Alex

Just as the fire went out, I noticed our error.

Alex: "Wait, no, we cannot have empty SPACE TO OUR BACKS! SCATTER!!!"

I realized our mistake as the fire went out and we had only milliseconds to move before we would be in absolute darkness. Donning the strange pairs of glasses North had with him, we were able to see despite the dark. Why would North think to bring night vision goggles...? No, that is not what I should be thinking about right now.

Because we had formed a triangular formation, there was a triangular empty space directly at all of our backs. Normally, such a space would be meaningless as it would be almost if not impossible for someone to sneak into such a position. However, as our enemy was capable of almost immediate and immensely accurate teleportation, leaving such an obvious blind spot would guarantee our defeat before the battle began.

James, my narration is not verbose, it is descriptive. What, you all want me to just talk about the battle itself? Fine then, have it your way! I was only trying to remain detached as I told his tale... because... if I focus too much on the retelling... I... won't be able to... speak at all. No, I-I'm fine to continue; Hazel, you do not have to push yourself to take my place.

Ahem! I will now proceed in a more concise manner in accordance with the unanimous will of those gathered here before me today.

Right as the three of us began to scatter, Jace appeared directly where I feared he would. Discerning Jace's location through sight in an artificial and absolutey lightless night was already almost impossible (the goggles provided by North were only barely able to penetrate the magical darkness), and simply hearing his light-footed maneuvers as he dashed about the forest took an ear as keen as Jace's. The only reason I knew Jace had appeared where I predicted was because of the light wound I had just sustained directly behind my right knee cap. If I had moved even a moment later, I would have been out of the fight before the fighting began.

Since Jace was at an insurmountable advantage being more prepared, more powerful, and more experienced than Hazel, North, and me combined, I decided that we had to take away as many of Jace's advantages as possible and retreat before we sustained any irreversible losses.

Alex: "HAZEL! Can you trace the flow of magic back to where the magical tool causing the unnatural night is?"

Hazel: "ALEX, I CAN HARDLY SEE ANYTHING, SO BE PATIENT!"

As Hazel's shaken attitude had been laid bare for all to see, it was simple to conclude that she would be the easiest target for an enemy to take down. Once the weakest link of a chain is broken, the whole chain loses its functionality. Using the most natural logic based on Jace's thought processes, I thought it was safe to assume that Jace would target Hazel. What I forgot to account for was the fact that I had always subconsciously thought of Jace as less intelligent than me. What I failed to realize was that Jace's mental capacity was absolutely terrifying despite his mind's countless flaws and faults. Moments after I took a defensive stance infront of Hazel in the oppressive darkness, I heard the clashing of metal against metal and a gutteral growl in an all too familiar voice.

North: "GrrRRAAH! I NEED SOME BACKUP OVER HERE, HE'S TOO STRONG FOR ME TO FACE ON MY OWN!"

Alex: "IF WE CAN JUST GET OUT OF THE RANGE OF THE MAGIC ITEM, WE WILL BE ABLE TO ESCAPE!"

Hazel: "I SEE THE FLOW! THE MAGIC TOOL IS OVER THERE!"

Jace: "Why are all of you yelling? It's not like you're so far from each other that you'd need to shout."

Hazel: "SHUT IT, TRAITOR!"

Jace: "Wow, hurtful. What's with that stupid eyewear?"

Alex: "Do not allow him to provoke you; he is trying to distract you from the magic item. Stay calm and composed, Hazel."

Hazel: "OKAY! Okay... okay. I'm calm. I'll go and disable the magic item now, but you two have to keep Jace occupied!"

As Jace continued to clash with North, I decided that I would rather make sure Hazel accomplished her task than watch two professionals fight. Just as I turned away from Jace and North, I saw Jace appear infront of me...

...and behind Hazel.

Alex: "HAZEL, BEHIND YOU!"

Taking out her dual daggers as she turned around, Hazel barely blocked Jace's first slash. It is worth noting that Jace was able to face off against both Hazel and North on equal footing while making sure to never risk taking one of his former friends' lives.

See? I told you it would be hard for me to avoid getting emotional if I rushed my retelling... ... ...just... just give me a second, okay?

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

I... I am ready to continue. Thank you all for your patience.

While Hazel defended against Jace, I quickly gazed back to make sure North was alright and saw that North had been knocked unconscious. Picking up where Quartz left off, I deduced the rough direction I would have to go in to disable the device based on where Quartz had been heading. After less than ten seconds of running, I noticed an odd mound of dirt on the ground. I began to dig up the mound with my hands as I did not draw a weapon since the beginning of the fight. After only a few seconds of digging I found something unexpected. Jace had somehow obtained the weather controller which should have still been back at the Wanderers' headquarters on the isle of Yore.

Just before I could grab the device, a hand which could only be perceived as an amorphous shadow snatched it right before my eyes. I quickly jumped backwards before a short sword slashes at my legs and, turning on my heel, I picked up Hazel and dashed towards where North's unconscious body laid limp.

Factoring my lackluster physical strength I decided to use North's pendant against his will. By pouring about half of my raw mana into the pendant around North's neck, I sent his body back to the Wanderers' compound where he would likely receive treatment from the people on staff. I did not activate Hazel's pendant or my own pendant for two reasons: tracking Jace would be nigh impossible if we all returned to Yore, and I only had enough stamina left to, at my stamina to mana conversion rate, send one of the two of us back to Yore. As Hazel had no visibly bleeding wounds, I thought it was fair to assume that Jace simply hit her over the head in a similar way to how he dealt with North. Having grasped a rough idea of how Jace had decided to fight us, I decided to set down Hazel and make one last stand against Jace Queer, the second Wanderer.

Having set Hazel down gently on the soft ground, I drew my kukri with my left hand and held my wand in my right hand.

If Jace cornered me here, I would come out almost if not unscathed. All that I needed to do was hurt Jace. The only thing I could think of was taking whatever I could away from Jace's arsenal before making my escape.

But a moment before I believed Jace would make his move I pointed my wand at the ground and recited an incantation:

"Magia ad deos pertinet; homines testari non possunt!"