Rick hadn't known exactly how flawed their original plan was until now.

The tribe had geared itself for the purpose of fighting the Golden Elves. They'd known from the start that they could shoot arrows through trees, which in and of itself was a massive advantage in a forest. Anyone else would be severely limited in how far they could attack anything.

Thus, their intended strategy had been a simple one: prepare shields to block the attacks and rush the shooters. Eva had confirmed it was a sound strategy. There were ways their foes could make things harder, such as how difficult it could be to track a Golden Elf down, but every book Eva had said she’d read on the subject confirmed they'd taken proper precautions.

And despite all their preparations, Monica's fear at the prospect of Rick entering the forest had only grown. From what Rick understood, she'd encountered the Golden Elves at some vague point in her past while feral. Seeing how she'd taken months free of the feral curse to half-remember the time she'd spent pregnant…

She'd intuited the crucial piece of the puzzle, the one thing they'd missed.

One they were seeing now in full display, forced into defensive positions as death rained from above onto any that slipped. It was one thing if the shooter stood a dozen meters off the ground; such a distance was spear-throwing distance for any Orc. It was another when the Golden Elves attacked them from at least a hundred meters overhead.

The titan-trees turned what could have been an arduous and risky fight into a battle where their opponents did not need to fear retaliation from the tribe’s weapons.

It was the damn Seraph situation all over again.

"We need to attack."

The only way forward was to turn the tables, to put the Golden Elves on the defensive. Rick didn't have any means to do that; their best hope for an even battle would be to get the tribe up to the branches that were thick enough to hold houses on them. However, there was no way they'd be allowed to climb the tree; their enemy would no doubt focus fire on the orcs and kill them before they made it up.

Their best hope was Monica, Captain Deneva, and perhaps Embla as well. None of the three could fly, but Monica's capability to straight-up use trees as surfaces to jump off of might as well mean she had wings inside this forest. Captain Deneva likely had a similar level of skill, strength, and agility, with the only unknown being Embla.

But Monica's bond needed to stop filling her with panic, and Captain Deneva was likely crucial as well.

"I need you to trust me."

He looked up to her, even as she held him tight. She'd tried to escape, and it hadn't worked out. Whatever goals the Golden Elves had in mind, it involved guaranteeing no one made it out. At least, not the three of them.

She looked down at him with those sapphire blue eyes, breath fast and short, every strand of fur on her body standing on edge, every muscle tense. She was a statue of barely contained panic, instincts screaming out to wrap herself around Rick and bolt out of there. Anything less would ensure his death at the hands of their unseen attackers.

"You tried to run; it didn't work. We're cornered," Rick squeezed her, pulling Dia close as well. "We have to fight."

It was unfair of him to ask it of her, to push her into this hole where there was only one escape.

"Trust in me," he told her, as if he didn't feel like he was the cause of them being in this situation to begin with. "Take us to the others."

"Ok," Monica spoke with a mix of defeat and desperation. "Ok," she said again, this time with a slight edge of hope. Not convinced, not certain, but better than outright panicked.

Who would've thought that all it would take was her running out of escape options?

This whole thing hinged on a plan Rick wasn't sure would work, one that placed Monica in way too much danger, that relied on assumptions he couldn't be sure of. This was all to say that the sliver of a chance relied on convincing the three most powerful maidens available that he knew what he was doing.

Or at least that they weren't doomed.

Monica's attention turned away from the deeper forest and toward the tribe, far off, closer to the palace. She focused; the air around her vibrating with darkened power. Rick felt something else in the air, but he noticed an instant too late as they'd already emerged at their destination.

Surrounded by Orcs, each of them armed with spears and shields, Urtha and Sheel standing among them. They'd hunkered down smack in the middle of the clearing, away from the houses, creating a canopy of metal. It was clear none of them trusted the fake safety of the tree-houses, not when their attackers could make their arrows phase through the outer wall with impunity.

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Yet that fake sense of calmness shattered when the assault came back renewed. The spear-sized arrows stopped trying to merely snipe anything that got out of cover and started to rain down on the larger group of Orcs, particularly those encumbered with protecting humans or weaker maidens.

The shields held, but Rick had the distinct impression it was a waiting game.

"Father!?" Urtha's voice came out with a snap, freezing mid-step as she met Monica's fierce gaze.

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"We're not out of the woods yet," he warned them. They knew Monica was the worst one off due to the bond, but Urtha's growing tension was proof she was not the only one. This wasn't a situation they could sustain. "We need Deneva as well."

The order got him severe nods; there were no questions to be had in that regard.

"Barry is causing a rampage," Eva rushed to speak, making her presence known as she emerged from the shadows. The maiden looked several shades paler, which was an odd thing, seeing how her skin was typically as white as porcelain.

She was also hurt; there were several holes and tears in her clothes, the flesh underneath sporting the tender rosy color of something freshly regenerated. The maiden was weakened, panting a little, and looking at the others with slightly bewildered eyes.

"You first," he said.

"Something's affecting the human Embla is bonded to, and it's reaching out through it as well." Swallowing hard, the Vampire's ruby eyes lingered on Rick's throat before a growl from Monica hastily turned her attention downward. "We saw the Golden Elves shoot a flower through the palace's wall. It sounds like something the Pinielf would use to trigger the parasitic plant."

"You think Barry was infected?" Rick frowned.

