Qing’s mind raced.

I can blink back, but we need a rope bridge to bring everyone across.

“How do we get the ropes across now?” Ghida said to Qing.

“We’ll have to fight first,” he said, and blinked across, landing next to Knut, staring at the approaching army, outnumbering them over twenty to one.

The sailors were stepping backwards towards the chasm, and Rowan stepped from the line, banging his mace and shield together. “Hold, men! You’ve seen us cut down the Kraken and slaughter demons. Fear not this rabble,” he pointed at the enemy, “they won’t know what hit ‘em!”

“Put an arrow on the bow and let’s show them how right he is,” Qing said to Knut, feeling the battle lust grow.

How dare these bastards attack my people?

Knut did as asked, and Qing touched the arrow, casting Smite. As Knut released, the arrow blasted straight through an ape, a series of pygmies, before cracking into the jungle. A distant tree slowly toppled.”

Ghida grabbed Qing’s arm, eyes wide. “The stormgalley!”

“What?”

“Knut, tie the rope to your arrow,” she said, pulling them both towards the chasm. “With Smite powering the arrow it should easily clear the gap!”

Qing’s eyes went wide. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“You are the brawn. I am the brain,” she said and smiled, yet it faded as the horde let out a roar and charged.

Knut touched the rope-carrying arrow to the bow, and Qing cast Smite. With practiced ease, Knut let it fly, feathers slapping Qing’s finger as it left the string. The rope trailed behind it like a jumping snake, easily crossing the chasm.

The trio smiled at one another, when suddenly Knut’s eyes went wide. “The rope!” He dove at it, grabbing the end, just to be pulled off his feet, stumbling towards the chasm. Qing grabbed his arm and set his feet, holding firm as his friend winced in pain, dragged between a magical powered rope and an immovable Qing.

Finally, the arrow dropped to the ground, and Knut sighed in relief.

“Good call,” Qing said to Ghida, and he saw her steal a glance at her mother who stood among the sailors, casting spells at the approaching monsters. With the queen’s attention elsewhere, Qing leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on her cheek. The small act of defiance and her beaming smile made his heart skip a beat.

“Hold!” Rowan called, pulling them back to the moment.

Qing turned, about to go throw himself into the fray when Cedrid stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Secure the ropes and get them across,” the wizard said. “I will hold.”

For a second, Qing hesitated, but then he nodded. Nobody else could secure the ropes, and despite the massive numbers, Cedric’s confidence convinced him.

With a cacophony of roars, spells, and bowstrings singing behind him, Qing Blinked, once, twice, thrice, before finally appearing on the other side, slamming to the ground.

As the battle erupted in full force, Qing grabbed the ropes, and prepared to haul the first supply basket across.

The black panthers struck first. Each beast ran on beetle-like claws, their sleep forms covering ground at frightening speeds. Most terrifying of all were the nine tails mushrooming behind them, whipping the air like deadly tentacles.

Jenny charged from the line with a scream. Her axes flashed in the dim light, a whirlwind of steel against fur and claw, but the oversized cats dipped and weaved around her, their tails seeming to caress her plate mail in a deadly dance.

One of the panthers slipped past Jenny to dart at a sailor. As the sailor’s cutlass swiped at the beast’s head, one of its tails lashed out, barely grazing the man’s face as the cat dashed away.

The effect was instantaneous and horrifying as the man’s face ballooned grotesquely. His screams of agony were cut short as his entire head burst like an overripe fruit.

“Go!” Qing screamed, and two sailors, under Ghida’s watch, hung a massive basket from the rope, and attached the second to its front and a third on the back. A sailor climbed aboard, and Qing grabbed the rope, sprinting straight away from the chasm, pulling the man and supplies across. Once over, the man hopped out, nose crinkling at the smell, and two men on the other side hauled the basket back.

Rowan and Aria had stepped out from the line, each tanking two panthers each, their shield keeping them safe as the others help cut down the enemy.

Morgana unloaded her new self-replenishing semi-automatic crossbow into their enemies, going for the American style of shooting. Knut, meanwhile, drew and released, each arrow finding a head. The panthers dropped, some looking like porcupines, bleeding to death.

