Chapter Forty-Three: Er''litahnus and L''loriannes


    “ABANDON THE FIELDS! RETREAT TO MAGEFELL!” The screams of the living soldiers reverberates through the field, and I grimace, wanting to do what he said.


    Easier said than done.


    We’re surrounded by seven of these new hellish creatures, twisted versions of the older ones. They snarl at us, holding their weapons expertly, their eyes shining with intelligence.


    Then they advance.


    I’m forced to fight a L’lorianne. Its wings beat at me as it jumps on me, and I fight with it, stabbing everywhere I can. It roars as I plunge into its wing, but it doesn’t stop its attack, instead fighting harder. It chomps at me, and I groan as my left hand feels the teeth. I stab again, but it moves away in time, jumping.


    I nurse my left hand. It’s bleeding badly, and I can see to the other side of it, but I think the L’lorianne only broke one of my bones.


    “Come at me, prick,” I growl at it, and it advances once more. It swiped one paw at me, and I duck, staring wildly at the extended claws, each as long as my hand, then I’m under its lifted belly and I stab upwards.


    The sword travels through its stomach and through the other side. The beast roars in pain, and slashes around, chomping and clawing everything it sees. I’m forced to move away, escaping it in its death throes. Eventually, it falls to the ground, dead.


    Looking around, I spot an Er’litahnus dead, its insides expelled, its body deflated. Must’ve been High Mage Aegon’s work. He’s taking on a L’lorianne, Xavier behind him, not cowering, but protecting himself. He doesn’t know swords like we do.


    Poli, Artemis, and Skai are each holding down a beast, but each have their own troubles. I can’t help but feel a little lucky that I killed one.


    Raising my hand to where Poli is, I use my skill. The pillar of fire erupts on the Er’litahnus, too close to Poli as she staggers back. The Er’litahnus shrieks, clawing at itself. After a moment, the pillar disappears, and there it is, charred to a crisp, bones showing, blood melted. I think it’s dead, until its one remaining eye moves and focuses on me.


    Oh, hell!


    It rushes at me, and extends its hand, grabbing me by the neck. Then, with an unexpected feat of strength, it raises me and slams me down into the earth.


    I lose my breath, can’t breathe. My lungs constrict and my heart beats faster as I stare at the animal. Its fangs drip with something, and when that saliva falls, it kills the grass instantly.


    Poison.


    The Er’litahnus claws at me, but its claw hangs in midair, and it turns its head around confusedly. And there he is, glorious High Mage Aegon, holding what seems to be an invisible rope. I slash at the creature, severing its head. The monster falls limp on the ground, deep green blood already filling the grass.


    “My thanks,” I say.


    “These beasts are tough,” He responds. “We must get back to Magefell. I can take you there with magic, but even I myself am running a little low.”


    “How many have you killed, High Mage?” Xavier asks.


    “Lost count after the first couple hundred.”


    I whistle. “I think I’ve killed maybe thirty or forty.”


    “Still pretty good for a mage-in.training. Now, where do you want to be taken?”


    “Take us to Zenyth,” I say. “I want to check on Sia before we leave.”


    High Mage Aegon nods. “Skai, Xavier, hold my hand.” They do so, and then they vanish.


    “I’m tired of this,” Artemis spits.


    “We all are,” Aster says. “It’s just something we have to do.”


    “I know,” Artemis replies, scowling.


    High Mage Aegn reappears and Poli and Artemis go with him.


    “And then there were two.”


    “What?” Aster asks.


    “Sorry, just breaking the silence,” I reply.


    Aster laughs, surprisingly loudly, drowning the noise of the screams.


    “You’re strange, you know that?” She asks.


    “Yeah, I guess so,” I say. “But we’re all strange in some way. Th’ul is unemotional. Neena is both fragile and not fragile, it’s a paradox. Alyx is arrogant but also sweet somehow. You’re…you.”


    “That’s offensive.”


    “I just don’t know you too well,” I continue. “But let’s just say you’re normal. Artemis destroyed his family’s business and alienated himself from his brother. Poli has whatever mood she wants and no one really knows when she’ll be happy. Xavier is…well, he’s Xavier. At this point, we’re not abnormal. If we’re all abnormal, that means in reality, we’re…”


    “Normal, I know,” She smiles. “You really are proving my point. No normal person would say anything like this.”


    “But I did,” I respond.


    “I have nothing to say to that one.”


    High Mage Aegon appears in front of me and I squeal. I glare as Aster laughs.


