Chapter 21

Fine. It’s fine, it’s fine.

Pelle was quicker than the mage. Star Armor encased each of us. The projectile icicle soared straight for Vynk and struck his bubble of Star Armor, shattering it on impact. The icicle shattered too, and the destruction sounded like two glass panes colliding and breaking.

Lep’s Fire Spear soared over my head toward the mage. Its tip glowed molten red and bled a drop of magma as it flew. The mage lifted a hand and said, “Wermagh!”

A blue circle manifested in front of him.

A shield?

The edge of the shield let off wisps of magic. Lep’s Fire Spear sailed straight for the shield. Instead of striking the shield, it simply passed into it, disappearing from existence. The mage laughed and raised his other hand.

“Trepkermagh,” he said.

The same circular blue shield manifested in the air right over our heads. To my horror, Lep’s Fire Spear returned from through that portal and slammed to the dungeon floor a mere meter from me. I was splattered with molten magma. I instantly smelled burnt cloth, burnt hair, burnt skin. Then I felt the pain. It was debilitating, and I fell back.

“Tosin!” Pelle said and ran to my side.

While my allies charged in to attack, Pelle tended to me. She brought out a scroll from her bag and flowed mana into the rune. I hissed against the pain and I couldn’t help but flail, trying to find the burning splatters that seemed to be melting into my skin so I could throw them off as fast as I could.

Pelle had fulfilled the mana cost of the rune and the scroll withered out of existence. In its place, a silver ball of light wobbled over my form. Then it tipped towards me and silver liquid poured over me. The instant the liquid touched me, it glowed and my body absorbed it, even through my clothes. I felt the healing effects instantly. The cooling splatters of magma fell from my wounds. My burned flesh healed and I was as good as new. The pain was a mere memory.

“Thanks Pelle,” I said and shot my feet.

Robern and Vynk were struggling to fight around the mage’s shield. The shield kept moving, rendering every strike they made useless. Their attacks simply sailed harmlessly into the void of the shield.

Then the mage advanced on Vynk, rushing the shield forward. Vynk was swallowed in the shield and he disappeared. His health bar took a chunk of damage and he fell from the circle on the ceiling. Pelle was closest and tried to catch him. She caught half of him and they tumbled down together.

I cast Zekaidean’s Anvil, and repeatedly cast Twenty of Gryf as the battle raged on. Arris and Filo replaced Vynk. They worked beautifully together, coordinating their strikes as though they’d been fighting together since birth.

Meanwhile, Lep’s Hand of Flames hovered with uncertainty over the mage, waiting for a better moment to strike. The mage was surrounded, and moving deftly between attackers. It was good that Lep was being cautious. A poor move on his part could seriously hurt our frontline.

“Wermagh!” the mage cast again, creating another blue shield behind him as Robern tried to execute a flank attack.

Filo managed to rattle off a few strikes of her staff on the mage. I heard the sound of her staff striking flesh in quick succession. Arris was ensconced in Oakbeard and his Orb Weaver was darting between party members. The ancienne’s massive green fists were swiping nothing but the void of a blue magic as the mage kept himself protected behind his shields.

Vynk had now returned to the fight, but there wasn’t any place for him to fight. He simply danced around the anciennes, looking for an in. He wasn’t paying attention and ended up tripping over Arris’s Orb Weaver.

“Guys, careful. We’re disorganized!” I said.

We were lucky the mage was preoccupied with wielding his shields. Otherwise he’d have taken the opportunity to inflict as much damage to Vynk as possible. Robern was the one who kept the mage’s other hand busy with the second shield.

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It was clear the mage was skilled with his shields, but the battle wasn’t yet turning in our favor. I brought out a Spectre Sentinel and cast the artifact to manifest directly behind the mage. In the blink of an eye, the sentinel appeared and I commanded it to hug the mage.

The statue reached forward, feet planted firmly, and crushed the mage in a bear hug. The shields were cast down at angles and offered both Robern and Arris windows of opportunity. Arris shoved Filo aside and delivered a mighty punch straight to the mage’s face. I heard bones crack.

