“Strange man,” Gavin says in a strained voice. I turn my head to address him and notice a stark difference in Gavin and Becky’s appearance. They don’t look ragged per se, but they aren’t looking strong and confident like they once were. Whatever elemental battle they’re facing is giving them a hard time. “Will our people be safe with your companion?”

“They’ll be a lot safer than us. How long can the light barrier hold them off?”

Goldi’s hand powering the light barrier, is raised above her head. Light glows from her hand, dispersing upward where it feeds into the dome. The yellow translucent dome covered in hexagonal patterns is forty feet above our heads. Pressing against the dome but unable to get past the shield is absolute blackness. Though the darkness is repelled, the ground-level storm cloud slowly moves toward us despite Gavin and Becky’s efforts.

“The dome will only counter darkness and silencing spells.” Goldi spares a moment’s focus from her dome to answer my lingering question. “With how much resistance we are facing, if I were to cast a solid barrier, the demons would be able to destroy it within the hour. I should be able to hold this indefinitely, though we will be open to attacks.”

It makes sense she isn’t committing all her power to the barrier. If it’s inevitable that it’ll break, it’s better to conserve some strength and hope to fight longer. On the other hand, they could be safe for another hour, which should give us plenty of time to run away. It seems we have cut through the easy fodder already, and now we will have an actual fight. I’m happy to run but unsure if I can convince everyone else to follow.

Boss, what are we thinking here? Fortunately, I’m not facing this problem on my own. Even better, I’m not even in charge. The nice thing about not being the one that must call the shots — is not being the one that must call the shots.

Yeah, I don’t know, Jim. Maybe stick with a better name, to begin with. Besides, this is under your jurisdiction; we aren’t defending the dungeon right now. We are protecting your land.

The land is a part of the dungeon? My response is half a statement, mostly a question.

Sure, but I’m still letting you make the call here.

You got a good grip on the dead already?

Not with the silencing spell blocking us.

“Is there any way you can spare some anti-silencing power for us?” Goldi hasn’t returned her attention to the dome yet, allowing me to get one more question in. She looks at me and my skeleton contemplatively. When she decides, a rod of brilliant light extends into her left hand. With a casual motion from her arm, she drives the rod deep into the ground. Energy bursts from the impact, which she pulls into her left hand.

Goldi’s brow creases as she toils to pull her left hand tethered to the energy-absorbing rod and her right hand feeding the dome together. When her hands connect, dramatic bright lights flash. Each pulse pushes out vibrant mana. Now united, the pillar feeds the barrier leaving her hands free to create a pair of rune scripts that glow in the air as she writes.

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Both of her hands work, completing two sets of the same rune. Word after word is formed, each one glowing and packed with power. In a matter of seconds, the rune is complete. The scripts transform into a gem of light that Goldi sends our way.

“These runes will amplify your mana and allow you to use your mana in the darkness.” The spheres of power hit as Goldi explains the function. Within me, my mana feels as vibrant as the mana glowing from Goldi and her rod of power. My soul feels awake and can’t be silenced. “The buff will last a few hours if you two can make it that long.”

“Oh, I should be fine,” Bones says with a smile. “I no longer need to walk into the darkness. Thanks for the power boost, Goldi.” Bones tries at a wink and then begins calling on the dead demons, raising a new army to fight.”

“Yeah, thanks for the boost,” I say. “If my boss forgets which side he’s fighting for, you have my permission to kill him.” Bones opens his mouth in a shocked-betrayal expression. I lightly smile. Smoothly, I dismiss the two long swords and summon shorter swords more suitable for close combat. I turn to the incoming demon horde, now fighting a host of their dead, and step into shadow.

I guess I probably should have told them my plan. I just had this scene in my mind and didn’t want to blow my exit. Besides, hopefully, my actions do the talking.

Last time I went hunting for important targets, I made many mistakes. Some of them were intentional, others not so much. This time, I plan to be more professional. We’ve already shown the demons some of our big powers. A guy with a sword running through shadows is just a drop in the bucket compared to the storm of power Gene and Bones displayed.

Shadow veils my physical presence. My perception erases any other trace of me while searching for the templars controlling the storm. Shadow and Death cycle through my channels passively. I keep my main focus on my perception while my split focus is ready to fight. I occasionally step out of shadow to cut through the dense demon formation as I search for my query. Unsuspecting victims fall lifeless without ever knowing how.

The invaders have barely pushed past the barrier. Bones and his army defend the town fiercely. When one of his summoned corpses falls, ten more rise. Now that the demons are in the light barrier, the rest of the defenders can fight.

The scout fires massive volleys of arrows that explode with each impact creating craters of death. Two tree golems throw cow-size boulders into the crowd that roll for several yards trampling over dozens of monsters at a time. Fiery serpents burn through the wake of destruction. Near the barrier of light where the demons are breaching is chaos. Inside the chaos, Bones’ army grows.

More templars and lancers from the town add what power they can to fight or work on creating short-term defenses centered on protecting the storm cloud duelers. Gavin and Becky battle for control over the storm while Goldi pushes mana to them, bolstering their strength. Now, the raised storm is deadlocked between both armies. Lightning shoots out from the cloud, striking at both sides. For the demons, it is devastating. For the townspeople, Goldi expertly blocks the bolts with summoned light disks before they even get close.

I find the mighty storm templars just as I find a new threat. I’m not the only shadow walker here, and the demons have the same plans I do. Bones, you have shadow assassins headed your way. Bones should be able to handle them now that he’s aware. He was, after all, given some training from Fury, who was trained by Gene.

Kind of busy here. There’s more strain in his response than I expected. The skeleton isn’t even doing any of the fighting.

You’re not even doing any of the fighting.

I’m not the only death summoner here. They’re trying to steal my army.

So, you can’t spare a moment for the assassins?

Not if we want to keep the demons at bay. Could you put the death summoners on your ‘to kill next’ list?

I like to think of it more of a banishing than killing, but sure thing, boss. First, I got to deal with some assassins.