Chapter 122: Watching. Waiting.

“There really is no end to them.” Ezra heard Aamon say as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. “We might as well have fought the horde from Fleur De Lys, and we still don’t know where they’re coming from.”

“Should we call for back-up, Captain?”

“We are the backup, you dwindling donkey!” Aamon snapped. “Stop whining. You lot wanted to fight, right? Now you’re fighting.”

Ezra rolled his eyes as he continued to fight, his blade already moving before his thoughts could catch up. He didn’t have time to care about Aamon’s shouting or the other knights.

Another Dark One rushed him. Ezra stepped forward and cut it down without slowing.

But something was bothering him.

Not the numbers.

Something else.

’Something’s very wrong about all of this and it’s not the never ending Dark Ones…’

The feeling wouldn’t go away.

He moved again, slicing through another Dark One, but his eyes flicked toward the forest. Past the trees. Into the dark.

Nothing.

And yet—

’We’re being watched.’

His grip tightened.

It wasn’t just a thought anymore. It felt real.

Like something was there, just beyond what he could see.

Waiting. Watching.

It was as if they were watching his every move.

His every step.

’Nobody else seems to notice.’

His skin prickled.

For a moment, his focus slipped.

The Dark One in front of him nearly got close enough to grab him. Ezra reacted at the last second, cutting it down with a sharp turn of his wrist.

He stepped back slightly, his breathing heavier now.

’Focus.’

He forced his attention back to the fight.

He couldn’t afford to lose it.

Not here.

Not when the others were already struggling to keep up.

And not when—

’Lior is inside that tent.’

Ezra’s jaw tightened.

There were people behind him.

People who couldn’t fight.

People who were depending on them to hold the line.

Depending on him.

He exhaled through his nose and stepped forward again, his blade steady.

Another Dark One fell.

Ezra didn’t slow himself down.

“Agh! Help! My… my sword!”

“Watch out, Jareth!”

Ezra stepped in the moment one of the knights faltered, the man’s weapon slipping from his grasp.

His blade came down without hesitation, cutting through the Dark One reaching for the man’s throat. The body dropped at his feet with a heavy thud.

“Keep your guard up,” Ezra said shortly, already turning away. “And hold onto your weapons tightly.”

Another one lunged from the side. Ezra blocked it, twisted his wrist, and drove his sword through its chest before kicking it off his blade.

He moved again.

He didn’t stop.

Wherever a knight staggered, he was there. Wherever the line weakened, he stepped in without thinking.

“Captain—!”

“I see it,” Ezra muttered, already moving before the warning finished.

His sword cut through another Dark One just before it could drag one of the younger knights down.

The man stumbled back, gasping. “Th-Thank you—”

“Save it. Stay alive,” Ezra replied, not even sparing him a glance.

’And these are the men who were desperate to end their punishment and fight? They can barely hold onto a blade.’

Ezra kept fighting.

But even as he fought, the feeling didn’t leave.

It clung to him.

That same crawling sensation at the back of his neck.

’They’re still watching.’ At this point, he was almost fully sure the Cultists were there.

His eyes flicked toward the trees again as he cut another one down.

Nothing.

Just darkness.

But it didn’t feel empty.

It felt like something was there, waiting.

Waiting for him to notice.

Waiting for him to step closer.

’They want me to go in.’

It was an odd and random feeling, but it did feel like it was true.

Ezra stepped forward and cut down another Dark One, then turned and struck the one that followed too close behind.

His footing shifted as another rushed him. He blocked, pushed it back, and cut it down in one clean motion.

Behind him, a knight grunted, barely holding his ground.

Ezra moved without thinking, stepping in and taking the hit meant for him, his blade coming down fast enough to split the Dark One before it could latch on.

Another body dropped.

But the line was thinning.

He could feel it now.

The way the knights slowed. The way their swings lost strength. The way their footing slipped just a little more each time.

“Captain Aamon!” Ezra called out, not taking his eyes off the fight.

“What?”

“They’re not stopping.”

“I can see that!” Aamon snapped, cutting one down beside him.

Ezra glanced at him briefly.

Aamon was still standing strong, but there was strain now. Subtle, but there.

’The old geezer getting tired.’

Ezra exhaled sharply.

’If this keeps going, we lose.’

Not right away.

But it would happen.

And that was enough.

His grip tightened on his sword.

His eyes went back to the forest.

To where the Dark Ones kept coming from.

Another one rushed him. Ezra cut it down without hesitation.

He didn’t watch it fall.

His gaze stayed on the trees.

’Cultists.’

This wasn’t random.

This wasn’t just bad luck.

’They’re trying to wear us down.’

Or pull him in.

Ezra steadied his breathing, forcing his thoughts to sharpen despite the noise around him.

He stepped back just enough to take in the field.

Knights struggling to keep up.

More Dark Ones pushing through.

No sign of it slowing.

’If I stay here, nothing changes.’

Another body dropped at his feet.

’If I go in…’

He might find the source.

Or walk straight into whatever was waiting.

The memory hit him without warning.

’They were all Alphas.’

Their control. Their precision.

’And they could control their pheromones.’

Ezra tightened his jaw.

His eyes stayed fixed on the forest, then he let out a frustrated sigh.

’The only way I can go in…’ Ezra thought, irritation already creeping in. ’I need Kaelis—’

“Ezra!”

Speaking of the annoying, frustrating, obnoxious, creepy devil.

But God, Ezra was glad to hear his voice.

He turned quickly. “Your Highness, you’re finally here, I need to—” He stopped.

The words died in his throat.

Kaelis didn’t look like himself.

His usually neat hair was disheveled, strands falling loose around his face. There was no smirk, no teasing glint in his eyes. Just urgency.

Real urgency.

Something had happened.

“What happened?” Ezra asked, his attention snapping fully to him.

“Ricardo is missing,” Kaelis said the moment he reached him. His voice was tight. “I’ve looked everywhere. He’s not here.”

Ezra’s stomach dropped.

“Shit,” he muttered.

’So I was right.’

Ricardo wasn’t just gone.

He was taken.

Their target all this time was–

“CAPTAIN EZRA!”

Another voice cut through the chaos.

Louder. More desperate.

And even more mortifyingly familiar.

Ezra’s heart sank before he even turned.

His hands felt cold as he looked.

“Fi… Fizzy…”

Ezra whispers weakly as took a step forward.

Fizzy was limping toward them.

Blood ran down the side of his head. His arm hung wrong, barely moving. His breathing was uneven, like he had run as fast as he could.

But Ezra barely registered any of that.

Fizzy’s condition didn’t matter.

Not right now.

’Where is Lior?’

“Captain Ezra,” Fizzy said, his voice breaking. “Lior has been—”

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