When I got up I had to realize that I still hurt much more than I had thought. Each step sent a sharp pain through my entire body. I had looked myself over just now and was sure it couldn't be anything serious that would force me to keep still, but that didn't make it comfortable and I might want to avoid moving whenever I could. The clothes I had worn before must have been destroyed almost entirely. Right now I was barely covered, but my backpack was next to me and I decided it was worth the time to quickly get dressed in my replacement clothes. Sadly I didn't have another pair of shoes on hand. I wondered if there were some spare pairs around, but I doubted it. Since I didn't have any other option I just put on a pair of socks and left the tent.
A gust cold fresh air awaited me outside. The rain seemed to have stopped for now, but I could still practically breath the water in the air. At least the ground wasn't soaked, but that was because there was no soil. The others had not been idle while I was out. With the monolith in the center a strong fortification had been erected. I stood on some sort of pavement, though that would be an euphemism for the foundation of rocks I stood on right now. Without shoes it was quickly getting cold, but that was drowned out by all the other aches all over my body. I let my senses scan the area below and could actually perceive a few of the rabbits, but they were unable to pierce through the rocks.
The encampment was a circle around the monolith, ten meters in every direction with tents cramped in between. They were put up very orderly and left open a wide path that circled around. The barricade consisted of lots of felled trees which formed a wall all around and in front of that a few sharpened branches pointed to the outside, but I could immediately see that this part of the construction was far from finished and they would be of no use tonight.
The entire area around the fortifications was lit up again to a distance of around two hundred meters. In the light I could easily make out the watchmen who stood on various sides and kept a tight watch on the surroundings.
Everyone kept their focus on the outside and there seemed to be nobody who sat back inside the barricade. When I detected Lieutenant Kite I decided to report to him, as I had seen him a few times before and he was also likely in charge. I limped over to him and when he became aware of my movement he turned around. The shock on his face when he looked at me was impossible to miss.
“Ah, Miss Shalyne, you are up. I'm sorry about what happened. You can take it easy for now and just rest a bit longer. I am sure the healers will patch you up properly when they have recovered.”
“I will be fine.”
The words were very hoarse and hurt my throat. I stopped for a moment to touch my throat with my hand but that feeling wasn't reassuring either. There was no time for that though and I composed myself.
“The beasts are gathering out there. I think they are preparing for an attack.”
“Are you sure about this?”
I slowly and decidedly nodded. The lieutenant considered for a moment and then spoke out.
“We will definitely wake everyone up, but will do so silently. Maybe we can surprise them if we are fully prepared. How much longer do you think we have?”
I had kept a figurative eye in the distance and took an estimate.
“They are beginning to spread out. Not very long. Maximum a quarter if they wait for everyone. Much shorter if some attack sooner.”
“Then we have to hurry.”
Lieutenant Kite chose three of the watchmen who rushed through the camp while he reported to the prince. I returned to the tent I woke up in and took out the healing potion, which I put in one of my pockets, and one of the mana potions which I immediately drank down. I wanted to be prepared as much as I could, even if I didn't have to participate in the fight. Then I also took the last few crystals I hadn't kept on me before. I really liked having mana reserves.
Once I was outside again I sat down somewhere in the back and rested a bit. Being up so soon had put a strain on my body. Soon the entire camp was up. Everyone had slept in their clothes and was prepared almost immediately. It could have been more silent, but there were limits to what a rag and tag group like this could do.
Brinnia came over to me. I have to give her that, she was very good at hiding her emotions when I looked up to her. It was probably something she learned on the job. It was difficult to hide things from me though, because I could see the fluctuations in her aura very clearly. But then I had to admit that while I could make out basic intents more subtle emotions were something I couldn't really interpret.
“You should rest and not run around already. You are still in danger if your wounds open up again.”
I shook my head. “My wounds are fine, I am just a bit battered. And I can't really rest when an attack is coming up.”
“At least stay here in the back and keep out of the fight alright?”
