Jackson dodged yet another arrow as the bald man with the handle bars charged him from the side. It took all of Jackson’s magic abilities to avoid the assault as an arrow bounced off his armor. Had it not been dragon hide it would have pierced him with ease, a realization that scared Jackson more.

The third beast men hero was still on the ground, his head spinning from the explosion from a few minutes ago. The woman was steadily moving closer, soon she’ll be in melee range. The beast men hero’s leader was a straight forward, bare knuckle type of guy. Even opened with a formal challenge before raising his fists. Jackson was in front of the wagon, barely holding on, panting and breathing heavy. He was trying to figure out how to end the fight or escape. Nothing came to mind. Not good he, thought wishing he had some back up.

“Cut!” Jackson yelled, ripping through handle bars. The man just smiled, acting like he wasn’t bleeding from deep cuts. He didn’t even flinch. Jackson snapped his fingers, trying to knock the man back but it failed as well. Handle bars didn’t move an inch.

“It that all you got? Come on, hit me!”

“Fine!”

Jackson was tired, his old wounds had opened again and the magic pulsing through him burned each and every muscle. In a war of attrition, he had already lost. But Jackson was not one to give up. Not against a dragon, the Berserker nor some weird meat head. Jackson didn’t know his limits, no, he ignored them in that moment as he gathered mana in his hand.

He snapped his fingers, causing a massive explosion. Larger and more powerful then ever before. Jackson was thrown back, recoiling as the blast hit him. His hand was charred, his fingers unable to move. The skin was cracked and blood leaked out. The bald man was on the ground now, the only sign of life was his chest slowly moving up and down. Jackson laughed for a moment as an arrow raced pasted his ear.

“Come on!”

The amazon was in range now. She drew a massive battle axe and swung for him. Without thinking, Jackson threw his arm up to block. The axe bounced off his wrist, which had a thin red armor forming on it. She looked surprise at it covered his entire hand. With the help of the gauntlet, Jackson snapped his fingers one last time.

Getting the armor off his hand was difficult with only one numb hand. He had to use a half dozen different break and cut spells to remove it. Luckily, the armor had healed most of his hand and he was simply waiting for feeling to return to it. With his hand free, he ripped off the other pieces that had formed from his other wounds. Those had healed over as well. But his break was short lived as another mob found him. He turned on his heels and started to run.

Edward had slowed Gypsy and Angela down. He seemed to be danger prone, often needing the girls to rescue him from angry beast men or overzealous competitors.

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“Are you sure you’re a hero?”

Angela snapped after the fourth time. At her feet was a massive ox man with his tongue hanging out at an awkward angle.

“Yes. I’m sorry, my spells all take time to cast.”

“Of course they do.”

Gypsy remained silent. Not long ago she had felt a powerful blast come from the direction of the wagon and her heart knew that was Jackson fighting for his life. He was going all out, no going beyond that. The thought of strangling that little girl crossed her mind again. That stupid princess. That was all she could think in that moment.

Gypsy noticed how the city change in only a few hours. Last night it had been a war zone, full of battles and rioters. Fires had engulfed the market; houses were broken into and mobs of beast men roamed like hunting dogs. Now, the streets were empty. Signs of battle were everywhere. Broken windows and doors next to shattered would be weapons resting in pools of blood. Hanging above the streets were victims of lynching. It was horrible, just like the old stories the madame used to tell from the war.

But now was not the time to break down. Now, Gypsy needed to find Jackson. The thought of him being at the heart of this madness scared her. Anxiety gripped her chest and her breathing was becoming harder by the moment. She could not relax until he was back in her arms. However, she needed to be strong right now. This was not the place to lose. Be strong she told herself.

Joseph panted as he knocked another deer man to the ground. He was protecting Carley and Ms. Jinx while they healed some of the lynched victims. Those poor souls were holding on be a thread and only healing magic could save them. Franklin and Alice worked on cutting some more down and doing some first aid while Joseph took up guard duty. Like Gypsy, this scene scared him. He was from a developed world, a land that hadn’t known war for generations. But now he was standing in a place that looked like a news report from a war zone. His hands shook as he blocked a weak attack from another beast man, knocking the attacker to the ground. The rest of the mob routed, fleeing from the hero.

He looked at his golden sword, for the first-time feeling regret. Maybe, he had made the wrong decision that day. He had volunteered his friends and classmates to fight a war, something that was alien to him. But now, now he had an idea. Why would anyone want this? What was that princess thinking. This was beyond words, beyond belief. And it had taken only a few hours to develop this far. Joseph wondered how the rebuilding would work. Was it even possible?

The city guards were working overtime, lending the heroes a hand when they could. They were ordered by the king to keep control of the madness, but they were too few in numbers. Even an army would struggle to maintain order in this chaos. Joseph felt it must have been harder on them, as this was their home. The people they were fighting were their friends and neighbors. Maybe even their family. No wonder they were hesitant. Joseph was still determined to find Jackson, but for now these people needed his aid. He knew his friend would understand.

Jackson found another alley to hid down. Like the rest, this one had been the sight of a rather vicious battle. Jackson pushed over a broken cart and took shelter under it. With a little bit of magic, he was hidden and given a moment to breath.

He took that time to rest and to remove any remaining blood armor. His hand was shaking from the over use of his magic and his eyes burned. Every cell in his body was rebelling against him. Jackson gulped down some healing potion before laying back. He used that time to rest, becoming alert whenever he heard footsteps coming close.

When Jackson left his shelter, the sun was setting. He smiled as he started to move again, soon the game would be over.