My legs kept moving, but my brain blanked. Or maybe the whole world blanked. The deafening stampede behind and in front of me cut out. My eyes were glued to the dark liquid running out of the man’s body. Yet I was running, still moving toward the attackers. The attackers that killed that man.

A tickle teased my ear, with it the rest of the world returned. The sensation grew stronger. A Preflex!

I prepared to dodge, turning my head to the side. In my peripheral, brown feathers streamed in the wind. Rashith’s right behind me. I shifted into Ursa, dark fur grew along with the rest of my body. I raised my arm up to my ear, just in time to block the incoming arrow with my forearm.

Pain burst in my arm, though a tolerable amount. Thanks to Ursa's tough muscles, the arrow didn’t burrow deep into my flesh. I yanked it out as I ran, throwing it to the ground. That was only the first of many though.

Need a shield.

That single thought ran through my mind several times, nothing else. I was really feeling that INT decrease at the moment. That along with the temptation to let the rage building inside take over muddling my mind further. But I couldn’t afford that right now. More! I need MORE! To be more! I pleaded with myself. Keep them alive. That was my goal. Then a small memory of water blocking a lightning bolt surfaced. Hait’s water. If it could stop lightning surely it could stop a few arrows. Ursa’s lack of articulation might make that plan hard to explain to the others. I yelled out “Hait, Shield!” in the hopes that Hait would understand my meaning.

Just as the words left my mouth, a hexagon of water formed from the ground. It hovered in the air, completely still a few feet in front of us. Our small squad skidded to a halt just before it. Hait made the shield just wide enough to fit both my enlarged state and room for the twins on the side. I huddled up next to it, leaning against the firm yet wet wall. I checked Hait. This shield wall was twice, if not three times, the size as the one he raised in the guild.

A bead of sweat fell from the young man’s forehead as he held his arms up next to the water wall.

I took a second to look back at the army that ran behind us. They all slowed down, shields and other means of protection raised up to bolster against the incoming volley. No trampling. Good.

Rashith stood in front of me, grabbing my arm to check for damage. Blood soaked the fur, but it seemed to have stopped bleeding. He sniffed. “Much hairier than a moment ago. Health?”

I checked my HUD, then shook my head. “It's fine, 95%.” Rashith nodded, then looked through the water. He winced when water splashed on his face.

Arrows struck the wall, their vibrations sending water droplets at us. The arrows fell to the ground once their momentum was halted. But this wasn’t a great position. Sitting behind this wall made us easy targets for a flank.

“Tawny, Lightning?” I asked, somewhat slowly. She shook her head.

“Nah too far. It’d fizzle before getting to them.”

I turned to Hait. “Can move wall?” I shook my head. More.

“Can you move the wall, Hait?” I struggled to say.

He shook his head. “I need to be still to hold it up.”

“I can carry.”

“Even then I can’t keep up this size and make it move. I’d have to shrink it down.”

I opened my mouth to ask the next question but Hait cut me off, anticipating the question. “Maybe just as big as your upper body.”

Another barrage of arrows splashed at us. I looked and saw that only about half of the archers at the hole were aiming at us. The rest shot more arrows at the squads trapped in the hole. We need to move. They're getting pelted down there.

Without saying anything, I grabbed the two at my sides. They yelped but quickly understood what I was doing. They climbed on my back, each grabbing onto the sides of my leather armor, armor I picked up before we put up the tent pole. I purposefully asked for slightly larger armor as I planned on using Ursa for the majority of the battle. It was still a mite snug and now that I had riders, their added weight pulled on the chest area awkwardly. But I could handle it, at least for a mad dash.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

I felt another set of hands start gripping my shoulders. Rashith must have thought he’d get a ride as well. I shrugged him off. “No, you follow. Give stamina to Hait.”

I ignored the harumph from the dandy and gave Hait the order. Liquid splashed around my feet as most of the wall dropped, leaving a small hexagon floating in the air.

“Tawny, attack when close enough.” I ordered as I started to run. I quickly found out I couldn’t run at the same speed as earlier. Not because of the added weight of the twins, but because Hait couldn’t move the water that fast. The pace was now more of a brisk jog. Part of me wondered if I should push the wall forward. I put my hands on it until Hait grunted a “No.” It must have messed with his control.

Water continued to splash in my face as arrow after arrow struck the barrier, a few getting by, slicing my arms. Superficial damage. Nothing to worry about.