It's a bit macabre, but fortunately just then the first beasts appeared in the distance and I was spared any more pity or good wishes by anyone else. I didn't need them. To my understanding I should be able to heal myself up to a peak state again, as long as I invested the time and used the gift of understanding living substance which Parangante had left me. I might even refrain from doing so for a while if it deterred the prince, but I didn't have time for any such considerations.
Always the quickest to attack and the most populous, the wolves led another charge. How many of them were out there? This time an even greater horde had gathered and rushed in from all sides. Before I had considered our forces large, but now I began to doubt. The sheer amount of beasts was truly frightening. If I could help out in any way, I wouldn't hold back. Perhaps I might be able to make a small but important difference.
Ignoring Brinnia's advice I stood up and looked around. I was in the back as usual and could freely send my attention anywhere. I took in the positions of the people I got to know over the last weeks. I would prioritize them over the others if push came to shove. Richard's group and Arienne had gathered on one of the sides together with the other adventurers. I didn't care much about the prince and his soldier, I didn't even recognize most of them. A quick look over the last group gave me a bit of a bad conscience. I spotted Silvia's boyfriend James in the town's guards. Until now I had completely forgotten he was even here. He had always been around in another group and I had overlooked his presence until now. I also put him in the back of my mind.
Just as the first wolves reached the barricades I sensed a large amount of mana forming in the air above us. I recognized it as the very same spell the wolf leader I had fought before had used. It had been greatly disturbing to the fight, so I directly attacked the spell before it was successful.
With my greater capacity for mana I could severely cripple the spell and all that was left over was a cold breeze. I put increased focus on my aura sight and scanned the area for the caster. I half expected it to be the very wolf leader I had scanned yesterday morning. The sight of a great firework of energies greeted my vision. I was almost lost in the various flows of energy that formed the spells our mages were casting at this moment. It was very distracting and I dampened my perception a bit, refocusing on the physical. Even then all around me chaos erupted down on the charging wolves and I had to orient myself anew. Sadly I still didn't know the position of the caster.
The spells were spread out in the different directions and the first lucky wolves already succeeded in reaching the barricade. I wondered about the use of it, as the wolves just jumped over it and landed right in the middle of the camp. Maybe forcing the jump was enough of a reason, because after landing the first arrivals were slain on the spot. It made me very wary of the danger I was actually in though, because now the walls and the distance to the front line didn't reassure me at all. Now I would be happy if the crystal I had enchanted with the barrier spell hadn't been destroyed before.
The amount of wolves that appeared in the camp began to increase, the mages were disturbed in their casting and then even more wolves were able to get through. One landed just right in front of me, but was immediately slain by one of the prince's soldiers, who then kept close to my side.
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For now I was still outside of the actual fight and could keep a sight on the battle everywhere, but my attention started to become more narrow towards the direction I was closest to, which was somewhere in between the prince's and the adventurer's sides. Slower, bulkier animals started to appear outside now, rushing to our position. A giant mammoth broke through the ground with its massive weight and only the upper body was still showing.
I didn't want that one to reach our barricades and cast a searing light right into its head. The resistance to my spell was weak and I could cast almost freely, but the mammoth didn't die there. Instead it roared and then jumped out of the hole it had just been in and took another leap which sent it on a course over the barricade. I couldn't stop something this massive dead on, so I tried to change its course just a bit by only putting pressure on it from above.
To move such a heavy mass was a huge strain on my mana and I had to use up almost all my reserves for it. Even with a little leftover I still became dizzy from the shock and only saw the blurry figure loudly crash into the wooden wall, as the forward momentum pushed it in the direction it had leaped. Even while I was dizzy I immediately found one of the crystals I now carried with me. The rush of incoming energy directly gave me another round of disorientation. The flow of so much energy can be very overwhelming.
I finally got steady to see the mammoth fall dead from a cut right through the head by none other than Prince Nelantis himself. He then shouted out:
“Draw back to the monolith.”
