I push the dead captain’s shielded arm away from me and draw my knife out of the creature’s eye as we fall through the air. I squeeze my eye shut as the wind howls past my ears and hold my hands out in front of me as I near the tops of the trees. Pointed needles scrape against my skin as I pass through that emerald sea below me. The branches and limbs snap at my passing and slow my fall as I roll from one branch to the next until we pass through the last pine-needle-ladened branch, and crash through to the ground below.

Quickly, I assess the damage....nothing. It looks as if the captain had taken the brunt of the fall: broken branches stick into his back, and his neck was bent at an odd angle. I, on the other hand, seem to be fairly well-off. A few bruises and scrapes that heal immediately with a couple of casts of Lesser Heal, but nothing was broken beyond what was already broken with the fight with the stealthy ratman earlier. My heart beats quickly and my vision is hyper-clear as I glance around for any signs of danger.

Unfortunately, I’m not the only one to get out relatively unscathed. Out of the ten or so dogmen that had plummeted down from the cliff side, five of them were still alive enough to stand; though considerably more battered than I am. Were they more durable because of the armor they wore? Their levels? Or did they get lucky with their downward trajectories? My cane had broken in the fall, so I picked up the captain’s short sword that had fallen beside us, and pull off the shield from the captain’s arm and strap it to my own, and rushed toward the nearest one as it sways on its feet.

It tries to raise its weapon in defense, but I knock it aside with the shield and stab forward up through the creature’s diaphragm. It lets out a wheezing whine and falls forward. I let it roll off my shoulder and turn around to face what other dangers may come. The other four dogmen had gotten their bearings and picked up their weapons. From the cliffs, came about five windwalkers heading down toward us. It wouldn’t be long before I’m surrounded. Step by step, the encircling dogmen back me against the trunk of a large, crooked tree. The roots weaving in and out of the ground added to the shade cast by the canopy, and gave cover to the windwalkers coming down.

One dogman charges forward, followed shortly by one of the ratmen that survived the fall. The first is unarmed and leaps on me. I hold up my shield, but this was evidently what he was aiming for he grabs hold of it as the second; armed with a sharpened branch, rushes forward with the point aimed at my stomach.

They underestimate my Strength; just because they saw the Captain hold me back. That much was obvious. With a grunt, I lift the dogman off the ground and swing the shield with him on it at the charging ratman. Just before the point reaches my stomach, they collide with one another and fall to a heap on the ground as I release the shield, so I’m not pulled to the ground as well. I draw the kris and aim it forward at the other two coming forward as the prone ratman and dogman scramble to their feet.

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“You Shades who live within these blades, and answer to these words. I let loose those awful wards, and send you to my prey.”

Two bright purple shadows shoot forth from the kris and collide against the two standing enemies. They fall forward. Now, I turn the blade skyward and point it at the windwalkers nearing the tops of the trees. The bound shades fly off, and curl around the tree; sticking to the shadows as they climb to meet the dogmen. As soon as the first leaves the shadows of the trees, however, its violet body disintegrates, and the handle of the kris heats up as if to warn me against doing that again. One of the five amethyst-like crystals that were embedded in the ornate golden handle dims. The other shade retracts back into the blade as I sheathe it. I remember what happened to the ratman priest in the first door that I had gotten the dagger from, and don’t want that happening to me, so I try to use it as sparingly as possible.

I finish off the ratman and dogman duo that had attacked me first with two quick blows that separated their heads from their bodies, and by the time I finished off the first of the still strength-sapped dogmen with a stab to the back of its neck, the five windwalkers begin to slide down the sides of the tree and onto the ground.

“You that bind the All, guard me against those that would cause me harm.”

A feeling like glass pushing through my skin sends waves of pain coursing through my body as the protective shield forms. I really need a magical medium, and soon. Once I deal with these I’ll ask the Shard about it, but for now, I raise the short sword in front of me. The windwalkers charge all at once; two on either side and one in front of me as I back up against a tree to ensure that I wouldn’t be attacked from behind. The remaining attacker of the original four rushes forward as well.

The first blow glances off of the shield, and I grab hold of the wrist of the attacker and swing him with all of my strength into one of the arching roots nearby. The root hold firm, but the body of the dogman doesn’t as it crumbles in on itself like a collapsed accordion. Hot blood sprays all over me as its broken bones pierce through the flesh and pop it like a swollen water balloon.

Perhaps stunned by the brutality of my attack, or perhaps sickened by the gore, the closest one hesitates for a brief moment before turning tail to retreat. Too bad. I throw the short sword at it as hard as I could. Though the blade doesn’t pierce it; the handle strikes it in the back of the head, and that knocks it out of the air and sends it sprawling to the ground. The third is upon me quickly, and then the fourth. The other two seemed to have vanished. Did they run? Wouldn’t blame them. Perhaps these two thought they could overwhelm me by teaming up.

Both of their blows bounce off the shield, and I grab the ankle of one of them and pull it to the ground. I end its life with a strong stomp on its head. The other one tries to pull away, but I grab it as well and yank it back down. It thrashes with its scimitar, and punches and kicks. All futile. Each blow is deflected by the shield, though it begins to crack. I grab hold of its throat and squeeze until I hear a snap.