    “Shut up. You would’ve done the same thing if he’d appeared to you.”


    “Still strange,” She says, sombering up. “And Zade? Thank you. For cheering me up. Gods know I need it.”


    “Of course,” I reply, slightly confused.


    “Are you done?” The High Mage asks. “All of Magefell is waiting for you.”


    We hold his hands, and soon the field is empty of us, only the dead bodies and a couple dozen soldiers left.


    — — —


    Groggily, I wake up. My head aches, pounding on me, telling me I hit the ground too hard, but i already knew that already.


    I can’t see anything. My eyes aren’t closed, yet all I see is darkness. Did I die?


    No, I can still hear the sounds of battle. It brings me back to reality, and I can feel the fur under me. So I’m on Fluffy?


    She also felt a sort of weight on top of her, and she pushed on it. It was fluffy’s wing, and with a grunt of force, she lifted it and rose from her position.


    Looking at Fluffy, she felt a twinge of regret. She was really beginning to like the murderous monster. It was a shame it had to die. She didn’t know who’d killed it, but she doubted she ever would. She was just glad to be alive. She knelt and patted Fluffy’s head.


    “Rest well, friend,” She whispered. “You were a good villain.”


    Then she stood up on Fluffy’s body. It looked glorious to anyone watching, a woman standing over the monster she slayed, bloody sword in her hand, looking to the horizon with bloodlust.


    But it was none of those things. It was a woman, yes, but she was standing over the monster in sadness, the monster she did not slay, with her sword in hand—but not the monster’s blood—, looking to the horizon not with bloodlust but with dreadful anticipation.


    The stories are wrong. Most people don’t like war. Yue, to all accounts, was a hero: of war and peace. But she didn’t feel one. She’d killed more monsters than anyone in the Vanguard. She’d won the tournament. She’d saved couples, saved innocent people, fought the Cult.


    She was no hero. She was just supporting the death of countless monsters. Yes, they were evil, but she was only perpetrating death. There were already people in the streets fighting each other over this. She didn’t like war. It only spread violence and death. She was only making the Cult angrier, and she hadn’t eve caught the murderers.


    She was no hero. She was a normal person, trying her best.


    That’s all heroes are, she was beginning to realize. Heroes didn’t choose to be heroes.


    They were forced.


    “Are you going to stand there all day?” Someone asked from behind her.


    “Neena!” Yue hugged her.


    “I’m so glad you’re alive, Yue,” Her friend said. “I was worried when you went down that I should’ve…”


    “You did good,” Yue told her. “You couldn’t have done anything.”


    “Are you okay? No injuries?”


    “I’m totally fine,” Yue responded. “Wrist hurts a little, but otherwise, I’ve never been better.”


    “Good, because things just got so much worse.”


    “How do you mean?”


    “Come and see.”


    Yue followed her back to the market, and what she saw shocked her. There were more beasts than before, but that was normal. The surprise was the big black cloud drawing in on Magefell. On closer inspection, Yue found that it wasn’t a cloud.


    They were monsters. Thousands of them. And they seemed…bigger. And were the Er’litahns riding the L’loriens?


    “They began to arrive just a couple minutes ago,” Neena explained. “We’re in really big trouble.”


    “You can say that again.”


    “We’re in really big trouble.”


    Yue shook her head, but smiled nonetheless. She stanced herself offensively.


    “Ready, Nee?”


    “Nee? Really?” Yue glared at her and she smiled. “Yes, I’m ready.”


    They charged simultaneously at the incoming creatures, drawing some of them their way.


    It was time to be a hero, as much as she hated it.


    — — —


    I appear in the medic ward, and all the friends High Mage Aegon had brought before are already here. And there, on the bed, is Sia, smiling widely.


    “Zade!” She shrieks. “Thanks for visiting.”


    “Of course,” I reply, looking at the wounded girl. She still has holes in her hands and her wounds are severe, but she''s in the medic ward, so…


    “No, I don''t want them to heal me,” Sia said, reading my mind. “They need their healers for the battle. I’m not too badly wounded.”


    “Not too badly wounded?” I ask incredulously. “You have a damn hole in your hand. You look like you were crucified.”


    “You should see the other girl,” Sia laughed. “I’m fine, Zade, I promise. I’ll live and that’s all I can wish for. How’s the battle going?”


    “It’s a battle,” I say bluntly. “We’re winning, I guess.”


    “I really wish I could help,” Sia tells me apologetically. “Even healed, though, I’m no good with a sword. So others deserve the chance to be healed first, so they can go help others. That''s all I can do, you know?”


