The people following them didn't seem to have their best interest in their heads. That was problematic, as she had no way of knowing they were there, but couldn't let them follow them like that as well. Hell Starshadow only spotted them because some of the metal they had with them was reflected by the sun shining through a hole in the trees.
As of now, they were still a kilometer behind them though they catching up fast. Continuing at this speed, they would reach Mary and her group in two hours, far away from the safety of the academy.
She looked at her companions and debated lifting one of her secrets. When looking at Taimanu, she got an idea. Taking control of a big chunk of her mana, she started to cast a spell that could solve the problem. Over the last years, she had improved at concealing her mana when casting spells, so with utmost care, Mary cast a spell that would hopefully solve her problems.
The spell would create a strong gust of wind blowing in their direction that would hopefully bring their pursuer’s scent to Taumanu.
It was one of the most ambitious spells she had cast in her life, so she took all the time she needed. The spell was dependant on several factors. As she couldn't start it manually, because the strand of mana she would need to set it off could alert their hunters she had to include a timer, so the spell would set off once the people behind them passed it, so she couldn't cast it entirely with her sorcery and had to rely on some of the runes she learnt back home. The second variable was the direction of the spell, something she bound to a small pebble that Starshadow would drop directly in between them and the hunters.
Casting the spell turned out even harder than initially assumed, as it turned out combining sorcery with manual runes was extremely complex. She managed nonetheless, and after about ten minutes of forming the spell she anchored it in a tree they had just passed.
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At first Taimanu had been scared at the prospect of visiting the human school,, but she agreed anyways, as the mission seemed very important to her father.
She had been lucky and got a room next to a human noble, though their first meeting hadn't been what she had imagined. She had been inspecting the door next to her room because it smelled of bird, though no one but her could smell it.
Getting used to the nonexistent senses of the humans had actually been the most difficult part of adapting to her new home. That probably was why she hit right of with Mary, the other girl having better senses than all other humans.
Her friend was a very talented sorceress and Taimanu was sure she was even more capable than she let on.
She had been elated when they managed to get on the same team, though the first quest were all things she could do since her early childhood. The one they were returning from just now had at least been something new, though it still lacked any real excitement.
Suddenly she felt a spell going off behind her. Turning to see if the others noticed as well, she saw they hadn't. Not surprising to be honest because she had an been able to feel spells being casted better than those around her since birth, and humans were really bad at detecting such stuff. The only person better at detecting magic than her was Mary, so she had to have cast the spell. Her friend knew what she was doing all the time, and if she didn't want the others to detect the spell she surely had good reasons to do so, so she decided to let it be and ask Mary when they were alone.
They were alternating in leading their group back towards the academy, so they didn't miss anything important on the way. The teacher accompanying them had been quiet for most of the time, content on letting them do what they wanted as long as their lives were not in danger.
An hour later, Mary started leading their group and she joined the others in the back. Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew past them, a very disconcerting smell in it.
When she had first joined the human society, she had been confused by their lack of clues how they felt, they lacked a tail or ears tio express themselves after all, but over the past months she had learnt the smell of humans changed with their emotions and she was getting better at understanding them.
The wind carried the smell of a small group of humans that were out for blood, something the students in the academy rarely felt, so she needed a few seconds to understand it, but after she did, a shiver ran down her back. They were the only people nearby that could be the groups target.
She turned to the teacher.
“We are being followed by a group of humans that is out for blood.” His relaxed posture and demeanor straightened slightly.
“How do you know?”
“I smelt them, their scent was in the wind that just blew past us!”
Now he was fully awake.
“How many are there?”
Sniffing the air once again, she replied.
“Five humans, three male two female!”
“How long till they reach us?”
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“I can't say that, wind carries smell over large distances, they could be anywhere from a few hundred meters to a few kilometers away!”
Mary joined them, alerted by the sudden stop.
“Why did you stop, did something happen?”
“We are being followed!”
“That sounds ominous. How is following us?”
“Five humans, they want to kill us!” Taimanu shivered again, the reality of the situation slowly catching up to her. The others all looked uneasy as well, there were stark differences between humanoid and beast enemies after all. And they were in no way ready to take on actual humans.
Sadly, the others would never be able to run from grown up humans, they just lacked the endurance and height to do so.
By the standards of her people Taimanu would be called an adult in half a year, on her seventh birthday.
“We won't be able to outrun them, so we’ll have to fight!” Mary stated.
“With the advance warning we got we can prepare for them and hopefully even the odds a little!” Mary said, once again seamlessly taking control of their group, even the teacher seemed at least willing to listen to her plan, Mary just had this aura of command around her.
She looked at the two elves.
