As Ham sprinted towards the Soul Rocks, his dancing greatsword kept pace with him, following him like a true companion. His longsword and shield were now in his hands as he charged into what was easily the largest battle he had faced so far.

Ham didn’t look back to see if the others had followed, but he soon heard a battle cry as the barbarian he had recently teamed up with appeared by his side, wielding his fierce battle axe. Rhaldri, on the other hand, approached more gracefully, descending upon the gusts of wind created by her massive angelic wings to join him in the charge.

“This is insane!” she shouted over the racket. “There are too many of them!”

Now that the army was getting closer, Ham could make out more details about the troops, and it indeed did not look good for them; they were outnumbered ten to one, even counting the elf and water genasi on their side, which was presumptuous at best.

“They are a suicide squad!” Ham deduced as he ran. “They’ll be seen soon. We just need to foil their surprise and hold them back until the Dragonsguard arrive.”

This seemed to reassure the others, or at least it did Rhaldri, and they continued their charge. Ham doubted Gharan needed any assurances; a good fight seemed more than enough incentive for him, judging from how eager he looked to intercept and engage the fifty battle-ready orcs heading to desecrate their sacred grounds.

Ham did not know with any certainty if the Dragonsguard would notice their approach in time, for the whole town was busy preparing for the student congregation. More than likely, this was the exact reason the enemy had chosen this day to attack. But he was counting on it for everyone’s sake.

With every passing second, they got closer and closer, the faster mounts the orcs were using making up for the distance they had to cover in comparison to their small troop. It was hard to judge if they were going to be able to beat the orcs to the stones, but the gods knew they tried.

Three hundred feet. Two hundred. One hundred. And then they were inside the rough stone boundaries, standing protectively around the stones.

The orcs reached the place a moment after them and started circling the area on their mounts, hooting and jeering as they saw the three-person group of haggard individuals haphazardly guarding the five stones.

Ham stood his ground, looking at the orc leader from across his shield, following him with his blade.

Gharan looked ready to start ripping them limb from limb, and Rhaldri also hovered, covering his back.

There were still no signs of the elf and water genasi, who had vanished. Ham cursed them under his breath, knowing he could have used their help.

“Your surprise is foiled,” Ham blurted out at the leader of the pack. “Go back, the Dragonsguard is on its way as we speak! They’ve been informed of this incursion.”

It was a lie, and Ham was expecting uncertainty, disbelief, or even anger, but when the leader of the orcs started laughing, it would be a lie to say that it didn’t give Ham a sudden pause.

Had he missed something?

“You think your Dragonsguard scare us?” the orc grunted in his less-than-clear common tongue. “Soon, they’ll be slaughtered as well, alongside the rest of you sheep.”

Then he heartily laughed some more, making Ham and the others exchange looks of confusion.

“I will not even bother asking who you are,” he said, turning his horse to the side. “Kill them men! And destroy the Soul stones.”

Gharan was halfway across the battlefield before the first of them could enter through the small entrance. The last thing that particular orc probably saw before he was sliced into four pieces was the sharp side of an axe.

It was on.

Ham rushed in after him, aiming to maintain the bottleneck caused by the narrow entry, but not before a few more of the orcs had stepped through with their horses. They instantly started laying into the exhilarated barbarian, who did not seem to mind getting hit. He had been sliced a couple of times before Ham blocked one of the sword attacks aimed at the barbarian’s flank and swiftly took off the arm directing it. Then the flying sword came from the creature’s blindside and speared it through, making it topple to the ground beside its comrade. The horse, now freed, ran away whinnying to the side. Rhaldri, meanwhile, had flown higher into the skies and was shooting bolts of radiant energy into one orc after another, harrying them badly if not instantly dropping them. This also made them glow, confusing them and making for easier targets as Ham and Gharan continued their assault. Their horses did not favor them either, in the tight quarters they were fighting, as it made it difficult to maneuver or surround them.

As one more tried to push through with the horse, Ham saw Gharan roar again, his eyes red with rage, as he slashed down with his axe, shearing him from shoulder to hip, cutting into a significant portion of the horse’s neck as well. Ham then stepped up onto the fallen beast and batted aside a flail with his shield before slashing the exposed gullet of the next orc in line. As he jerked it out, his sword flared up with divine energy, like it sometimes did, and Ham felt it slice through the entire neck of the orc like a knife through butter, momentarily showering the two of them in ichor and blood. His flying sword, almost an independent entity at this moment, dropped another one of the brutes to the right.

