Tursed my worid upside down

They set out when the sun had already disappeared behind the horizon, dressed in the uniform of Jiro Deffender's soldiers. Klaus rode a horse, unfortunately not the black one he had taken such a fancy to, and Egor followed in a detachment of infantry. Hiding among the reconnaissance detachment was the idea of ​​the king's brother. The prince, although he did not completely trust his uncle, could not help but appreciate his pedantic approach to any matter. Thanks to the incident during dinner, Jiro provided Klaus with at least a week of freedom from the suspicions of the highborn and the king, and maybe even two. It depended on what kind of "disease" the best doctor of the estate diagnosed.

They planned to follow the detachment's route until the first division. Usually, the soldiers formed groups of six to eight people. Each group was also divided into two, in order to check a large area in a short time. That's when Klaus and Egor would be able to slip away. Yes, the disappearance of two patrolmen would raise alarm among the detachment, but this no longer bothered the prince at all. Let them think that a couple of patrolmen deserted or were captured by the enemy. Uncle knows the truth and will figure out what instructions to give to his scouts.

The soldiers wore helmets - this was one of the reasons why Jiro sent the young men with them. Everything went according to plan. The detachment was divided into groups, one of which the young men volunteered for. The soldiers acted without unnecessary words and noise, preferring to give signs.

Egor had already breathed a sigh of relief when he and the prince went to explore their territory on the edge of the forest together, when a heart-rending scream was heard. Everything happened unexpectedly in a split second. A whole horde of not very dangerous monsters poured out of the forest.

"Someone is controlling them," one of the soldiers shouted. "Sound the alarm!"

Egor instinctively hid behind Klaus, who had already drawn his katana, ready to repel any attack.

"Don't be stupid!" the prince shouted to Egor, "get your weapon out!"

Egor nervously looked at the prince's back and hesitantly pulled his sword out of its sheath. He didn't know how to handle it and hoped that today would not be his debut.

Chaos began at the edge of the forest. Yes, the monsters were not that dangerous, and it was not difficult for a trained soldier to deal with them, but not when there were so many of them.

While Klaus was chopping everyone down indiscriminately, Yegor was waving his sword like a stick, closing his eyes in fear.

"What are you doing!" the prince barked at him. "Open your eyes, you're more likely to stab me than hit the monster."

Egor opened his eyes with an effort. Of the eight soldiers, only four remained, including him and the prince. The monsters surrounded them from all sides in a tight black ring. There were also large spiders, creatures on thin long legs, like sticks. Their bodies looked like one hairy circle, from which a single eye looked down from above. There were also very small creatures. They pounced on the dead and seriously wounded like vultures, devouring them. The sight was disgusting. Egor wanted to close his eyes again and not see this horror.

"Why can't you just fry them all with your discharges?" the young man asked the prince.

"Because lightning is something only a few can master, and there is not a single soldier with such power in Uncle's estate."

"Now is not the time to hide, we need to do something, otherwise we will all die!"

"I will not let you be harmed."

"What about the others?"

"That is no longer our problem. Get ready and run to the left on my signal."

"Wait, Klau…"

"Now! Don't fall behind!"

Klaus made a sharp lunge with his katana, scaring the spider-like monster away from himself, and rushed to run straight into the thick of the monsters. It was madness, but Egor, like a faithful dog, rushed into the black abyss. As soon as the monsters surrounded them, pressing them to the ground, Klaus released a ball of lightning. In an instant, bodies flew in different directions. Klaus quickly got up and ran forward. Egor saw where he was rushing to. On a small hill stood two horses. He caught one of them by the harness, pulled it towards himself to calm the agitated animal a little, and jumped into the saddle, holding out his hand to Egor.

The young man barely managed to sit down in front of the prince, as he set the horse into a gallop, carrying them far from the terrifying crowd of monsters.

"There are still people there," Egor tried to object.

"They are not our concern. Let them figure it out themselves," Klaus answered coldly, rushing forward without slowing down.

Egor decided to take one last look back, where they had left the reconnaissance squad to certain death.

"Klaus," the young man almost whispered in fear "They are coming for us! These creatures are coming for us!"

"I know," an even and confident voice, an impenetrable face. How can he be so unperturbed, knowing that this horror is about to overtake them?

"We can't escape, Klaus," Egor screamed hysterically "The spiders are already on our heels, and then those with stick legs and some black spot is flying behind!"

"Yes, these are scavengers. That's who I definitely don't want to run into."

"The same ones we saw in the forest? But why don't they attack the monsters? They are..."

"I already told you, they are being controlled. I don't know who could have enough power to control such a number of evil spirits, but someone clearly has more than enough of them. I immediately realized that they were hunting me, but I couldn't use magic in front of others. It would be easier to lure them to a deserted field and fry them all at once. Only..."

"Only what?"

"It will be problematic with the scavengers. I won't be able to simultaneously release discharges both upward and from underground. I need to lure the creatures to the ground."

"It's not the best idea to be bait," Egor shuddered at the memory of the gnawed body.

