He hopped back, his guandao flying back into his grasp instants before the wyvern was upon him. Arek didn’t have time to try and block the strike, so he rolled forward between the creature’s arms.

Its claws tore through the roof behind Arek. He came up, driving the guandao into the beast’s side as he rose. It let out a screech and lashed out with its hind leg. The blow caught Arek on his side and tore through the armor like paper, leaving four deep red gashes.

Arek stumbled, then thrust his weapon deeper into the creature’s body. It’s wings flapped as it leapt back, wobbling unsteadily in the sky with the guandao still lodged in its side.

He pressed a hand against the burning wound in his side. It came away soaked red. Arek gritted his teeth. His already weakened body was losing blood too fast. He stretched his hand out and the guandao ripped itself free of the wyvern and flew back into it.

Arek staggered across the roof, making his way towards where Ming and Vint were hiding. The wyvern, bleeding heavily from the wound that the orc had inflicted, flapped back and landed on a rooftop a short distance away from them.

“Can’t keep fighting,” Arek gasped once he got to the corner. “We need to go. Get back on.”

He turned around without waiting for their response. A moment later, he felt Ming and Vint hop on along with an extra weight that was probably Malissa. He no longer felt Ming’s sack of food against his back.

“We’re on!” Ming said. “Go!”

Arek didn’t have the energy to question her. He tipped forward and drew on the last dredges of his strength, charging across the rooftops while pressing his bleeding side with his hand.

“Are you going to be able to make it in this condition?” Vint yelled over the clamor of the wyrms below them in the streets. “You’re losing a lot of blood.”

“Can you do anything about it?” Arek called back.

“Not without letting the woman die.”

“Then shut up.”

“Arek, the wyvern is following us!” Ming warned them. He felt her adjust on his back as she pointed her staff back at the flying monster. A bolt of pure magic shot out and the wyvern let out a hiss.

“Your magic needs more power behind it,” Vint told Ming. “You’re just tickling it. I can tell from the amount of energy coming out of you that those are just energy bolts. Don’t you have a stronger spell?”

“Shut up,” Ming said, mirroring Arek’s words. “Just keep Malissa alive.”

Vint let out an annoyed huff but grew silent. The thunder of the blood rage rang in Arek’s ears, droning out any further words that Ming might have said. His body was in pure survival mode now.

The only thing in his head was the rhythmic thud of his feet on the roofing and the quickly fading map of the city he’d built within his mind. The wyvern followed after them and Ming continued to send blast after blast of pure magic at it whenever the creature grew too close to them.

As they grew close to the guard outpost, Arek’s vision started to fade. His head felt light and his limbs buzzed like they’d fallen asleep. His side was full of knots and even the blood rage had started to fade.

The wyvern let out a shriek behind them. Arek got the feeling that it could tell that he was weakening, and the wretched creature was just waiting for him to collapse before it finished the rest of them off.

The air crackled behind Arek. Ming let out a slow breath and the sky rumbled as a series of pure magic explosions detonated in a line. The wyvern let out a cry of pain and Arek heard something crunch.

He couldn’t afford to look back to see what it was. The orc caught sight of the square in the distance before him. His consciousness sputtered. All he could focus on was one final train of thought: Left. Right. Left. Right.

Ming channeled energy into her staff again, but Arek staggered. She let it fade, settling for a bolt of pure magic instead. The wyvern let out a pained screech. It was doing better than Arek, but not by much.

Its face was scorched and blackened. The wound in its side bled profusely, and its scales were cracked from where Ming’s magic had torn through its defenses. The monster’s beady eyes flicked from Arek to the guard outpost and it let out a rattling hiss of frustration.

Slowly, it turned in the air and flapped away. Arek took one final leap across the rooftops. He crashed to the ground several feet away from one of the barricaded sides of the square, barely managing to stay upright.

Two stunned guards watched him with disbelief in their eyes. Belmont leapt past them, his staff already in his hand. His eyes widened, but Arek’s dimming thoughts couldn’t make out what the man was looking at.

“What happened?” Belmont asked in horror, raising the staff and sending a cascade of pink light over Arek. “Who’s this person, and why is he blindfolded?”

The wounds in his side started to stitch close, but he was so exhausted that he could barely even feel the relief.

“She was wounded,” Vint said as he and Ming hopped down from Arek’s back. “I stabilized her. If you’ve got talent as a healer, she’ll live.”

“She was wounded saving you,” Ming said, her tone accusatory.

“And I returned the favor,” Vint said coolly. “My debt to her is already paid.”

Belmont’s eyes narrowed. He stepped back and moved his staff to point at Malissa. The man’s face turned slightly pale, but he swallowed tightened his grip on the shaft of the pink weapon as he started to heal the woman.

Arek let out a relieved breath. Then his consciousness blinked out and he knew nothing more.