Jason felt a thrill of fear run through him as the doors of the cabins to either side swing open. Two massive, bear-faced humanoids covered in fur stepped out, followed by several human men. The bear-creatures towered over their compatriots, easily past six feet tall, and sported bronze armor similar in style to that worn by Vittorio Salazar, if of a lesser quality.

The numerous human men who followed were a much scruffier-looking lot. Their armor was primarily made of leather, badly mismatched and in poor repair, and unlike the bear-men, all of them were armed. Several of then sneered openly at Jason and the others, sizing then up.

Jason thought they looked much like typical story-time bandits: sloppy, ill-dressed, and violent. If Serif was correct and these were bound criminals, they certainly weren’t the repentant kind.

“Ursar,” Kera whispered quietly to Jason and Lumi, nodding at the bear-creatures. “Very durable, immensely strong. They don’t need weapons with those claws and teeth.”

The group all drew weapons as their assailants exited the cabins and spread out to either side, with one Ursar and four others on each flank. Then two more figures exited the cabin behind Salazar.

Both were women, and were dressed in loose-fitted, flowing robes that screamed ‘spellcaster’ to Jason’s increasingly panicked mind. He forced his fear down, and took a better look.

The first woman was clearly a member of the Kitsune race that Leska had once mentioned to Kera. To Jason’s eye, she was an ordinary, highly-attractive human woman with a few slight differences: namely, she possessed upright, pointed fox ears that peeked up through her silvery, red-streaked hair, and had a trio of long, poofy tails that swished behind her as she stepped up to Salazar’s side.

The man tried to casually put his free arm around the Kitsune’s shoulder, but she shoved his hand away with an angry glare which didn’t seem to phase him in the slightest, though he didn’t try again.

The second figure to emerge from the doorway was a smallish human woman, and she walked up to Salazar’s other side, hands clasped quietly together in front of her. Contrary to the defiant-looking Kitsune, she had a sad, resigned look on her face as she looked over Jason’s party. A flicker of distaste appeared, and then suddenly all expression was quickly smoothed away. Jason surmised that unlike the men, this woman had no desire to be involved in the coming conflict, but had little choice in the matter, and knew it.

Jason’s eyes were drawn to the not-quite matching tattoos on each woman’s face, and with a quick flick of his eyes to either side, realized many of the men possessed similar.

With a sickening lurch of his stomach, Jason recognized the Controller rune amongst the script on the Kitsune woman’s tattoo, which unlike those of the others, was an angry red, as if it had either been recently applied, or perhaps recently modified.

He quickly flicked his eyes back over Salazar's allies, his mind racing as he examined them in further detail. The Ursar seemed to lack tattoos entirely, though Jason surmised that what with all the fur, he might not be able to see them if they didn't scar. The men however did have visible tattoos, though Jason could see no sign of a controller rune amongst them.

He turned his eyes back to the women, examining them carefully as Serif began an angry tirade against Salazar that Jason largely ignored.

Watching them both carefully, Jason determined that yes, only the angry-looking looking Kitsune woman possessed a control rune, which seemed active even now. Both seemed defiant towards their presumed master in their own way, but the smaller human woman was much, much better at hiding it.

Jason surmised that perhaps, being a spellcaster, the Kitsune had attempted to break her bond or escape, and had earned further attention that the other woman hadn’t. Perhaps Salazar had even needed to force her compliance for this confrontation. He’d mentioned recently apprehending someone, after all.

Jason sincerely hoped that’s what it meant, anyway.

While Jason observed the women, Serif’s tirade grew more and more heated, while Salazar simply looked bored, occasionally making replies to Serif that only served to further incense the man. After a minute of letting the guardsman work himself up, in mid-sentence [Enforcer] abruptly turned and extended a hand in the guardsman’s direction.

“Scorching Ray.”

A orange beam of condensed fire erupted from his hand. A bluish shield flashed into existence as Lumi tried to block it, but the beam punched straight through her shield, shattering it in a spray of snow. The ray struck Serif right in the chest, hurling him backwards from the back of his horse as his clothes ignited.

