The elves all turned, first looking at their dead leader then to Harper. She hadn’t moved, holding her tonfas out in front of her, blood dripping off the ends, staring at the blades. No one moved, silence falling across the field, only the wind blowing through the grass and trees.

An elf took a step, moving toward Harper.

“Harper!,” Loch yelled, rushing forward.

He threw Onyx as he ran, Activating Windstep.

Everything happened at once, Loch’s yell being the ignition.

The axe slammed into the elf closest to Harper, digging deep into his back, knocking him forward. Harper looked up, seeing the elves staring at her. She melted into the shadows, disappearing from view. The two archers had never taken their eyes off Loch and the others, releasing their arrows as he shouted.

Moving too fast, the arrows streaked past him. Loch didn’t look back to see where they landed, or if they struck someone. He knew the elves would be incredibly accurate, hoping the arrows had been aimed for him.

Coming to a stop, Onyx appeared in his hand. Loch threw it again. The axe spun end over end, sailing across the field to slam into the chest of a charging elf warrior. The elf fell backwards, hitting the ground. The rest ignored their comrade, rushing at Loch. He Activated Bulwark, the Spirit flowing from his core and down his arm, forming the energy shield.

Raising the shield, he deflected an arrow, swinging his arm with hand open. Onyx appeared, Loch closing his hand on the shaft, as the axe swung horizontally in front of him. The elf stopped short, twisting his body out of the way of the axe. Darting in, he stabbed his long thin blade at Loch, taking advantage of the opening left by Onyx’s swing.

The axe was slow compared to the movements of the Elf, Loch halting the backswing so he could shift his body away from the sword. He caught another blade on the shield, pulling Onyx back with an awkward swing. He barely got the axe in the way of the elf’s slash, metal scraping against metal.

Loch took a step back, pressed by the two elves.

Some time had passed between the end of the fight with the Wendigos and now starting with the elves. But not enough for Loch to fully regain all his Stats. His Health was still down, not dangerous levels, but enough. Stamina was the worst, as it was always the slowest to regenerate. His Spirit was high enough, but not if this was going to be a sustained battle.

The elves were lower Leveled but they were fast and experienced and unlike almost anything else he had fought, the elves were sentient and Adapted. They were smart, working with each other, both attacking at the same time but different angles, constantly moving to make Loch move. One on one, he could handle an elf, even accounting for the speed. But two?

Breaker’s Banner had faded after the fight with the Wendigo. Loch didn’t have the extra Spirit to summon it. They could have used the added stats, attack and defense power. Having the elves suffer the debuff would have been good.

He could hear fighting behind him, a couple of screams and yells of pain, not able to tell who it was. The elves had probably been hiding in the woods, waiting for Loch and his people to finish fighting the Wendigo and Bugbears, knowing they would be wounded and exhausted. Perfect time to take advantage.

The Silver Bark were opportunistic cowards. Loch shouldn’t have been surprised.

He swung Onyx down, knocking the stabbing sword aside. Stepping up, Loch pushed with Bulwark, driving the other elf back. Shrinking Onyx down to its smallest size, Loch swung the hammerhead, connecting with the surprised elf’s kidneys.

The elf grunted falling back, giving Loch space to step back and get a full swing in with Onyx. He Activated Cleave, the sharp edge of the weapon glowing. It bit deep into the elf’s chest, cutting through the wood-like armor. Which Loch regretted. The armor could have been given to one of the Clan Brady warriors. Maybe one of the crafters would get some inspiration from examining it and learn how to use the material so they could repair it.

Loch felt a slash along his side, barely cutting skin. He cursed, focusing on the fight. The wounded elf had fallen back, waving his sword in front of him to keep Loch at bay. It didn’t work. Loch pressed his advantage, using Bulwark to keep the other away. He swung Onyx wide, knocking the wounded elf’s sword away. Loch kicked out, catching the elf’s knee.

It buckled, the elf crying out as he stumbled. Loch rushed ahead, slamming his shoulder into the falling elf, knocking him fully to the ground. Spinning, Loch swung Onyx down. Before the axe hit, Loch lifted Bulwark, watching a sword strike the energy shield, small cracks appearing across its surface. He felt Onyx bite deep, saw the notification flash across his vision.

Behind the shield, tinted by the green energy, the other elf’s eyes narrowed in rage. He swung again and again, slamming his sword against the shield.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Loch let him, shifting his feet to brace himself. The sword came down, Loch Activating Bulwark’s spikes. They shot up, around the blade that struck the shield. Loch twisted, spike’s hitting and trapping the blade. The sword pulled to the side, taking the elf with it. Experienced, the elf warrior let go of the weapon as he stumbled forward. Catching his balance, he hoped back a step and then another, putting distance between himself and Loch.