Vynk had rushed in at the same time, thrusting straight with his greatsword. The blade passed through the belly of the mage at an angle, missing the Spectre Sentinel. I heard Robern cry out in pain. His health bar fell halfway and I focused a series of Twenty of Gryf spells on him until he was fully recovered.

The mage fell in a heap, dead before he hit the floor.

“Felke!” Robern cursed, getting up to his feet with the help of Pelle’s offered hand.

“What happened?” I said.

“Vynk’s blade went straight through the mage, and then straight into my side,” Robern said, pointing at his belly just below the ribs.

“Should’ve been careful!” Vynk said. “I was going in for the kill.”

“I was going in for the kill,” Robern shot back.

“It’s clear we were all going in for the kill,” Arris said. “We all saw the opportunity Tosin made for us, and we clunked heads together in the process.”

“You shoved right by me,” Filo said, pointing an angry finger at Arris.

“Your little spider tripped me,” Vynk said. “That could have been the end of me.”

“Guys,” Pelle said.

“Your spider got in my way too,” Robern said.

“He’s doing the best he can,” Arris said.

“Guys!” Pelle said with as much volume as she could muster. “This was our worst fight yet. Tosin was right when he said we were disorganized.”

“What does he know about fighting,” Robern said. “He’s not the one risking his life front and center.”

“Not cool Robern,” Filo said. “Even though Tosin’s a healer, he can fight just as well as the rest of us.”

“Not as well as me,” Vynk said. “I train day in, day out for this.”

“Guys, stop,” Pelle said. “We need to fix this before it gets worse later on when the stakes are higher.”

“Pell and Tosin are right,” Lep said. “I was too afraid to attack because all of us were cramped up by the mage. The tunnel isn’t that wide, and we have to take that into consideration going forward.

“Then what do you suppose we do?” Arris said as his green Oakbeard form melted away.

“I’ll direct the fight next time,” I said.

Samantah was the one who showed me that healers often have a bigger picture of the battlefield from the backlines. I need to tap into that experience and use it. We have a wide array of skills that can serve us in a multitude of ways. I know how everyone fights. I know how we can strategize our approach to battle in this dungeon. We need to organize our formation when we attack and defend.

“No offense,” Vynk said, “but that sounds like a terrible idea.”

“I’m with Vynk on this one,” Robern said.

I ignored their remarks and laid out my thoughts.

“I think Vynk should be front and center. I think Arris and Filo should be on either side of him. Lep and Robern, you guys need to be in the middle since you use long range attacks. Pelle and I will be in the far back.”

“I don’t want to have to fight over their heads,” Robern said. “If they move in my line of sight, they could receive a crossbow bolt to the back of the head.”

“Then we’ll plan for that,” I said. “Frontline will hold their positions. Instead of charging, they’ll make a defensive stand. Lep and Robern can attack long range until our enemies advance close enough. Then Arris, Filo, and Vynk can attack and stay in their lane.”

“Then what do Lep and I do after that?” Robern said. “Sit on our thumbs?”

“I don’t mind attacking over everyones head,” Lep said. “I’ve got good control of Hand of Flames so that won’t ever be a problem for me.”

“That’s why you’ll stay back and continue long range attacks,” I said, pointing at Lep. “Meanwhile, Robern, you'll be free to move up and attack between Arris, Filo, and Vynk. I’ll let the frontline know you’re advancing. It’s a fair plan. It puts you in the position to use Shadow Spool and slip behind for flank attacks if you need as well. You’ll just have to pick your shots carefully. If anyone on the frontline needs help, you’ve got the room to maneuver from person to person.”

“I like it,” Pelle said.

“Same,” Arris and Lep said in tandem.

Vynk gave a sigh and nodded that he was on board. Filo shrugged and said, “sounds reasonable to me.” She looked at Robern for a moment before saying, “C’mon Robern. Like, what else do you want? You want to trade places with Vynk? Tosin thought of a decent strategy where you get to move around more than any of us. Seriously, what else do you want?”

“Do you not want Tosin directing the fight?” Pelle said. “Is that it?”

“No. Fine. It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll go along and see how it goes. If it works, we’ll stick to it for now.”

Robern turned and walked off.

“Where are you going?” Lep called after him.

“We’ve got a body to loot and a room to search. I’m checking for traps.”