The two circles of light floating on Lucius’ forehead darkened and disappeared. He heaved deep breaths, his face covered in beads of sweat. His head ached with sharp, numbing pain. It felt like his brain was subject to the cruelest of torture only a mad man could conceive. He had half a thought of abandoning everything and end the day.

But he very well knew he could not relax yet. The carnage around him reminded him so.

He looked ahead, and saw the path paved by his spell. His mouth curved into an indistinct smile. It was a new record: he was able to cast a spell of that magnitude in a short amount of time. He had managed to surpass himself yet again. He immediately shook the happy thoughts away. For now, he had to keep his prideful nature in check.

The sharp pain intruded his thoughts, and Lucius impulsively rubbed his temples with furrowed brows.

“Shouldn’t have taxed myself,” he said. “But it had to be done.”

Ignoring the pain as best as he could, he invested all he had to scour his surroundings, leaving him defenseless. He had trust in the others that he would not come to harm. It was a trust forged through the rigors of countless battles. Even now, he could still hear the clanging of steel and crushing flesh around him. He shook the fleeting thoughts away and continued his search.

His eyes landed on Kaele trying to stand back up. She was safe, though not as sound as she should be if not for her extending too far from the others.

What a foolish mistake, he inadvertently thought. But his eyes belied the anxiety he held within.

He did not let his gaze linger. Not far from her, there was an ominous, white ball. Surrounding it were the black fiends, hurling web after web of silk. And it seemed two of the creatures were already trying to drag it away. Their mandibles bit onto the cocoon and pulled back with their legs.

Lucius grimaced, both from the pain and the sight. He began to take a step forward but faltered as soon as he landed down. He swiveled left and right before going down on his knees. He clutched his forehead with an iron-grip.

“Curse this pain,” Lucius spat.

His head felt like it was drowning in a pile of broken glass. He could not think properly from the pain, and sound was already drowned out from his senses. He had to move, as he should be the only one who was not tied down. He raised his head up and looked again at the cocooned scholar.

The white ball was getting further away from the camp. With how easy it was to get lost in a sea of trees, much less in this damnable Huntsman’s Copse, Discal would be no more if they could not bring him back now.

Another bout of pain bombarded him, his eyes bloodshot. He clenched his jaw to keep himself awake, and moved his shaky sight back to Kaele.

Lucius remembered how Kaele had avoided his spell. She should be able to help the scholar, he thought. As his gaze landed on the shieldbearing girl, his optimistic thought was shot down.

Kaele, with a pallid and unseemly face, tried standing up with the support of her sword, only to fall back to the ground. Realizing she could not stand on her own two feet, she dragged herself forward in a crawl, leaving shallow marks on the earth. Her condition did not fare any better than Lucius.

Sharp pain flared up again, his eyes trembling from the sensation. He wanted to scream from the terrible agony, but he clamped down his mouth. He could not worry his companions over a trifling thing, much less in a battle like this.

He looked again through a blurry filter at the scholar. Half of the white ball was now covered in the shadows of the trees. Lucius had little time left; he had to consider his move.

Lucius looked behind him. The others were still fighting, but they seemed to be winning. In a minute or more, the enemy would rout from their losses. But that minute was crucial; it was more than enough time for them to lose the scholar.

Lucius had to shorten the time.

He closed his eyes to ease some of the pain, and to compile his thoughts.

He knew he was risking his all just to save someone he barely knew. After all, he and Discal had only met because of a request. They were only acquiantances and nothing more...

But they took him in and to abandon him halfway through would tarnish Lucius’ name forever. It would haunt him, he thought. He could not let that happen; his pride could not let it be.

And for him to die, even though I could have saved him...

Lucius made his decision. He opened his eyes and with his hearing disabled from the unbearable pain, he shouted.

“Close your eyes!” Lucius hoped the others understood what he was planning to do. And he hoped even more that he would survive as there were risks to what he planned to do. He had to stake it all on the coordination they forged through the years.

It was a simple spell, but it did not discriminate between friend and foe.

Two circles of light appeared again and floated on his forehead. They seemed to be devoid of energy and was a hair away from dying out.

Lucius, with his teeth clenched, began to cast another spell. The circles of light brightened with blinding luminosity as if the circles had regained their lost vigor.

