The first Ashman came over the top not long after. It must have been climbing on top of the crowd behind the wall.

“Get it!” shouted Rab.

Nem rapid-fired two arrows and the Ashman flashed and was gone.

Another one came up behind it.

Rab jumped forward and slashed at it and it disappeared.

Two more were already on top of the wall.

It went on and on. They managed to keep up, and after a while not one single Ashman had managed to get to their side.

But then with a whistling rush, arrows slammed into the ground on all sides of them

“Across the water!” Mat shouted.

They could see the Bonewalker archers in the glow from the Firethralls. They were firing from the beach, across the water to the island.

“Stay close to the wall!” Jak shouted.

“Grab those arrows!” said Nem. “I'm running low!”

“Can you use these?” Mat said, pulling them up out of the ground.

“Yes!” she said, grabbing them and firing at two more Ashmen while Rab hacked at another. “This is perfect! They're going to give us all we need!”

Mat and Jak stayed close to the wall, calling out every time they saw another Ashman arm waving in the dark. Every now and then they risked grabbing for more arrows, and once Jak got shot straight through the arm of his robe for it.

“Be careful,” said Mat. “Don't lose your arm!”

“Thanks,” said Jak. “I'll do my best.”

Then without any warning there was a loud whooshing sound, and a WHUMPF WHUMPF against the wall from the other side. Bright orange fire shot up into the night.

“That's it,” said Jak. “They just lit the wall on fire!”

“I guess we were doing too well,” said Nem.

But the Ashmen kept coming, burning. They didn't even seem to care. They piled up over the wall, spreading flames all along the top. Rab and Nem could barely keep up with them. It seemed like every minute there were even more of them.

The wall was crackling and sparks were shooting up into the sky. Mat could feel the heat of it even though their side wasn't burning yet.

“It's not going to last,” Jak said.

“I know,” Rab said as he slashed at another burning Ashman.

“What do we do if it falls?”

Rab was too busy to look back.

“Dunno. I can't do everything. Find somewhere we can take everyone. Up high maybe. Get going!”

Jak slapped Mat on the shoulder and said, “If the wall goes, bring them all back to the trees!”

The he ran off towards the crowd of villagers.

Mat could hear him yelling orders, but there was no time to listen to what was going on behind him.

More mobs were crowding up against the flaming wall. He could hear the bones clattering and the groans of the Ashmen on the other side. There was a loud cracking sound from inside the wall.

Whenever she got a chance Nem was firing out into the mass of mobs on the shore while arrows whacked into the ground all around her.

It's a good thing they can't aim very well, he thought. He kept grabbing every one of them that he could reach so she wouldn't run out.

The wall creaked and snapped again. Then it finally collapsed. It just crashed down in a heap of burning rubble.

Suddenly they were all staring at a crowd of Ashmen and Bonewalkers, with both Firethralls whirling behind them.

Fire and arrows rained down towards them instantly.

“Run!” Mat yelled. He was ready to grab Rab by the robe in case he didn't start moving. But they all turned and started running without another word.

Mat didn't know what they were going to do now. He didn't think anyone did. He just hoped Jak had come up with some kind of plan.

We didn't even last ten minutes, Mat thought.

All of the villagers were crowded together in the middle of the island, under the trees on the hill. Mat and the others ran up to them, and stood in front, shielding them from the mobs with their bodies.

The mobs surged forwards towards them. Mat turned around to see the villagers. As far as he could tell, everyone was there. There wasn't anything left to do.

Jak moved in beside him and they looked at each other.

“Doesn't look good, does it?” Mat said.

“It's looked better,” Jak said, and barked a laugh.

Nem scrambled in the dirt and found an arrow, and fired it at the mob army. Then she threw her bow on the ground.

“This is useless,” she said.

Rab looked at her and then at Jak and Mat.

“I'm sorry,” he said. “I'll keep going, but I don't think it's going to help.”

The arrows had stopped falling. The mobs were all standing still now. The Firethralls flew over their heads, coming towards the villagers.

This was it. Everyone knew it. This was the end.

“What do we do?” said Ell. She looked at Rab and Jak like she couldn't believe they didn't have a plan.

