The Night Can Only Be So Long

 “Everone get into position!” Professor Magio yelled. “Make sure the village is the least harmed as possible. Healers, keep the wards bright. We need a safety zone!”

“Rosaria, we have to go.” Estel’s hand closed around my wrist, steady and unyielding.

I ditched my last attempts of getting food down, my stomach already knotted too tightly to eat anyway, and followed him. My fingers fumbled inside my cloak until they found the enchanted spellbook, its weight heavier than ever before. I poured my magic into it as the air split with the sound of whispers. They weren’t whispers anymore. They were hymns. Maddening, twisted hymns that wormed their way into my skull.

And then the creatures took form.

They were jagged, wrong silhouettes that tore their way out of the darkness. Their bodies looked like they had been carved out of briar. Thorns spiking in every direction, as though the forest itself had birthed something monstrous. A sickly red pulsed beneath their skin like veins made of molten blood. Their limbs stretched thinly. Bent in ways that no human body could bend, ending in claws that dripped liquid shadow that hissed when it hit the ground.

But it was their eyes that froze me. Dozens of them, sharp and searing, glowing brighter as they fixed on us. Each pair floated like its own living entity, unblinking and hateful.

Their mouths stretched open in jagged pits of blackness, sharpened teeth that weren’t even bones, but splinters of shadows that were hardened to razors. The whispers rose to shrieks, a chorus that clawed against my mind.

My hands trembled as I gripped my book tighter, forcing the pages to steady beneath my fingers. I couldn’t back down. Not now. Not with Estel here. Not with everyone’s life on the line.

All around me, other students faltered. Some gagged. Some doubled over and emptied their stomachs onto the grass. The stench of fear was thick enough to choke on. But I lifted my head and forced my legs to hold steady. I won’t be helpless. I promised Estel I would deem myself worthy to stand beside him, even if that meant being afraid out of my mind.

This wasn’t the dark romance that Amor had written in my world with all the real horrors shut away for the reader's own pace of mind. It was a world with real dangers, real threats. And if I wanted to make sure Estel made it out alive, I had to adjust to it, even if it meant facing these nightmarish creatures.

“Illunimar,” I chanted, thankful that I at least knew some of the general magic spells as I lit a way for Estel and I to navigate in the sea of darkness.

It still surprised me how easily I caught onto this world’s magic. I knew the real reason though. These weren’t random incantations, not to me at least… It was Spanish in my world. Words I had grown up with, a language I knew by heart, as with other languages, though on a much smaller scale. That familiarity wrapped around me like armor, making me feel just a little less terrified. It probably wasn’t much of an edge, but in a world where even the shadows from the Black Dragon wanted you dead, I needed every advantage I could get.

Light burst from my spellbook, pushing back the dark for us to get closer to the monsters. Estel didn’t waste a second. His sword was already drawn out of his sheath, the steel glowing faintly with runes etched down the blade. The blade practically sang with magic as he struck down. The first swing cutting through the creature’s chest as it shrieked. Its body collapsed into smoke, but two more lunged to take its place.

“Thanks Rosaria,” he muttered, quick and steady, his silver and blue eyes flicking to me for the briefest moment before focusing back on the swarm. There was no coldness in his tone now, only relief.

I clutched my spellbook tighter and flipped to another page, the ink shimmering beneath my hands as if it could sense my desperation. “Enscender” I whispered, and fire roared from my palms, searing through the nearest monsters. They shrieked like a thousand voices tearing out of a single throat.

But the retaliation came fast. The whispers surged, no longer just faint echoes but a tide of manic chanting that pressed against my mind. My vision blurred as one of the monsters lunged straight through my flame. Its claws, dripping liquid shadow. The concoction of darkness and flame sending sparks of light scattering. Another pair circled, their glowing eyes multiplying until it felt like a wall of molten pits bearing down on me.

I staggered back, heart hammering. The whispers slithered through my ears, curling into words I held inside. You’ll never save him. You’re going to lose him again. The heroine will be victorious. Just admit defeat, you're nothing to him anyways.

Estel cut them down before they reached me, his blade cleaving through their warped bodies like paper. The red glow faded from their eyes as they dissolved into smoke. He didn’t look back at me, but his voice was steady. “Focus Rosaria! We can’t falter now!”

I swallowed, nodded, and forced my hands to stop shaking. Another incantation rose to my lips, Spanish syllables twisting into magic, and I realized for the first time just how useful it was that I could chant spells.