Next came a line of mutated boars, but they only reached the line in two places, the others thrown back by massive waves of water conjured by Ghida and her mother. Before they could rise, volleys of arrows slew them, while cutlasses carved apart those who reached the line. A few sailors fell, but the rest held.

Next came the demonic apes, with one charging ahead, standing a head taller than the others. Jenny met the giant monster head on, her new axe slicing an arm off with the first attack, accepting a swipe to her neck that bounced off her gorget before taking a piece of her chin with it. Undaunted by the blood streaming down her chestplate, she buried her other axe in the ape’s face, killing it. As the monster fell, Jenny’s face regenerated, healed by the health-steal on her axe. With a roar, she spread her arms wide, axes held out in a challenge at the approaching horde.

Qing worked frantically on the rope bridge, knowing that every second counted for getting his companions safely across the chasm. The sounds of combat, the screams of the wounded, and the inhuman roars of their enemies urging him on.

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Then Qing looked back and froze.

The pygmies seemed to carpet the ground, numbering in the hundreds. They carried javelins and sharp knives, their eyes gleaming with an unnatural bloodlust that spoke of no fear of death. Interspersed among them came more apes. Qing let the basket’s rope fall, unsure whether he should Blink back across to help.

They’ll be overrun.

But then Cedric stepped up past Jenny.

He held his staff hip high, like a light-machine gun, set his feet, and cast his first spell of the battle. A beam, similar to the one the wizard had used against Wazir, shot forth from the tip of his staff. The beam was the width of a fist, and he scythed it across the battlefield, like death incarnate, burning through the pygmy horde in one massive attack.

A silence descended upon the battlefield as everyone froze, shocked by the display of power.

Qing sighed in relief as a cheer went up from the group, celebrating their victory. But it was short-lived.

A deep, bone-shaking roar emanated from the depths of the jungle. The sound so powerful it stunned them all, yet again.

Shit. This was just the beginning.

Rowan was the first to react and started barking out commands. “Move, you worthless fish-fuckers! Get those lines set up, and move across!”

Like a stepped on anthill, Qing’s companions threw themselves into the work, setting up three different lines, ferrying people and goods across. Qing pulled one while teams of three sailors manned the other two.

The tension hung as thick as the humidity, and time blurred as they worked.

When Cedric lined up to cross the chasm, Qing called over.

“Please hold the defence, Cedric! We don’t know what’s coming!”

The wizard raised an eyebrow, meeting his gaze. “Is that an order?”

Oh, come on…

“Sure! Just keep them safe until we get everyone across, alright?”

“As you wish.” Cedric walked to the back of the group and faced the jungle.

Each successful crossing felt like a small victory, as the roars and screeches from the other side grew ever louder.

Finally, only six people remained on the other side. Cedric, four sailors, and Rowan, who had refused to leave until they got everyone across.

Two baskets were returning across the chasm to pick them up when the true horror emerged from the jungle.

Qing could do nothing but stare.

An army poured from the treeline, numbering in the thousands. It dwarfed the force that had attacked Shadowgrove. Twisted beasts swarmed across the ground, and Qing knew, with a sickening certainty, that this was the army that had destroyed Sylvanwatch’s castle.

Breaking through the trees, an elite demon dwarfing the army surrounding it, emerged. The ape was so massive it made Qing think of a nightmarish version of King Kong. Its jaws were distended and filled with enough teeth to make a shark jealous.

As it stomped forward, black smoke rolling off its back in choking waves, Qing saw its right arm had limited mobility, a massive stone scar running from its pectoral muscle and down its left arm.

Standing by the edge of the chasm, his heart pounding in his chest, he knew the monster’s name. The ape was Gorzan, an elite hybrid of demon and monster. It stood taller than the kraken, and Qing knew they had to run. This was not a monster they could defeat.

“Cedric, Rowan, you’ve got to go, now!”

Rowan turned and stared at him across the gaping chasm that threatened with an endless drop. Without thinking, the glaive appeared in his hand, but he unequipped it, putting both hands on the rope next to him, ready to haul the basket across once they got in.