Jason nearly retched as his nose was assaulted by the smell of searing flesh, and he heard several cries of alarm but had no time to react, as Lumi roared a challenged and blurred forwards, activating [Dimensional Slide].

Salazar merely shifted slightly, and as Lumi reappeared, her sword was deflected by the man’s staff with enough force that she pulled back slightly in surprise

The [Enforcer] took advantage of her hesitation and pivoted, extending a hand.

“Thunderwave,” he commanded, and the girl was blasted several feet backwards with a clap of sound. She fell to the ground, stunned, but still moving.

With Lumi now out of the way, Jason offered up a silent apology to the two women standing next to Salazar as he reached into his coat.

I’m sorry. I know you’re probably relatively innocent in all this, but it’s us or you right now.

He pulled out his last remaining [Salamander Stone] and threw it hard at Salazar.

Unfortunately, not everyone’s attention had been drawn to the swiftly escalating clash: just as Jason had been observing the women, the Kitsune had been observing him. As Jason’s hand released the grenade, the rune on the woman’s cheek flared as some command kicked in, and he saw a flicker of pain on her face. She rapidly extended a hand of her own, and a wisp of violet foxfire flew towards Jason’s [Salamander Stone] as it sailed through the air toward Salazar. Just before the bomb struck the ground in front it the man, it was enveloped in a dome of energy, where it detonated with a muffled thump. Unfortunately, the barrier held and the man was unharmed.

The woman dropped her hand, and the bubble dissipated, leaving behind a small crater and wisps of smoke.

“Oh ho?” Salazar laughed, turning towards Jason. “It seems you lot have some teeth after all. First a teleporter, and now dwarven munitions? A surprise indeed. It won’t help, you know.”

Jason quickly pulled the two glass globes from his pocket. One he openly hurled to Salazar's left, where the smaller woman stood. He spun with a distracting flourish of his coat to concleal his drawing of the second, as the Kitsune woman repeated her prior performance, flinging out a tiny orb of violet flame from her fingertips, which enclosed the globe in a shield. As it struck the ground, the shield turned into a dome, where the globe shattered.

Salazar began to look down at the small dome of force, which rapidly filled with an ink-black color as the globe’s contents were released.

Gotcha. Jason thought as he completed his spin, throwing the other globe. He’d seen enough of Lumi, Kera, and Flora in action to guess that the woman wasn't likely able to hold multiple, actively channeled spells in place at once.

Sure enough, she released the first orb, mistaking it for a similar explosive to the salamander one, and rapidly shielded the second. The shadow-gas from the first globe was released, billowing outwards.

“Fall back to the stable!” Jason yelled to everyone as the other globe shattered, while a rapidly expanding cloud of pitch blackness quickly enveloped Salazar and the two women. If he guessed right, the stables behind them, which had been built opposite the cabins from the central gathering area, should be easily out of range of the globes’ effects.

“Kera! Covering fire!” Jason heard Lumi yell as the expanding cloud of darkness washed over them.

He did a one-eighty on his heels and sprinted to the edge of the cloud as he heard angry roars burst from the throats of the Ursar, as well as cries of confusion from Salazar's other allies, as Kera shouted ‘Obsidian Flow!’ from somewhere off to his right. He felt a wave of heat wash past.

Jason burst out from the cloud of darkness to see the two [Hunters] scattering the horses away from the fight instead of mounting up, with a terrified-looking Pelk dragging Serif’s prone form into the now-empty stable behind them. He suddenly realized his mistake, and the wisdom of their actions: with ranged spellcasters present and a steep path to either side of the ridge, there was no way to flee on horseback and no cover: you’d simply be gunned down by another scorching ray. Better to scatter the horses and defend themselves, and recover the animals later.

Jason turned to see Kera, and Lumi burst out of the cloud with Ceri and Echo, now both enlarged, running behind them. Kera appeared to have lost her staff; Jason hadn’t seen how.

An angry Salazar was shouting at the top of his lungs from within the cloud. “Bring me their heads, and whoever brings me that girl alive gets their freedom!”