Rab grimaced and then looked out at the Firethralls.

“I'm going to try to get them,” he said. “Both of them.”

Nem picked up her bow again and sighed. Then she rooted around in her robe and held out two potion vials.

“Healing,” she said. “The last two I have left.”

Rab took them.

“I'll run out first,” Mat said.

“What?”

“I'll try to distract them. I'll run right into the crowd. They'll probably attack me. That's when you go.”

Great, he thought. I’m back to this again. Seems like all I’m good for.

“Okay,” Nem growled, “I'm not giving up either.”

She notched an arrow.

"Try to get right through them and out the other side," Rab said to Mat. "You might be safe over there."

But Jak held up his hand for them to stop.

“What's that noise?” he said.

Mat could hear it too. Getting louder. Rumbling.

Something was moving on the other side of the mob army. A lot of things.

Then suddenly there was a line of flashes behind the Bonewalkers and Ashmen, then the flashes turned into explosions. Huge explosions. Mobs in threes and fours flew up into the air, and flickered and disappeared.

Both Firethralls whirled around and headed back towards whatever was happening. They hissed something loud enough that Mat and the others could hear it, and the whole army turned around to face the other way. The villagers were staring at their backs.

“What was...” said Jak. He was still holding a bunch of arrows he'd picked up in his hand, like he'd forgotten about them.

The Firethralls all spit flame, and voice – a person's voice yelled something from out in the dark.

Suddenly arrows flew towards one of the creatures.

A lot of arrows, in fact.

It flashed and was gone instantly.

There was another shout, another flurry of shots, and then the second one was gone.

The Ashmen and Bonewalkers suddenly looked less like an army and more like a crowd. Many of them turned towards where the explosions had come from, and started shuffling that way, leaving the villagers behind without another look. Others started wandering away into the night.

Something – they couldn't see what - was happening over on the far shore. Arrows flew into the middle of the mobs and there was the sound of shouting and metal hitting metal.

“Swords,” Rab said.

Now Mat could see them – a bunch of figures were hacking their way through the mobs. Behind them, more shapes that looked like people came, firing arrows one after another.

They were all riding horses.

“Are they... is it players?” Nem said.

Mat didn't know. But what else could they be? Who else could do all that?

Rab hefted his sword.

“Well,” he said to Nem. “Whoever they are, we can work from this side, right?”

She nodded. The two of them ran off, suddenly looking like they were ready for a fight again.

It only took a few more minutes, and the last of the mobs was gone.

In the sudden silence, the riders and the villagers looked at each other without saying a word.

Three riders trotted their horses forward towards Rab and Nem, who were nearest to them. Jak went forward right away to stand beside the two of them. When she saw what they were doing, Ell pushed through the crowd to stand with them as well.

After a moment Mat decided that he should probably be there too, so he walked out to the others.

The riders were wearing armour. Shiny, iron armour on two of them – much nicer and newer than Rab and Nem’s, but their leader was dressed in something else. It had a strange, mirror-like sheen.

It has to be pure Electrum, Mat thought. He'd read about it in books, but had never imagined he'd actually see it. It reflected the moonlight in little shimmers.

They all stopped and let the horses come to meet them.

The rest of the riders – it looked like there were about ten of them – waited in a line near the water. Mat started counting.

Thirteen of them. They destroyed all those mobs in just a few minutes, he thought.

He really wanted to see the rider's face. He wasn't sure what a player would really look like. But when they got closer, they looked like villagers.

Just ordinary villagers. Riding horses. Defeating a whole army of mobs.

Doing a lot better than we've been doing, Mat thought.

The one in Electrum armour held up his hand.

“Looks like you're safe now,” he said. “That was the biggest Underworld breakthrough I've seen in a long time. Good thing we got here when we did.”

“I'm Jak,” Jak said. “This is Ell, Rab, Nem, and Mat.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“I'm Dom,” the rider said. He didn't introduce the others.

“How did you find us?” said Ell. She was looking at their horses and armour and swords like she couldn't believe her eyes.

