S'haar finally had her fill of vengeance. There didn't seem to be much more point to this battle any longer. The warriors of A'ngles' army had all but given up, not that she could blame them. With nowhere to run and facing a shrinking circle of spears, the defenders had pushed in on each other so tightly they couldn't even wield their weapons effectively. At this point, many of them were using the bodies of their dead comrades to fend off spears and blades while the ground was turned to mud from all the lifeblood that had been spilled this day.

Turning, she shouted to her people. "Halt! Keep your spears ready, but don't attack unless they still hold a weapon!" Then turning back to the now-encircled enemy, she continued. "Anyone who throws down their weapons and surrenders will be allowed to live! I've had enough of this slaughter, and I imagine you have too!"

Immediately many spears and blades were dropped on the ground. The hill people and the members of Dragon's Outpost still kept their spears leveled and ready but did not press the attack any further.

Then the fireballs started erupting up on the ridge where Lord A'ngles' honor guard was.

-

Out of grenades, Jack switched to his handgun again and began firing anytime he had a clear shot, which was all too often. The fiery explosions had done their job and thinned the enemy ranks considerably, killing almost a quarter of the enemy and injuring nearly as many, but it had driven the survivors into a frenzy. Their mindless assault meant they were easy to cut down, but the constant attacks were wearing everyone down. Despite his best efforts to protect the three wolgen with him, Grim, Kunes, and Kunshee now sported countless minor injuries and several more serious ones. They all had open wounds and even a few spears sticking out of their hide. They were all slowing down noticeably under the constant onslaught. Angela was doing her best to deal with whatever threats she could, But Jack didn't like how much she was also slowing down. Something wasn't right. If this fight went on too much longer, something would give, and he didn't know what.

Jack fired two more rounds into warriors on his right, then a spearman approached from his left, so he shifted his aim and pulled the trigger, only to hear the hollow clack of an empty chamber. Pain seared through him as the blade bit deep into his thigh. Jack grabbed a long knife from his waist and stabbed downward into his attacker's outstretched arms. Then, as Grim pulled away, he fumbled for the emergency pouch on the saddle, found what he was looking for, and jabbed a needle into the thigh near the spear wound. He sighed gratefully as the pain receded, slapped on one of his last few self-sealing pressure bandages, and reloaded his magazine before quickly assessing their situation.

The good news was he was relatively confident there wouldn't be enough of the enemy left to assault Lon'thul's position. The bad news was they might not all survive long enough to celebrate.

Jack shouted over to Angela. "Can we get the wolgen to run? We've done more than enough, but I don't know how to get Kunes and Kunshee to disengage!"

Angela punched a warrior, but rather than send him flying, he only fell to the ground holding his jaw. She followed up with a kick that flattened him but still looked considerably weaker than usual as she answered. "I don't think the enemy has enough sense left to let us retreat!"

Jack fired off another two rounds at enemies all but foaming at the mouth and shook his head. He had to think of something!

-

Angela was managing her heat as best she could. She'd already reduced her strength and speed by over sixty percent and was now fighting more defensively than offensively, but the temperature continued to rise as more coolant leaked from her system. She did have one last option to try and save her family, but she'd need a bit more help to pull it off.

The AI patched into Em'brel's headset nearby as she deflected another spear aimed at her chassis. "Em'brel, I'm about to create an opening. I need you to get Kunes and Kunshee out of there immediately afterward, okay?"

Em'brel sounded unsure of herself. "How am I going to do that?"

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Angela shook her head. "Run in there and grab them by the mane if you have to! Just pull them out as soon as it's clear!"

The younger woman only sounded more desperate. "How will I know when to move?"

Angela smiled sadly to herself. "Don't worry, you'll know!"

-

Jack was starting to debate the merits of just charging through the enemy formation and trying to pull away as many warriors as possible when Angela spoke up again. "In just a moment, I'm going to create an opening. You and Em'brel must take Kunes and Kunshee and clear out as quickly as possible!"

After shooting another charging warrior, Jack realized he'd emptied another magazine. As he went to reload, he spoke up over his headset. "Do you have some sort of backup plan I don't know about?"

