It was the slight trembling of the ground that first alerted them to the enemy presence, followed by the shock and awe of a frighteningly close lightning strike only a dozen meters away from their position. 

The light was temporarily blinding, but Lyra shook it off. The flare was disorienting but not badly so for the others, with most of the light refracted away from the party by one of Lyra’s pre-casted spells. Chad reacted quickly, as did Lyra, who reformed her set of shields into a more spread out pattern meant to provide better defilade against a ranged magical attack. 

“Mages!” shouted Chad, although everybody likely already knew the source of the strike. “Probably on the other side of the summit. Lyra, can you engage?”

The young mage shook her head. There were no mages that she could see or sense, so they were likely at a more remote location. Perhaps a vantage point. In any case, the people coming over the summit were not mages.

“No mages. Knights. Nine of them,” said Lyra, briefly pointing at a small, but tight formation of armor clad men barreling towards them. “Easy pickings for you, Chad. I’ll get the Astopolian mage, don’t worry about it. There’s only so much they can do at range.” 

As she spoke, she materialized a lance of metallic nature, of a length about equal in height to Chad. Without wasting a breath, she planted the rod in the ground a couple meters ahead of her, and not a moment too soon, as the prison mages launched another round of lightning. The lightning bolts surged through the air right into the makeshift lightning rod and were completely neutralized by the ground. 

From a tactical standpoint, the situation looked grim. They had lost the element of surprise, and their own party of combatants just about equaled the squad of knights in numbers. While Chad’s own band of crewmembers was less trained, they were also lightly armored and more agile, and they had the support of Lyra, and for better or for worse, the house maid Nephenee. He drew his sword.

“Let’s make swift work of these knights and get in, and get out,” said Chad, coordinating the group. “Dig in, but don’t take importance in holding ground. Remember, we have the advantage in agility and speed against armored knights. Mr. Abe, have Mr. Bennet’s party rejoin the main party, inform him the element of surprise has been lost. Nephenee, you’re… you’re with me. Rilolia, I have no clue what you do, so do as you see fit. Yazu, stop playing with the leaf and do something about the bad people approaching us.” 

Within seconds, the two groups met in a flurry of combat. Chad stepped aside as the leading knight charged him. He stepped into the charging knight’s wake to kick the man off balance, but the enemy recovered as quickly as he had charged in, and the captain was forced to leap back to avoid the cleave of the armor clad man’s claymore. The Astopolian garrison was small, but definitely no slouch, Chad realized. He dodged another attack from a second knight, deliberately avoiding parrying the knights’ heavier swords with his light weapon, knowing that the lighter smallsword would not take the beating from the types of weapons that heavy knights wielded. Breaking away, he rejoined with Mr. Bennet and Nephenee, who had both taken up a defensive position along Lyra’s shields. 

After the initial contact, it became clear that the knights’ goal was Lyra and her position, which was now at the right-flank of the group. The trio engaged the first knight that arrived, with Mr. Bennet directly engaging the lance knight with his heavier broadsword. At the same time, Nephenee stepped in with a polite with a polite “excuse me,” and with a flash and a bit of a refined flourish, took hold of the knight's arm and weapon. With a twist of her arm and a fraction of an upward force, she hyperextended the man’s elbow backwards, cracking his joints. The man released the weapon with a scream, and with a swipe of the polearm, the battlemaid knocked the man back towards Chad, who delivered a well-placed finishing stab through the visor. A second knight, coming to the aid of his fallen comrade, was knocked over by the swing of Nephenee’s poached weapon. Taking no liberties with her time, the maid drove the spear into the man’s chest.

“Just like old times,” commented Nephenee as she doubled back. 

“From defending against stagecoach bandits to fighting Astopolian knights,” said Chad, with a grimace, having been forced to parry an incoming knight. 

“An apt comparison.”