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Motes of dull yellow light, fewer than before materialized around Lucius. When their numbers could be counted with both hands, they speared towards his staff, forming a shimmering film around the mana core.

He raised the pole as high as he could, and shouted the name of the spell to warn the others.

“Flash!”

The shimmering film shattered into shards and blasted outward. The world was drowned in eye-piercing light. Everything became white and an eerie silence permated the air. No sounds of fighting rang out save for the calm chilling breeze of the coming morning.

And the wailing of the black fiends.

The whiteness dissipated into the unknown and color returned to the world. The insectoids who were caught unaware writhed on the ground, screeching in pain. They stabbed their inhumane limbs back and forth, blinded as they went.

The light on Lucius’ forehead disappeared and he laid prone on the ground, unconscious but alive. He had taxed himself too heavily, and the exhaustion was more than enough in taking his will away. His face twitched ever so often at the pain only he knew.

The others resumed their crusade against the enemy as soon as they regained their sight. They opened their eyes and reconfirmed their surroundings with haste. Silently, they brought death upon their foes.

With a downward slash, Samuel split a fiend in half with ease, taking care to avoid the burning green blood.

Ronald nocked a few arrows in his bow, felling two insectoids from the treetops. He swept his gaze with an arrow in hand, scouting for more.

Miria dashed to and fro, weaving her way through. She raised her dagger high and stabbed deep at whatever weakness she could find, making quick work.

Cracking sounds came forth from the bonfire. The wood used to fuel the flames had began to deplete. It was dying out. Darkness crept ever closer to the party, like a deformed daemonic hand.

The insectoids began to regroup. Their compound, beady eyes straightened and warily looked at their companions being slaughtered. They screeched, slicing through the air with their blades. The advantage still laid to them as light was beginning to be overwhelmed by the dark. The bonfire was flickering in and out weakly. It would not be long until the veil of the night was brought down on all.

But they hesitated in their steps, and showed signs of conceding the fight. When the

bonfire had lashed its last flame out, brilliant light broke through the gaps of the trees. The black fiends hissed once more and turned their backs.

The sun rose from the world’s edge. Day had finally come.

The black fiends quickly retreated into the shadows, investing their all. They dreaded the existence of the sun and displaced anything in their way. Branches quivered and leaves flew wherever they went.

The party stood near what remained of the fire. Plumes of black smoke climbed to the sky, staining the solemn light of the sun. They let the insectoids be. The win was to them, and there was no need to give an unrewarding chase. Their nerves loosened and traces of relief overlapped their faces.

They survived.

They let the elation seeped only for a moment as there were still things to be done. Treat the injured and reclaim their losses. When their train of thought resumed, they remembered that not all of them was accounted for. They were missing one.

“Discal!” shouted Kaele, still pulling herself towards the scholar. He was wrapped in layers of silk, and was being dragged away. Two insectoids bit the cocoon by the sides and pulled him into the forest, their pace as fast as a jog

The others quickly came to an understanding. The scholar was in danger. But they were still reeling from a drawn-out fight. It was not sure if they could catch up in their tired state. They questioned themselves if Discal was even alive. And with how things were, they could not afford to leave the others be, not with their already dwindling strength.

It was a decision that would prove their victory worthless.

Samuel, knowing a moment’s hesitation would bring everything to shambles, had to decide. He could not leave one of their own. He stole a quick glance at the distant scholar and calculated he could still make it if he dashed forth with all he had.

But he knew for every second they stayed here, the more danger they came to be. They had to leave now. He could already hear movement from afar, drawn from the blood that had been spilled here.

Should he risk the lives of everyone to save one, or abandon the scholar and make a retreat?

Samuel looked at the unconscious Lucius, then at the struggling Kaele. He knew why Lucius did what he did, and he could not bear leaving Kaele chasing a lost cause.

If he decided what he wanted to do, he knew he was going against their expectations. It would

be a rift in their party. It might even break them apart. He gritted his teeth.

The party’s safety was more important than one man.

He swept his gaze and met eyes with Miria and Ronald. They both nodded with heavy faces. Samuel hesitated at first, but nodded back.

“We need to leave,” he said, his voice low.

The last of the smoke curled lazily into the morning air.