    “We need more people like you in the world,” I sigh.


    “No,” Sia says. “I think the world is fine how it is.”


    Xavier gives her a hug before we leave to fight.


    “I’m sorry for what happened,” He tells her. “You didn’t deserve it.”


    “Better I was hurt than you guys,” She responds chipperly. “This way you can fight.”


    Poli and Artemis don’t even speak to her, but I can see them giving her glances of pity.


    As we leave the medic ward, High Mage Aegon shaked his head.


    “What the hell happened to that girl when she got wounded?” He laughs. “She’s so…selfless.”


    “She’s doing the best she can,” Poli responds. “Wouldn’t we all do the same in those circumstances?”


    “I don’t think so.”


    A figure crashes through the window of the hallway in Zenyth. A L’lorianne. High Mage Aegon jumps on it, slamming it into the ground and punching it repeatedly with a speed and power I didn’t know were possible. The L’lorianne is left a mess of blood on the ground, its face broken and jumbled.


    “I don’t think leaving Sia here is safe,” I say.


    “It’s what we have to do,” the High Mage replies. “It’s the safest place in Magefell.” With a wave of his hand, the window repairs itself. “Zade, how''s your mana?”


    “I haven’t used magic in a while, but by my best guess, 67-ish percent.”


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    “Good,” He replies. “I’m at 60 as well, but I can last well into the twenties. Keep an eye on it. You too, Xavier.”


    “Always,” He replies. “I will have to be careful, though.”


    I agree with him. He uses only magic to fight the magic, and he’s probably losing mana faster than any of us.


    We reach the gardens of Zenyth and walk down to the gates. Past it, I see the carnage the beasts have wrought on Magefell. Surprisingly, I don’t see any flames, and not many buildings are down, but I can still see many dead and there are still buildings destroyed from this attack. Zenyth has been left untouched, and I’m assuming the Cultists didn’t want them destroying their home. The L’lorianne that entered had probably just acted out of character.


    We are set on almost immediately by a Er’litahn, one of the weaker ones. It is quickly dispatched of—seven humans against one beast doesn’t seem like a fair fight— and we keep running quickly. High Mage Aegon provides a shield for us as we go, stopping any sort of debris from falling on us.


    “Where are we heading?” I ask.


    “The Market,” He tells me. “There seems to be more concentration of monsters there.”


    It shouldn’t take us too long to get there, but while I run, I relax myself and my core. I might need it for what’s coming.


    — — —


    The first Er’litahn—if that’s what they were called, considering how much larger they were than the normal ones— riding the L’lorien slammed into Yue like a brick wall. She stumbled backwards, but stood her ground, holding her sword to the ground like a spear to control herself. The L’lorien swiped at her and she back-flipped out of the way, landing on the ground smoothly and squaring her hips.


    This was more fun than she expected. These animals were smarter, and knew strategy. They weren’t impulsive and stuped like the previous ones, and that provided a challenge for her. She never thought she’d call the other beasts stupid, but everything was relative.


    The L’lorian dove for her again, its wings folded, reminding her of Fluffy. It was coming at her too quickly; she didn’t have time to assess what she could do.


    So she dove forward. At the beasts. It seemed like a mistake, but as she kicked forward, she got an idea. A reckless, stupid idea, but it was the only thing she could do.


    Her jump was barely enough to go over the L’lorien, but the Er’litahn was another story. So instead of dodging it, she grabbed it, tugging at it, pushing it away from the lion-like creature. The Er’litahn tumbled to the ground, held by Yue, while the L’lorien land on the ground roughly. Yue stabbed down, breaking the Er’litahn’s cranium, then she was thrown to the ground as the L’lorien’s tail swat at her. It wasn’t a super long tail, but it was still strong. Strong enough to take the air from her body.


    The beast was unaware of her, as it was just trying to regain its bearing, giving time for Yue to stand up and face it. It roared at her, its fangs glistening, clean of blood.


    So this monster hadn’t killed anyone yet. Good.


    She slashed at it, and it pawed at her sword, knocking it from her hands. It fell to the ground a few steps away, and the L’lorien pounced on it, keeping it from her grasp. She groaned, and backed off as it slowly advanced on her, dragging the sword with its hind legs.


    Then it jumped. She stumbled out of the way, its jaws closing next to her. She ran out of the way with it following her.


    She needed to reach her sword right now. Thankfully, it had given up on guarding it, instead choosing to run a cat and mouse game, so she had a sliver of a chance.