Before they knew it, ten of the enemies were downed, but they had learned their lesson and now approached them on foot, leaving the horses outside. Their disadvantage gone, one of the stockier of the bunch managed to hit Ham with a warhammer and he felt his shoulder dislocate, more followed through, battering him. Beside him, Gharan’s upper torso was starting to turn into such a mess of blood and tissue that it was hard to tell where one wound ended and another began. As more and more warriors kept pushing in, Ham and Gharan were forced to step back, their initial momentum seizing.

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Ham realized that while his armor protected him from most slashes and cuts, it offered little safety from more blunt weapons, and there was plenty of exposed skin for the more experienced warriors to target. His first major battle was turning out to be a very painful lesson in humility. It seemed even Gharan’s resilience was waning. One step after another, they found themselves back-to-back with the soul stones again, surrounded on three sides by angry orcs. Even Rhaldri had started to be targeted by the few archers the group kept at the back, and looked troubled.

Things had started to take a turn for the worst, but just then, through the corner of his eye, Ham caught a glimpse of blue hair and skin, and his head whipped toward it. The elf and the water genasi stood near the edge of the boundary walls. The elf called Will, had a cat captured in his grip, and they were trying to jump the wall without being spotted.

Their eyes met for a moment, and Ham could see a moment of indecision flicker through Will’s eyes. Ham was sure it was weighing on his conscience, at least a little, to watch them getting overwhelmed like that. Then Ham diverted his eyes, lest the enemy saw and attacked them as well. There was no reason to doom them alongside their own. They had managed to hold the enemy off for a few minutes, but no Dragonsguard had come to support them. Without their support, it was a losing battle, even if the two of them decided to help. He was not going to take away their chance at survival.

As Ham locked eyes with his enemies, the bloodthirsty orcs currently surrounding them, it started dawning on him what it meant. He was going to die. Out in the middle of nowhere, as a failure. His oath to avenge his father and slay the hydra of Sakoe never realized. He had also somehow dragged these two fools with him.

Pain. Unbearable pain seized him, a pain that had nothing to do with the physical wounds he was carrying. It was an old pain. One that he had locked away, a pain of weakness, a pain of shame, of worthlessness. It was debilitating, and his weapons started lowering on their own.

But then his eyes drifted to Gharan and Rhaldri, wounded and demoralized, just like himself but still holding firm, believing in his words, following him even when they had no reason to. He had a responsibility toward them. A flash of angry fire and images of fleeing citizens of Sakoe colored his perspective. He saw his greatsword, the one he had towed, all those years ago from Sakoe after it had landed at his feet. One that he had taken as his calling. Something that had gotten him through those dark times, gave him courage and hope, and trust in his own strength. Even now it hung in the air beside him, solid and unwavering.

As he watched, the time somehow frozen to a stop, out of the ether, or perhaps his imagination, an image of his father coalesced around the sword. Holding it with both hands, wearing a splendid silver armor, smiling down at his enemies, unafraid.

Suddenly, it did not matter if he was going to die. He was going to die protecting what he believed was right. And if his father’s sacrifice had taught him anything, it was that there was no better way to die.

The time resumed and a new wave of strength washed down to his arms, and he rushed forward for a final charge. He slashed past the first two orcs that barred his way, and they were both hit with a divine radiance that burned them from the inside, dropping in a pile of heap behind him, and Gharan and Rhaldri followed suit.

A way cleared out for him as the bodies of the two orcs dropped and he found himself facing the leader of the orcs, who had finally taken the field. Ham swung his sword in a low arc, trying to topple him. But his luck had run out, he had miscalculated the lunge. The bulky orc simply picked up a leg and kicked him in the chest, sending him five feet back to land prone. His breath left him, and he lay gasping for air, in his suddenly, extremely, inhibiting armor. Ham knew it was over for him the moment he had landed, for falling and death are often held synonymous on the battlefield. A piece of ancient wisdom that he was going to experience first-hand. No one there was going to allow him the luxury to get up again, and Gharan and Rhaldri seemed too occupied with their own aggressors.

