A little short story I wrote ’cause I was bored.

First series-es were the thing, then poems, then comics, and now shorts. Lol.

~

The sniper stood inside the El Nath entrance to Orbis Tower, crossbow at the ready. He kept playing and replaying his orders in his mind. Shoot the first monster that comes through this door. And make sure it hits. His brain turned the words over and over, until it was the only thing he could think about.

Shoot the first monster…
Make sure it hits…
That comes through this…
The first monster that…
Comes through this door…

The town of El Nath was desolate; not a soul could be found on this dark day for Ossyria. The land had faced the worst Yeti overpopulation in centuries, and everyone had to evacuate the city and escape to Orbis. Well, almost everyone.

Some people had stayed to defend El Nath, and others, retreated to the tower. Even if the town was lost, the tower would be safe as long as it was defended. Since it only had one entrance to and from El Nath, a small group of soldiers could easily hold off any number of enemies.

The sniper adjusted his position. Standing in the same pose for a long period of time took more energy than one would think.

Make the first monster…
Shoot through this door…
The first monster that hits…
Make sure this monster…
It hits through the…….

Suddenly, the door opened. Before he could think, he pulled the trigger.

He gasped.

No… can’t be… I couldn’t… oh no… tell me this isn’t real… oh noo…

He couldn’t move a muscle, couldn’t do anything except watch as the arrow pierced the heart of a crusader. His lifelong friend. He couldn’t do anything except watch as his body crumpled to the ground. He saw it as if it were in slow motion, yet at the same time everything went so fast. It seemed like an age before his head finally hit the ground, yet it all happened before he could react.

No… how could I…

His body stayed frozen as the others started entering the tower. It didn’t register in his head that El Nath had been saved. It didn’t matter to him that the yetis had been held off, that his hometown was safe once again. Nothing mattered to him anymore. Nothing mattered to him except one thing.

I…I killed him… I’m a murderer…