Angela's reply was uncharacteristically sober. "Yeah...something like that..."

Jack realized he's somehow lost track of his nine-foot-tall metallic sister. "What are you planning, Angela?"

His sister was silent momentarily, and Jack saw a large group of warriors converging on something metallic much further ahead in the pack than him. It looked like she was down on her hands and knees. Finally, she spoke. "You're gonna have to take it from here, little brother. Make sure S'haar and Em'brel have a good life!"

Realizing what she was about to do, Jack shouted at her loud enough to be heard over the sounds of battle without a headset. "Angela! As your captain, I order you to stop what you are doing!"

Over his headset, he heard Angela's response. "Sorry, captain, I'm tendering my resignation." Then a moment later. "You were the best little brother an AI could ask for. I love you!"

Then there was a bright flash followed by a shockwave intense enough to knock most of the warriors off their feet, and everything fell silent.

-

As A'ngles retreated from the fighting, he had flashbacks to the fire at the mountain. Who were these people that could call fire from thin air like this? One thing was certain, that human, Jack, had not been bluffing about having more weapons at his disposal.

As he retreated, he heard a familiar voice. Father, there you are!"

Turning around, A'ngles saw his adopted son, followed by a most unexpected sight, the hunter, Dek'thul, who was using a large branch as a walking aid. The younger noble continued speaking. "Even I underestimated our enemy this time. We've lost. We must return to the villages and resecure our hold on them immediately!"

The older noble nodded. The loss of this army was a severe setback, they might even lose a few villages if the villagers overthrew the leadership that had sworn allegiance to A'ngles, but they'd still have enough to move forward in solidifying the valley if they worked fast. The only question was, what would Jack and his followers do now? He nodded. "Yes. We'll need to get back quickly. Good thing you had another contingency plan in place, son. Based on your last report, I thought Dek'thul was too injured to be in any condition to assist!"

That was when B'arthon suddenly stopped, a confused look on his face. "I thought you sent Dek'thul to rescue me!" Then turning to the hunt master, he continued. "How did you..."

That was when Dek'thul drew one of his mighty hunting knives and stabbed B'arthon in the side. The noble lashed out, kicking the stick the hunter was using as a walking aid, and jumped back as Dek'thul fell to the ground dropping his knife, but it was clear B'arthon was badly wounded as blood seeped out of the fingers he was using to hold the wound closed.

Normally, an old male far past his prime and the smaller noble would be no match for the Dek'thul, but something was clearly wrong with his legs, as the hunter slammed the ground with a fist as if fighting off some intense pain as B'arthon shouted at the hunter. "Have you gone mad? Why are you attacking us?"

The hunter grunted as he drew another knife while still lying on the ground. "You know, I thought my son was a fool for standing up against you two. I thought no one in this land could out-scheme Lord A'ngles. And yet, you've lost. Now the only thing you can do for my son is plot your petty revenge, and I'm afraid I can't allow that!"

As A'ngles turned to hobble away, the hunter threw his knife, hitting the old noble in the back. After a moment of intense pain, A'ngles fell into an all-consuming void while the colors and sounds of the world around him faded from existence.

-

Not willing to wait for his turn to die, B'arthon grabbed the fallen knife and stabbed down at the wounded hunter, who caught the noble's arms and started twisting the knife and pushing it back. Realizing there was no way to win a contest of strength against the older hunter, B'arthon kicked at the Dek'thul's injured legs, making him cry out in agony. The noble took advantage of the hunter's pain to plunge the knife into Dek'thul's stomach, then fell back onto his backside, gasping for air while clenching his injured side.

Evidently, the knife hadn't hit anywhere clean enough to end Dek'thul's life quickly, as the hunter barked out a laugh, blood flecking his lips. "Well fought, young Lord! Well fought! I didn't think you had it in you!"

B'arthon spat on the ground, looking over to see his fallen adopted father no longer moving. He'd never particularly liked the old male. Why did the sight of his lifeless body bother him so? He shook his head. This was no time to get sentimental... Getting to his feet, B'arthon started limping away.