The orc leader raised his jagged greatsword for what was going to be the final blow against the impudent rookie who had tried to foil his plans and killed nearly a dozen of his men. It was happening too fast to react, although Ham could still see it in painful clarity as the weapon came down aimed right at his cranium.

Ham accepted it. He had made his mind to give his life to this cause, be it for better or worse, and no amount of pain could deter him now.

Yet, unexpectedly, before the sword could come down, a blast of inky black energy hit the leader from the side and blew him away as if he were an autumn leaf, leaving Ham gasping on the floor with one eye closed.

Will, appearing out of the shadows that momentarily coalesced in the space, apparated in front of him, then he pulled out an elegant katana from his side, and stood guarding him. An orc warrior tried to retaliate to his leader being thrown to the side like a ragdoll, but was shot through the neck twice before he could take two steps toward Will. Ham could tell the water genasi was on the move as well, although he could not see her or guess the trajectory of her arrows.

“Has anyone told you how stupid you are?” the elf asked as Ham picked himself up from the ground.

“Many times,” he replied, panting. “Thanks.”

“Get back into the fight first, you can thank me later.”

And so Ham did. The following moments were a rush of images for Ham. He was losing his stamina, and it was getting hard to concentrate, but soon, with help from their new allies, the orcs were cut down to a third of their original numbers.

Then out of nowhere, they had a lull in the fight, and Ham could see that even though still outnumbered, the remaining orcs had started to look uncertain.

Ham watched as they stepped back, whispering amongst themselves.

“You see,” Ham shouted, still panting, as a little bit of bravado crept into his voice. “You cannot get through us. Whatever your intentions are here, we won’t let you lay a hand on these stones.”

The orcs did not reply. Even their leader looked… afraid?

“Ahh… Hey, armoured guy,” called out the water genasi, coming out from behind a stone column to the side, from where she had been shooting the orcs with her bow, unobserved. “I don’t think they are scared of us. Look at the stones.”

As they did, he saw something magnificent. Otherworldly. The five stones, before now mere stone columns standing side by side, had started to crack and quiver, shedding what seemed to be an outer layer, that crumbled and fell to the side. From beneath them emerged… colors. Black, white, blue, green and red, each stone had a different hue and they glowed with a divine radiance, transcending the normal bounds, lightly pulsating.

“What the…” Ham muttered to himself.

Then, as if that wasn’t enough, suddenly the earth started shaking, and something darkened the entire skies. Thoroughly shaken, they looked up and saw something no mortal in the realm had ever seen. Something that was only rumoured and feared, spoken in prophesies. A star. Was falling from the skies.

Big as a mountain it hurtled through the Arcavian skies, casting a shadow over the entire land and it was heading toward the university. The wind suddenly buffeted everyone present, making standing still a chore with the still-quivering land.

It was all happening so fast that Ham hardly had any time to introspect, but he soon saw, more than heard, the leader of the orcs give the signal for a final charge against their troop.

Ham did not know how, but it was obvious to him that all of what was happening was connected, and their enemy was going to do anything in their power to destroy the, now awakened, stones.

All five of their eyes met as they all apparently reached the same conclusion. They pushed closer to the stones. Each covering one with their own bodies. It was no longer regional or localized, no longer mere assumption, the whole Arcavios was in danger and these stones were the keys to its survival. Ham found himself braced against the black stone, while Gharan stood protecting the red, Will and the water Genasi held green and the blue stones in safety and Rhaldri was perched upon the white one, ready to blast anyone who dared near it.

In the distance they watched the star reach the university.

Countless lives were present there, countless children, women and elders alike, and for a moment they were sure they were going to witness them all die in a fiery explosion. But Strixhaven had its own cards in the deck, it was not going to just stand there and do nothing. A magical barrier visible miles and miles away, suddenly erupted from the ground and encased the entire complex. Shielding it from the asteroid which slammed against it, causing a light show unlike anyone had seen before as both forces clashed. The whole Arcavios was momentarily lit. Then the barrier cracked, slowly with a lot of protest, and the stone landed, somewhere within the university grounds. The top of it still visible from their angle, if only barely. Its impact, although drastically reduced by the barrier, into the realms of non-existence, still caused a minor earthquake to shake the continent.

Then the orcs were upon them.