Jason hauled his two wands from his belt, one shadow and one healing, as Kera and Lumi turned to face the imminent threat. Lumi reached to her own belt, downing a potion; Jason thought it was the Lesser Strength one he’d given her. Then she pulled a out a second vial and dumped the contents over her blade, which ignited in flames.

Kera meanwhile ordered Ceri and Echo to form up alongside Lumi, and then joined them while Jason stood alone in the second rank, in front of the civilians. Shaking one hand as if it hurt, the girl muttered a curse under her breath.

Jason saw her take a deep breath, as if steadying herself, and she gave several commands in rapid sequence.

“Morphic Modification. Manticore Tail. Fireproofing. Resist Magic.”

With a tearing sound, a long, spiked tail covered in spines ripped its way through the back of her dress as her hair turned to crystal strands and her skin took on a strange cast. She flexed her tail experimentally, and then turned, whipping it to the side. A spray of thin spines lanced out into the darkness, where there was a scream. She nodded once to herself, satisfied, and downed a potion.

Jason risked a quick look over his shoulder back at the civilians, to see Aria and Belman clambering swiftly up onto the roof of the stable for a better vantage point.

Then Salazar's men came boiling out of the cloud, centering in on the girl’s voices. They were met by a hail of arrows, spines, and shadowbolts as Jason and the others launched a flurry of projectiles. Three men went down instantly as the others scattered, one to Jason’s own shadowbolt.

A violet shield flashed into existence in front of one of Salazar's men, deflecting an arrow as the Kitsune woman strode confidently out of the darkness. Jason turned to loose a shadowbolt in her direction, which itself was instantly deflected; the woman's reaction time was incredible.

She raised both hands and began flinging shields left and right, flickering orbs of violet flame dancing along her fingertips before spinning outwards at a furious pace, creating momentary, instant barriers that blocked Jason and his allies’ barrage.

The two Ursar emerged from the cloud, bits of shattered, blackened stone stuck to their still-smoldering fur. Whatever Kera’s spell had done to them, Jason could tell they were angry as they roared and charged towards her and her pets.

Kera gave a deep, bellowing roar of her own, and Jason felt a surge of adrenaline and confidence wash over him. Ceri and Echo both bolted forwards and engaged the massive bear-men, claws, teeth, and sparks flying.

Jason switched hands briefly, leveling his healing wand in Kera’s direction. He tossed out lesser heals to the girl and her pets while he kept an eye on Lumi, who began systematically warping around the battlefield, striking away at Salazar's scattered allies to keep them from rallying, much to the displeasure of the Kitsune woman, who had difficulty keeping track of her movements.

Vittorio Salazar himself then emerged the cloud, unceremoniously hauling the short human woman along with him by one elbow. He glanced around the battlefield, and moved to stand near the Kitsune woman.

Jason watched as Salazar surveyed his scattered forces as Lumi harried them and they were peppered with a barrage of barely deflected arrows from above.

“Enough!” He yelled angrily in Lumi’s direction hurling some kind of sculpted figurine to the ground.

The next time the girl warped, she suddenly found herself standing in front of him, facing the wrong direction. Salazar physically struck her in the back with his staff, knocking her to the ground.

She blurred again, suddenly standing again, surprise washing over her features. She blurred a third time, but remained in place.

“You’ll face me!” Salazar roared at her, spinning his staff towards Lumi, who raised her sword to block.

Jason raised his shadow wand again, preparing to launch a shadowbolt, but hesitated as Lumi and Salazar danced about with a series of rapidly exchanged blows.

Briefly cursing, Jason turned his attention back to the Kitsune woman, opening up on her with a wild series of bolts rather than risk striking Lumi; at least he could perhaps draw the woman’s attention away from her allies while Aria and Belman continued to harry them with arrows; a few lucky shots had gotten through, and more than half of them were now down.

Jason fired off bolt after bolt in rapid succession, dropping his mostly depleted healing wand in order to down a mana potion with one hand as he felt his mana reserves dip dangerously low. At last, the woman missed a shield, or ran out of her own mana, and one of Jason’s bolts clipped her in the shoulder, sending her spinning to the ground.