"I don't see any other option."

The horse was already covered in foam and would definitely not last long at this pace, so Klaus turned it sharply and headed for the nearest field, where the scorched earth, uprooted bushes and trees, as well as rotting corpses, indicated that there had been a battle here not long ago. As soon as they reached the middle of the field, Klaus stopped the horse, dismounted, but did not let Egor get off.

"Wait for me on the other side."

"But...," Egor didn't have time to finish speaking, as the prince thrust the reins into the guy's hands and hit the horse hard, which rushed off in the right direction, but didn't take Egor to his destination, throwing him to the ground.

The blow was softened by a stinking corpse with an arrow sticking out of its eye. Egor quickly stood up and turned around. He managed to see the prince a split second before the creatures that had arrived closed in a tight ring around him.

Ten seconds. Twenty. One minute. Egor began to get nervous. Klaus still showed no signs of life, and the number of monsters was growing. None of them even paid attention to the guy, they were all grouping around the prince.

A black cloud hung over the place where Klaus was supposedly located. Up close, Egor could make out those very creatures that had not disdained to snack on their own fellow.

The cloud was descending lower and lower, covering everyone who came across its path with a web, and at that moment a blinding white light poured out from the center of the absurd structure. Egor felt the ground beneath his feet shake, and then a deafening explosion was heard. The creatures scattered in different directions. Those who were closest to the epicenter burned on the spot and gray ash enveloped a lonely figure kneeling and holding a vertical position only thanks to a katana stuck in the ground.

"Klaus!" Egor screamed in fear and, stumbling over human remains and pieces of monsters' bodies, ran up to the prince.

Klaus's body was covered in blood, dirt, ash, but he was smiling some kind of crazy smile. The prince slowly turned his head towards Yegor. His eyes were shining. He slowly rose to his feet, with effort pulled the katana out of the ground, wiped it on the cleanest place on his sleeve, and put it back in its sheath.

"Are you okay?" he asked Egor. His expression slowly acquired its usual indifference.

"I'm okay, but you," Egor glanced quickly at Klaus. "Why so long? I thought you were already dead."

"I waited for the scavengers to fly closer. I had to try a little to survive, but the plan worked."

The usual and already familiar smile appeared on the prince's face. Egor exhaled in relief, when suddenly a long, slimy tentacle burst out from under the ground, then another. Klaus barely managed to dodge the massive blow. The ground under Egor's feet began to part, and before the young man could do anything, Klaus abruptly pulled him towards himself. Where Egor had stood a moment ago, a light-gray something appeared. The spherical creature began to crawl out, emitting a piercing cry from which the young men covered their ears so as not to go deaf. The higher the creature rose, the more the ground parted in different directions.

The boys ran forward, eluding the tentacles. They looked back and saw that the gray creature had increased in size three times and was now trying to get out completely, helping with two more limbs. The monster had no eyes, but it had a mouth from which saliva flowed, and its teeth were like a chainsaw. Just as small, sharp and numerous.

With another cry, the monster launched one of its "arms" towards the young men. Klaus pushed Egor away with force and pulled the katana out of its sheath with lightning speed, one precise swing and the tip of the limb rolled along the ground, but this did not stop the monster. It fearlessly continued to stretch its tentacle towards Klaus. The young man passed an electric discharge and delivered another, stronger blow, cutting the "arm" lengthwise to the very base.

The gray slime became thicker. It attracted the cut parts to each other, healing the wound.

"From behind!" Egor shouted when the severed tip released thick slime towards the prince's feet.

Klaus turned around sharply, shot a ball of lightning at the cut off tip and blew it into small pieces, but they did not have time to fall to the ground and already in the air began to connect, healing the damage. While Klaus was distracted by a small part of the gray creature, the monster launched two tentacles at once, surrounding the prince and not giving him a chance to dodge.

Egor closed his eyes in despair and only heard a desperate cry of "Run", as the limbs closed where the prince had stood a moment ago. Shock - that's what Egor experienced. Just a second ago Klaus was standing here, and now there was not even a wet spot left of him. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish, unable to move, when he noticed a strange thing. Some kind of steam blew from the tips of the tentacles that had just killed Klaus, and then an icy crust began to spread over the monster's body. The monster turned into an ice sculpture.

Egor tried to get up, but his legs wouldn't hold him up.

"Klaus!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, and tears poured from his eyes.

There was a sharp explosion, and the tentacles frozen together shattered into tiny ice crystals. Where the prince's dead body should have been, there was a deep crater in the ground. Egor ran to the hole on all fours and saw the disgruntled, but still very much alive prince.

"You're alive!" Egor groaned with relief.

"I'm surprised myself, but yes, I'm alive." He jumped up, grabbed the edges of the hole and pulled himself up, climbing to the surface, then rolled onto his back, spread his arms and laughed.

Egor lay down next to him and also succumbed to a momentary clouding of mind from relief. They lay on the ground, breathing heavily and laughing. Neither of them knew what had just happened, but someone had clearly saved their lives, and had chosen to remain anonymous.