Rage filled me that no one from our group had yet joined us to stave off the ambush on the camp. What were they doing? It hadn't been long and considering that most people couldn't run as fast me or fly like Jax had, it could be that they just hadn't arrived yet. It irked me, though, that others hadn't managed to move as fast as we had. Maybe that was one reason they had paired Jax and me together. We were fast and took risks. We were the warriors who fled the protective fog to take on twenty warriors alone.

We were crazy, weren't we? Stubborn, perhaps. Maybe just arrogant.

Jax sure was.

I knew that when I left the protection for the third time that I would not return unharmed. They'd had time to think and observe me and they had numbers. I braced myself as I ran north and emerged further from the group.

Silencing my power, I disappeared into the woods. This close, someone would be able to track my heartbeat and my steps. It wouldn't give me very much time. But I stalked quietly through the trees and identified my target.

The man never saw the attack coming. I used such a small piece of energy that it would be lost in the cacophony of power. It silenced the heartbeat I listened for.

They all knew where I was now but I rather liked the cover of trees.

This time, as warriors pursued me in the woods, I moved further away from the fog to force them to divide their forces. It was risky to move so far away from my group, but I was a believer that risks paid off. I also knew that having Jax flying overhead offered as much protection as the fog did. We had to trust each other if we wanted to defeat these warriors.

I'd expected half a dozen warriors to pursue me, which I figured would be manageable given my speed and the trees surrounding me. The footsteps I heard following me took me completely by surprise.

I sensed the swell of energy and dodged. Green consumed an entire group of trees inches in front of me. In seconds, they had vaporized.

Shit.

They'd combined their powers and I sensed more than half a dozen. They were all coming after me, weren't they? All of them except for the aerial fighters.

Well, it was a smart move, afterall. If they took care of the pesky lone warriors then they could focus their attention on their target.

What if I could get them to pursue me deeper in the woods?

I darted backward, losing myself in the darkness of the trees. I relied upon the sound of the wind and my sensitive hearing to navigate through the maze. While I could no longer see Jax, I felt him pursuing me, likely above the tops of the trees.

The warriors were following me. I wanted to rejoice that they were falling into my plan, except I knew this meant that they had such large numbers that they could afford for a dozen warriors to break away from camp.

Trees all around me vaporized. I could sense the attack before it came and evaded, but it was getting too close for comfort. It was also destroying my obstacle course.

Finally, I sensed the other warriors from my group. They must have been following after us longer than I realized, because they were closing in on the warriors. I stopped, having forced everyone away from the camp, and now turned for my enemy.

They no longer combined forces to use the vaporizing attack, but they hadn't forgotten about me. I had to dodge blasts of energies as I weaved through the trees and around the assaults. I darted past one enemy warrior, my sword clashing with hers. But I didn't stop. Didn't slow down. I couldn't afford to.

Three of my fellow warriors now fought with me. I joined them, seeing Jax on the ground now.

We were outnumbered still, but I trusted our combined forces. We had more to lose than these people. They were the ones who had attacked us and likely had an escape route planned.

Together, we fought as hard as we had in every battle. Sword against sword, energy against energy, will against will.

Blood splattered my feet as my energy sword broke the guard of a sword-wielding warrior and sliced open his shoulder and the inside of his neck. Three turned on me suddenly, like they had somehow communicated this. Maybe they were just so angry that I somehow was still alive.

I struggled to fend off their assaults, but I wouldn't give in. I kicked one back, used my shield to defend against the slash of a sword, and unleashed a powerful wave of energy to force them back.

One person closest to me though turned suddenly away from his opponent, close to me, taking me by surprise. It left him open to an attack and I knew that my comrade's sword would rip him open. But he'd sacrificed himself to catch me off guard.

I'd been defending against the other three, and now, in a split second, had to choose where to leave myself open.

Jax shot directly in front of me. The fist meant for me slammed so hard into his gut that I swore the forest shook from its impact. Flashes of power erupted from the man's hand.

My comrade's sword plunged into the attacker's side just as I expected. But he'd partially completed his mission, landing a powerful hit on one of our warriors.

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Why had he done that? It was meant for me.

"Jax!"

A hit like that could have literally ripped his guts open. He managed to absorb the blow well enough to only slide across the ground. His meaty hand wrapped around the man's face as he roared, hand burning bright and red with hazy energy. Jax finished him off by ripping the wound in his side open with his bare hand and blasting his organs with energy.

Fuck. That attack.

Jax's knees buckled and he caught himself on the ground, gasping in a breath. He was hurt.

I shot another wave of energy to keep everyone away from him. It was not the most effective maneuver since I'd already used it, but it bought enough time for Jax to force himself back to his feet.

He pressed against my shoulder, clasped my wrist, and then funneled his energy into me. It poured into my arm, crawling beneath my skin, making me feel ready to erupt with it.