The smaller woman ran to her side, and Jason saw the telltale glow of healing wash over the Kitsune.

Swearing internally, Jason leveled the his wand at the second woman. He’d wondered why she hadn’t engaged until now: he knew a pocket healer when he saw one.

Jason sent a bolt her way, trying his best not to kill her outright. She’d not been aggressive, so unless she forced his hand, he’d give her the benefit of the doubt and aim to disable.

The blast struck the healer in the leg, and she screamed and fell back away from the other woman. Salazar glanced briefly over his shoulder and saw both on the ground, and rage washed over his features.

With a mighty heave, he pushed Lumi bodily backwards away from him as they clashed again. He extended a hand in her direction.

“Perdition Chain!” he bellowed.

The air between him and Lumi twisted and warped, and a long, silver light snapped towards her out of thin air. The girl tried to deflect it with her shield, but Jason saw it dip down under her shield and strike towards her legs. She fell to the ground and began to scream as the chain wrapped about her legs and then flashed red-hot.

Salazar turned towards Jason and leveled his staff in Jason’s direction, just as Jason leveled his own wand at the man.

Lightning thundered, and Jason was holding a metal wand.

Jason’s world turned white. His mind filled with thought-numbing, fiery pain as he felt himself flung backwards. Someone screamed, and he wasn’t sure if it was him or not.

He couldn’t breathe.

He heaved like a fish for what felt like ages, struggling for breath while his hand and arm screamed fire into his brain. He’d thought getting struck by the Sobek had been bad; having your nerves set aflame was far worse.

In reality, his struggle lasted only two or three seconds. Dimly, as Jason tried to heave in air, he heard Lumi shriek out a command, activating her [Spell Disruption] skill to free herself.

He lungs started working again.

As air flooded back into him, Jason tried to get up. A scream of pure pain tore its way out of him as he pushed against the ground and his whole right side exploded in further agony. He collapsed back onto the ground as he desperately struggled to remain conscious.

His vision swam, and his arm and hand felt like it was on fire.

Don’t look. Don’t freak out. Don’t look.

Jason began chanting to himself under his breath as he rolled himself over in the other direction.

“Now is not the time. Healing is a thing here. I’ll be fine. Don’t look. Focus on a solution.”

He struggled to shove himself upward with one knee, clutching his likely-ruined arm to his chest. All around him, the battle was raging. Kera and her pets continued to go toe to toe with the Ursar, blood now flowing from all involved. Most of Salazar's men were down, but the Kitsune woman was back on her feet, once again shielding her allies from the Hunter’s arrows.

Lumi had managed to free herself and was on guard against further spells, but the fight there seemed to not be going well.

Jason felt arms pass under his shoulders and lift him upwards, and he looked up to see Pelk. The sturdy dwarf hauled him backwards into the flimsy shelter of stable.

Now out of the line of fire, Jason was able properly force his mounting panic downwards.

He spat something metallic out of his mouth.

“Pelk. Thank god. Help me,” he gasped. “Arm’s all fucked up. Need my pack.”

Jason unashamedly screamed again as the dwarf helped him pull his haversack from his shoulders. Jason reached into his coat with his one good hand and hauled out one of his spare [Least Healing] potions; he had no remaining better ones; all he had left were the weaker ones he’d made for disenchanting.

He downed it. Maybe it would help dull the pain at least.

Jason fell back against the ground, his thoughts racing as he felt the potion begin to kick in.

What can I make? No crafted wands left. No more fire element for bombs. [Improvise]? Maybe.

“Pelk, help. Sit me up please.”

The dwarf dragged him over to one of the stable doors and propped him up.

“Bag now,” Jason said, suppressing a wince of pain.

Pelk pulled unfastened the pouch flaps, setting the bag in Jason’s lap. Outside, a brilliant light flashed, followed by a roar of fire as Lumi and Salazar traded spells.

Jason thrust a hand into the bag, rifling around inside while looking around the stable for inspiration.