Estel’s sword gleamed as he moved, each strike clean and precise. I had read about him fighting in the pages of ‘His Amour’ before and actually… He did as well in ‘Historia's Ever After', but that was off page. Now? This was different. There was no prose to soften the horror, no reader’s veil to shield me. This was Estel Misfortuna in the flesh, cutting through nightmares with a grace that stole my breath, and feared for his life.

And me? I was right beside him, clinging to a book like my life depended on it. Which, yeah, it pretty much did… But that never stopped me from making sure Estel's life was a priority over my own. Which surprisingly made us work pretty well with one another, despite me only being in either division of magic for a short period of time.

Maybe Rosaria’s body recognized the motions aside from my own knowledge. She was a protege in ‘His Amour’ in the second half of the novel, when she decided to be a proper ruler. She was a lot more active, sometimes even outshone Historia. In Estel’s eyes, he always wondered why Rosaria always held back her true potential.

I could hear lightning crackle in the distance, one quick glance back at camp, I could see that Professor Magio was rounding up the shadows that got too close, and hit them with a lightning spell. What I would give to easily conjure up one of the more advanced spells even if I couldn't… mainly due to the vast amounts of Mana it took to cast it so quickly… Now I’m really starting to see what monster of a mage our professors truly are…

Time felt like it was at a turtles pace, yet also felt that so much had fallen out of the hourglass that kept it so compact. The creatures, however, seemed to not stop from spawning, although they were at a much smaller number that left some downtime for some of us to catch a break. Many of us were exhausted, some of us lost to the darkness forever.

After drinking an elixir, I felt ready to cast more spells, but despite restoring one's vigor and mana, the body couldn’t mask the fatigue and tiredness from the constant combat of the night. It was a surprise that the village had actually survived the first attack considering the vast amount of enemies…. It almost seemed…. Fishy…

I looked over at Estel, whose face was drenched in sweat from the constant battles. His silver hair was wet and stuck to his face. Dirt and other elements like pine leaves scattered on his less than pristine uniform. Even then, I was deeply drawn to him, and all he stood for. I handed him an elixir, which he downed quickly and elegantly. “Thanks Rosaria.”

“I can’t believe how exhausting an expedition is.” I groaned, just wanting to whine a bit for some normalcy, away from the dark whispers of the creatures of darkness. Estel let out a huff, smiling as he looked over at me.

“Don’t be shy to say you miss being in the background, working on potions and mending people after expeditions. I won’t blame you, Rosaria.”

I couldn’t help but feel a bit of teasing betrayal in his words. “You’re still trying to make me drop from being in the frontlines?”

Estel let out a laugh, realizing he had been caught. “ Read me like a text book.” His smile slowly faded as his laugh stopped, taking a breath before he continued. “I really do mean it, Rosaria. The front lines are dangerous. This isn’t a position that I would call noble or honorable. We’re like lambs sent to the slaughterhouse, just waiting for the day the shepherd becomes a wold, and takes our lives instead of our wool.”

“I'm not chasing my mind.” I said, “I’m tired of being in the back, Estel. I want to be more proactive in my choices. I said it enough times, and I don't want to go back on it when I've only just started.”

He let out a sigh, shaking his head before he chuckled. “Do you really want to stand by me and Historia that much? I noticed earlier that you could chant Dark Magic a lot better than before. Did you practice with your brothers before?”

I laughed nervously. I knew this question would eventually come up. But, I wasn't really prepared to be asked that question so soon. “Y-yeah…”I forced the word out, my laugh weak. My palms felt clammy. If only he knew the truth. If only he knew I was stumbling along, barely holding the Rosaria mask together.

But Estel didn’t press, thankfully. He just gave me that evaluating glance again, the one that made my heart lurch. He turned his gaze back toward the treeline, scanning for movement. The quiet between us stretched, broken only by the faint crackle of wards and the tired shifting of students behind us. Some of them took the opportunity to rest while they could.

The night dragged on, and the waves of creatures slowed. their whispers fading into the woods, nothing more than murmurs by now. When dawn began to creep over the horizon, pale and gray, I almost thought we were safe… Almost. The sky was painted faintly pink where the mountains broke the clouds, and for the first time since the attack began, I let myself breathe.

Professor Magio lookers around, and pointed at all those that weren’t asleep, wounded, or extremely exhausted. “Check the perimeter, make sure no stragglers have slipped past. Make sure you pair up at minimum, that way if someone sees danger, the other can run back to camp and warn us.”

Estel got up immediately to scout around. Of course he did. And of course, I trailed after him before he could tell me not to. While the danger seemed almost eliminated, I still felt this gnawing need to make sure he would be okay. I guess that's just the obsessive part of me thinking.

