"This must be hard for you, no? All of this blood."

Barracker didn’t noticed MacKensie’s footsteps, he grinned sadly. “Even with my sharp hearing, you still manage to sneak up on me in my worst moments,” the vampire muttered under his breath with a trace of humour. “Indeed, it is hard. This is much harder than I had thought before, even,” he paused a moment looking up at the sky. “The thirst is beating me slowly. As someone who is not born a vampire, it is said that I will succumb to a blind rage that will controls my life, my very being. It is said that eventually you cannot think of anything else except the thirst and thus, become a slave, a thrall to the higher vampire who turned you. It is so difficult to put into words… Viktor…” Barracker was about to carry on but then held back, shaking his head.

"Just know… That I may not be able to understand fully, but I am here for you. No matter what. All of us," she said, referring to Second Chance. "We all have our burdens to carry, but we can draw strength from eachother. Our bonds. Our trust. We will never abandon you."

“...”

By Hades he appreciated her so much, the words hit hard. If I only could think of myself in that way. If only she could realise the danger that comes with this afliction.

His gaze said it all, the sadness, the vulnerability, the fear, all mixed with gratitude and appreciation for her to be here for him in this moment of strife. Then she gently turned him to face her and grabbed his hands. "I will not stand for this nonsense of you being a monster," she said firmly. "You, Kass, are a hero. You always have been and you always will be. Yes?" She gave a small smile. He gave a smile back and nodded, reminding himself the battle was far from done. "Now let's do what heroes do and save this city."

Barracker and MacKensie set off in a hurry. Barracker was glad to hear that Sil would be okay. Fenna said she would join them shortly, so he and MacKensie went to the command post to find James and Allison. Barracker was over joyed that both the Rogue and the Cleric were alive and well, meaning that all of Second Chance had survived the battle so far. It seemed that James was in charge so Barracker waited for his orders.

A short time later after relaying orders to The Bats he was stood in formation with Second Chance on the bridge. Warren had actually tried to offer his own shield to Barracker which was something that the Paladin respectfully refused, but understood the magnitutde of the sentiment, as a warriors equipment was important to them. Instead, Barracker was stood in the famous ‘Ochs Stance,’ a fighting style requiring a high skill threshhold that was Barracker’s go to when he didn’t have a shield.

Barracker’s attention went towards the big threats in the Ogres direct attack. Barracker searched for the dagger James had given him, he launched the dagger, targetting the ogre eye. This blinded the big terror temporarily, putting a stop to it in its tracks. His first intention was to retrieve his dagger and finish the ogre off, but the crowd of enemy knights and orc heavies waylaid him and he knew he needed to protect the back line of Mages and Clerics.

He fought them back ferociously, several at once. He aimed for one kill per one swing, being so outnumbered it would be dangerous to be overwhelmed.

The moment he got space, he shouted to Rangers and Rogue for one of them to answer his plea. “Allison, MacKensie, Fenna! Finish the ogre!”

The vampire held out one hand low, with the intention for one of the women to jump onto his palm with a foot and to vault over the crowd with the assistance of his throwing strength, onto the shoulders of the blinded ogre.

Now that the casting was complete, there was no need for the gnome to stick around. Therefore, Adam did what was natural to him.

“Thank you for your help, Xavier. You can go back to your team now.”

The mustachioed man looked at Adam quizzically for a moment, then yelled out “leave me alone!” before running back to Silver Arrow. For his part, all the red-eyed man did was shake his head before he walked towards the bridge to help his own team. He saw James and Alison discussing strategy, so he thought he would add his own tidbit of insight when appropriate:

“It's good to see you all. If anyone like Zigmund shows up, let me handle it or you could all die.” No time to elaborate. Simple, to-the-point. “Also, we should kill the ogres quickly. I'll divert the others.”

After waiting for any responses, Adam proceeded to run towards the group of orcs and knights. Then, when enough of them had their attention on him, he transformed into his bear form. And with his ursine powers, he began cutting through them like a knife through butter.

It wasn't elegant by any stretch of the imagination, but it was effective. A slash here, a bite there. The confusion among the enemy ranks at fighting a literal bear worked to the Druid's advantage as he shifted through their forces. Less focused on defense than offense, he used constant motion and the general bulkiness of his animal body to minimize his own harm. It didn't mean he dodged everything, no, just that hits that would have been deadly as a human were minor as a bear.