We were a few dozen feet away from the hole now. I looked behind our attackers, the horde of monsters charging hadn’t lessened in the slightest. They were over half way to the frontline. We’re running low on time. The battle was only going to get worse.

Upon getting closer, the hole was much larger than it looked from the backline. It was a couple dozen feet in diameter at least. Though not too deep. I could see a couple of soldiers inside, raising their shields up. A few arrows and even a bolt of magical blue energy shooting up from the inside.

The squads inside must have finally gotten their bearings back. I didn’t recognize any of the legionnaires from here though. An arrow sliced at my calf, only tearing through the armor. Not the time to focus on them. Get these bastards off them first.

“Tawny!”

“A little more. Get to the edge.”

Only a few more feet. The barrier wavered. “Hait?!”

He didn’t answer with words, only a grunt. The thinning barrier faltered again but then solidified in time for another barrage.

A bright shine came from the line of enemy archers. I couldn’t make out exactly what it was through the rippling water. It flew straight for the water wall. The bright light stuck into the water. It was the tip of an arrow that glowed so bright, but unlike the others, this one didn’t fall down to the ground once it stopped. Its light grew brighter, forcing me to close my eyes.

I stopped in my tracks, bringing an arm up to my face. The light died out. Tawny tapped on my shoulder, letting me know it was safe. Or that was what I thought. Once I opened my eyes I saw what she was really on about. The once liquid wall floating above me had frozen completely over. It wobbled in the air as Hait tried to keep it aloft. But control of ice wasn’t the shell-shouldered boy’s power.

It fell from the air. Out of pure reflex, I extended my arms, catching it. Sort of. The ice landed in my palms and I clamped down on it with my claws as best as I could, thanking the heavens that even with the clumsy Ursa hands I had opposable thumbs. The chill ran through the pads on my hands. It felt unbelievably cold, colder than any snow or ice I’ve ever touched. But I wouldn’t drop it. It could still act as a shield, but for how long I wasn’t sure. I charged forward, blindly this time. The sheet wobbled with every step.

“Guide me!” I said.

I felt Tawny shift and climb up my shoulder. Enough to let her peak around the sheet of ice. “We’re still twen—”

“NO GET DOWN!” I shouted, angry at myself for giving the stupid order. I lifted the ice to block her face. I felt the ice vibrate as an arrow hit it, another hit the opposite shoulder. I groaned but brought the shield back down. More thuds hit the ice, causing me to worry about just how many of these it could take before shattering.

The ice slipped in my claws. I clamped down harder. Ice, claws…I’m so stupid!

I activated Elemental Claws. Small tufts of white wind swirled among my claws as their hue shifted from their normal dark black to a bright white, tinted with blue. The ice sheet in my hands fused into my claws as the two arctic forces merged. The frigid torment my hands suffered just seconds past, disappeared in an instant. Now the cold felt grew. I picked up the pace now that the shield sat firmly in my hands.

“You’re just full of surprises, though I question why you didn’t do that before.” said the feathered Support behind me, ever the critic. I turned to him and saw that he matched my pace perfectly, his hands glowed green as he touched Hait.

“Hait. Need a platform. Got enough stam back yet?” Tawny asked her brother.

“Yep. Tell me when.”

“Not sure, can’t see.”

“Make small window.” I grunted. “For her.”

A small square water wall formed just above the top left side of the icy hexagon. Tawny peered through it. “Okay, soon. Soon. Probably about thirty feet out. Liam, full stop when I yell out.”

I grunted in affirmation. I wasn’t sure what the two were about to pull, but I had to trust them.

“Steady…steady…NOW!”

I slammed on the metaphorical brakes, skidding along the dirt. Tawny’s weight on my shoulder lifted. Hait clambered up onto my shoulder standing just above it, arms pointed at his sister. I looked up. Tawny flew high into the air, propelled by my halt and her own jump.

Yellow electricity cracked around her hands as she somersaulted in the air. A flat platform of water floated underneath her. Tawny landed perfectly on the platform, the lightning growing larger.

“VOLT CHAIN!” Tawny yelled out.

Arcs of golden electricity burst forth from her hands, heading straight for the archers. I lowered my shield just enough to let me catch an eyeful of lightning flying above the hole and striking one of the archers. The lightning branched out from the first, jumping into the other enemies that surrounded. For just a moment, I swear I saw some skeletons.

“Hell Yeah!” I shouted out.

I looked back at the archers. That had to be plenty enough to stop them. But as I lowered my shield, I saw another flurry launch from their bows heading straight for Tawny.