It wasn't really a great distance, considering how small our camp actually was. But the fight had developed into a chaotic skirmish without a front line. We were holding for now, because most of the beasts that got in could be taken down in a short amount of time, but their number grew steadily. By now a few of the others types had gotten to the fight, but the slower and heavier ones also more easily fell prey to the trap the rabbits had dug out. They might be intelligent, but apparently still didn't calculate everything. Or maybe chose to ignore it.
I was already in the back, but now the others also tried to close a smaller circle just around the monolith, two very close tents and the pack horses. Everything else was basically stomped down by either the soldiers themselves or the attacking beasts. There had already been fatalities and a few fighters were becoming cut of and isolated. I cast a few strategic spells here and there to allow them a retreat to the inner ring.
With a new line set up the fight went surprisingly well. The beasts weren't able to just jump over us anymore and had to attack from the front. There they were blocked by heavy shields and equal strength. They didn't fight in the same coordinated manner like humans and struggled to do actual damage. The problems were a few of the larger beasts with ridiculous amounts of strength which were however focused down with magic and arrows.
Then another tide of animals came rushing in. An uncountable amount of rabbits slipped past the front and began to bite and claw from every side. The front line fighters tried to hold off the big beasts, but were disturbed by numerous attacks from their back. Now I became actively involved in the melee. The rabbits had just slipped by everyone and now viciously lunged themselves even at me.
Before now I had just been focusing on casting, but now I realized just how sluggish my movements were. I had trouble avoiding any attack at all and soon gave up trying. Instead I unleashed another massacre on the rabbits. With them in direct line of sight and their almost nonexistent resistance I could immediately kill one with little more than a thought.
I cleared out the rabbits around me and finally got another look at the overall situation. It was desperate. One after another people were going down. I couldn't do much else right now and continued on slaughtering rabbits to take at least this pressure off the others. I think there were other mages who adopted a similar tactic, but my spell seemed to be by far the best suited for the task.
Sorceress has increased to level 13.
Around me some order was reestablished and I took great care to keep it that way. I constantly drew on my mana reserves, but since the single spells didn't cost me much energy, I was able to continue casting non stop. A kind of circle was created again, but there were alarmingly few people left. Maybe on the other side of the monolith another group like ours had formed, but I didn't get my hopes up.
Apparently the beasts had also suffered horrible losses by now, because once our battle line was stable again, we began to clear out what remained of them. When everything was over I dropped to the ground, no strength left and no stress to keep me running. I had a few new wounds in addition to the leftover damage from before, but at least nothing but rabbits had ever gotten close to me this entire fight.
Arienne dropped down right next to me, covered in several wounds, but none that looked critical. She tiredly asked me:
“Are you alright?”
“Can't say that I am, but I didn't receive any bad wounds. I am stable. I should probably help out with the healing. Can you please take a look around? I have trouble moving right now.”
“Are you sure you are still up for it?”
I simply nodded. Arienne got up again and rushed back a little later.
“Richard is still alive, but only barely hanging on. Brinnia is trying her best, but I can see that she is very exhausted.”
I let Arienne help me up and offer me a bit of support to limp over. Brinnia was leaning over Richard's unconscious body. Tarvek sat close by and took care of himself with some bandages. Close by I recognized the bodies of Orlund and Vina lying still on the ground.
I had to stop walking as I closed my eyes for a moment and deeply breathed out. I hadn't known them for long, but I was still shocked by their apparent death. All around me were dead bodies and now even with familiar faces. What should I do? I had never been in such a situation before. There was nothing I could do, they were dead. It was almost surreal. Shock and some sadness mixed together, but I couldn't give myself to these feelings right now.
Arienne lightly shook me. I had already gotten a hold of myself and gave her what normally would have passed for a reassuring smile. She cringed. I led one of my hands in front of my face and touched the surface. It was disturbingly uneven. I let out a strange laugh. I didn't know how my face looked, but facial expressions apparently didn't work well any more. I shook my head, there was no time for such thoughts now. I simply said: “I'm ok.”
