Miller swings his sword at Jenna, who dodges his attacks as she sends her monsters out towards him. Sam and Otso rush in, slamming their bodies against the monsters and knocking them away. She snarls as she calls for her third monster, sending it for Miller, who swings his sword, slicing it in two with a single swipe.

            “Damn. You’re awful skilled for a Pawn.”

Miller smirks. “Tell that to Glyn.”

 

Lika fires off magical blasts at Mila, who bats them away with her flaming tails. She gathers the flames and fires them off in a fireball as Lika struggles to dodge her attacks. Glyn watches, observing her movements as Lika continues her attack.

            “Mila!” Glyn yells.

At his word, Mila leaps into the air, dodging an attack as Glyn holds out his book, dispelling the magic. Mila leaps up towards Lika, drawing her sword and slicing into her. Lika screams out with pain, firing off a blast that hits the manor as she collapses to the ground.

Mila stands over her, putting her sword in her face and glaring down at her. “Give up.” She demands.

Lika glares back at her. “You’d better kill me because I’m never giving up!”

She reaches for her stick and channels her Mana into it. The stick glows with a bright red light as the light envelops the two.

            “If I’m going down, I’m taking all of you out….”

            “Enough of this.” A voice cries out.

Aoife appears, grabbing the stick and snatching it from Lika. A black mist comes from Aoife’s hands where she holds the stick, enveloping the magical item as the light and color of the stick fade away.

            “Mom!” Glyn yells out.

            “Glyn!” Eliana yells.

            “What’re you two doing here?” He asks. “I told you to stay inside while we were under attack.”

            “Well, considering an energy blast, just hit the side of your house. I think we’re safer out here where we can see what’s happening.”

Eliana nods. “Yeah. Besides, we can help!”

            “Please go get somewhere safe while….”

A monster appears charging at the three. Eliana holds out her arms and a bolt of lightning shoots from her fingertips, frying the beast in an instant. As it falls over dead, Glyn looks down at her with Aoife looking down at her with a gentle grin on her face.

            “That was good. Your casting time has gone up so fast.”

            “Of course! I practice every day!”

            “Oh, do you?”

            “Oops. You weren’t supposed to know that.”

Glyn shakes his head. “You’ve been teaching her magic.”

            “Of course.”

            “Didn’t Mother say she wanted Eli to take up the sword?”

            “There are swordsmen who can use magic. Besides, Dear Eli wanted to learn for the sake of her precious brother.”

Glyn sighs. “Fine. Eli, you have to be careful when using magic. But I appreciate you working so hard. And that lightning magic was pretty cool.”

She beams with happiness and excitement. “I know. I’ve wanted to show you for so long!”

            “Glyn?” Mila asks, holding the sword at Lika’s throat.

            “Without her stick, she’s pretty useless, so it’s fine to let her go for now.”

Mila nods and removes her sword, stepping away from Lika. Lika sits up, glaring at the gathered group with all of her hatred as Jenna falls over to her side. The two women stand defeated as Miller, Sam, and Otso join Glyn and gather around them. Aoife drops the stick at her feet as the color slowly returns to it.

            “As soon as your monsters are dead, this is over. Then we’ll decide what to do with the two of you.”

            “I’ll take them back to the mainland with me.” Glyn stares at the two, feeling sympathy as their hatred focuses on him.

As the group stands around, two figures leap over the manor’s gate and charge towards them. Miller reacts, first drawing his sword and blocking one of their attacks as Sam raises his shield to guard against the other. The two leap over them and land behind them, knocking them back as they move to Lika and Jenna’s side.

            “Took you two long enough!” Lika yells.

            “Sorry, we had to make sure it was safe. We’ve tested this place's defenses last time, and they're very fortified.”

Two nearly identical women stand in the moonlight brandishing serrated blades. Both have long dark hair and wear light armor. The only difference between the two is the eyepatch one wears over a scarred right eye.

            “Tessa, Mona, let’s take Glyn out while……”

The scared one turns to Glyn. “No. It’s too dangerous right now. If we stay any longer, we’re in danger of being surrounded. We have to move now!”

            “But….” Jenna lowers her head.

Lika smirks. “I have an idea!” She snaps her fingers.

Aoife looks down at the shaking magic stick and moves, pushing Glyn out of the way as a cube forms around her and Eliana. Glyn’s eyes widen and he leaps up, pounding on the side of the cube only for it to shrink rapidly. Lika rushes forward, grabbing her stick as she smiles at Glyn flying away as fast as she can.

            “Mila!” He yells.

Mila gathers the flames around her tails and fires out a blast at Lika. Before it can hit, a flying monster takes the hit and burns to ashes as Lika flies away.

            “The games are on now, Half-Elf! Let’s see if you like having your loved ones stolen from you too!” Jenna yells as she and the twins flee.

Glyn glares at them, growling with hatred as he channels all the Mana in his body to his hand. His hand shines bright as the sun with power as he concentrates on trying to form an attack, any attack, with his raw magical energy. But just as the energy reaches its apex, black mist emerges from his body, surrounding and suffocating him until he collapses unconscious.

Mila rushes to his side as Miller draws his sword.

            “Mila watches over Glyn. Sam, Otso, let’s clean up these monsters, then let’s survey for where those fools can be hiding.”

            “Right!” The two say in unison.

Mila rushes to Glyn, reaching out for him as the mist fades away. As she makes contact with the mist, a painful sensation shoots through her body from her fingertips. She draws back instinctually as she watches the mist fade away.

            “Glyn….” She says, unable to do or say anything.

 

In the forest, Tisha sits in a tree waiting on standby as she waits. She knows the monster stampede is just a front and, while difficult, Glyn and the others can handle it. Especially since she saw Glyn’s, or rather Mila’s, light show took out a bulk of their number. With Glyn’s rain storm putting out the fires before they spread.

She knows they’ll clean up. And that their attackers will have to flee through the forest to escape. She waits to pull off an ambush, only to have a pair of blades fly towards her. She falls backward off of the tree branch as another blade flies towards her. Two figures appear as she lands on the ground with a recognizable face between the pair.

            “Oh, it’s the Elf! Hurry up and take her out. We have only a few more seconds before Lika’s spell dies off and we have to secure our hostages.”

            “Hostages?” Tisha whispers.

With no sign of Lika in sight, she sighs. Looks like I have to lose here and get taken captive. She thinks to herself.

As the twins leap out towards her, she slightly lowers her bow. Fully prepared to lose this fight but making sure to lose an arrow. A signal to Glyn to tell him where to look, the first of an invisible trail that’ll lead him to her and to wherever they’re hiding out.