FINAL WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 1 MINUTE

Even with the timer just about up we still didn’t have eyes on the monsters. But they were close. The chaotic rumbling of the coming stampede was our only tell of just how close the monsters were. Archers along the whole line sent out flame-tipped arrows hoping to illuminate something, but they didn’t accomplish much. Just littered the ground ahead with small embers before the monsters stomped them out. Not that I could really tell, Jaren’s front liners all stood nearly a foot taller than me and blocked a solid portion of the battlefield from my sight.

The clouds covered the rising moon, trapping most of the light it hoped to provide. They rolled in just after the timer hit two minutes. Though they didn’t look like rain clouds; weren’t heavy enough for that. Some pale moonlight leaked through, just not enough to help us on the ground.

My Dark Vision activated not long ago so I could see everyone in Jaren’s squad with no problem, though part of me wished it hadn’t.

Daila stood near me and the twins, as part of the diagonal in the Z formation. She chose to post herself closest to us, probably for the twins' sake. And I was more than aware of her presence. I rubbed my wet forehead with the free hand.

This crap better calm down once the battle starts and my blood starts pumping. Dying because “pretty girl” is a really stupid way to go. Gramps would give me so much shit.

I looked into the sky again. Wondering what you're doing now, you crazy old loon. I thought about him for a brief moment. I knew my thoughts should've been focused on the oncoming battle, but honestly, I was tired of the stress of waiting.

The stars hid among clouds, some managed to peek around the cloud cover. One stayed completely free, shimmering in the sky. But just as I caught sight of this bright one, a new star flickered to life, right next to it. No that wasn’t right, this light was much closer to the ground and had a reddish hue. Dark Vision normally made the world monochrome, but I could see color if the object itself was a light source. So I saw flames in their natural red color and the plethora of colors of the glowing potions that lined Daila’s outfit.

Before I could investigate the odd light further, a bell tolled in my head. Then the notification popped up.

FINAL WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 0 SECONDS

FINAL WAVE BEGINS

Snarls coursed through the air, mixing with the war cry of the front line soldiers, completely deafening the thoughts swirling around my mind. I built up saliva in my mouth, activating the Acidic Salvo. My eyes strained as I looked for a target. But I still couldn’t see where they were, just the shifting of soldiers in front of us. I heard the monsters running, climbing out of the holes, yet Jaren’s frontline hadn’t moved.

“EYES SHUT!” Jaren roared out a command.

Daila whipped around to us. “Cover your eyes and count to five. No questions.” She turned back around and hid her eyes in the bend of her elbow. The twins followed suit. Everyone in the squad did.

But the monsters are here! I screamed internally. Their assault was right about to begin. But I couldn’t voice any of these concerns, so I shut my eyes, following her command. But only just. I squinted down my left eye, keeping it open just barely. Fresh anxiety gripped at my chest. How could this be a good idea?

Then, as if to answer my question, light, unimaginably brilliant, burned my retina and forced my half-shut eye closed. The light pierced through my eyelids, forcing me to bring a hand up to fully block it.

Following not a half a second after the sudden brilliance, a wave of intense heat flooded the entire area. All of the previous chill of the night vanished in an instant. Now it felt like I stood in a dry sauna. Yet all the heat came from one source, directly above.

“Holy Crap!”

“How?”

The twins marveled at something, telling me the five seconds had ended. I opened my eyes slowly, before immediately shooting open joining the twins in their wonder.

Fire.

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That's it. The entire sky filled with flames. No clouds, no stars, no moon. Just fire.

Apocalypse. It was the only word that hung in my head. The only description it could come up with. These flames were going to burn it all away. The monsters, the soldiers, the city, the woods, me. None of us were safe from the inferno roaring just above our heads.

“BRACE!”

The command brought, almost forcibly, me back to the present. I looked forward. A giant white tusk jutted between two of the soldiers in front of me. Then in another instant, the tusk went flying, along with the head of the boar it was attached to. Several more heads flew through the flame lit sky, soaring past my head. Before even ten seconds had passed, a whole dozen beheaded Tusix lay slain before Jaren’s group.

Jaren hopped forward and started swinging his double blade around. Green energy warped around his blade, growing in intensity with each twirl. Then he swung out. A blast of wind smacked me in the face, as the green energy waves pushed the slain bodies away from the squad, falling into one of the holes from earlier.

Then the realization hit me. I could see, we all could see. I looked around. The whole battlefield was covered in combat. Soldiers and monsters pitched in heated combat all around us. The flames filling the sky lit up the whole raid field.

