As the beastmen gathered around Zulgar, Colet went back to the centaurs.
“Igar, where are you?” shouted the centaur chieftain.
“I’m here, chieftain.” Igar emerged from the crowd. “Do you need our spells?”
“Yes.” Colet gestured to the beastmen. “Please boost their speed and strength.”
“The beastmen?”
Igar looked between the chieftain and the beings who wanted him dead earlier. Colet nodded his head. The centaur leader nodded his and ordered the support spellcasters to gather around him. They then directed their attention at the beastmen and casted their spell once Colet joined the group. A yellowish aura surrounded the beastmen and Colet making them stand out more on the plains.
“Ready to end this abomination?” asked Colet.
“You have no idea how long I waited for this day.” Zulgar smiled at the question. “Let’s get this over with!”
At Zulgar’s signal, the beastmen advanced towards the giant beastman from the direction the beastman leader engaged the giant earlier. The giant tried to switch its hands but the one used for shielding its head proved too weak to support its body upright. Therefore, the beastmen charged at the giant with no actual resistance. However, the beastmen weren't trying to inflict injury on the giant. Instead, they used their momentum to push the giant beastmen a meter or so at a time. The giant only needed to look in the direction of where it was pushed to recognize what was happening. In desperation, the giant forced itself up with its injured arm while it swung its other arm at the incoming beastmen.
“Fire!” ordered Colet.
A hail of spears came down and embedded themselves into the giant’s swinging arm. The arm seized up mid-motion and stopped short of hitting any of the beastmen. Unopposed, the beastmen charge yielded another meter or so. As the beastmen fell back to regroup for another charge, another volley of spears were released indicating the centaurs weren’t giving the giant beastman a breather. The hail of spears were targeted at the creature’s head this time. Upon being hit by the spears, the creature’s arms gave out and its entire body came crashing down to the ground. Colet couldn't tell if the creature was dead but the black oozes moving to heal the wounds suggested that the giant was still somehow alive despite what they threw at it.
Against a defenseless giant beastmen, it was a matter of time before the beastmen moved it to the edge of the hole Colet made earlier. Colet and the beastmen then made the final push for the giant beastmen to fall over the edge down into the abyss. As the darkness engulfed the abomination, centaurs and beastmen cheered at the top of their lungs. Even Colet and Zulgar shook hands with smiles on their faces.
“I intend to keep my word of letting you centaurs go,” said Zulgar, “but I hope you can explain to me the light that killed so many of my brethren and badly wounded that abomination.”
Colet proceeded to explain the Purificator built by the humans and how it was intended to wipe out all non-humans on the continent. He held back the tears when he got to the coalition and its inability to fight the undead that served the humans. The chieftain ended with the centaur's journey through the plains and their encounter with the beastmen. As soon as he finished explaining the events, he shot a question back at the beastman leader.
“How did you and your beastmen survive the light? Did you have a powerful spellcaster among you as well?”
Zulgar shook his head and held up a beaded necklace around his neck. He pointed at the empty space within the beads stating that a blue crystal once resided there. Within his family, the necklace was passed down as a way to ward off danger and evil spirits for later generations. The beastman admitted that hardly any of his family members believed such stories. Even he had doubts until the crystal shattered to create a barrier that saved him and the beastmen. Due to the limited size of the barrier, the others within his herd were burned away by the light with no trace of them except their weapons and trinkets. Out of the few thousands he led, only a tiny fraction remained with him.
“Please allow us to travel with you,” said Zulgar. “If what you said is true, I believe most if not all of the other beastmen are now wiped out. We might be all that is left of our race.”
Seeing the benefits of strengths in numbers, Colet agreed to the request. He had without a doubt the humans would finish what their Purificator started. Centaurs and beastmen would both be hunted down so they might as well form this alliance of necessity. Once the centaurs and beastmen had sufficient rest, they headed out at once. The centaurs’ rations were running low while the beastmen traveled light expecting centaur meat for their next meal. Shortage of food was a real possibility so neither Colet nor Zulgar wanted to waste time. The destination would be Orisa, the centaur capital.
“What makes you think your capital was spared by that light?” asked Zulgar as the two leaders led from the front. "Sure the humans' Purificator would impact the entire continent."
“We made an agreement with the demons,” said Colet. “We would send our best warriors to attack the humans and they would provide protection for one centaur settlement.”
The centaur chieftain knew the offer was too good to reject. In the best case scenario, they would take down the humans and the Purificator ending the threat to the centaurs once and for all. In the worst case scenario which he was experiencing at the moment, the centaurs still had one settlement to carve a future from. He knew the centaur officials back home would pack as many centaurs as possible into Orisa until the threat was gone. Their future still looked bleak with the dominant position of the humans but he would lead the centaurs a step at a time as the chieftain.