“You're lucky,” Dom said. “Those Firethralls were making enough light that we could see something was happening from way out there.”

He waved into the distance.

“But what was making those green flashes?” he said. “I've never seen a mob make light like that.”

“Green?” said Mat. He couldn't remember anything like that, but he hadn't had time to look around much.

“Well it doesn't matter,” said Dom. “It caught our attention.”

“I don't think we can thank you enough,” Jak said. “We were almost finished.”

“We could see that. But you did have some defenses.”

He pointed at the smoldering remains of the wall.

Ell nodded.

“I built that,” she said loudly.

For some reason Mat was glad she was there to show the riders that they weren't the only ones who could make things and use tools.

“Did you?” Dom said. He didn't exactly sound impressed. “I saw someone firing arrows too.”

Nem nodded cautiously, bow in hand.

“We thought you might be players,” Rab said.

Dom stared at him like he'd said something very strange.

“Players? Have you ever seen a player?”

They looked around at each other. One by one they all shook their heads no.

“Of course not,” Dom said, like he was explaining the very obvious. “Nobody has. They’re from stories. Or maybe history, but it doesn’t matter. There's only us.”

The other two riders jumped down off of their horses. The clank of their armour as they hit the ground was very loud in the night.

They stood beside Dom. He pointed at Rab.

“How did you learn to use that sword? Who taught you?”

His voice sounded different now. Not exactly angry, but definitely like someone who expected a good answer.

Rab frowned at him.

“Taught me?”

“You couldn't just learn it on your own. You met someone who gave you the ability to use it. Who was it?”

Rab snorted a laugh.

“I didn't catch his name. He and his friends weren't very talkative. Not to us, anyway.”

Jak stepped up beside Rab.

“We'd probably already be dead if it wasn't for Rab here. Why do you care who taught him?”

Dom didn't even look at him.

“Explain yourself,” he said to Rab. “What do you mean? Who taught you?”

He didn't sound friendly at all now.

Rab stared back at him.

Then Nem spoke up.

“It was Umbrals,” she said. “They... they shot some kind of magic at us in the swamp. Then he could use the sword. And I could use this.”

She hefted her bow.

“Umbral Shades,” Dom said and frowned, looking like he was at least considering it.

“We were going to be attacked by a Firethrall. Maybe they were trying to help us. We don't know.”

Dom nodded slowly.

Ell started to speak, but Nem interrupted her.

“Her too,” she said, pointing at Ell. “They met an Umbral in the woods. That's how they stayed alive. After that she could build a shelter at night.”

Ell shot Nem a strange look, but didn't argue. She just gave a short nod.

“And the armour?”

“Found it in a ruined village,” Rab said.

“Wait here,” Dom said. It wasn't a request. He turned around and walked away down towards the water with the other two.

“I've got a bad feeling about this,” Mat said quietly.

All of the villagers were watching without a word. He wasn't sure what he should have expected, but if they had just rescued a whole village, shouldn't the riders look... happy or something? Instead they were just looking at everyone like they hadn't decided what they were going to do. Yet.

Jak looked at Nem. “You don't think we should tell them about...?”

He nodded his head in the direction of the other villagers. Bren would be sitting with them somewhere.

“I don't know,” she said. “I didn't like the way he was looking at us. It was like a wolf staring at sheep.”

“You don't actually think they're looking for... him? Do you?”

“Where did you find him? You never told us,” Jak whispered to Ell.

“Pru saw him in the woods,” Ell said. “He was all alone. It was just before sunset, the same day our village was attacked. She was the one who wanted to take care of him.”

“Shh!” hissed Rab.

They were coming back again.

“You have a lot of people with you,” Dom said, pointing at the crowd of villagers. “What do you plan to do?”

“We're going to build houses,” Ell said. “Or I am, anyway. And farms.”

“A new village,” Mat said.

Dom nodded. He didn't look like the idea was strange to him.

“It's a good spot,” he said. “Only way onto the island is that little spit of land.”

“Who are you?” Mat said. “I mean thank you, really, we all owe you. All of you. But who are you?”

Dom smirked and pulled off his helmet.

He really was just a villager.

