I pushed Zaion out of the way when I saw someone taking aim at him. The arrow flew past my face and I swore out loud. “Deacon, drop the sound barrier!”

  He’d already started whistling up a wide shield to cover our front as more projectiles flew at us, including several arrows, shards of stone, and even a jet of fire. I flinched at the heat from the attacking, but saw him turn his head to look at me. “You sure?”

  “Then I want you to piss the bugs off and we run!” I shouted again, concerned since I saw cracks growing on Deacon’s barricade. “Elayne, can you scatter them?”

  She nodded and brought her sword behind her, low to the ground. It began to glow, starting faint and steadily blooming into a miniature blaze of power. Zaion was steadily getting up, brushing, frustration etched on his face. He’d been struggling since his fall and the loss of most of his materials.

  Deacon held his hand behind his back with five fingers. He started to tick them down, and I watched as the barricade began to buckle as the person who shot fire kept a constant stream going.

  Four fingers. Three of the men started charging towards us.

  Three fingers. Elayne’s blade began to hum with contained power.

  Two fingers. The bugs at the side of the road started to burst from the heat of the mage’s blast.

  One finger. The barricade in front of us let out a loud crack. Elayne started to swing her weapon.

  A sharp whistle sounded out, and the barricade shattered. Instead of the shards of magic dissipating, they exploded forward in a high pitched shriek of sound. Elayne had stepped in front of Deacon and finished the full arc of her swing.

  Then the screaming insects were audible, barely covering the horrified shouts of our attackers. I didn’t stay to see what had happened with them, grabbing Zaion and turning to run. I didn’t head down the road, though.

  We burst through the roadside heading in the rough direction of the core. There were fields in the direction that we could get lost in, growing some kind of long plant I didn’t know the name of. Behind us, panicked shouting could barely be heard, along with explosions. I felt something hit me in the back.

  It knocked me down, but I rolled with the blow and kept going, letting go of Zaion in the process. I lost track of him almost immediately, just like I couldn’t see anything except long stalks. I tried briefly to find him, but gave it up when more screaming started. Something sharp hit my legs and I looked down to find one of the bugs, clawing at my calf.

  Great plan, Dani. I thought as I kicked the bug hard enough that it flew over the plants. A stone shard took it out almost immediately, and I fucked off to the side right before flames started roar past where I’d been standing. Using my map, I started to navigate the field, staying away from the now charred and empty sections of the field.

  Why aren’t they burning? I asked, spotting some of the damage as I had to run through a freshly made lane of burnt farmland. It was also enough to see that Deacon and Elayne were still fighting, though moving away from the road. The road itself was no longer a safe place, though. Legions of the insects were now spreading out along it, many of them charging straight for our attackers.

  Then an arrow hit me in the side and I spat out blood. I moved back into the field, running as I ripped it out of me. The wound started to bleed badly, but I cast a Heal spell. It closed the wound, and I felt something in my back fall out as well. Must have been another arrow. I made sure to store both, for no reason other than it would, hopefully, reduce the amount shot at me.

  I saw rustling next to me and hesitated. Zaion? I thought, but then something moving fast came for my head. I leaned back, turning it into a flip as I kicked at the thing swinging for me. I felt the impact, and winced at the new bruise my bare foot would have. When I stopped, I saw a burly man, ducking to the side and picking up a club that must have been knocked out of his hands.

  He said something, but it was muffled. A pain had also started to build somewhere in the back of my eyes, but I didn’t have time to pay attention to it as the man took another swing. I hopped back, getting out of range and brought up my tonfas. I held them by the extended handles and the long ends along my forearms. I brought them up in a defensive stance.

  The guy ran forward, club overhead and swung down. I dipped left and jabbed the side of his head, connecting hard enough to make him stumble. I didn’t let up, flipping one tonfa so the long end was forward and locked his club in a downward position as I punched him with the end of the second tonfa again.

  He took the blows and looked down before stomping, catching one of my feet. I screamed, and the only thing keeping me up was him letting go of his club and grabbing me by the neck. He said something, but I didn’t catch it again. I reached out, opening my spatial closet and pulled out a throwing knife, stabbing it directly into his eye.

  He let go, screaming in pain as I fell to the ground, coughing. I cast another Heal spell, feeling the uncomfortable sensation of bones grinding and moving together as they fixed themselves. Somehow, the jackass was still alive, ripping the knife out. Unfortunately, the bugs had been attracted by the noise, somehow hearing it over their own screaming, starting to swarm.

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  I bolted, pulling my second tonfa out of the spatial closet as I ran. Most. Useful. Trait. Ever. I thought as I ran. I did not want to get swarmed, and the field had already begun to be consumed by the Prius.

  A high pitched whistle followed by a bright light appeared overhead. I looked and saw the word “Guild” in bright pink and sparkling letters. I didn’t know what it meant, but I had to keep moving.