I don’t even know if I can aim or throw well enough while I’m this badly hurt. I need something easily delivered. Or hard to avoid.

His hand closed around the piece of fulgurite at the same time his eyes fell on upon an arrow lying on the ground, no doubt one of the ones deflected by the Kitsune woman’s shields.

Wait. I dont have to be the one to do it.

An idea formed.

“Pelk,” Jason began, then coughed, sending another spasm of pain through his arm. "Think you could wield that hammer of yours for me and smash up some of those bloodgems for me? Also, I need your black powder.”

“What, why?”

Jason waved away the question with a shake of his head.

“No time,” he wheezed. “Can you do it?”

“Of course.”

“Do so. Just grab a handful and smash as hard as you can. No time for finesse. As much of it powdered as you can get.”

The dwarf began digging through the bags, hauling out his heavy steel hammer and jar of gunpowder, while Jason pushed his haversack off his lap with one hand. Moving was mind-numbingly painful and he was begenning to itch, but he struggled through, refusing to look down at his arm lest he start to panic again.

Pelk handed him the gunpowder, which Jason quickly activated analyze on.

Please be right.

Gunpowder Trait Learned: Volatile

Not quite scientifically accurate, he thought, but I’ll take it. Its good for bombs, that’s what matters.

Jason dumped a whopping five points into [Brew Potion], in too much pain to be specific. It wasn’t like he didn't have them to spare. He checked his rank, and sure enough could now use four ingredients, with a slight effectiveness boost.

“Artifice,” Jason commanded, materializing a shallow basin and pouring in several handful’s worth of gunpowder. He put the jar down carefully to one side.

Jason then thrust his good hand back into the bag, and grasped one of the eggs they’d stolen from the prism scarab nests. He held it over the basin and crushed it with one hand, filling his nose with a disgusting, acrid scent he couldn't quite place.

He pulled two more eggs from bag, each time unceremoniously crushing them with one hand and letting their contents run into the basin. Pelk looked at him with a puzzled look on his face, but began laying about with his hammer, cracking apart several bloodgems.

Without bothering to explain, Jason pulled out several pieces of fulgurite. These he crushed with the aid of basin, bracing the basin with one leg so he could press the brittle material as hard as he could against it with one hand.

It worked well enough.

“Pelk,” he called to the dwarf. He coughed again, as a wave of dizziness swept over him. He wondered if he was losing blood faster than his potion could help. It certainly wasn't doing enough for the pain.

“Arrow please. Then gems,” Jason requested.

One of the Ursar bellowed as a furious buzzing filled the air. The roar cut off suddenly with a gurgle as an small explosion shook dust from the roof of the stable. Jason cheered a bit internally for Kera.

Pelk tossed the arrow to Jason, who only just managed to catch it. The dwarf then began scraping up the gemstone fragments.

Jason closed his eyes and held the arrow up in front of him, picturing it in his mind.

I hope this works, or we’re all screwed.

Mentally, formed the runes for Bolster, Absorption, and Capacity, holding them in his mind.

“Improvise,” he commanded, then tossed the arrow into the basin as Pelk dumped two handfuls of crushed bloodstone fragments into the basin.

Last of all, Jason had Pelk dig out his water skin and dump the contents into the basin.

It would do.

“Brew Potion, Infuse” Jason commanded. “Seeking, Volatile Prismatic Storm”

It worked. With a swirl of red and violet light, nearly all of his remaining mana drained away and the arrow absorbed three potions worth of liquid. He broke out in a cold sweat; apparently infusing four ingredients at once cost a hefty amount.

Pelk’s eyes grew wide with shock as Jason carefully picked up the arrow and handed it to the dwarf. It glowed with dark, shifting colors.

“Give this to Aria. Do not drop it,” he emphasized as he pushed himself to his feet with one arm.

“Tell her to fire it up and over when the barrier goes up.”

Pelk nodded once.

Jason paused for breath after standing, leaning for a moment against the wall. Then he reached down with his good hand to withdraw a plain metal rod from his bag.