“You two will start to subtly influence the underbrush to slow them down and we others will search for a suitable spot to defend ourselves!” She turned to the dwarf.
“You should try to make the ground we move over as uneven as possible to further slow them down!” She turned to the teacher.
“Any input sir?”
“Nothing young lady, you seem to have a plan and as long as these people don't threaten your lives I'm willing to see how the encounter plays out. The only humans out here should be some brigants, something mages like you should be able to handle easily.”
“Very well, let's get moving than!”
They resumed their journey faster than before, the prospect of people following them motivating them to move faster.
They reached a suitable spot half an hour later, a large clearing with a big tree in its middle, and immediately started the rest of the preparations.
“Taimanu, you start drenching the soil with as much water as possible!” Mary turned to the dwarf.
“Start making the soil as loose as possible please!”
The two elves had to form a protective ring of plants around them. The teacher was tasked with raising the ground they were standing on.
It took another hour until she could smell their hunters approaching.
“They’re drawing near!” She hissed to them. As they reached the clearing they hesitated, seeing their preparations. Afterwards one of them stepped out and addressed them.
“NOTHING WILL HAPPEN TO YOU IF YOU HAND OVER THE FALCONBRIDGE GIRL!”
That was certainly surprising, and disconcerting, they wanted one of them specifically which hinted they were way better than a random assortment of bandits. The teacher seemed to be of the same mind, as any traces of boredom were replaced by anger and alarm.
“LADY FALCONBRIDGE IS UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE ACADEMY OF AGORA, THERE IS NO WAY WE WILL HAND OVER ONE OF OUR STUDENTS TO SOME LOWLY BRIGANTS!” He yelled back.
“WE ARE HIGH PROFILE MERCENARIES, SOME TEACHER AND A FEW CHILDREN WON'T STOP US!” He yelled back. As no further answer came from them, he retreated back under the cover of the trees. As soon as he was out of sight, the teacher spoke up.
“That's not good, they are way more than we anticipated, I sent an emergency signal to the academy, but we will have to hold out for an hour, even the headmaster needs time to fly here! The preparations you all made are as good as they will get, so regenerate as much mana as possible until they start to attack, I will shield us against attacks and leave it to you to incapacitate them!”
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Mary could see how the mercenaries split up and started to surround the clearing. She counted twenty of them, about two thirds of them had the air of a mage. Holding out for an hour would prove challenging, if they wanted a chance they would have to deal as much damage while they were still underestimated. She looked at Dehla and the other lizard.
“You two throw back their melee fighters, I guess they will try to surround the clearing so we have no path to retreat, so one of you goes south and the other north!” She turned to Taimanu.
“We will break their mages shields, I’ll call out a target and you start hitting it with spells, I hope you have your managem with you, because if we want to hold out as long as possible we will have to take out as many as possible in the opening seconds of the engagement. After we both take out one of them, concentrate your fire on my target!” She turned to the rest of their group.
“You have a crucial role, after Taimanu and I break through a shield you will trip trip and secure them to the ground, take care they are unconcious!
Alright, do you understand what you have to do?” They all nodded.
“Very well, here they come!”
The group of twenty emerged from the forest surrounding them, the melee fighters charging straight ahead while the mages started preparing spells to break through the teachers shield.
“The one next to mine!” She directed Taimanu and then threw a powerful lightning bolt at the most powerful mercenary. The spell used up a third of her mana pool, but that turned out to be overkill the spell easily broke through the weak shield the mage had prepared.
Her target was thrown back by her spell, already unconscious or dead in the air. Taimanu’s spell had a similar effect, though less dangerous for its recipient. The icicle broke his shield and pinned his leg to the ground, electing a loud cry of pain from the mage.
Three of the melee fighters suddenly were slowed down as they arrived in the perimeter Mary had the others prepare. Three of them were tripped by the others, and shackles of roots and stone bound them to the ground. While the three others were preparing their next spell, ready to bind the two mages Mary and Taimanu had hit, the opposing mages finished their spells.
Twelve fireballs streaked across the clearing, hitting the shield the teacher threw up at the same time.
From what she could see, those were meant to intimidate, they didn't pack much punch, and fire wasn't all that effective against magical protections anyway.
Mary fired off another lightningbolt, this time at the weakest of the bunch, hoping to catch him off guard as he was on the other side of the clearing.
“TAKE COVER, THEY PACK A PUNCH!” The one nearest to the two mages they hit first yelled. While her and Taimanu’s spell hit, the experienced mercenary had already strengthened his shield and their attacks were ineffective. Before the three melee fighters could retreat, they too were caught up in bonds of roots and stone, reducing the effective fighting force of the mercenaries by eight, they were still outnumbered, and lost the element of surprise.