The river had almost disappeared beneath the valley.
Shallow water stretched between dark stones, barely reaching the soles of Glent’s boots. Sunlight reflected across the pools, illuminating the canyon walls that rose on either side of the winding riverbed.
It was quiet here.
Too quiet for a place like this.
Glent walked across the stones, his greatsword resting against his shoulder. Pale blue light ran along the weapon’s blade, illuminating the frost that clung to its edges.
He stopped.
A figure stood farther down the valley, several paces away.
Its body was concealed beneath dark armor, its face hidden behind a pale, expressionless mask. Two curved sickles hung from its hands, each connected to a length of chain that dragged across the wet stones.
The Chainbound Reaper.
Glent lowered his sword.
The Reaper tilted its head.
Neither moved.
Then the chains tightened.
Glent barely raised his greatsword before the first sickle came flying toward him.
He turned the blade aside. Metal scraped against metal as the sickle passed his face, its chain stretching taut behind it.
The second sickle swept toward his ribs from the opposite direction.
Glent ducked beneath it.
The curved blade passed over his head, severing a few strands of hair before the Reaper pulled it back.
Glent advanced, bringing his greatsword across the creature’s body.
The Reaper stepped beyond the blade’s reach, letting the attack cut through empty air. Its chains coiled around its arms as it prepared another strike.
Glent turned with it and swung again.
The Reaper crossed its sickles in front of its chest, catching the greatsword between them.
Steel pressed against steel.
Neither combatant yielded.
Glent’s eyes narrowed.
Frost spread across his greatsword.
He twisted his wrists and forced the sickles apart, pushing the Reaper backward several steps. Before it could recover, he thrust his free hand toward the creature.
Pale light gathered along the blade.
A crescent of frozen energy tore across the valley.
The Reaper twisted aside.
The projectile passed its shoulder and struck the canyon wall behind it, coating the stone in a layer of ice.
Glent charged through the shallow water before the Reaper could regain its footing.
He raised his greatsword above his head and brought it down.
The Reaper crossed its sickles overhead.
The impact forced it into a crouch, sending ripples through the water beneath its boots.
Glent leaned into the clash, pressing the creature’s weapons lower.
The Reaper’s mask turned toward him.
One chain suddenly whipped around Glent’s wrist.
The second looped around the guard of his greatsword.
The Reaper pulled both chains toward itself.
Glent was dragged off balance, stumbling into close range.
A sickle flashed toward his chest.
He released one hand from his greatsword and seized the incoming chain, wrenching it sideways before the blade could reach him.
The Reaper stepped into the opening and drove its knee into Glent’s stomach.
Glent doubled over.
The chains slipped free as he staggered backward through the water.
He raised his greatsword just in time to block the Reaper’s next swing. The impact drove him several steps farther back until his shoulders struck the canyon wall.
The Reaper landed in front of him, its sickles hanging at its sides.
Glent pushed away from the rock.
Blood trickled from a cut along his cheek. He tightened both hands around the greatsword as the Reaper approached across the narrow stretch of water separating them.
Blue frost gathered along the weapon’s length.
The Reaper’s shoulders shifted.
Something moved beneath its armor.
Two additional arms unfolded from its back, each gripping another chained sickle.
Glent stared at the transformed creature.
Four blades hung around its body.
The Reaper spread its arms.
The chains began to turn.
Glent rushed forward before the weapons could fully accelerate.
His greatsword swept across the Reaper’s front, forcing the creature to cross two sickles in defense. The other pair swung toward Glent’s exposed sides.
He twisted away from the first.
The second sickle struck his shoulder.
Pain shot down his arm.
Glent stumbled but maintained his grip on the greatsword. He drove the blade against the Reaper’s crossed weapons, forcing them apart long enough to thrust his free hand forward.
A burst of frost erupted at point-blank range.
Ice spread across the creature’s armor.
The Reaper faltered.
Glent stepped into the opening and swung again.
The Reaper caught the greatsword between two sickles, then pulled sharply with its remaining chains.
Glent’s weapon was dragged sideways.
His footing slipped on the wet stones.
Four blades converged on him.
Glent braced himself, turning his greatsword toward the nearest attack.
A shadow crossed the sunlight above the valley.
A figure dropped between them.
Steel flashed.
Markis landed in the shallow water, his weapon intercepting the incoming sickles before they could reach Glent.
The force of the collision sent water scattering around his boots.
Markis twisted his wrist.
His weapon spun through the air, knocking the chains away from Glent’s greatsword and forcing the Reaper to retreat several paces.
Glent straightened, breathing hard.
“You’re late,” he muttered.
Markis glanced at the blood running down his shoulder.
“You look like you’ve been having fun.”
Across the riverbed, the Reaper spread its four arms. Its chains drew taut, the sickles swaying as it prepared to attack again.
Markis raised one hand.
His sword lifted beside him, hovering above the water.
Glent shifted his stance and brought his greatsword forward.
Pale blue light returned to the blade.
Markis looked toward him.
“On your left.”
Glent moved immediately.
The Reaper launched all four sickles.
Glent swept his greatsword toward the pair coming from his right, deflecting them in a burst of frost. He pivoted as the remaining weapons curved toward his other side.
Markis’s sword shot forward.
Its spinning blade struck the chains in midair, redirecting their trajectories and pulling the Reaper’s arms out of position.
For a brief moment, the creature’s chest was exposed.
Glent charged.
He crossed the remaining distance with both hands locked around his greatsword.
The Reaper tried to pull its weapons back into position, but Markis sent his blade spinning into its side, disrupting its movement.
Glent brought his greatsword down.
Blue light engulfed the Reaper as frost spread across its armor, freezing its movements in place.
Markis recalled his weapon.
Glent stepped back, keeping his sword raised until the creature stopped moving.
For a moment, the Reaper remained standing between them, its four sickles hanging motionless from frozen chains.
Then its body shattered into fragments of fading light.
The valley fell silent.
Water trickled between the stones.
Glent lowered his greatsword and exhaled.
Markis approached, retrieving his weapon.
“Next time,” Glent said, “try getting here before the monster grows another pair of arms.”
Markis gave him a sideways glance.
“Next time, try killing it before I have to.”
Glent looked down at the empty patch of riverbed where the Reaper had stood.
The sunlight still warmed the canyon.
The water still moved.
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