Gotta stop that Kitsune. Only gonna get one shot at this, can’t have her deflecting.

Once again he closed his eyes and activated [Improvise], draining his mana. Jason then staggered out of the stables after Pelk.

The scene was an absolute mess.

Kera was down on one knee next to the corpse of one of the Ursar, breathing heavilly, looking like she was about to pass out. Her clothes were torn and ragged, with blood dripping from multiple wounds, and neither Ceri nor Echo were anywhere to be seen. Lumi still dueled frantically with Salazar, trading blows and spells and shields in a wild lightshow, but she was clearly flagging. Salazar on the other hand seemed to simply be toying with her now, having healer woman stand by to toss out a boost to him whenever Lumi managed to land a hit.

Salazar's three surviving men had gathered to one side nearby, watching the show while the Kitsune woman continued to shield them from the hunters’ occasional arrows.

Jason ran to Kera, and hooked one arm around her elbow and hauled her upwards.

“Jason! Wh-”

He cut her off quickly.

“Can you summon your crow?”

“What?”

“Your crow spell, do you have enough left?” he asked her urgently, hauling her backwards towards the stable.

“Wha-yes, but-”

“Cast it now.”

“But Lumi-”

“Do it.” he ordered.

Wearily the girl did as he asked, and with a small puff of air a black crow with red appeared.

Jason pointed off to the object Salazar had dropped on the ground earlier.

“Fetch that figurine,” he said.

Kera looked at him quizzically, but the crow launched itself on her command, darting across the battlefield and snatching up the small object. It raced back and dropped it into the dirt besides Kera.

The bird’s sudden flight drew the attention of Salazar's remaining men, who turned towards Kera and Jason.

Jason bellowed as loud as he possibly could.

“LUMI! TELEPORT NOW!”

She heard, and with a blur she was suddenly beside him, staggering with surprise as the figurine diverted her spell once again.

Salazar pivoted and began to race towards them alongside his men. He held out one hand, flames gathering before him as he charged forwards.

Jason raised his wand unsteadily, aiming it a bit behind the two women, who were also beginning to turn.

“Lumi, Shadow Curtain, if you please. Big as you’ve got,” he ordered. “Kera, if Ceri or Echo are out there, unsummon them right now.”

I love it when a good plan comes together, Jason quoted savagely in his mind.

He activated his wand, which he’d infused with runes of Barrier Projection. The last of his mana drained away, and a wave of dizziness and nausea swept over him.

A benign bubble of force sprang up around the Kitsune and the healer woman, blocking their view.

Lumi spread both arms, and with a shout of 'Shadow Curtain', an inky-black wall stretched itself into a half-circle around the stable.

Aria launched the arrow into the sky, and then dove from the top of the stable into Belman’s outstretched arms, heedless of her own safety; it seemed Pelk had given her and Belman some forewarning.

The arrow’s seeking property ignited with a multihued flash, and it streaked downwards out of the sky towards Salazar, who was blasting away at Lumi’s barrier in a fury.

It struck.

With a thunderous crack of sound that struck Jason in the chest like a jackhammer and knocked everyone to the ground, the arrow detonated in a triple explosion on the other side of Lumi’s barrier. A storm of noise erupted as multi-colored lights flashed wildly, nearly blinding Jason for several seconds. Several stone shards, icy needles, and spears of light pierced the shadow curtain directly, miraculously missing everyone as Lumi dumped every last bit of mana she had into maintaining the shield.

The elemental storm ceased abruptly with a rush of wind just as Lumi’s barrier failed. With a groan, the right hand cabin sheared over to one side and collapsed, and dust flew.

Silence fell, except for the pitter-patter of falling debris.

Jason lay on his back, just staring up into the sky.

Might've overdone it a little, he thought idly.

“What the shit was that?!” he heard someone yell as a wave of calm weariness swept over him. “Are you out of your gods-damned mind?!”

Jason tried to roll himself over so he could pick himself up, but he couldn’t muster the strength. The ground was so nice. Better to just rest.

His eyes closed, and blackness took him.