They didn't speak after that and just sat there and let the fire burn between them. They had already said all that they could without touching on things they shouldn't.

It was only then that Galthor realized that it was the first time he spoke so much and with so much passion about himself, Unchanging Warth.

It was the first time he touched on the purpose of his and what he wanted to do. The first time he spoke of what he stood for. Just as he said, the barbarians did not nee...??

Suddenly Galthor raised his head and looked around him. The 'night' was silent, too silent. The cries of the insects and small monsters had fallen still.

And the night was obviously darker than before. Galthor felt a chill, something was happening.

He stood up slowly and Lady Pelica joined him. "Is something wrong?"

Galthor raised his brows. So she did not notice anything? Then it must be his Divine intrusion.

"Something is here." He replied calmly and gestured to their surroundings.

Lady Pelica frowned and looked around, then her eyes widened. "Why is it so dark? I can't see anything beyond the camp."

Just as she was saying this, something struck the camp shield and it lit up with a dull golden glow, shaking the chain on the ground.

"Even a cursed monster should have trouble getting in here." Galthor said calmly and did not raise any alarm. Instead he walked closer to the edge of the shield to look outside.

Indeed, darkness had claimed everything, obscuring everything from view, swallowing the trees and the ground.

"Brakthar, I know you are not asleep, come outside." Galthor suddenly called.

There was a moment of silence and then one of the tents shook as Brakthar came out with a sheepish expression on his face. "We decided to set up another watch beside you, Chief."

"I told you all to sleep." Galthor said.

Brakthar shook his head. "You might be the general or highest commanding power here but you are still the Chief of Stronghide and as such, it is our duty, the masters, to protect you."

Galthor raised his brows. He couldn't help it. "Any danger that can threaten me isn't something you guys want to be close to."

"Even then, you are still our Chief."

Galthor sighed as he realized he couldn't win. And it's not like he hasn't noticed it. When they walked in the Abyssal land they would subtly form around him and inside the building back at the village, they would stand guard at the end of the hallway where he wouldn't be able to see them immediately but where they would be able to respond to anything.

And to be honest, it warmed his heart that they would go to such lengths for him, even though he did not need it.

"Alright. Since you're awake anyway, I'm calling you here to join us."

"Is that a monster? Is it going to be a fight? Should I wake the others?"

"There's no need. I am here." Galthor said.

But they didn't hurry to find out what was happening outside their shield. They just needed to know if it was going to break their shield or not and for the moment, it was leaning towards breaking their shield.

Ping! Ping! Ping!

Galthor watched in dissatisfaction as cracks began to spread. He raised his hand and brought out one of their enchanted relics, a ball-like glass filled with enchantments.

"I'm going out there to kill that thing. It's annoying."

Lady Pelica nodded calmly but Brakthar fell into panic. "Wait Galthor! You can't just go out there! You don't even know how many monsters are out there, wake the others... at least let me join you."

Galthor shook his head. "Here are my orders. Leave everyone be unless the shield shatters... don't worry, they're waking up already. Anyway, I'll call for help if it gets too troublesome."

Without waiting, he threw the enchanted ball outside and a silvery glow instantly lit up the surroundings, wiping away the darkness within a blink.

There was nothing outside....

...and yet Galthor knew there was something out there. He shook his head as he stepped outside the shield. A dirty book appeared in his hands. "Right, let's see what you can do, Obsessed with charm!"

Fortunately they still had a lot of the bones from its heap and they came to hover above Galthor as he controlled them. Only five of the strongest tight bones.

He looked around carefully. "A shadow creature? How curious, I've not fought something like you before. Can you stop hiding? You weren't shy when you were knocking on my shield just now!"

Before he even finished speaking he was attacked.

His shadow became bloated and swelled, spilling darkness over the edge. Tentacles of spikes grew and lashed out at him, snapping in the air like a whip.

But five bones came down and formed a shield behind him, blocking the attack. Sparks flew as the two met. But he didn't end things there, he made the bones stab into his shadow.

There was a short cry and something impossibly fast flew out from the shadows and ran into the trees.

"That's a dangerous beast. If it was fighting the unsuspecting, they would be dead already. Using one's shadow as a base of attack isn't something that they would expect."

Galthor faced the direction of the trees beyond the clearing and he took a step forward.

Just as he took the step, the shadow created by his right foot swelled and a shadow spike jutted forward, growing impossibly fast.

But Galthor was just as fast.

His hand came down in a blur and he gripped the shadow spike. Surprisingly, the shadow felt warm and fleshy in his grasp as if he was holding a body.

It struggled to retract, forcing Galthor to start using serious strength to pull back against it, his muscles flexing as he pulled back.

"What the fuck. The shadow became the flesh of this creature? And how many are you when one just ran into the trees a moment ago?"

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