“Third Scouting Group, from the Iron City,” he said, pointing back to the riders near the shore. “We were on a bit of reconnaissance up this way. We heard rumours that there have been some clusters of Underworld attacks.”

“You mean the Firethralls?” Rab said.

“Them, yes. And other things. I'm guessing you're from a village that was swarmed?”

“More than one,” Nem said. “I think we have people from five different villages here.” She looked at Jak and Mat. “Seven now, I guess.”

Dom looked shocked.

“That bad? I don't think anyone guessed. It's a good thing we're here.”

“You can help us?” Jak said.

Ell nodded.

“That would be really great,” she said. She looked relieved. “Even one house was going to be a lot of work, honestly.”

But Dom shook his head.

“Sorry, no. What with you and these two -” he pointed and Rab and Nem - “you've already got more help than a lot of people. What we need right away is to find the source. The breakthrough that little army came out of.”

Ell's face fell, but Jak spoke up right away.

“I think we know where it is,” he said. “We just came from there yesterday.”

“Really?” Dom said. “That would save us a lot of time and work.”

He turned around and waved at the riders on the shore, then made some kind of signal to them with his hand, and pointed at Jak.

“We'll need you to come with us,” he said to Jak.

His friendly attitude had disappeared again. There wasn't any room in his voice for Jak to say no.

Nem frowned at him.

“Where is the Iron City? What is the Iron City? Who are you people?” she said.

Dom frowned back at her.

“We're the people who just saved you, remember? But don't worry, we'll bring your friend back once we're done. Then we’ll answer any questions you like.”

He put his helmet back on.

The other two riders with him had already gotten back on their horses. One of them put a hand out to Jak.

“Grab,” he said gruffly. “You can ride with me.”

Nem looked at Jak.

“Do you want to go with them?” she said.

Rab stepped up beside her.

“He's not going anywhere unless he agrees,” Rab said.

Dom sighed and turned to Jak.

“It looks like your friends are willing to fight for you. You've seen what we can do. We need you to show us the way to that breakthrough so we can get rid of it. What are you going to do?”

Jak looked just as annoyed at Dom's attitude as the rest of them, but he shook his head.

“I'll come,” he said, and let the rider pull him up onto the horse.

Dom jumped up onto his own horse, and the three of them turned and started to head out across the water right away.

Mat realized that the sky was growing orange. Sunrise wasn't far away now.

Jak looked back at them as he rode off.

“Just get everyone organized, okay?” he said.

Then he let them carry him away.

Mat turned to the others.

“I guess there’s nothing we can do about it. I’m sure he’s safe.”

Nem was still frowning and watching them.

Rab kicked at the smouldering remains of the wall.

“This would have worked, you know. If it was stone,” he said.

Ell came up beside him.

“I can do stone. I have a pick. It takes longer than wood.”

“We’ve got a whole day to get ready,” said Mat.

“Maybe more,” said Rab. “They said they’re going to get rid of that... Underworld breakthrough, is that what he called it?”

“I still don’t trust them,” said Nem. “We should be ready just in case.”

“In case what?” said Ell. “We’d be dead if it weren’t for them.”

She looked like she thought Nem was being silly.

“In case whatever,” Nem said. “In case we don’t like what they want us to do. Or tell us to do.”

“What do you think that might be?” said Ell, rolling her eyes.

“You saw the way he looked at us. Whatever the Iron City is, they’re strong. Way stronger than us. They look like they’re used to telling people what to do.”

Ell just shook her head.

“If they’re that strong then we’d be smart to be with them,” she said. “Don’t you think?”

Her tone of voice was like an adult lecturing a small child. Nem’s face went red.

“One way or another,” Rab jumped in, “We’re going to need the wall here tonight, so we should do that first, right?”

Mat actually agreed with Nem, but he was distracted by the crowd of waiting villagers – they were all watching. Probably wondering what was going on. All they had seen was Jak get taken away by the riders. He let everyone keep arguing for a few moments then spoke as soon as he saw an opening.

“We should tell everyone what’s happening. About all of this,” he said.

Ell looked like she’d forgotten about the villagers completely, but Nem and Rab nodded.

