The threat is sufficient for my purposes: Verkremond charges me with his spear.

Time to see if my firm belief in Greater Ward's absolute invincibility translates to reality.

His spear slams into me, the force translating through the ward and into the ground beneath me. Dirt and grass fly up in a perfect circle around me, while I remain unmoved.

I can feel myself grinning. Perfect.

I lunge forward, batting the spear aside, and Verkremond trips me with one leg, pivoting out of the way before I can punch his face in. I go flying and hit the ground face first. The ground puffs away around me, sending up another cloud of dust, absorbing the impact so I'm not even winded. Thank you, Greater Ward.

Before I can jump to my feet, Verkremond slams his spear into my back, driving me back into the dirt. He plants a foot on the back of my neck and shoves my face into the ground.

"I see you must be taught a lesson," he says, conversationally, as though all his ire was spent in the initial attacks. "Healers rely on magic. Magic relies on voice. Voice relies on speaking."

To emphasize his point, he presses down harder with his foot, crushing my nose against the ground. The ground gives way as Greater Ward protects me from harm, but the perfectly-formed indentation into which my nose now rests stifles my breathing. I buck and twist, trying to turn my head, but Verkremond clearly has more experience in holding down stubborn healers than I do in escaping from angry slayers.

"You will not die until I give you leave. And you will not harm me or any of my family."

That does it. I was only half planning to kill him before, but he's just signed his death warrant. No one treats me like this and gets away with it. No one.

My chest hurts from lack of air, my vision beginning to swim with darkness and brilliance.

Wait a second. Greater Ward should easily be capable of protecting me from this kind of indirect tactic.

The moment I think it, the ward inflates slightly, pushing my face away from the dirt by a quarter inch and giving me plenty of room to breathe.

I gasp in air, heaving at the relief, then mutter a quick pair of spells to deal with any potential problems.

"Heal. Greater Ward."

The first corrects any damage I may have done to my lungs, while the second forcefully ejects Verkremond from atop me as the oblong shield bubble inflates, giving me the opening to roll away.

I'm back on my feet before he's ready. My followup tackle knocks him off balance and drives him to the ground, where I slam my elbow into his throat and press down hard.

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"Let's see how you like it," I snarl in his face.

He wrenches away, gasps in air, and brings his spear around to slam into the side of my head with all his strength.

Too bad for him, I'm not in contact with the ground any more. Only his body.

The force of his strike ripples through the ward and slams down into his chest. I hear something crack, and he coughs, pink-tinted spittle flying as his breath is forcefully expelled. I grab the spear in both hands, still kneeling on his stomach, and bring my weight to bear on it.

He's still stronger, physically, and twists away so that my attempt at directing the spear down onto his throat instead knocks it away above his head and out of reach.

"You realize I can just--" I begin, but Verkremond lets out a piercing whistle that cuts my sentence off.

A hissing roar echoes across the homestead, followed by thuds across the ground as the dino charges. It drags an uprooted section of fence behind it, the whistle apparently a command to disregard usual 'stay' practice and come to Verkremond's side.

"I really hope you've thought this through..." I brace myself against Verkremond's body, lying flat across him. "Greater Ward."

Verkremond coughs, but he's smiling. "You overestimate yourself," he whispers hoarsely. "I know my limits. You do not know yours."

I feel the dino closing in and brace myself for the inevitable outcome of this healer sandwich. It won't be pretty.

But Verkremond, it turns out, isn't out of the game yet. At the last possible second, he loops one leg over mine and flips us over so fast I hardly register the movement, so he's on top and I'm lying beneath him, then he jumps back.

Dino foot comes down right on my chest.

The ground echoes with a thud that shakes the entire yard as the full impact is translated into the ground beneath me. If the houses had windows, they'd have rattled. A few particularly shaky sections of fence topple over.

*DING!*

[Healer level increased! Keep up the good work.]

The dino charges on, but this time with an unexpected passenger - I grab hold of its saddle as it runs by, and though it takes a moment to get my feet under me, soon I'm able to flip myself up and finally sit astride it.

Verkremond is staring at me, open-mouthed.

I grab the reins and do my best not to fall off.

Riding, it turns out, is a lot more difficult than it looks. Good thing I'm a quick learner.

The dino resists charging at Verkremond, trying to veer around him, but I yank on the reins and steer it straight at its former master. Verky tries to jump out of the way, and the dino tries to slow down, with the result that they stumble into one another and both go down in a tumble.

I jump free, snatch the fallen spear from the ground, and whirl back, ready to reclaim the dino mount before Verkremond can get back up.

The dino doesn't approve of my attempt. It claws at me, hissing and snarling as it tries to tear me to ribbons. Too bad for the dino, Greater Ward is still doing its job well. None of its slashes connect.

Healer is definitely a broken class. Anything that lets you make up your own spells is just begging to be ruthlessly exploited.

With the aid of being untouchable, I wrestle the dino until I'm once again situated on its back, then turn my new mount to face Verkremond, reigns gripped tight in one hand, spear in the other. "As you see, I--"

He's already turned tail, running back toward his house as fast as he can go.

The dino continues to buck and resist my guidance so running him down is going to be a questionable feat. I try to kick it into movement, but it's a lot harder to control when it's standing still than to redirect its existing momentum.

"You are going to be my loyal steed, or I will turn you into steaks. Understand?"

The dino gives no indication of comprehension.

I sigh. "Just don't run off. I need to deal with an insect."

I jump off its back and race after Verkremond, spear in hand.

Time for a crash course in manslaughter.

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