Cedric turned and nodded, motioning for Rowan to go, but he needn’t have. The warrior was already in motion, sprinting towards the edge of the chasm, calling out orders to the sailors who were hauling the basket towards their side.

Do I stay and haul them across, or blink across to help hold off the horde?

The temptation of potential experience gain whispered in the back of his mind, and he realised the unbidden thoughts had slipped past his lips when Ghida’s voice cut through his musings.

“It is not worth endangering your life and dooming your world and ours both. Not when all we need is to get them across here in time.” Her tone was sharp with concern.

Qing swallowed hard, pushing away the temptation. “Of course. It’s not worth the risk,” he said, more to convince himself than anyone else.

The air filled with shouts as the basket reached the far side, but before they could climb in, Gorzan, ripped a tree from the ground and with a roar threw the entire thing at the group. Cedric cast his beam, slicing the timber in two. One half landed just by his side, while the other slammed down between Rowan and the chasm, rolling forward. It rolled over one man, his chest crushed to pulp, while another got thrown over the edge by the leafy branches, screaming as he disappeared.

The two remaining sailors stood frozen, staring down at their dying comrade.

Qing took a step forward, but Ghida’s hand on his arm stopped him.

“They need you here,” she said, correctly.

Rowan already snapped out commands, and the two remaining sailors scrambled into the basket, their movements frantic. Fortunately, while the tree had killed two, it had missed the line.

Morgana’s voice shook as she asked, “Will it hold the weight of four men?” The most they had done were two men and supplies.

“It will have to.” He cupped his hands around his mouth and called, “Get in!”

Rowan climbed into the basket, his bulk causing it to sway precariously. But Cedric remained rooted in place, his stance defiant.

“Cedric!” Qing shouted, his voice carrying across the void. “You’ve got to go!”

But even as the words left his mouth, Qing knew it was too late. The enemy forces swarmed forward, a tidal wave of nightmarish flesh and bone.

The wizard waved a hand across his shoulder. The sign was clear.

Trust him.

At that moment, Qing made a split-second decision to do just that. He slung the rope across his shoulder and sprinted away from the chasm’s edge, pulling the basket with all his might. The weight of three men strained the rope, and the speed was a danger, but he was out of time.

The basket swung out over the chasm, and the people around Qing gasped. He couldn’t help but look back, and the sight nearly stopped him in his tracks.

Rowan sat in the back of the basket, holding up his shield, desperately trying to protect the trio from a hail of projectiles flung their way.

But it was the man remaining on the other side that truly captured Qing’s attention.

Cedric stood alone by the anchor point of the ropes, his staff held high as the horde swarmed against him. He hadn’t launched an attack to cut them down as he had the pygmies. Instead, a transparent, golden bubble of energy surrounded the wizard, holding back the tide of horrors. The monsters crawled around him, yet none could touch him.

Qing could see the strain in Cedric’s body language, even from this distance. The bubble of protection seemed impenetrable, yet Qing knew it must be burning through his mana at an alarming rate.

And while he kept the swarm at bay, the Gorzan, the colossal demon-ape, stomped towards him.

The giant beast’s roar shook the air, causing the sailors around Qing to whimper in fear. Yet Qing kept sprinting, hauling on the rope.

He must have a plan. He’d never sacrifice himself. That’s not his style. Right?

Then Ghida gasped, and Jenny cursed. Qing’s heart nearly stopped as he turned to see Gorzan hammering a boulder-sized fist on Cedric’s shield. The wizard sank to one knee under the impact, yet the barrier held. The hand, easily capable of swatting helicopters from the sky, crashed down again and again, the ape screaming in rage, yearning for the blood of his foe. Enraged at being denied its kill. Each blow sent shockwaves pushing back the smaller monsters swarming around them.

Cedric fell to his other knee, his body trembling with the effort of maintaining the shield.

Rowan and the sailors passed the midpoint, with Qing jogging backwards, unable to look away from Cedric.

How long can he keep up such a defence? Why isn’t he striking back?

Just as Qing thought the situation couldn’t get any worse, Gorzan, supporting himself on his petrified arm, leaned over Cedric’s dome of protection. With a casual swipe, the demon-ape snapped the main rope connecting the basket to safety, sending the basket and the three men into the chasm.