“Fine,” Ell said. “I’ll tell them.”

Before any of them could say anything she turned and stalked away towards the villagers.

Nem looked at Rab, but he just shrugged and followed Ell.

Ell clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. All their heads turned to look and the group fell silent.

“Everyone,” she said loudly. “Listen up, please!”

Nem rolled her eyes again.

“Those villagers who helped us – the ones wearing armour – they came here from a place called the Iron City. We don’t know where that is yet, but you all saw what they did. I don’t think I have to tell you what would have happened if they hadn’t found us.”

Several of the villagers shuddered, and one of the children started crying.

Lil called out, “Where did they take Jak?”

Ell gave her a sharp look.

“I’m getting to that,” she said. “Jak has gone to take them to the place where the Underworld mobs came from. From what I understand they’re going to get rid of it.”

They all looked relieved and a few even started smiling and talking to each other in relief.

“People! Attention please!” Ell said, and they slowly went quiet again.

“We agreed to let Jack go with them because he could help them,” she said.

Well that’s kind of a lie, Mat thought. At least she didn’t say that she was the one who agreed to let Jak go.

Rab spoke up, and Ell stared at him coldly but she didn’t interrupt.

“We’re going to build a new wall,” he said. “We’ll make it with stone this time. Ell can do that.”

She nodded.

“Once they get rid of the breakthrough from the Underworld and we have a good stone wall up, then I think we’re going to be pretty safe,” Rab said.

Ell jumped in to talk again.

“After that I’ll get the first house started. A real house,” she said.

Everyone looked happy about that. A proper house again, finally!

But before anyone could say anything else, there was movement on the far side of the crowd. People started muttering and craning their necks to see what was going on.

Pru pushed through to the front of the villagers, leading Bren along behind her.

“Bren needs to speak,” she said in a small voice.

“Louder!” someone yelled.

“What is it, Pru?” said Ell. “You’ll have to speak up so everyone can hear.”

Before she could say another word, Bren straightened up from his usual crouch. His eyes were bright and clear. For the first time Mat felt like he was really looking at them all.

“I’m sorry,” he said in a voice that carried across the crowd easily. It wasn’t his creaky and confused voice at all now. He sounded like a man who knew exactly what he was doing.

“I’m sorry everyone,” he said again. “I thought there was more time. I need to leave, right away. I can’t wait.”

“Bren,” Ell said. She sounded shocked. “Is there something wrong?”

He shook his head and held up his hand for her to be quiet.

“This is a good spot for a village, and you've got enough people. But I need to leave before they come back.”

“The riders? Those villagers?” Ell said.

Bren nodded.

“They're searching for me. You saw the way they looked at those two.” He pointed at Rab and Nem. “They're going to line us all up for a good look once they get back here.”

“Why do they want you?” Pru said. She looked like she wasn’t sure how to talk to Bren any more. She was used to him being a frail old man. It was as if he'd dropped an act, and now they were seeing the real him for the first time.

“I'm sorry I didn't say anything,” he said to her with a kindly look. “I thought I was far away from them at last. I guess not.”

He shook his head.

“I won’t make the same mistake again. We should have kept going north when we found that burned village. That was stupid.”

“What do you mean?” said Mat.

“It’s not important,” he said. “What matters is that I have gifts for you all.”

“Gifts?” said Pru.

Bren gave her another smile.

“I know what you should get,” he said to her. “Apothecary. You're a healer, dear.”

Pru blinked.

“I am?”

“That's what you do. You want to take care of people. Am I wrong?”

“Well... no,” she said. “But look at me.” She raised her arms to show off her brown Leatherworker robe. “That’s not what I’m supposed to be.”

“Those are your old colors dear,” he said. “I can give you your new ones.”

He reached into his robe and took out a glass vial filled with a glowing blue liquid.

“Drink it,” he said to her. “Drink it, and you'll be a maker too. A brewer of potions, a maker of things which heal. Or hurt, if you need to.”

She took the vial and stared at it.

“What is it?” Mat said.

“My gift,” he said. “This is why they want me. I can make makers.”