The forest was damp, heavy with the scent of moss, pine and the smoken ash that lingered from the creatures.. Shadows clung stubbornly even as the light spread, long and sharp between the trees. Birds had not yet dared to return their songs. It was too still, too quiet. My gut churned.

We reached the far edge of the wards, where the soil dipped into a shallow grove and there were less broken trees from earliers fight. Estel slowed, one hand lifting to halt me. “Stay sharp,” he murmured. His voice was calm, but I noticed the way his fingers curled, ready to pull out his blade of magic at a moment’s notice.

And then I heard it. That whispering again. A low hiss that curled through the silence, growing louder, closer even more maddening and rampant this time around, like a city choir of misery.. The shadows stirred and a roll of movement could be heard. Estel cursed under his breath, something he rarely ever did.

Dozens of red eyes blinked open at once, gleaming between the trees. The creatures surged forward like a swarming tsunami, black shapes twisting between the trees and all its foliage towards us.

“Rosaria, get back!” Estel shouted, already raising his hand. His enchanted sword flared in an elongated flame, cutting through the first wave with practiced precision. But there were too many. Too fast. They continuously came back like liquid darkness.

My heart was in my throat. I tried to chant, but my voice shook, the words slipping away in the chaos. One lunged at me, its teeth gnashing. Estel cut it down, his arm snapping out just in time. He didn’t even flinch, but I saw the strain in his eyes, the growing desperation.

We fought, side by side. I used every spell that I could, and even took the risk of drinking more elixirs as fast as I could to prevent my mana from depleting… but the wave swallowed us whole. My arms burned, my lungs screamed for air. The creatures scent and essence stinging my eyes and nose, clawing its way out of the hoard before coughing harshly. Estel’s blade faltered for half a breath, kneeling down to pull me back up… and that was all it took. A creature slipped through his guard, claws raised, poised to strike his chest.

“No!”

The word tore out of me before I could think. My hand shot forward, desperate, my heart blazing with panic. “Luz!”

The spell ripped from my throat naturally and without hesitation. Light exploded outward. A blinding, searing brilliance, flooding the grove. The creatures shrieked, shadows curling into nothing as the radiance consumed them. Every pair of red eyes winked out, one by one, until silence crashed down again.

I staggered back, panting, my vision swimming. The clearing was empty. Every trace of the darkness had vanished, as though it had never been. Once the light subsided we could see that not even a trace of the hoard was around.

Estel was staring at me. His blade dropping to the ground, forgotten, as he stepped closer. His mismatched eyes, silver and blue, were wide with something between awe and disbelief. “Rosaria… what did you just…”

Before he could finish, voices rang out from the edge of the forest. Students, rushing toward us, shouting our names. The moment shattered.

“You two, are you alright?” one of them called, breathless. “We saw the light from the camp!”

Estel blinked, tearing his gaze away from me as the others crowded in. I forced myself to straighten, to hide the trembling in my hands. “I… I don’t know,” I said quickly, before anyone else could ask. My voice sounded foreign in my ears. This wasn’t me talking. It almost seemed like Rosaria herself had taken over. “Something happened. The light… just appeared.”

They nodded, too shaken themselves to question it. Relief spread like wildfire among them as they began to escort us back toward camp.

But Estel. He didn’t say anything else. Not yet. His expression was unreadable as he fell into step beside me, though his eyes lingered on me longer than I could bear.

Inside, my mind was in pure, unadulterated chaos. Luz. That spell should have been impossible for me. Only a saintess like Historia could cast such a thing, call down light like that. Heck, even Historia struggled with that exact spell. That's why she always resulted in using Krono’s powers instead.. Rosaria, however….was never a saintess. Not in Amor’s books. Not in any of the concepts or art Amor had available for fans.

So why me? Was it because I was here now? Because I had taken Rosaria’s place?

The thought gnawed at me, and was quite frankly ... .frightening. As if the rules of this world weren’t just twisted, but rewriting themselves around me. The story I knew before was changing again. And it was my intervention that kept leading it more and more astray…

And deep down, under the fear, one truth pulsed in my chest. I had saved him. Estel. For now. But at what cost? Would this world just try to get rid of him in a different way, just as it had just now? How many more times would this happen?

As we all walked back to camp, I felt myself feel lightheaded, and dizzy. I felt my body heavy, and everything slowly blurred. I couldn’t tell if I was hearing my name from Estel's mouth or not, but I felt someone grab me, and like before…. Everything went dark.