The spikes disappeared, dropping the sword to the ground. Unarmed, the elf looked from Loch to the weapon, the tall grass waving to hide it. Eyes snapped back to Loch as Onyx was tossed at him, too close to get a good throw. The elf stepped to the side, avoiding the weapon, but not Loch’s charge.

Bulwark slammed into him, energy spikes extended. Loch and the elf tumbled to the ground, only one getting up.

Dismissing Bulwark, Loch looked back toward his people and the fighting. It still surprised him how quick fights truly were. What had felt like an hour of combat with the two elves had only been seconds. As he had Windstepped to the elves, the rest had just gotten to his people. They were now engaging.

He gauged the fights, trying to see who needed help. The twins were fighting a single elf. Brian faced off against two. The rest was chaotic, people mixing together, making it hard to track. Movement to the side caught his attention.

One of the archer’s was taking aim on someone, Loch couldn’t see who. It didn’t matter. He knew where he needed to be. Pulling his arm back, Loch threw Onyx. The axe struck the archer, knocking the elf off his feet. Loch was there almost instantly, crossing the distance with Windstep.

He kicked the dropped bow away from the elf, swinging down with Onyx. Bleeding from the wound in his shoulder, the elf still managed to roll away, staining the ground red. He came to a stop, trying to get up with only one good arm. Loch’s kick struck that elbow, shattering it. The elf collapsed. A quick swing from Onyx and he stopped moving.

Loch turned back to the fighting, seeing a small ink cat jumping onto an elf. He was further away now, having had to chase the archer. He couldn’t see the other archer, hoping someone else had engaged it. Because he was downslope a little, Loch couldn’t even get an idea of the bodies on the ground. How many were there? It looked like there were less elves. They had their backs to him, blocking his view of his people, he couldn’t tell how many of them were down.

Hopefully none.

Loch Activated Windstep, needing to get to the fighting quickly. His Spirit was low, but this was not the time to conserve it. The elves were tough opponents. He had to help his people. It took two Windsteps to get him back to the fighting.

He came to a stop right behind an elf that was fighting the twins. The two teens were stabbing with their spears, barely avoiding the single rapier-like sword thrusts of the elf. None were wounded, but it was obvious the elf was just toying with them. Roaring in rage, Loch swung Onyx. The axe bit deep into the elf’s side, making him stagger forward, sword lowering. Both twins took advantage, stabbing with their spears. One caught the elf in the stomach, the other in the shoulder. They pushed, making the dying elf stumble backwards.

Loch was already moving.

He swung Onyx, missing a dodging elf. Raising Bulwark, he caught a sword swing, the elf twisting away in pain as someone, Loch couldn’t see who, stabbed the elf in the side. Loch kicked the elf, causing him to stumble. Charging forward, Loch forced another elf back with wild swings of Onyx, right into Brian’s giant club. There was a sickening crunch, blood and other material flying to the side as the wood slammed into the elf’s head. The body dropped to the ground, Loch stepping over it as he and Brian both ran toward more enemies.

***

The last elf fell, a spear burst through his chest. Loch wasn’t sure if it was Brent or Trent. Both were covered in blood, both had wounds, and both had been near the elf. Looking down at the dead body, the twin just looked tired. He leaned on his spear, the tip grinding into the ground.

Loch was too tired to bother telling him to get it out of the dirt. At that moment, it didn’t matter.

The other twin walked over, reaching a hand out to grasp his brother’s shoulder. They leaned into each other, needing the support.

Looking around the battlefield, Loch saw a lot of exhausted fighters. No one was moving to loot the bodies, or clean up the field. The only one moving was Julia, as she rushed to one of the people from the twins’ group. She appeared to be hurt the worst. They were all wounded. No one had escaped that fight unscathed.

But they were alive. They had defeated the elves.

Barely.

Loch had lost count of how many elves he’d killed, or how long it had taken. The fights ran together, time blurring. It couldn’t have been that long overall. Piper, with Cerie floating just over her shoulder, stayed back, not coming close to the mass of bodies. Harper was roaming the edge, watching the bodies of the elves, a strange blank look on her face.

Something was bothering her but Loch wasn’t sure what it could be.

It wasn’t just dead elves. He could see two humans, both from the twins group. He looked at the bodies and the people still standing, realizing someone was missing.

“Dad,” Harper said, her voice close to breaking.

He turned, seeing her standing over a body. Loch’s heart dropped. He knew who it was.

“What is it?,” Piper asked.

“Stay back,” Loch told her, but she wasn’t listening.

Piper got to the body first, stopping about ten feet away.

“No,” she said, voice tiny, tears starting to fall.

Loch stepped up next to Harper, looking down at the body.

Jenny Bannock lay on the ground, a great gash across her stomach, another wound in her shoulder. Her hand was empty, the arm looking like multiple bones had been broken. Her head lay looking to the side, her eyes staring at nothing.