Concentrating on the task at hand I looked to Brinnia again. Her aura was very weak right now. She didn't seem to be wounded, but her mana had to be running very low. Even then she was still trying to keep up her spells while in obvious despair.
Luckily I still had one filled up mana crystal left. Most mages weren't good enough with outside mana sources to draw on them, but healers had to be able to work with outside energies at least in some way.
“Brinnia, can you use energy crystals?”
At first she was startled by the question, seemingly unaware Arienne and I had walked up to her. But then she answered:
“I'm not good with them, but if you have any, please give them to me. I might still be able to save Richard.”
Just before I handed it to her I got another inspiration.
“Brace yourself, I will try to give you the mana directly.”
Instead of letting her draw it out of the crystal, I took out the mana myself and shoved it into Brinnia directly. It was almost like enchanting her without intent. To avoid any problems that might stem from this I turned it over to her only slowly until her aura was brightly lit up again.
Enchanter has increased to level 6.
She didn't consider the infusion and instead got to work immediately. I also took after her and struggled over and plumped down directly next to Richard. I took the first actual look at him. Letting my perception focus on his body I drowned out my surroundings.
He was very badly wounded. The most obvious one was a deep bite on his left arm. There were a multitude of other bites and scratches all over him, but the most critical issue was his dented rib cage. Several ribs were broken and there was pressure on his heart and a small hole in one of his lungs.
I could sense Brinnia's awareness and healing energy focusing on that hole. Now that she was filled up with mana again she seemed to be able to handle the necessary healing to keep him alive. I wasn't sure what was the most critical, so I decided to assist where I could. My own energy reserves were about half full but I was constantly regenerating. I decided to use my mana as sparingly as possible and try to focus only on the most important issues until I had regenerated some more.
While Brinnia took care of the lungs, I let my awareness flow into the ribs, feeling the usual tingling in my mind as the observing created an instinctive understanding. They did not fit right. I could see before me how the proper positions would be. How they looked without being dented in and in one piece.
Then I just followed those understandings and began to push and rebuild. I had to stop shortly because something was wrong with the heart, and even I was aware that I had to prioritize that. It was strange working together with someone else, our awareness almost touching by being so close by. Brinnia wasn't able to let her sense flow freely, it was always very focused on one place and only the close surroundings. She went to work with precision, but almost mechanical and in a very structured way. I immediately knew that she really understood what she was doing, while I was just following whims. But sometimes I felt that the methods weren't always perfectly suited to Richard in particular, but were a more general approach.
Priestess has increased to level 8.
Once everything had stabilized I drew my perception out again. Brinnia had begun to put bandages over the various wounds. I took out a health potion and forced the liquid down his throat. I would have liked to observe it in action, but I couldn't avoid becoming aware of the situation around me.
Although there were many dead, quite a few were still hanging on. Of what I could see the adventurers and town guards had taken by far the worst damage. The subjugation soldiers were taking care of themselves, but aside from Brinnia I couldn't see any other healer outside of that camp. Arienne was holding back Captain Windon, but when he saw that I was no longer focusing my attention on Richard he spoke up:
“Miss Shalyne, can you please come over and help me? Two of my guards are still close to death and the prince won't spare any of his healers until his own soldiers are taken care of. You two are the only ones left I can ask.”
I turned to Brinnia who was barely staying awake.
“Go and do what you can, I will try and take care of any of the other adventurers.”
It wasn't very reassuring, and I couldn't help feeling that my efforts might be needed here just as much. But there was only so much that could be done and I might just as well go to the guards. Before I got up Arienne handed me a pair of boots. They didn't fit well at all as I was almost swimming in them. I didn't ask. Then she helped me walk the few steps. Soon I might have to take a look at myself again, but right now I could still prioritize others.
I was reassured when I saw James sitting in one piece staring on the ground with a hollow look. At least he was none of the casualties. The guards as a whole were not so lucky. Only two others besides James and the Captain were still up, and two were lying close to each other. They had obviously been put here, though I wasn't sure if carrying them around had been the healthiest decision.