  Eventually, I broke out to the other side of the field and took a look around. Most of the bugs didn’t follow, choosing to start eating the plants over chasing me. I still moved a few meters back before taking a look around. Zaion was on the ground, a man standing over him, sword in hand. I saw red in the elf’s shirt.

  I threw my tonfa.

  The man’s sword was knocked to the side and his head snapped up to look at me. I drew my sword in one hand, holding the second tonfa in a guard as I started running towards him. He started towards me and took a swing. It was then that I realized a small problem.

  My tonfa was made of wood.

  He was using a blade.

  The sword impacted the tonfa, went through it, and stuck in the bone. I cried out in pain and rage and clumsily slashed at him. He had metal armor on, so it didn’t do much and he ripped his sword out before stepping back, more cautious. I cast my Heal spell for the third time in what seemed like too short a time and felt my tank bottom out. Fantastic. I had time to think before the man swung again.

  I parried his sword with my own and whipped the remnants of my tonfa at his face. He flinched back and I took the opportunity to thrust at his throat. He stepped back, knocking my sword off to the side and trying a slash aimed at my forward leg. I stepped back, disengaging.

  The man lunged, and I danced to the left, bringing my sword down on his to force him to bury the tip in the dirt. I threw an elbow at his face and felt a crunch as I shattered his nose. Dumb of him not to wear a helmet. As he was distracted, I took another slash, this time at his unprotected arm. He didn’t move in time, and the blade passed clean through, taking his arm just below the elbow.

  I kicked him, knocking him over and jammed my blade into his throat to end the fight before looking over at Zaion. He had crawled to his knees, coughing and I ran over to him. The elven mage had bruises and was holding his chest but waved me off when I tried to help. He looked up at me hopefully, and I shook my head. He slumped and I saw his mouth move but I could only hear the insects.

  I looked around, breathing hard and worried about Deacon and Elayne. I took out… maybe two? I couldn’t confirm, though a quick look at my experience saw I was well beyond my next level.

  I made sure Zaion was looking at me before getting close to him. I shouted next to his ear so he could hear me. “Road or city!”

  He did the same, “Road! Help them!”

  He tried to get up and cried out in pain. I motioned for him to stay put and ran in the direction my map said the road was. I needed to see what was going on.

  I go there… and suddenly felt very glad we’d left.

  The road was ruined, first of all. All the fighting had left craters in the previously well made road. I didn’t know what had caused them until I saw some of the stone lift up and shoot towards Deacon. A tiny barrier intercepted it and a blade of energy came from behind him, Elayne was actually on one knee, badly burned and in a bubble of light.

  Then Deacon’s mouth began to move. Rapidly. I couldn’t hear the words, but I felt it in my bones as power began to gather around him. Sparks began to shoot out from near his throat, and the mage who’d thrown the stone threw up a wall in front of him, but rhythmic beating started to crack it before shattering it. The man had started running before the wave of sound caught up to him.

  And then I watched as the man began to rapidly rot. It started with his extremities, and rapidly progressed upwards. He barely got three steps before falling. In moments, not even a skeleton remained, and most of his gear just dissolved.

  I blinked, looking between the man and Deacon. I looked around and saw insects crawling over similar spots, but they refused to go within two meters of the bard. Deacon went down to a knee, ducking into the bubble surrounding Elayne.

  I turned around and went to Zaion.

  I made it in time to see a man who looked more like cut up meat than a person strangling the elf. There was a look of concentration in Zaion’s eyes and I swore as I reached into my spatial closet and pulled another knife out as I ran forward.

  Then the man just… shriveled. All of the cuts seemed to turn into rivers as every drop of moisture in his body moved to above the elf’s head. He started coughing and the liquid splashed over him. I walked forward, slowly, and grimaced as I reached down to touch him on the shoulder. The liquid had been warm, but clear.

  I immediately stopped thinking about the fact that Zaion just mummified someone in less than a second.

  He looked exhausted though, and I picked him up, despite him being taller, I managed to hold him in front of me after I put my weapons away, one arm under his back and one under his legs. I ran back towards the road and towards the bubble Elayne and Deacon were still sheltering in.

  I went inside, and the sound was suddenly muted enough to talk. Zaion was groaning in pain from the movement, but I couldn’t help it. Deacon and Elayne didn’t look much better, with Elayne holding a bleeding wound in her side and one eye was closed to keep the blood out of it.

  “So… that happened.” I said, setting Zaion down and staying bent over, trying to catch my breath. “What the fuck?”

  Elayne shook her head and Deacon looked supremely annoyed. He started to talk, but it sounded more like a croak than anything else. He winced and his irritation turned into looking extremely pissed off. I raised an eyebrow at Elayne.

  “He channeled too much through his voice, probably. Wish he’d done it before I had to use my monthly.” She looked around at the remnants of those who remained. “Loot?”

  “I’ll go get it. I’ll just throw whatever I find in storage… if the bugs don’t get to it first.” I said, standing up straight. “Then we find out what this was about.”