I didn't hesitate.

Using our combined powers, I poured all of our strength into a single opponent. She tried to counter the attack, but the radius of the blast was too wide for her to avoid and her shield failed.

The blast melted the skin from her bones and reduced her to a heap on the forest floor.

I tried to look at Jax to see if he was okay, except the others were not going to give us the opportunity to take our eyes off of them.

The battle continued and there was no room for weakness or a break. A sword skimmed my thigh. A blast of energy burst through my shield and hit me hard in the gut. Neither had hurt me very badly, but they distracted me.

There were five of us and still eight of them.

Now was the time to return to camp.

"Go," I shouted.

No one would know exactly what I meant. I had to hope that they would figure it out from my mad dash back toward camp. They all pursued, Jax burst through the air and shooting energy behind us so we could escape.

I could see the energy fog, but no one was going to let us reach it. The aerial fighters who still worked behind their shield, cast a cloud of energy over us.

Fucking hell. This would instantly kill us if we didn't escape.

"Faster!"

We rushed for the fog, not even attempting to defend against something we would never be able to touch. There were too many warriors combining their power and it was too effective of a move.

I could have reached the fog before my comrades, but I couldn't bring myself to leave them behind. Craning my neck as I ran, I noticed that one warrior hung behind us. He wasn't going to make it.

The bolts of power began to rain from the cloud of power just as my foot hit the energy fog. I skidded to a stop as two comrades beside me rushed in. Jax dove through the air for our straggling warrior. He wasn't going to make it to him in time. I brought my hands together and hit her with a wall of energy. It sent her flying backward. Bolts of power hit the ground where she'd been standing. The ground quaked. Pain flared up from my feet and shot through my body, the shocks of the enormous bolts of energy spreading along the ground.

My comrades dragged me into the energy fog and I fell onto the ground, my body seized in a tremor from the power. I screamed through gritted teeth as the worst pain of my life exploded from my side. The power that had coursed through my body gathered there and exited, shooting back into the earth.

I curled, grabbing the wound, oblivious to how bad it was. I could have been on the verge of death or it could have been a flesh wound. All I knew was that it hurt so badly I couldn't think.

Hands grabbed at me. I managed to gasp in a breath as my friend Ralph pulled me up against himself. Jax landed in front of me and fell onto his knees, reaching for my side.

"How bad is it?"

"Where's…" I couldn't form the words. I could only see my comrade's body flying back through the air after I'd hit her. Sure, it saved her from the bolt that would have roasted her body like a chicken over the flames, and sure, she was from the Silver Moon guild. But we were supposed to help each other and I'd definitely hurt her.

Jax slipped to the side so I could see her safely within the energy fog. He must have picked her up and carried her in.

I pulled my hand away covered in blood.

Ralph pressed down hard on the wound for me and I almost bashed the back of my head against his face. It hurt so insanely bad.

Tendrils of his healing power flowed through me. He wasn't skilled enough to heal me here, especially when we were all exhausted from the fight, but he could help slow the blood loss.

"I'm not an expert, but I don't feel anything too serious. I think it's mostly a flesh wound. But it's the size of my fist. You could have internal damage that I'm not sensing."

We could lie here when we had to fight.

I pressed my blood-soaked fist against the ground and started to push up. Jax caught my shoulders, forcing me down.

"Don't move," he said.

"We have to fight."

"We need to get you bandaged." Jax ripped off a strip off a thick strip of his tunic and helped Ralphy tightly bandage me.

The warriors who remained alive had returned to attacking the fog. I noticed that the color surrounding us was more dull. It was thicker to breathe in, something that happened as the quality decreased.

"They'll be in here soon enough," Ralph said.

I refused to lie there doing nothing. "If you want to help me, then get me closer to the edge of the fog. I'm going to shoot those bastards in the face."

The pain tried to consume my thoughts but I couldn't let it. Jax grabbed me to help me up, his hand stained with blood from a bound to his arm. It looked like the blood was no longer flowing. He must have been better at treating his own injuries than I was. Still, it must have hurt.

Together, we traveled to the edge of the fog and began to attack the people trying to break in. They easily evaded our attacks, but it did slow them down.

I didn't like being stuck behind this fog when I could more effectively beyond it.

A loud nose, like a hundred children crying out, exploded into the night.

The enemy warriors fell back from the fog. It screamed like it was dying.

I focused on releasing the signal to let our aerial warriors know not to target me. As the fog began to lower to barely cover the tops of the tents, acrid smoke washed out from its base. Yellow tinted the smoke, mingling. It rushed out into the woods, sweeping over the warriors.

Their screams joined with that of the fog. The shadows burned their skin and singed their clothes. It didn't take long for them to begin to erect shields, but the smoke lingered and ate at their defenses.

"Abandon camp."

The order flooded the fog, carried and amplified by every tendril of power.