Nightfall Vanguard

Night claimed the patio, extinguishing the sun's glare across the stone steps. The open lawn ahead receded into pitch black. I did not fall back behind the glass barrier. Instead, I drove the tip of my golden scimitar into a thick seam between two cold flagstones near the lowest step, anchoring my post against the dark. Beside my boots, an empty brass lantern housing lay forgotten in the chill. I reached out and dragged its heavy lattice forward, setting it flush against my right flank to obstruct any flanking approach from the garden shadows. The line holds.