And as for retreat? Adam would trust his friends to keep a path open. They all made it this far, so he knew they could go even further.

-----

Robert Smith was not a soldier, or at over 350 pounds even athletic enough to qualify to be one. He was a chef by trade, and had volunteered to help the army in the kitchen to do his small part to help Valheim.

But now after so many retreats, he had somehow become an impromptu aide on the front lines. Pulling an injured man to the medics, moving supplies, that sort of thing. And now an army of skeletons was threatening to destroy them all. So with no other men to help, the rotund guy decided to do his small part to help Valheim in a different way. Finding a perch above the combat - perhaps an archer would've been there if there were more fighters - he grabbed whatever he could. Barrels, crates, even discarded garbage; all of this, he threw at the enemy undead with as much force as his sweaty body would allow.

The cook hoped it would help.

Fenna joined the others to get an update on the situation. The summary of it: it was grim. There was very little hope, the enemy was overpowering them. But it had to be done. She went to the Falcons first to let them know they would be joining all the others to defend the Bazaar, but before she could tell them they asked about Sil. Their concern was real and Fenna choked up, she had to clear her throat before she could tell them Sil was recovering, followed by the order they would defend the Bazaar. She appointed a second in command to oversee them while she would join her party.

She had to believe in them. It didn't feel right to leave them, but she had confidence they would do well. Right now she had to focus on her own task. She joined the others at the bridge. It was strange to be standing here without Sil. For years she had done everything without a falcon by her side, but now she missed having her winged friend near her. However, it felt good to be reunited with her dear friends who thankfully had all survived so far. Zell barely, but he too had made it to this point.

None of the enemies were allowed to cross this bridge and they had to make sure of that.

As the enemies approached - Orc Heavies and Knights of Terequette with Ogres in the middle - Fenna thought about what the best strategy was. She would have time for one well-placed shot, after that she'd rely on her spear.
As Barracker hurled a knife to one, Fenna took her bow and one enchanted arrow. She had prepared several enchanted bolts for MacKensie during the days of preparation, but had prepared a couple of arrows for herself as well. She aimed the ice arrow at the neck of one of the Ogres, took a couple of seconds to concentrate and active her Eye of the Hawk. The ice arrow released and pierced the neck of the Ogre. She quickly glanced over the battlefield. There was time for one more. She placed another ice arrow on the bow, took in a breath and concentrated before releasing it and hitting another in the neck. The downside was that her knowledge of Ogre anatomy was practically non-existent and even though the arrows hit where she wanted them to hit, they weren't immediate fatal blows.

With Adam the bear going through the ranks and the enemies trying to get closer, Fenna decided that switching to her spear was better now. She moved forward to stab the first of the Knights she could reach.
When Barracker called out, she glanced in his direction. It was clear what he wanted, but Fenna wasn't in the position to quickly get to him, nor did she consider herself the most agile to pull off what Barracker wanted her to do. Her eyes darted to where Allison and MacKensie were, if neither of them was closer she'd go in.

As the defences of the bridge happened, the rest of the soldiers had to defend the Bazaar against the onslaught of skeletons. The Falcons stayed together to fight against this enemy with sword and spear. Hacking at the bones, stabbing them in the eyesocket and pulling the head off. They did what they could.

Among the defenders was Nimuer Farlorn, the leatherworker. He wore earth-based enchanted leather armour which gave it properties similar to the spell stoneskin, leather gloves with a fire enchantment, and leather boots of light feet to help him move faster. He wielded an iron hammer and a wooden shield and bashed skeleton skulls.

As James relayed battleplans, everyone listened. Like him, Alison was also stood next Second Chance's leader, on the other side. Her body language and the way she talked told Zell that she was not just proficient in the tactical and strategic elements of combat, she was into it too. Another reason for him to like her. Another reason why they needed to win. And live. And see another another day. Have another drink together.

"Yeah, we'd be best off in the middle," Zell agreed with James' assessment and drew out a triangle on the table with his finger. "If we are positioned a little forward of the line. Create a wedge formation. Then we'll take a little pressure off of Evermere and the Silver Arrow, while they keep our flanks covered."