    She sprinted at the sword. It growled at her and swiped at her, but ducking, she grabbed the sword. With it in hand, she stood her ground and waited for it to attack her, but it didn’t seem like it wanted to anymore. It hissed at her, recognizing the danger she posed to it now.


    Yue needed to take the advantage, so that’s exactly what she did. Legs pumping, she ran at the L’lorian and as she came up, the monster pawed at her and chomped its jaws. At the right moment, Yue raised her sword and lowered her head. The L’lorian bit horizontally on the sword and it passed straight through the roof of its mouth, past the brains, and out the head. Yue fell to the ground in exhaustion.


    The massive beast roared and clawed at the sword, trying to rip it off. Nothing worked. Eventually, it fell to the ground like Yue with one difference.


    It was dead.


    Yue wanted to rest, needed to rest, but she could tell Neena was occupied. The smaller girl was holding her own, but the bigger animals were ferociously fighting her.


    “I’m coming, Neena,” She told the girl as she got up slowly, then began to limp at the animals. She wasn’t hurt, but that didn’t mean she didn’t feel cramps. She was feeling the stress and exhaustion of three days of sparring plus this. It was a lot for anyone, but Yue had done more than anyone.


    The L’lorien and Er’litahn finally noticed her, and they broke apart, giving Neena an easier and fairer fight. Meanwhile, the Er’litahn ran for Yue.


    Yue positioned herself carefully, her eyes alert, glaring daggers at the Er’litahn. It hissed a battle cry at her and she yelled back, raising her sword. They came at each other, both wielding dangerous weapons.


    The swords clashed. And thus started the only real sword-fight Yue had had with one of the beasts. This one clearly knew what it was doing. He deftly moved in time with his sword, dancing fluidly. Yue followed her movement, adding her own, striking here, defending there. It would’ve been a wonderful display, if it wasn’t so nerve-wracking.


    Yue stabbed at its stomach, and it batted her sword away, striking himself. With a smooth parry, she began to attack it, unwilling to let it breathe. It defended expertly, aware of the risks in every mistake.


    A roar sounded from Neena’s fight, but yue ignored it, focusing on the Er’litahn.


    A sword appeared through the Er’litahn stomach and it gurgled, eyes wide and mouth open in horror. Then it fell to the ground, dying, hissing in pain.


    “Hey, guys!” A familiar voice said from behind them. “Look who I found.”


    Yue turned to find Th’ul leading Zade, Skai, Xavier, Aster, and High Mage Aegon to them. Yue siled widely and hugged Zade.


    “I’m so glad you’re alive,” She said. “How’s the field?”


    “Lost,” He replied. “There are only monsters there now, and dead bodies. How’s Magefell?”


    “Better, I guess,” She responded. “We’re having trouble, though, with these new creatures.”


    “L’loriannes and Er’litahnus,” Zade said. “We had trouble with them too. They came out of the ground after you left. According to the voice, they’re the final beasts we have to fight.”


    “Piece of cake,” Xavier laughed. “All we have to do is kill thousands of deadly monsters stronger and larger than us.”


    “That’s the gist,” Zade said. “Shall we go?”


    “Let’s.”


    — — —


    The market is in complete disarray. I remember what it looked like when it was mostly empty. It looked wonderful, inviting, and homely. Then it began to fill for the tournament, and it got crowded but still inviting. At night, it felt wonderful.


    And now it’s ruined. At least, it looks a little broken. Nothing that can’t be fixed, unless the Cult wins, of course, and we can’t let them do that.


    We’re all together now. I can’t even count how many we are. It’s my group, minus Anni, and Yue’s group, plus High Mage Aegon and the other High Mage I haven’t been introduced to yet, plus Skai. As long as we stick together, I’m sure we can take on plenty of monsters.


    Thoughts of Anni remind me of Astil. I briefly wonder what would happen if he was here, if I needed to protect him. I miss him, but to some degree, I’m glad he didn’t have to face this.


    And Anni, I don’t know where she is, but I hope she’s safe. I still feel sad and guilty each time I think of her, but she needs her space and I know it. I have to leave her alone, until she’s ready. I just hope no monsters attack her at Zenyth.


    Our group attacks a pack of riding Er’litahnus. They dive from the sky at us, but we protect each other, stabbing at them. Their skin is thick and resistant, and I see the Er’litahnus’ poison corrode the helmet High Mage Aegon is wearing, but we fight well. I stab into a L’lorianne’s neck and it screeches, falling to the ground, carrying an Er’litahnus down with it. Xavier immediately sends a Fireball down at it, ending its misery.


