text: “Tonight’s the night”. Sergeant Muller said to himself as he was staring over the entrenchments across the field. Tonight he would embark on a daring raid across the battlefield from his own trenches to the enemies. It was not his first raid and by this point in the war he was a profesional in the regard of wreaking havoc upon the enemy trenches when the moon is full and night falls on the land. What was once a daunting task when he was a private was nothing to him now as a Sergeant. Even the prospect of death did not scare him. His thoughts were broken when his good friend Corporal Webb approached him from behind “It’s almost time, are you ready?” He asked. Muller used the moonlight shining above them and checked his pocket watch and nodded. “Of course”. Muller then followed Webb towards the firing line of the trenches and they spoke as they passed by soldiers getting on or getting off shifts of mending wire, digging more trenches, or simply going about their own business. “Why do you think the Bluecoats have been so quiet lately anyways? Today I stood straight up after coming out of my dugout and none of them dared even shoot me”. Webber asked. Muller simply shook his head “Hopefully they’ve lost their stomach for this war and went home. Any sane man would have at this point anyways. We’ve been fighting over this stretch of dirt for months now without the battle lines changing”. Webb nodded “Not us of course, we’re perfectly sane aren’t we?” Muller chuckled slightly “As sane as we can be”. As they continued to walk towards the firing line Muller thought about Webb’s question. “Surely we’ll find out soon enough what’s happening over there”. He said to himself. Once they finally reached the firing line they hailed the sentry and they recognized him as Henderson from his broad mustache “Another night on the job then?” He asked earnestly as Webb and Muller past him. “There’s nothing quite like it Henderson. Keep them all safe back here won’t you?” Muller said as he rubbed some dirt on his face. “Will do”. Henderson said in reply. With that, they then made their way across no man’s land. The area between the Ticonderoga and Ulsterian trenches was a mess of shell holes, stumps, and dead carcasses scattered about the land. Every feature Muller and Webb knew like the back of their hands and they constantly used them for cover and concealment as they crawled across the field. No lantern was necessary for the moon was full that night and shined like a candle upon them and lit their way. They then came upon the outskirts of the Ulsterian lines when Webb reached to Muller and whispered. “Blue coat straight ahead”. Muller then looked over and saw a sentry at his post leaning against his rifle. “He’s asleep”. Muller said. “His head is facing the dirt anyways”. Webb then took a more stern look and drew his dagger from his scabbard and whispered “It's best not to take the chance.” They then crawled to an empty section of the trench and Muller cut the wire and they crawled into the ditch. Their boots made a splash in what they assumed was a mud puddle and they made their way along the firing line until they spotted the sentry. Webb then made quick work of him and carefully stretched his hand over the sentry's mouth and drove his dagger deep into the man’s back. The blow would have been fatal if he was still alive. When Webb threw him into the mud he realized he was dead and his throat slit. Muller then gave a confused look “What the Hell is this?” Webb shrugged in reply. They then made their way carefully along the trench but their subtly was unnecessary. It became apparent the trenches were guarded by dead men. Every soldier they came across was ripped apart with cuts and stabs covering their uniforms and Muller became puzzled. “My God what happened here”. The trail of bodies ended at a dugout where a lantern was burning bright from inside. “Lower enlisted first”. Muller jested at his seniority while Webb growled. Webb then carefully went into the dugout with dagger and pistol drawn while Muller waited outside. When Webb came into the dugout he discovered an officer’s quarters along with a hole freshly dug into the ground and a silver coffin with the lid fully pushed open from the inside. “What the fuck is this?” Were the last words Webb said before his throat was slit open and he fell to the ground with a thud. From up top Muller nearly shouted “Webb?! Webb! What’s happening down there?!” Muller didn’t wait for a response when he heard movement coming from down the trenchline and looked to see Webb laying dead on the ground with a red eyed beast looking back at him from within the dugout. Muller’s instinct to survive overcame his need to enact revenge and he ran for his life. By now he cared nothing for crawling on the ground or stealth at all as he ran past the dead sentry and bodies and onto the field. He could feel whatever had murderer Webb chasing him. He sprinted past the shell craters, stumps and dead corpses he had come to memorize and every step of the way he could feel the beast come near him at an inhuman speed. He then tripped and fell into a shell crater and knew it was too late. Muller then drew his pistol in a panicked frenzy and turned to face the beast. However it was gone. He then peered across the field to find whatever was chasing him was gone and wondered if he had gone mad. Muller waited a few moments more before he holstered his pistol again and ran towards his own trench line and hailed Henderson as he came near “Henderson! Henderson! Awake the commander! somethings terribly wrong!” However, Henderson did not respond and Muller did not understand why until he came near and realized his neck had been slit ear to ear and he was only propped up by the rifle he was leaning on. He then came into the trenches to find all his comrades were slain just the same as his enemies were and the culprit of it all standing at the end of the trench with claws extended and eyes as red as blood. Muller however was out of breath and had nowhere to run even if he wanted to. He then drew his pistol again and faced the beast who had murdered Webb. Either he would kill this beast, or join his friend in death.