His determined eyes sought approval from James and Alison. He was confident in his own knowledge of battlefield tactics but there was always a chance he was missing some factor that they had spotted. As for their two fellow adventurer parties, the leaders of which had shown up for the quick briefing, Zell wasn't too sure how strong they were. Judging by the captain of the Scarabs, who was an Evermere frontliner, Evermere might have been just about strong enough to deal with the cult of Drath'tuthan... maybe. Either way, pretty soon they'd find out just how strong everyone was, on the bridge.

A little more discussion with James having the final word and everything was settled. Zell rapped his fist on the table. "We've got this, guys!"

As captains went to their blocks to relay orders and messages were transmitted to the rest of the Bazaar for where to take up positions, Zell had a brief meet with the Lions. He didn't even realise until now, but none of his block had seen him come into the Bazaar. So all this time, between what happened in the streets and now, they'd thought he was dead. Zell was confused at the reception for a second, then he realised and laughed.

"Ah, come off it. You didn't really think your captain would get taken out by one measly fireball, did ya?" Many thanked him for his quick thinking and life-saving play against the pyromancer. Others were still stunned in awe. "Alright, alright, no worries. Now listen up because we ain't got much time..."

He relayed James' orders of positioning, with the Lions set to hold a handful of alleyways, between the shops, that opened up onto the riverbank. After that, he gave them all some words of encouragement, almost indistinguishable from the team talks he'd given in the past before an important football match. There was a customary series of "Oorah!" chants at the end, then they broke up to hit their positions. Zell was satisfied as he watched them go, until his eyes caught three of his men who had not immediately left and were standing in a huddle. He went over, noticing immediately that it was Biff, Chip and Kipper, three of the more unforgettable personalities in the Lions.

"Wassup boys?" he asked as he approached, but they didn't need to explain. As soon as he saw the young lad, Kipper, Zell figured the situation. The kid was as white as a ghost.

"It's Kipper, Captain," Chip said to Zell. "He's not doing too well."

Zell knew he didn't have time for this, but a quick look around told him that not everyone was done with their briefings so he had a quick minute. They all tried to share a comforting word with Kipper. Chip told him that he was scared too. Biff assured him that he'd stay close and protect them. Zell said that he'd seen Kipper's conduct on the wall and congratulated him for an impressive performance and getting this far. All of their efforts were enough to perk Kipper up a little, but he was still shook. And who could blame the kid.

"Look, mate," Zell put an arm around Kipper's shoulder. "You've read them stories about heroes who do great deeds, right?" Kipper nodded. "And all the awesome shit they do? Kicking ass and looking damn good while doin it? Even gettin the smoking-hot princess at the end?" He managed to get a bit of a smile with the last nod. "Every single one of them heroes in them books... we're fucking shitting themselves with fright, the whole time. The authors don't often tell you about that bit, because it's not very flattering, but I promise you... just like you... just like me, right now... just like Biff and Chip too... shitting... bricks, pal."

Kipper frowned in confusion and looked at them all. Biff nodded. "I'm terrified I'll never see my wife or little boy again."

Chip chimed in. "I can barely hold last night's dinner, Kip."

"But that's what courage is, Kipper," Zell continued. "Courage ain't fuckinnnnn... being fearless. No. That's just fucking stupid. Courage is being scared, but having the will to keep going." Kipper's eyes searched the floor as he took in the words. The colour was at least returning to his face a little. "Look at me... people will write about this day. They're gonna write about you, me, Biff, Chip... all the Lions. And they're gonna tell all about our courage. Because that's what matters. We stood up and faced down what was thought to be unstoppable." Kipper nodded and blinked a few times as his back straightened. "And in the final chapter, Kipper gets a feel of the smoking-hot princess." They all laughed. Even Kipper couldn't help but chuckle. "Alright," Zell decided this was the best he could do and wrapped things up. "Your orders, you three: Stay together. Look out for each other, yeah?"

"Aye, Captain," they all said.

Zell backed away and just before he turned to run and catch up with his party, he told them. "Let them motherfuckers hear you roar."

...

He arrived at the bridge last, but fortunately not too late as to fuck things up. The enemy were lined up across the bridge and chanting. Zell took up his position. Front and centre. The Englishman wouldn't have it any other way.

"Let's fuckin go, lads and ladies!" he flashed a grin at his friends behind him. It felt so good to be fighting by their side again.