    I send a pillar of fire upwards killing another L’lorianne, but the Er’litahnus on its back survives, jumping off to attack us.


    “Has anyone ever told you your eyes light up with fire when you do that?” Alyx asks, grunting as she takes on an Er’litahnus. I shake my head. “It’s really cool.”


    Smiling, I stab down, catching another Er’litahnus’ thrust. It parried my next strike and slams me down, but I react quickly, swiping up, disarming it. Neena’s next slice decapitates it.


    “HELP!” I hear a voice say. “PLEASE SOMEBODY!”


    I find a woman carrying a baby down an alleyway, a L’lorianne and Er’litahnus chasing it.


    “I’ll be right back,” I tell my friends, chasing the monsters.


    The alleyway is dark, and the only thing I can hear now are the screams of the woman. Following the screams, I see the monsters already feasting on the woman, and I throw Nightwielder, catching an Er’litahnus on the back. When it turns around, a pillar of fir erupts and, already wounded as it was, the flames kill it.


    The L’lorianne turns from gorging on the woman’s flesh. She seems dead, and indentation in her head where the L’lorianne had been feasting, but maybe I can still save the baby. The L’lorianne slams into me, and I stumble into the wall, but, sliding underneath it, I come up and stab it in its shoulder. It screeches and paws at me, its claws scraping my chest. I scream in pain, but bear it as we keep fighting.


    I scratch its claws several times, but it keeps coming, scratching me as well. It’s a race to see who tires first, and I’m too tired for this. Clearly, it recognizes my exhaustion as well, as it increases its attacks.


    A dagger strikes it in the shoulder.


    “Hey, bastard,” A woman calls out. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”


    As the beast turns to the voice, I strike it, and it falls, bleeding out on the ground. I check on the baby. It’s dead as well, sadly. It’s head is missing, and I can’t find one of its feet. In sadness, I turn around and see my friend, and my face lightens.


    “Anni!” I shriek happily. “I’m so happy to see you!”


    “Me too,” She smiles sadly. “I couldn’t leave you alone with this. I felt I needed to help.”


    “Thank you,” I say honestly. “Just one question. Why did you say anything? You’re not even remotely the L’lorianne’s size!”


    “Bad humor always works on villains,” She responds. “Especially the dumb ones.”


    “When’d you get so chipper?”


    “When I decided the world was worth saving,” She says.


    “You do know you won’t save the world, right?”


    “I do what I can,” She shrugs. “I’d never thrown a dagger before. I was scared I would hit you. As you can see, I’m lucky. Gods are on my side.”


    “Wait, you threw a dagger at me?” I ask. “You could’ve killed me! You don’t do that with no experience. It takes time, effort, skill.”


    “It all worked out, didn’t it?” She asks. “Now, let’s go. They’re waiting.”


    As we run, I realize the fa?ade Anni is putting up. I can tell she’s not happy, and her eyes are too haunted for me to believe her jokes are genuine. I think she’s doing this for me. As crazy as this sounds, I think she’s trying to comfort and help me. Why else would she try to save me?


    I do believe one thing she said, though. I think she wanted to fight because she realized the world was worth saving. I understand the feeling.


    Whatever the reason, though, and whatever she’s feeling, I’m just happy she’s here.


    “Thank you for coming,” I tell her. “I understand how hard it is.”


    “I have to,” She grits her teeth. “This is just for the battle.”


    “Of course.”


    — — —


    Yue thought the army was losing. She couldn’t be sure, but it looked like the beasts were killing more humans now than the other way around. It was tough to watch.


    But there was still hope. Every minute, new soldiers would arrive, eager to destroy monsters. The battle was far from over, and all Yue could do was keep fighting.


    From her best estimate, they’d been fighting for at least two hours now. So much had happened, but at the same time, it felt like nothing had happened.


    Out of the alleyway, Yue saw Zade bring out Anni. She hadn’t seen the blonde girl in a while, and had heard she was feeling really bad after Astil’s death, but she was glad the girl was up and running. Anni immediately began to send fireballs and some strange wave of water onto the beasts. Zade set upon the Er’litahn fighting Xavier.


    Theirs was probably the biggest group in the market, so it was the biggest target and fear for the L’loriannes and Er’litahnnus. They seemed to dread fighting them, but at the same time, Yue’s group was the one who proportionally had to fight the most monsters.


