All around me the battle raged, there were screams of elves dying and suffering as they were rent or burned. I was unprepared for this, how could I have ever been? How could I have thought that this would be alright, clearly it wasn't so. We'd been ambushed, brought into a fight that we should have expected, after all, we knew at least some of what they had.

While I was trying to shield and return fire with some of the child soldiers Atal and the woman began their battle. I wanted to look, to see what they were doing, but there was no time.

Two more of the child soldiers screamed, charging towards my unit, hands ablaze with magical energy. Perhaps they had power, lots of it, but they had no idea how to use it. I tried not to weep as I tossed out bolts of force, caving in the chests of innocent victims. For I had to remember that that was what we were fighting, children who'd been forced here.

Another appeared, but this time an adult, one of the handlers I supposed. He also lacked the burning aura, though still had some magic as the spear he threw at me flew at superhuman speeds. Unfortunately for him I was already in the process of fighting, and walls of force were a bit of a specialty of mine. The projectile shattered like glass against just such a barrier.

This enemy saw that I was no pushover and tried to retreat, jumping backwards. That was a foolish move, and I managed to catch him in midair. Something had occurred to me while I was thinking about how to fight Atal. Those with physical magics needed something to apply force against. I'd considered the possibility of just throwing him into space, though who knew if that would have worked.

Such methods weren't needed for this lesser specimen though. Once he was off the ground and unable to do anything about it I simply wrapped a cord of energy around his neck and pulled hard, popping his head off like a wine bottle. It was horrible to watch, but caused the enemies in view to pause for a moment and reorient. Some clearly wanted to flee my presence, others turned towards me and charged.

Among those who wished to fight me was one with a bit of white in his hair. That wasn't good, as in a straight fight against an elder I was sure to lose. He began to gather a truly massive amount of fire, while a couple of others covered him, the orb growing by the second. Perhaps it was time to pull more tricks out then?

Other than fire and force, I'd also been working on light, I also already knew at least a few ways to weaponize it. Cupped hands to protect my own people and an instant flash within them like I'd used against those thieves what seemed like years ago. This I followed up with more of the same because if I could make light bright enough to make steel glow, I could make light bright enough to cook flesh.

Assuming that my enemy wasn't a complete fool and had some form of shield like my own I sent a laser towards him, a potent beam that stuck the middle of his chest and ripped. This kind of thing wouldn't be useful at a large range, but close in it certainly would. It was horrid to watch the other elf burn, but I had no choice if I wanted to return to Isha.

My target's magic didn't go away though. It seemed that dropping him in the middle of his spell caused the thing to go critical and explode, sending fire across their lines and a blast wave that tossed many of the disoriented elves like rag-dolls.

An instant later I felt stone hands grip me and my world briefly turned to a blur before I blacked out.

There was no time to respond, no chance to move, just a blur and nothing. I didn't know how long had passed when I came to, but I soon did, seeing one of our healers standing over me, hands outstretched. I looked to be behind some rock, though based on the sounds the battle was still going.

“What!?” I said as I tried to rise.

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“You managed to get the enemy leader to look at you. Atal wasn't able to be gentle when he pulled you out. Most people aren't meant to move that fast Justin, so stay down a second while I make sure you're okay.”

“How are things?” I asked, since I could still hear some sounds that indicated fighting.

“The old ones are still fighting it out. Not going well,” he said. “They sent someone strong.”

Before he could say much more our general showed up. Just near us Atal landed, and the area around him began to be scoured by something I couldn't see. Along with this came a loud noise, like a keening scream.

“What is it?” I yelled as the attack began to fade.

“She uses her voice,” he responded. “Need to take out her aides, but can't get to them. Any ideas?” For the first time ever he seemed genuinely worried. Normally Atal was unflappable, but now there was sweat on his brow and a few cuts that looked like actual injuries.

I was a bit charmed that he'd ask me such a thing, and yes, I did have ideas. I'd not really considered fighting Isha in the past, but I had thought about what she'd told me about the man who destroyed our village, and it seemed that this woman used a similar technique. It also appeared to be the same one that Isha used, a very loud sound. I didn't doubt that there was more going on to protect herself, but a very loud sound could destroy.