With his Source-gifted mental rolodex of combat knowledge, his mind could not decide between Water Stance and Stone Stance. Water Stance was perfect for defending in open spaces against superior numbers, but Stone Stance had all the best counters and he could do with such against the ogres. It turned out that Adam would make the decision easy when the Druid charged across the bridge, crossed past the charging ogres and transformed into a bear, causing chaos in the enemy ranks and leaving a large gap between the ogres and the bulk of the Orcs and Knights.

"Ha!" Zell was pleased and dropped into Stone Stance, then rushed forward to meet the ogre in front and hopefully get the beast's attention so it did not complete a full charge and end up in the back ranks of the adventurers. "Oi, you big ugly bastard!" It worked.

The ogre back-hand swatted Zell with it's machete. Zell took the full brunt of the attack on his sword and slid a metre across the pavestones from the sheer force. The next attack was parried with a smooth counter strike on the arm, but ogre flesh was tough and the strike did nothing to slow the beast down. Orcs came running into the fray as Zell backed up to stay in line with Barracker and re-establish a front line shield. It quickly became a game of; kill as many orcs as possible in between fending off the big, slow attacks of the ogre.

Then an opening appeared. Zell recognised the enchanted arrow of Fenna and blessed the woman for a second time this morning.

He took advantage, dashing in and delivering an awesome combo to a single knee of the ogre. It stumbled and Zell drove the Black Sword into the ogre, up and between the ribs, hoping to catch a vital organ. The ogre howled and Zell gritted his teeth, and exploded with all his might to drive the sword even further into the beast.

It was a risk to get so stuck when other enemies were about and might take advantage, but the prospect of dropping an ogre quickly was too tempting to pass up.

...Meanwhile...

Biff, Chip and Kipper did indeed stay together. They, with a few others, held the mouth of an alley where they frantically hacked at any skeletons trying to climb up from the river. Zell was not lying...

...they were all shitting bricks.

She'd been so set on training for dual-wield action, she hadn't yet experienced the full prowess of the Drow-invented technology,'Repeater Action.' But with her original weapon smashed to smithereens, back on the wall, she now had two hands for her one ranged weapon.

Sacre bleu!

It might well have been faster, on its own, than using it in tandem with a regular bolt-action counterpart.



From the wing of Second Chance's formation, MacKensie peppered the enemy as they advanced, running through the remainder of the enchanted bolts Fenna had prepped for her. Like coloured fireworks - red marking fire and blue marking ice - her ammunition zinged across the bridge in rapid succession, hitting ogre, orc and knight as MacKensie pushed to see just how fast she could fire this vastly superior weapon of hers. She worked the repeating, lever-action with lightning dexterity, and the enhanced cables and firing string glowed blue or red to match the enchantment of the respective bolt in the firing mechanism. Five bolts flew, then in a flash she'd dropped another five into magically-compressed space, inside the thin magazine fitted atop the crossbow. It was staggering just how much of a difference upgraded weaponry could make in this world. It was almost like having a permanent Deadly Flurry activated. She only wished that she actually had some of her daily powers left, so that she might see what a real Deadly Flurry would now look like with this new weapon in hand.

The ogres clashed with the front lines, followed shortly by the Heavies and Knights, at which point the fighting truly began. The formations of the Adventurer parties were well-spread, giving everyone liberal space to work with. From her position on the wing, she had adequate cover from Barracker in front and the adventurers of Evermere to her side, and was able to continue firing. Whatever enemies charged into her space, she nimbly evaded with excellent upper-body movement and speedy footwork - her would-be attackers ending up plugged with close-range shots from her quickfire crossbow.

When MacKensie spotted Zell going for the finish on one ogre, but being closed in on by knights in the process, MacKensie pointed her gauntlet and fired her grapplehook in that direction. It was just as she started moving that she heard Barracker's call for assistance, but she was already gone. She could only hope that Alison or Fenna would answer the call.

With blinding acceleration she zoomed towards Zell and the ogre, her grapplehook releasing from the monster's stomach, sending MacKensie baseball sliding through its legs. Her sudden skidding appearance startled the knights closing in on Zell and kicked up dust and gravel into their faces. Before even coming to a halt, she fired her grapplehook, once more, behind her at the back of the ogres head, causing her to slingshot like a rubberband, back the way she came. With a wide-open pathway to her target - and the ogre in no position to dodge - her dagger hit the monster's skull with her full bodyweight and speed behind it, penetrating the tough skull with ease and bringing the titan down.

