect them. But they were outnumbered, outmatched.
He clenched his fists. No. I refuse to let them die.
And then—
A thought.
A desperate thought.
He squeezed his eyes shut, his body screaming in exhaustion.
I don't want to die. I need to find a way to fight. I need… I need weapons.
And suddenly—
The world around him vanished.
Ethan gasped as he tumbled onto a cold, hard floor.
Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead. The air smelled of dust and cheap food.
He was in his apartment.
His body shook as he sat up, his mind struggling to process what had just happened. He was back. On Earth.
The war, the battle—it had been real. But now, he was here?
Then it hit him.
I can go back.
His breath came fast. He had been desperate for a way to win, and somehow, his mind had taken him here.
If I can do it once, I can do it again.
His heart pounded.
Weapons. I need weapons.
He scrambled to his feet, tearing open drawers, searching through his apartment.
He had some money left—not much, but enough.
He grabbed his phone, ordering every weapon he could find: swords, daggers, even some medieval armor replicas that were actually combat-worthy.
It took everything he had, but he didn't hesitate.
As soon as the packages arrived, he packed them into a large hiking bag.
He took a deep breath.
Time to go back.
He thought of Ashen.
He thought of Lyra.
He thought of the battle still raging without him.
And just like that—
The world shifted.
The moment he arrived, he was surrounded by chaos.
The barricades were nearly destroyed. The villagers were being pushed back.
Lyra was fighting three soldiers at once, her movements slower than before. Joren was bleeding from a wound in his side.
And then—
A flash of silver.
A finely crafted sword, one that had never existed in Avalon before, slashed through an enemy soldier's armor with ease.
Ethan.
He moved like a whirlwind, the weight of a true steel weapon in his hands giving him power he had never had before.
The enemy hesitated—just for a moment.
And that was all Ashen needed.
Lyra stared at him, her eyes widening as she took in the weapons strapped to his back.
"What—how—?"
Ethan grinned, tossing her a brand-new bow. "No time for questions. Let's finish this."
Armed with new weapons, the tide of battle shifted.
And for the first time, the people of Ashen fought not just to survive—
But to win.