A crossbow bolt the size of a person tore up the earth between us, spraying shards of rock high into the air. The sheer force of the impact sent me spinning, crashing into Kodiak and knocking him down. I scrambled off of him and look in the direction of the attack to see a long line or Arugian figures marching into town, their icy-blue skin lighting up with each blast of lightning from the sky above.

Kodiak got to his feet, tripped over me and fell again before he spotted them.

“Shit!” He gasped, drawing his dagger. “They must have followed you!”

“Followed me here?!” I shouted back. “We portaled back here!”

“You have a better explanation!?” He snapped.

“It’s the Patrol,” Gehman called out from behind us. The impact of the bolt had torn off half of his health and sent my daggers flying in opposite directions. “They patrol from here to Cragrock and then back up North.”

I inspected the closest one to us as he raised his enormous crossbow for another shot.

Arugian Archer—level 110.

“Gehman, you have to get out of here!” I shouted, leaping to my feet as the archer fired. I raced for the closest dagger to me as the massive bolt streaked through the air towards us like a missile.

I dove out of the way is the bolt plummeted down from the sky and slammed into the earth just a few feet from me. Twisting into a roll, I landed on my feet beside one of the dagger’s Gehman had forged for me. I snatched it up and spun around to see more Arugian appear over the crest of the hill. There had to have been at least 20 of them.

“Jane!” Kodiak shouted. “There’s too many of them!”

He was right. Maybe if I had my bow I could try to pick some of them off before they reached us, but without any armor and only a single dagger, it was simply a fight we couldn’t win. Gehman didn’t stand a chance.

“Let’s get out of here!” I shouted as two more of the archers fired bolts in our direction. I ducked around what was left of the mage’s hut as their shots slammed into the ground, then quickly sprinted across the town square to where my second dagger had fallen.

I snatched it up and circled quickly around Gehman’s to seek cover from the horde. Seconds later Kodiak was by my side.

“Like a goddamn firing squad,” I grumbled. “Gehman! Where are you!?”

“I’m pinned down!” He shouted from somewhere around the other side of the hut. I glanced out around the corner to see the horde coming down into town. Time was running out—they’d be on us in no time.

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“Where!?” I shouted.

“By the general merchant!”

There was no time to waste. The horde was almost on him.

“Come on,” I hissed to Kodiak, leaping out from around the corner and sprinting with everything I had towards Gehman’s location.

A crossbow bolt slammed into my side and took me off my feet, sending me at least thirty feet out of town. I crashed down with less than a quarter of my health remaining, pain shooting through my entire body.

“Ah!” I cried out, gasping for the breath that had been driven from my lungs. My body twisted into the fetal position as I writhed in pain. I flipped over onto my back and looked up in time to see another bolt coming straight for me. It was all I could do to wriggle out of the way as it ripped into the ground beside me.

The impact sent me sprawling, ravaging half of what was left of my HP. I was dangerously close to half and looked up as the Arugians fired another volley in my direction.

“Get up, Jane,” I hissed at myself. “Get up!”

Summoning all my strength, I hurled myself to my feet and stumbled out of the way as a line of bolts laced the ground behind me. I took off running back towards town, but the Arugian patrol had already reached the town square where Gehman was hiding.

I raced around the back of the general merchant’s and took cover, taking a moment to use a charge from my Peerless Health Kit, restoring my health to around 75 percent.

“Gehman!” I shouted. “Where are you!?”

“Over here!” Kodiak shouted, waving at me from the Bindstone just above town. Somehow the two had managed to loop around the town square, narrowly avoiding the patrol as they came into town. They were out of line of sight for the moment, but that could change in an instant.

I glanced around the corner as the patrol continued through Stoneburg’s square, then quickly dashed out from behind my cover and ran as quickly as I could up the hill towards my companions. Behind me, I heard an icy howl.

“Look out!” Kodiak shouted as another bolt shot in my direction. I ducked out of the way and the bolt narrowly missed me and slammed into the hillside. I leapt onto it and raced up the shaft, slamming my weight down at the end and using it like a diving board. When I jumped, the extra spring launched me into the air. I soared over the Bindstone and cushioned my impact with a roll. I spun around and found myself face to face with Gehman, who was looking at me like with complete and utter shock.

“Dude, you’re like a ninja!” He gasped.

“No, I think that’s Kodiak,” I replied, nodding at his armor. “Come on, let’s get the Hell out of here.”

As I spoke, I heard a cry from the patrol and peaked out from around the Bindstone to see the patrol changing its course, moving towards us like a school of fish.

“Which way!?” Gehman hissed. “We can’t go through town!”

“You said they path to Cragrock?” Kodiak asked.

“All the way,” Gehman nodded.

“That’s past the Verasyth,” I growled. “We won’t be able to hunt there.”

The patrol was closing in. We were running out of time and options. The one in the front took aim and fired. All three of us ducked and the bolt streaked harmlessly through the air above us before slamming into the trunk of a tree and completely shattering it.

So powerful! I thought. An idea flashed into my mind.

“How good are these daggers, Gehman?” I asked. In all the confusion, I hadn’t even had a chance to inspect them.

“Pretty good,” he replied. “Not meant for a level 126 though.”

“Wait a second,” Kodiak interrupted. “You’re not thinking about going in to fight them are you?”

“No,” I said, turning to smile at him. “Not exactly. I’m gonna get me one of those bows.”