MacKensie left her dagger lodged in the dead ogres skull for the present moment, rising up with her crossbow and providing cover-fire until Zell could free his sword. Once he did, she allowed him to cover her while she retrieved her dagger which took two strong tugs to pull from the corpse.

"Are you okay?" she asked Zell while she strafed from side to side, keeping the fighter between her and the Knights, firing shots over his shoulders. She lingered long enough to be sure that he had his bearings. "Alright, good luck."

With that, she sprinted back through her party's battlelines and back to her wing position, taking care to avoid getting hit by friendly fire.

He looked at the gathered troops, amongst them it was the faces of his party that caught his attention the most. He could guess he looked as exhausted as them, less so even considering that they all sported signs of having seen battle on the front lines while all he did was bark orders from a safe position. Even Adam who should have been a caster appeared to have fought something strong enough to give him trouble. He tried to hide the flinch that cursed through his body when Adam said his name

His mouth set itself in a firm line, unlike his usual scowl and all the more strange for it. He wanted to scream, to order his party to retreat, tho curse this world but neither of those were options so instead he followed the plan Alison and he had workshoped.

"Attention! This is what we are going to do...."



Hate was a familiar and alien feeling.

He couldn't claim that James had ever truly hated, disliked and loathed yes but never before had he wished for someone's painful death, Zigmund, on the other hand, was well acquainted with the feeling of hatred that bubbled in his gut, like a hand gripping his neck and squeezing it in a slow fashion. It was maddening and made him want to lash out to the nearest person. He needed to hurt something fast, if only to rid himself of all the fury flowing through his veins.

Luckily for him there was an acceptable target.

The ogres were uglier than the ones back then, they were also better trained, unlike the wild swings of the one they felled these ones had something resembling discipline. Luckily his party was of a similar mind to him, devoting their efforts to one of the Ogres while Adam caused a huge conmotion in a mad dash.

He decided against adding his own offensive, instead he choose to do his best to offer support to Adam, Light beams flew from his hands, striking those who were in a position to harm him, while on the back of his mind the counterspell and barrier were ready to be used.

For as long as Adam could keep the transformation they would have the momentum.

The militia around him seemed to share the sentiment.

Behind there were the other clerics, no longer dedicating themselves to heal but rather to support, their magics being pushed to a level past exhaustion just to keep their allies healty and battle capable.

By his sides there were mages, each one casting their own elements and tricks into the mass of bodies, prioritizing the incoming ones rather than the ones the frontlines were battling.

All according to the strategy they had devised, now it was time to fulfill their part of said strategy and take down those damn ogres.

Seriously why was it always Ogers?

"Alright then, just like before, we'll plug the holes, watch your back, and make sure you don't get stabbed in it"

---

Alison rushed towards the great Paladin, seizing the opportunity without a second thought. It frustrated her to no end that the frontline was here, but it's what they had to deal with. Leaping into his palms, she shot up, Barracker practically caber tossing her high into the air. From up here she saw the whole battle for a brief moment. The teaming masses of undead, the hulking figures of the ogres, the citizens, and soldiers desperately trying to fight them all off.

Oh, how she missed the strategic comforts of her previous life at that exact moment.

Focusing on her quarry, the strange, dark purple glow of her source crystal grew and in her mind's eye, a line was traced from her weapon to a specific spot on its back.

"There!" she thought, as she traced her special tool along the glowing path. It felt almost automatic, like an out-of-body experience, as the tip of the hardened steel point drifted through the air as she fell. In its blinded state, the ogre had little time to react or even notice the threat hurtling down upon it.

Landing upon the ogre without hesitation, she slammed the point down, just below the back of the head, and fired. The steel piledriver shot forward with a roar, splitting tough hide, then muscle, and then finally severing the creature's spine. Using the now-falling momentum of the immense beast, Alison kicked off the corpse, dislodging her weapon and landing on the ground.