"That's... unlikely," Dia quickly stepped forward. "The plant needs elemental energy to attune itself to the host. Someone as energy-deprived as Rick would be hard for it to dig into, not without outside help at least."

The idea felt sound but also needlessly complicated. "If enough infected maidens are pushed into a berserk state, Barry would be in a hard place to block it all out," Rick commented, meeting the looks from the others and shrugging. "At least that's what I'd imagine it to be like if it's similar to our bonds."

"I'd imagine someone or something is ensuring Barry can't be knocked out," Eva slowly nodded, her gaze flickering at Rick again. "And I doubt Dark Elves could easily dispel such an effect, seeing how it's physical."

"Stop looking at the Father like a slab of meat and drink," Urtha butted into the conversation, shoving her wrist in the Vampire's face and turning to look at him. The Orc didn't even flinch as the pale maiden bit down and greedily slurped. "Is there a way forward?"

Rick chewed the inside of his cheek at the question; something gnawed at him as he thought. "Eva, you mentioned Dark Elves can dispel stuff. Could they disrupt those goddamned arrows?"

The Vampire nodded a little. "The arrows are not made of any energy, so a direct attack is no less dangerous, but..." Speaking between slurps, her eyes slowly widened. With one last gulp, she licked her lips and pulled away from Urtha's offered limb. "It should be possible to disrupt the phasing properties. They wouldn't be able to shoot from behind cover or into the tree houses."

It was useful, incredibly useful; the Dark Elves could present them with the possibility of safety for the weaker members. The tribe couldn't afford splitting off, not if they wanted to stand a chance against their attackers. There was one gigantic problem, however: the knights weren't planning on taking prisoners.

A quick glance confirmed the knights had long since penetrated the palace. Whatever was going on inside, he could vaguely sense that the Golden Elves were actively targeting things that were happening inside as much as they were the people outside.

Rick tried to imagine the situation within, with frenzied maidens combined with three-meter-long arrows just randomly shooting through the walls. It had to be a hellhole by every measure, and one he couldn't even fathom how the knights were handling. Had Captain Deneva ordered all maidens under her to fight through the place while holding their shields against the walls?

"We need to stop the knights from slaughtering everyone in there. Shit," he sighed. "With a basic point of safety, we could begin a counter-attack. Hopefully find a way to get the tribe up into the higher branches," he glanced at Eva. "Thoughts on Deneva?"

"Thoughts!?" She startled. "They're in a battle; if I showed up, they'd cut me down."

"On how to stop them," he replied with a deadpan.

"Their mission is the retrieval of Barry and May. She is pragmatic; she didn't kill Eva on sight," Dia interrupted.

Eva quickly nodded. “If she has no effective way to fight the Golden Elves, then I’d imagine she is seeking to quickly get Barry and retreat.” She eyed Rick. “She’d likely also want to kill as many wildlings as possible, ensuring that when they return, they can more easily set a foothold.”

“It must be nice being able to just leave and come back with a different loadout to be better prepared to handle the bullshit,” Rick grit his teeth, glancing at each of them in turn. For once, he felt like there was something they could do, that there was a path forward. “I need you to get Barry first. Call it a gut feeling, but Deneva didn’t strike me as the sort who’d tolerate returning empty-handed.”

When he said this, Eva flinched.

All eyes turned to the vampire.

“Embla is inside the palace as well… or at least I’m mostly sure she is,” She pointed at the tears in her clothes. “I was a bit too distracted, trying to stay alive, but I’m mostly certain she managed to escape. The only place she’d go would be to get Barry.”

Rick ground his teeth. “Awesome,” he growled. “If she gets to him first, she’ll make a run for it. Fuck.”

This was a complete mess, but one they needed to tackle. His focus turned to Monica again. “You’re our best bet to get Barry out before anyone else.” He knew she didn’t like this; her eyes had remained laser-focused on him every instant of the conversation, and Rick got the impression she’d barely paid attention to anything else.

Monica frowned, the denial already clear in her eyes.

Yet before a single word was spoken, her head snapped upwards. “DANGER!”

She hadn’t even finished the word when a barrage began to rain down upon them. The shields the orcs held up rang like bells as dozens of spear-sized arrows began to strike each and every single shield. Rick’s ears were ringing; the air became thick with so much power his skin was tingling.

“SOMETHING IS—”

Whatever Eva was about to say was cut off as figures appeared between their ranks. At least twelve in number, each of them dressed from head to toe in bark-like armor, covering every inch of their bodies and hiding even their faces.

The maidens, for that was the only thing they could be, moved with perfect synchronicity; everything unfolded as if in slow motion. Four of them lunged at Rick, the other eight at either Monica or the space between her and the human. The feline reacted with ferocious speed, thrusting out her claw to get to him first.

One of the faceless maidens took the blow with her body. Three others dug their knives into Monica’s forearms, preventing her from moving an inch closer. Voices rang out; Eva, Dia, and Urtha reacted half a second later, throwing themselves at the attackers.

Where several of the masked maidens were needed to keep Monica back, only one of them was needed to shove Eva and Dia out of the way, while the third confronted Urtha directly.

A dagger found itself pressed against Rick’s throat.

And for half a heartbeat, every maiden froze.

For a split second, the world spun around Rick in a whirlpool of gray energy, strands of power connecting every one of the masked maidens with the one holding him in place.

The next, he was gone.