    Yue had seen a few Cultist mages recently. Yue saw them messing with some soldiers. From what she could gather, they didn’t want the monsters to win, but they still wanted to wreak havoc. Yue hated their guts. If they wanted to do something, they should just stop being cowards and fight them, although she guessed that if she had to fight them, she would lose.


    She’d seen members of the Vanguard recently, mostly the Wolf, Kol, and Yiro, but others as well. Theirs was mostly the job to protect others. Yue wanted to do the same, but felt the need to stay with her group. Until the Wolf gave her other orders, she would do just that.


    She stabbed down, ending another pitiful monster’s life. Yue felt almost repetitive now. Each monster seemed to die the same way now. But the L’loriannes were becoming increasingly hard to kill. Their size and strength were big advantages against everyone except two people Yue could see on the battlefield.


    Jabari and Kol, fighting like brothers now, each protecting each other as they demolished the monsters. It was breathtaking to watch as they handled some with their bare hands, others with their axes. They decimated the monsters, a force to be reckoned with.


    Yue was glad they were on the same side as her.


    Skai chopped at a Er’litahn next to me.


    “Focus on the battle,” She told her.


    Yue nodded and returned to the fight. There was a L’lorianne on her left, trying to break a hole in their ranks. She stabbed at it and it groaned, stepping away. With a chomp of its jaws, it reached for her, but she stepped back and pierced it again. This only served to infuriate it as it rose in the air and dove at her.


    The force of its body on hers was great, but she was used to it at this point, and she stabbed up as it reached her.


    When it was on top, killing it was the easy part.


    The hard part was getting it off. Which was why she was surprised when she pushed it slightly and it blew away like a feather in the wind.


    “What the hell?” She looked around, finally spotting High Mage Aegon, who winked. She bowed to him and turned to fight her next victim.


    Something exploded. The earth erupted around the market. Yue’s vision turned black and she felt no more.


    — — —


    I feel the eruption. A mage must’ve detonated something, must’ve gotten tired of our group resisting, because our group was targeted. I’m not hit by the explosion thankfully, and neither are the two High Mages, or Poli and Artemis, but the others are all on the ground.


    “Protect yourself,” I hear Th’ul’s High Mage friend say, “I’ll see to the others.”


    I nod at him and turn, brandishing my sword.


    It’s the last thing I feel before a L’lorianne slams into me, knocking my head on the sharp cobblestone.


    — — —


    Yue came to, her head hurting more than it already was before.


    “Urgh,” She said, “What happened?”


    “Cultists,” a High Mage said as he lifted her up. “We’re lucky no one died, but some are severely injured. I don’t have time to find a healer now, but I’ll do what I can. I think we’ll all be okay.”


    Yue nodded as she looked around. Some of her friends were already awake: Neena, Alyx and Aster all looked unscathed, and Xavier and Anni were limping but okay. The others were all unconscious.


    Zade was lying next to a dead L’lorianne, and there was a dark pool of blood lying next to him. It had to be the L’loriannes, right?


    No, the blood was coming from Zade.


    She screamed and ran at him, checking for a pulse. He was alive, but just barely. His breathing was slow, but the blood coming from his head was not a good sign.


    “Will he be okay?” She asked High Mage Aegon.


    “I don’t know,” He answered genuinely. “We’ll see what ____ can do.”


    “He can’t die,” Yue told him. “He can’t.”


    She moved on to her other friends. Thankfully, none were sporting massive wounds like Zade was, but Poli’s face was charred, and Artemis’s body, wrapped protectively around Poli, was burned as well. They were both alive and breathing steadily.


    High Mage ____ was already done healing some of her friends. Th’ul stood up, shaking himself and shaking his head nonchalantly. Poli was soon standing as well, her face horrified and still scarred, but uninjured now.


    Artemis was next, and when he stood up, his bare back caused Yue to flinch. He was very hurt, but he would also survive.


    Soon enough, all her friends were standing up. Except for one.


    Zade.


    “Can you help him?” She asked the High Mage.


    “No,” The High Mage responded, tears leaking from his eyes. “I’m out of mana. If I try, I’ll burn. I’ve done so much magic the last week and especially today that…I just can’t do more healing, it’s too taxing.”


    “You have to try!” Yue couldn’t understand—wouldn’t understand what he was saying!


    “I can’t. I’m sorry.”


    Yue screamed and ran at Zade, but High age Aegon held her in his arms.


    “We have to save him! He’ll die!” She yelled.


    But no one could help.


    They couldn’t do anything.


    Zade was dying.