“I'll need a moment to set up, approach from behind,” I said before he disappeared again.

Bringing my hands up I began to write a new spell into the world. It was based largely on what I'd already done, just an expansion. This was easier than a totally new thing, which I'd have to struggle to put together properly.

Walls of force snapped into place, layered one over another, and then I began to empty the space between. A vacuum of sorts, an area devoid of air. It would be a risk, I didn't know if this magic worked just as I thought it did, but the idea was to block sound. I didn't even believe it would last for too long, but it didn't need to, just long enough.

Once my sound shield was formed I popped out from behind the rock to get a look at what was going on. It was clear where the problems lay in only a second of looking. Across from us the female elf was still dancing, still moving, all around her a net-like shield spread, covering her and the chorus of men joining in her song of death. My goal here would be to isolate her, surprise her, get them all off balance just enough for Atal to strike.

This was aided by the fact that as soon as she saw me a wicked gleam shone in her eyes and she sent a scream in my direction, scouring the land like a wind. Well, it scoured until it hit my shield. The first wall broke quickly, but that mattered little. The tiny voids had nothing to transmit sound, nothing to carry it forward. Sure the outer layers broke, but I could just make more, more and more voids, broken by tiny walls of delicate force.

The elven woman's eyes got big as she saw me standing unbowed, and screamed harder. I couldn't hear it, isolated as I was from the outside world, but I could see her strain. As soon as she stopped I smiled, and began the same process again, but around her. As fast as I could I repeated the spell, building layers of insulation around the singer bit by bit, keeping her and her cronies separate.

It didn't take long for panic to spread among her people. Several of the singers stopped as they could no longer hear their leader's voice, turning towards her. Spells faltered or failed as the magic keeping them going was interrupted. In time they could have responded properly, reformed, remade their defenses, but they didn't have time.

The instant of weakness was enough for Atal to make his way into their force. I couldn't follow him, couldn't see him, but I could see the effects of his passing. Where once stood men now there were clouds of blood and gore, exploding bodies as the angry ancient ripped people apart. When it was all done he stood still, alone against her.

“Will that barrier harm me?” he shouted back at me, not even looking.

“Shouldn't,” I replied.

A moment later it shattered like spun glass and Atal appeared beside the female leader, hand around her throat. He listed her into the air as it dawned upon her that she'd lost, but he didn't rip or tear, didn't rend like he had so many already, he seemed to instead squeeze.

It took only a second for our enemy to divine his intent, and she began struggling like a fish on a hook. Without breath she couldn't sing, couldn't scream, couldn't respond as he lifted her into the air and let her struggle. The battle, which moments ago had been a riot of sound and movement was now frozen, the only noise her gagging and struggles as the furious ancient slowly strangled her, hands and feet lashing out against him uselessly.

The process wasn't fast, and after a few moments she stopped. Instead of trying to claw or strike at Atal I saw her eyes water as she put her hands up in a pleading gesture. It was impressive how quickly she realized her situation, and how she tried to change it in the only way that had a chance. Atal was unmoved at her open hands, her desperate tapping of his arm, even as she failingly reached for him, unable to make it since his arms were longer.

There was more struggling when it became apparent that Atal had no intention of mercy, but it didn't last. Powerless as the singer now was she slowly weakened, body shaking and then going limp. For a few moments more I watched as Atal held her there, before his hand moved, sending a cracking sound across the battlefield, the breaking of her neck, and he threw the broken body to the side, now done.

I approached, unable to take my eyes off the results. Blood was everywhere, mixed with broken bodies and singed ground. In the center of it all stood Atal, over the body of his defeated counterpart. The woman's eyes, tinged with red stared empty up at me. It was odd, so odd to see someone so beautiful as to likely have anything she wanted broken so, but I quickly reminded myself of the children she'd led, and what had been done to them. That quashed any stirrings of pity. She'd been pretty, and people liked pretty things, but she'd been party to so much evil.

“Good work,” Atal said, finally turning to me. “We should go over what happened here before we return. I have a feeling we'll need more soldiers.”