I looked up, and the flames raged. They danced and spun as if they were going to swallow the world whole, yet it wasn’t hot. It was warmer, but like that of a sunny day. How? I asked myself, but I knew the answer. It didn’t make it any harder to understand. Len…what the hell are you?

“Group of Red Wulfen,” Terl yelled out.

“Archers! Send’em to Hell!” Jaren barked

The trademark thunk of bows rang out behind me, followed by the din of canine cries and whines. But their barrage wasn't enough apparently. Huge red furred wolves lunged at Jaren’s frontline. His soldiers held them back until one of the wolves jumped right over the preoccupied frontline and landed just behind them.

I readied some spit, raising my mucus covered cast as a shield, and aimed at it. Then a giant wooden spike split its head open. The wolf fell to the ground. One of the soldiers posted in the diagonal, an elven woman, cracked her neck and gave me a wink before turning back to the chaos in front.

I looked down at the wolf monster’s corpse. It was huge. Bigger than the wolves I fought in the break in. Like 1.5 times as large if I had to guess. Maybe they got a boost being a part of the final wave.

I looked back up and saw that the tight frontline for Jaren’s squad had loosened. His soldiers now had room to fight each wolf individually, as well as receive some backline support from the archers and mages.

Jaren stood farther forward than the rest of his squad. Greenlight glowed at the tip of his blades. He swung out in large sweeping motions, catching multiple Wulfen with each swipe, followed directly by green gusts of wind throwing their sliced bodies away from him.

Even with the line loosened, no other wolves made it through Jaren's frontline. Each of his squad now given adequate room to fight as they wished. The other squads to our sides ensured no other monsters could flank us and any other wolves that got a little too close were quickly dispatched by no less than five arrows to the face along with a number of wooden spikes and blasts of blue energy reminiscent of the magic moose missiles—no clue who was sending those out.

I spit the acid on the ground after it burnt the back of my throat, after almost swallowing it again.

I found myself admiring Jaren’s squad. Neither me nor the twins had to lift a finger so far in this battle. Tawny kept her electricity flowing on her arms and Hait kept some amorphous balls of water floating next to his head, but the three of us didn't actually do anything. We didn’t need to. I’m pretty sure our aid would only be a burden to the well-oiled machine that was Jaren’s personal squad. I couldn’t help but wonder if I could make something like it. If a squad led by the twins and myself could become so powerful and reliable, or we’d have cool tactics and formations.

The Supports, led by Terl, ran up and down the front line as well as the backline, giving both health and stamina to any that needed it. They never stayed on one soldier for long, somehow knowing exactly how much stamina or health each one needed. We had to let Rashith know when we were topped off. The soldiers of the diagonal moved together, rotating around us in the center. That along with the frontline expanding made me understand why they called the formation the Shifting Z. It moved as the battle dictated.

The wolven onslaught ended nearly as fast as it had started. Not a single one of Jaren's soldiers seemed to have broken a sweat. After having scattered, they came back together reforming the close knit line from before. Other squads around us still fought on, but we were given a small chance to rest.

Jaren hadn’t joined them though, instead walking up to us at the center. His black armor contrasted against the red sky perfectly, giving off this intense “warrior straight from the bloodiest circle of hell” vibe. Pure, unadulterated, badass. I wasn’t jealous. Nope, not at all. I definitely wasn’t cursing at the fact that I had to wear simple leather armor because all my forms changed my anatomy too much for anything else.

Jaren spoke up once he got to us. “That will probably be the last light group we get. Can’t guarantee we’ll keep them next ones held back, so be ready.”

He walked off before we could answer, talking amongst his backliners now.

“If thirty Red Wulfen constitutes light work, what the hell does heavy work look like?” Tawny asked.

“Thirty Blue Wulfen?” Hait answered with a shrug.

“Shove off.”

The respite didn’t last long, as Terl shouted out the next batch of monsters. A group of Reptans from the sounds of it. I was a little excited to see them. I’d fought the Reptan mannequin a lot back in the guild hall, so I felt like I was ready to take on the real thing.

Then the ground quaked, rhythmically almost. I looked up and saw them; two four-legged lizards. They were a lot different than the wooden constructs I trained against. These were covered in dark green and brown scales, small spots of white throughout. And had several plate-like growths running down their spines. And like twenty feet tall.

I had to crane my neck up to see them completely. I mumbled the first thing that came to my head.

“Gojirah?”