Without missing a beat, she reloaded and found her next target, another tank that was the Ogres. Seeing Fenna nearby and thinking quickly, she rushed forward, aiming low. The beast noticed her but had little time to react. It kicked out with its immense leg, but anticipating this, Alison put her hands on the incoming leg and vaulted over, rolling to the side and firing the piledriver through the creature's ankle, forcing it to kneel and bend over slightly.

"Fenna! Target up!" Alison called as she rolled out from underneath the beast, hoping the creature's reduced mobility and exposed posture would give the archer all the room she needed for a kill shot.

---

Kerensa dashed rapidly down the battlements of the Bazaar and its defenses, scanning keenly.

There!

She lept down and her curved blade flashed out. A militia soldier holding one part of the line had fallen over from a heavy blow to the head, but before the skeletal figure could exploit the breach, Kerensa cleanly severed its arms, then its head, from the body. The soldier quickly sputtered out thanks before taking his place again on the line.

The many rogues of the thieves guild had sadly taken heavy losses in the first stage of the battle, and as such, Alison had to deploy them the best she could. In a simple humorous sense, the mission had not changed. They were the protective shadow of the city, and just like before, they were watching the backs of the defenders. Thus, Kerensa and the few remaining members of Alison's squad were tasked with rapidly moving up and down the lines of battle. Anywhere the defenders were to get overwhelmed, anywhere the enemy slipped through and threatened to reach the back lines and sow chaos, her squad was there to clean up and contain before moving on.

It wasn't easy or foolproof. Exhaustion, lack of numbers, and the relentless ferocity of the enemy threatened to collapse at every corner, but after all that they had sacrificed, they would be damned to see it go to waste. Thus, with equally suicidal tenacity, the cutthroats and thieves lashed out all along the line, stomping out any roaming undead, stabbing their knives, and even firing their remaining flares into the faces of their enemies. Anything to hold them back.

Kerensa paused as she reached the bridge again, the first lap and sweep done. She looked on at the battle below and watched for a moment as the Second Chance made their stand and carved through the ogres. She gave a small prayer for Dormes to watch over his children and then moved on again.

@Jay009@Loksfjoer

"Sir, they're still coming out of the water!"

Commander Thorn could not believe his eyes. So many of them.

Skeletons were seemingly limitless. In addition to the 2000+ that had come through the gate, an additional 1000+ had been raised from the northeastern wall where Valhiem soldiers, Orcs, Goblins and Corrupted Tribesmen who had died in battle, were resurrected and drafted into the Bone Legion.

The unstoppable wave of skeletons marched around the mountain, undeterred by the attacks coming from the Citadel, whose magic was waning fast as it was.

In the next few minutes, the slopes at the foot of Citadel Mountain would be crawling with the skeletons and there would be no path of retreat for the garrison at The Bazaar.

All looked lost.



The number of injured defenders slowly climbed but there were none to heal them. All Cleric class mages were now dedicated to support. Dark Bolts, Inferno Waves and Chain Lightning were the spells that Saladin's magic regiments favored and these attacks were part of the constant stream of offense. Of those spells targeting the bridge, Idril the Cleric of Evermere's Barrier spells extended to protect all three of the Adventurer Parties, with Vaella the Wizard of The Silver Arrow smartly using her Counter Spells to dispel the larger Ritual Tier attacks from the enemy.

With Second Chance felling two ogres quickly and Alison even injuring another, a great deal of pressure was lifted from the bridge. The Silver Arrow managed to kill one of the ogres attacking them and Evermere was able to survive the initial minutes on the bridge without taking any major injuries.

Enchanter Wizards on the enemy's side of the bridge had finished charging a vile concoction of spells and now cast them down onto the advancing Knights of Terequette. Several ranks of Knights were hit with a dark red and black glow that gave off smoke and flame before settling into their bodies. Their swords flashed with black and white electricity, now infused with the mix of Dark and Air Domain Source. Their bodies looked bigger, muscles bulging and aura pulsing. The chants of the Knights of Terequette got louder and more enthusiastic as they eagerly moved forward and soon came into contact with the Adventurers.



More and more archers began to turn onto Adam as he continued to be a problem on the enemy side of the bridge. Adam's movements were hard to track, many arrows missed and many Orcs and Knights were slain, but being on that side of the bridge was simply too dangerous, even for a whole party, let alone a single Druid.

Adam suffered an axe wound that slowed his Bear Form down. Two arrows buried deep into him. He had drawn so much attention that he was now forced to retreat.

