"The blonde woman controls the rifts!" Rainia cried.

Ahanu led the charge up the low ridge and saw his friends, the Proven, fighting a group of five strangers. The source of the Ice Giants was a purple tear in reality that crackled with lightning, and the monsters emerged through the hole. Lots of Ice Giants! To make matters worse, the five strangers, who Ahanu guessed to be cultists, were quite formidable. The situation looked grim, and a reasonable person would consider retreating. Not adventurers. They run toward the dark places.

Ahanu aided the Proven by engaging the Ice Giants and pointed his spear at the emerging monsters. Tallulah and Zena nodded in an unspoken agreement and unleashed their Runic magic. Paca and Rainia utilized the Sun and Life aspects to provide healing and hope. Ahanu felt their energy course through his bones and was prepared to take on anything! With a roar, he charged, slid to avoid a crushing club from a giant, and rose up to drive his spear into his attacker's chest. The Ice Giant weakened from the injury, swung the club back. Ahanu deflected the blow with his shield and countered with another spear thrust, this time into the creature's leg. The Spirit Walker Protector hopped back as the Giant stumbled to their knees in a failed attempt to crush him. Ahanu finished the monster with a final thrust of his weapon into the creature's head. He felt great!

"Ahanu!" Paca cried.

The Protector looked around. The Proven were losing ground to the five strangers, and more Ice Giants kept emerging through the Portal. The cult leader with the blonde hair was awake, and rippling energy danced along her arms like snakes made out of lightning. His teammates were being overrun by Ice Giants! Ahanu rushed back to aid them. With Rune Magic, arrows from Zena, and Ahnau's spear, they were able to fight the Giants back. Paca was grievously wounded, and the sight of her small, broken body crushed Ahanu's fighting spirit.

"We have to fall back," Rainia said, tears in her eyes.

"What about the Proven?" Ahanu asked.

They were their friends, and they came to their aid. It would be wrong to leave them! The Protector thought to himself.

"Go and help them. I will do what I can here," Tallulah said, her determination set like a stone on her face.

Ahanu nodded and rushed to fight alongside the Proven's team Leader, Dunar. The Frostsworn warrior fought with a shield and sword against a dark-skinned stranger who wielded two blades. The two combatants weaved back and forth with immense skill, but Ahanu's trained warrior's eyes saw the truth of this story. Dunar had accumulated cuts along the gaps of his armor. Puncture wounds through his chainmail and gashes along his cheeks and wrists. His opponent appeared fresh, and this was a fight that Dunar could win. Ahanu searched around and saw that Jeze lay crumpled on the ground. Was she alive? Ahanu hoped she was, and the team's Healer was also down. Mikal's attacker, a beefy, dark-robed man armed with a wicked curved blade, was knocked back by a furious Helga. The Warrior maiden wielded her two-handed Dane axe with such fury. Ahanu snapped himself out of his admiration in order to focus on the task at hand. He aided Dunar and attacked the dual-wielding sword fighter. The braided-haired man skillfully avoided Ahanu's spear thrust and countered with such ferocity that it sent the Spirit Walker Protector back on the defensive. There was a glimmer within the man's eyes that spoke of fury. It was frightening! With perfect timing, Ahanu ducked behind his large shield and barreled into the sword fighter. This gave him space.

"We have to retreat," Ahanu told Dunar.

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The Frostsworn Leader flinched as if he was struck. Retreat was something the Proven never did! But a good Leader knows when the battle is lost. Dunar looked sad, but he nodded in agreement.

"Proven! To me!" The Frostsworn Leader roared.

Rolfe scooped up Jeze, and Helga grabbed Mikal. The two deftly weaved through the battlefield that belied their muscular frames. These warriors were indeed Adventurer Ranked! Ahanu thought to himself with awe. He and the Spirit Walkers aided with spear and Rune magic. The two teams stood together as the cultists and Ice Giants amassed before them.

Helga's chest heaved, and she growled, "For Glory!"

Rofle roared, "Hurrah!"

Dunar looked tired, and he shook his head. "We fall back to the portal."

Rolfe and Helga blinked their eyes. Their fierce scowls faded away, and Ahanu's heart broke. This was what true sadness looked like.

Rolfe glanced at the unconscious Jeze and nodded. "It is for the best."

"We will return, and we will be victorious, ya?" Helga agreed.

Even retreat was not without its risks. The two teams were relentlessly pursued by the Ice Giants. The monsters attacked with clubs, and when there was distance, they hurled frozen boulders.

"We won't make it," Zena said softly.

"Then we die with honor!" Rolfe roared. He fought while carrying Jeze on his shoulder as if she weighed as much as a feather.

"No, I have a way for us to escape," Ahanu said quietly.

The Spirit Walker Protector tapped the long rune chain on his spear. The one that Rolfe had gifted to him. Ahanu had spent a good amount of money to have the weapon enchanted by a Stormcaster. He had wanted to use it to slay a Fiend or something just as epic. This could have killed a Dragon, Ahanu thought to himself as he completed the final activation glyph with his fingers. Luckily, the Rune chains were undamaged as he felt his Will snap into place, and the spear hummed with powerful magic. Rolfe knew little of Rune's magic, but he knew that the spear would be thrown.

"It is the right way," the large Frostsworn said. He placed Jeze onto the ground and added, "I will create the opportunity."

"Ya, me too," Helga added.

The two Frostsworn warriors charged to the front and attacked with such ferocity that the much larger Ice Giants were caught off guard. In the chaos of the fight, Ahanu heard Tallulah gasp in pain. The Protector turned and saw the stocky, dark-robed cultist grinning. He had snuck up and stabbed the senior Rune caster and faded back into the chaos of the fight like a cube of ice dropped into a lake. Zena fired arrows, but the man ducked behind the legs of the Ice Giants.

"No!" Rainia cried.

She tried to use the Life Aspect, but Ahanu watched in horror as it failed, and Tallulah passed from this life. Rolfe and Helga's fury had forced the Ice Giants to step back. This created space for the Spirit Walkers and the Frostsworn. Now was the time! Ahanu pushed down his grief over the loss of his friend and threw his spear. It soared over the heads of Rolfe and Helga. It struck a single Ice Giant in the chest. The monster blinked at the shimmering weapon. The spear exploded in a massive thunderous storm. It was an instant hurricane that scattered the surrounding Ice Giants and the five cultists. But, the enemy was not defeated. Only the single Ice Giant that was struck was killed. The Storm spear gave the Spirit Walkers and the Proven the time they needed to retreat through the Safe Zone Portal.

The Spirit Walkers, the Proven, and the remaining Adventurers exited out of the Spire. They quickly formed up a semi-circle of defense in case the Ice Giants followed. But none of the monsters came through. Instead, the Portal flickered to red and then vanished.

"Please put me down," Jeze said from Rofle's shoulder. She saw the whole thing happen.

Rolfe gently placed the teenager on her feet. Her whole body hurt.

"They took control of the Portal," Jeze observed.

"For what purpose?" Rainia asked.

Jeze shook her head. "I do not know," and she added with a snarl, "But I will find out. They will pay for all the pain they have caused, I swear by it!"