One of the stronger Pyromancers was not about to let the Druid leave. He conjured a Greater Pinning Arrow of Flame. The mage at the Pyromancer's side was close enough to Adam that he was able to cast Cursed Mark and connect it to the Arrow of Flame. This meant that the spell would not miss.

Vaella and OF ALL PEOPLE! Xavier ran forward into the front line The Silver Arrow.

Roots grew out of the ground and snaked their way up to the Pyromancer, wrapping around his arms and preventing him from firing the Flame Arrow. The roots tried to crush him, but other Pyromancer started burning them away, forcing Xavier to continuously conjure more to keep the Flame Arrow wielder constrained. Meanwhile Vaella cast a series of Counter Spells to break down the Cursed Mark which was glowing on Adam's body. The two mages of The Silver Arrow managed to do enough that when the Flame Arrow was eventually fired, it missed just barely and exploded, the blast hitting and damaging Adam but thankfully not killing him.

Adam's good nature and deeds had drawn many admirers in Valhiem. Even the mean-spirited Xavier could not resist begrudgingly respecting the gifted young man from another world. Although whether this would change their relationship or not was another story entirely.

For now, Adam had survived his suicidal plunge into the enemy army and was forced to retreat with his injuries.



Something in Fenna's subconscious spoke to her, yet she heard it in her ears like it came from a real voice. She felt it in the ground under her feet. A mental image of the Wellspring flashed in her mind. Her heart was tugged strongly by something unseen in the sky above.

The faint, distant voice: "Y__ A__ ___ Ch___n W___"

She could not make out the words properly.



The ground began rumbling and each of the Adventurers would suddenly look around, ready to brace for an explosion. Instinctively, the rumble felt like a massive attack was incoming. But also, the Knights of Terequette, the Orc Heavies and even the ogres reacted the same way.

It was an explosion. But nothing like anyone expected.

The explosion was one white-blue light and it came from Fenna. It momentarily paused everyone who saw it, the flash hurting their eyes. Then they saw...

Fenna was outlined with the white-blue light. Her eyes were gone, in their place, her sockets were smoking, glowing with this outpouring of light of the same colour. And her spear was blindingly bright.

Whatever happened next, the horns of the enemy urged them to fight on and the defenders were forced to do the same...........

Fenna heard Allison and saw the injured target, but as she was thinking about switching weapons and taking her bow again, she was distracted by a voice. The sounds of the battle around her dropped to background noise as she tried to make out what was being said to her. She heard the words. She felt the words. But she couldn't make them out. In her mind she saw the Wellspring she had visited. The one she had come in contact with.

The ground rumbled. Fenna clutched her spear in both hands, but her muscles relaxed when she felt the source of the rumble. It was familiar, there was no reason to be afraid. Suddenly, a surge of power went through her. She recognised the feeling of the Wellspring. It was that, but more, so much more. Her mind filled with images. She knew where they were, she knew exactly where each Wellspring was. She could see the battle around her, but also further. Much further. Thousands of images appeared to her all at once. She knew where all the allies were, and she saw enemies that approached, the routes they took, how the battle was progressing.

She first directed her thoughts to Sil and connected with her to check how she was doing. She was aware of the falcon in a way she had never been before, and she knew Sil was aware of her as well. It only took a second.

Then her mind went to the casters and healers who had depleted their mana and had used their spells in the battle. She knew where each of them was. The allies who used the magic of the Wellsprings would all, at the same time, be surrounded by a faint glow in a similar colour that had erupted from Fenna, and they would all feel their magical reserves fill up and limited spells be restored.

She knew everything, she also knew this wouldn't last. Her eyes settled on Citadel Mountain, on one specific point above the Wellspring, and she aimed her spear at it. It was impossible to miss. A bright beam came from her spear and hit the surface of the rocks exactly at the point she had intended to hit.

As the beam died out, the light around Fenna faded, and she dropped to her knees. Her body felt empty.
Up, she thought to herself. She used her spear to push herself up again. Up, no time to rest. The battle is far from over.
She looked around. How much time had passed? It had felt like an eternity and the blink of an eye at the same time. The positions were roughly the same, seconds had passed at best. The enemies closest to her, she would focus on them. No, the ogre. It was still in the kneeled down and bent over position as it was when Allison had first called out to her, although it was working its way up again. She quickly swapped weapons and took aim, taking in a deep breath and concentrating, allowing her Eye of the hawk to work, aiming at an exposed weak spot. The arrow pierced the sky and flesh, and the ogre fell down.

One of the Knights came close. With no time to put it away, she dropped her bow and grabbed her spear. It could have been too late if Sil hadn't flown in and distracted the enemy by getting up in his face, pecking once and retreating.

---

While the soldiers at the Bazaar tried to keep a close formation, the skeletons had found a weakness in their defences and slashed through. The poured into the Bazaar.
"Reformation, close the gap!"
Several of the Falcons headed the order and turned to the skeletons that were now in the Bazaar. Ten of them stayed in close formation as they pushed back against the skeletons. They hacked at the bones and skeletons dropped as they inched closer to the gap. The skeletons had no regard for their own safety and were easy to kill because they didn't defend their weak spots, but they were relentlessly going forward, swinging their swords with just one intention: kill the living. One of the Falcons got slashed in the neck and dropped down. Another was stabbed in the gut and fell to his knees before falling over. Every time one of the Falcons died, the others were more determined to avenge them and push back. Save the living. Swift, as Fenna had thought them. Precise. Make every hit count. Look at what you want to hit, aim before you swing.

More soldiers joined them, from other factions too. The gap had to be closed.

The leatherworker had been assisting at a different location, but when he noticed the gap he too went towards it to aid the people. One skeleton came close, but the slash only made a scratch on the enchanted armour. Nimuer turned and cracked the skull of the skeleton with his hammer.

Alison answered his plea, he was grateful for it and was not hanging around with his hand out for long, for when the two went ahead with the plan. The Rogue smoothly hopped onto his hand and leapt in sync with the vampire’s throw. Alison’s powerful presence and commanding aura had always made her seem a lot bigger than her five-eight frame, but now Barracker could feel just how light she was. She flew high into the air, way-past the rows of the enemy lines. With precise control, the Rogue landed on the targeted ogre and finished the beast in an impressive fashion.

Barracker did not have much time to idolise and admire her as the orcs and Knights kept advancing on their position, his eyes darted away after a nod to Alison. The Paladin blade continued to flow, from enemy to enemy, Barracker very familiar with the cross-armed Ochs Stance. The vampire's power and speed enabled him to deal with the numbers with ruthless efficiency.

Then, out of nowhere a phenomenon happened, a bizarre situation that no adventurer had ever been recorded doing before. Fenna dazzled everyone around, as the bridge was engulfed in the light of pure source. She is like a living wellspring.

Barracker had never had the privilege of encountering a wellspring himself but he had read of such things in church passages and this was the exact color of light that was described. She looked godly at this moment, then she fired a beam of source at Citadel Mountain, and just like that it was all over.

Barracker was stunned in awe, watching the event unfold. The Paladin almost was killed but his reflexes saved him from the nearby heavy orc and knight of Terequette. He exchanged parries and performed some crucial dodges at the right moments to avoid the stabs and slashes toward himself from both participants. His mind was a bit in disarray to what he had just witnessed, it still felt fresh as if he was experiencing it again and again, for the first time. This made it hard to concentrate on battle.

He had seen displays of power from his friends from another world and he had also seen crazy abilities from other adventurers from Mytheria, but what just happened with Fenna, felt so different and he couldn’t explain it.

The Bats stood in two groups, splitting the power of the block across the riverbank. Warren stood on the rain shelter of a shop's front door, shouting commands, alternating aggressive pushes and retreats between the two groups.

“Good, left block, up and attack. Right Block to meee!” The second in command of The Bats shouted his orders, drowned out the battlefield noise with his voice.

Barracker always knew he would make a good captain, in his opinion even a far better captain than himself, but he did not have a source crystal in his hand.

The Bats were doing exceptionally well, but fatigue was setting in and this made the form of the shield wall not as strong and in place as before. The fighting spirit could not save them from taking hits and losing soldiers. As both blocks fought their hardest, it only took a moment of complete exhaustion to drop their shields a little and to be dragged by the skeleton troops into the river, suffocating and stabbed to death. The swarm of skeletons were being held back and The Bats numbers were now reinforced with the help of the new leader of the Dire Stags.