Several things happened at once as Doctor Whoo rushed towards our exit. First, a unified screech sounded from the ghouls as the effects of my music left them surprisingly swiftly. Then the sound cut off. Before I could glance back at the chaos and figure out what had just happened, a hail of arrows rained around Doctor Whoo and I.

Doctor Whoo’s speed shot up, and I sensed her internal mana stores dip by a tenth. I had to lay flat on her back, so the sudden acceleration didn’t knock me off her. It was her newest wind ability: Tailwind.

I glanced over my shoulder to see two alarming scenes. The ghouls had avoided the skinks around the ant hills altogether—the bulk of the force—and were rushing towards the frontline where Hruk and Booger still stood. Frostfire exploded on one side of the pair while a stream of orange flames set the ghoul horde ablaze on the other. I spotted Hruk clobber a skink with his Hellboy arm, before an alarming sight below us caught my attention. A trio of skinks were tracking Doctor Whoo’s trajectory with knocked bows and crimson light surrounded their arrowheads.

During my time on Arena Disk, I had come to recognise the different mana types and their colours. The crimson could mean two things: the very common Reinforcement magic or the much rarer Creation school with a focus in fire. Neither bode well for Doctor Whoo. The first would have little trouble ripping through her tough hide and flesh. While the latter could likely set her fur ablaze and cause significant damage to both of us. So, I activated the Bracer of Draconic Smoke. In the darkness, I didn’t see much change except for orange and golden wisps manifesting around us. However, the skinks would see a black cloud that would leave their eyes stinging and eyes burning.

Hruk had prepared three amulets that made the wearer immune to the bracer’s effects. He, Doctor Whoo, and Booger each wore one. As a result, my glorious mount didn’t slow, and I hoped Hruk wouldn’t either. However, I was painfully aware that Tailwind produced a draft behind Doctor Whoo, and it would force the smoke to spread and disperse. We needed to keep up our speed if we hoped to escape uninjured.

Clanging hollow armour and screeching sounded behind us, but I didn’t dare look back. I clung to the saddles and watched the opening in the crags as it got closer. It had come as a welcome surprise when Doctor Whoo’s saddle shrunk with her under Satchel Monster’s effects. The shrike didn’t seem to mind it, and I chalked it up to Natural Mount. The trait conditioned her to accept saddles and encouraged her to let me ride atop her back. It had left me wondering whether the spell would have the same interaction with saddle bags, but that was a query for another time.

Even though I could barely see the smoke cloud in the darkness, I felt it as we exited its vicinity. No arrows hot at us as we covered the final distance between the wyvern smoke and the targeted pass. It was just wide enough for two of Doctor Whoo to talk side by side and I didn’t doubt the skinks would chase us down it. As a result, closing the entrance was our best bet. However, I needed to wait until Hruk caught up.

The plan had felt reasonably cut and dry. Edgar would summon the ghouls out of their underground lair, and I’d use my Mind Magic to set them on the skinks. I didn’t expect them to lose focus on their target as soon as the music stopped. Either skinks had the means to ward them off or their feral nature demanded a constant stream of controlling mana to keep them focused. Either way, it looked like Hruk was in trouble, and I had no way of helping.

My heart dropped into my stomach when ghouls and skinks alike charged towards where I stood. Neither Hruk nor I could figure out why they wanted us so badly. Apparently, if their prey required more than a day to capture, they gave up and focused their attention elsewhere. The second day made of pursuit made sense since we were travelling along the swamp’s border. However, when they chased us up a mountain path, I suspected something else was up. Neither of us had the time or motivation to find out why, but we were sure they wanted Doctor Whoo or me.

Unlike our previous encounters with the creatures, Doctor Whoo had mana to spare. So, she unleashed the ability from her secondary trait, Born of Sound. The terrifying ability, Paralysing Cry, had served as my introduction to Doctor Whoo. She had used it to stun me and the beasts I protected. Then, the beautiful young shrike had slain the only creature that resisted her magic—a young Blacknail Mountain Goat and the first beast I had tamed after my arrival on Arena Disk. We had come a long way since then, and I was pleased to find myself on the secure end of Paralysing Cry.

The air rippled around Doctor Whoo’s beak as she let loose a high-pitched shriek. The closest pursuers—mostly ghouls and a couple of dagger wielding-skinks—froze mid-step. Meanwhile, the specimens behind her stumbled, and either retreated or landed on their faces.

"Five metres!” I gasped. “That’s incredible range!”

It didn’t reach as far as her original cry, which had covered the entire goat pen—approximately twenty to twenty-five feet across—but it was nothing to scoff at. Hopefully, the second trait would grow much like her primary. I didn’t know how I’d go about casting Paralysing Cry with my vocal chords, but it certainly felt like an outstanding emergency spell. It was a shame I didn’t have a mastery or skill to go with it. A notification popped in front of my eyes just as the thought registered.

You have unlocked a new Beast Taming Mastery skill!

You have unlocked Primordial Magic!

Primordial Magic Novice: Rank 0!

I swiped the notification away and focused on Hruk. After Booger sprayed his third stream of flames, the ghouls had left them alone. However, both had suffered several bite marks and scratches, and red marked their limbs. As they got closer, I wrapped Life Mana around Sasha’s strings in preparing to bathe them in healing music. Ever since I absorbed Kraine’s relic and linked the guitar to the Tree of Life, her regenerative powers had increased. As long as they made it to me in one piece, I’d fix them right up.

Too many skinks stood between Hruk and I. Charging through them didn’t feel like an option. Ghouls would likely pounce on them once again and then there’d be pikes to skewer Booger. The banshees and ghouls were doing an excellent job of keeping the monsters off Hruk for the time being, but they were much too slow. He and his mount would lose their protection as soon as they started advancing.

I watched Hruk helplessly as a smile spread across his lips. He extended his right hand and frostfire bauble fell out of his underarm device, one after the other. Hruk passed them into his left hand and threw them relentlessly with his left hand. His aim was awful, and he failed to hit anyone, but managed to disperse the skinks, creating an icy path. Then he tapped Booger with his feet and the brorc charged, spraying fire from his nostrils at anything that close.

The beast didn’t hit anyone either, but my eyes widened as I figured out Hruk’s plan. He held onto Booger’s saddle with his right hand and hung out at such a terrifying angle I worried he’d fall out. Hruk didn’t, though. Instead, he clung to Booger while dragging his stone-gauntleted left arm along the ground. The forstfire had frozen the ground and then the flames had melted it. Now, little puddles had gathered around the ground and tiny streams connected them. Hruk’s eyes glowed blue and lightning tendrils danced off his fingers.

Any skink or ghoul that got close ended up stepping on electrified water and spasmed, frying immediately or collapsing in a panting and smoking heap. It wasn’t all good, though. Hruk hadn’t just created a medium to conduct his lightning magic, but had also given the skink casters water for their magic.

Several water whips formed attached to angry looking skinks and then, much to my horror, the blue appendages took on noxious green, purple, and sickly yellow glows. Hruk noticed them too and threw a frosfire bauble at the mass of skinks to his right. Then he flicked his right wrist, trying to conjure another bauble, but nothing came out. Hruk’s eyes widened as several poisonous looking water whips came at him. Booger danced through most of them, but Hruk caught one on his stone-gauntleted left arm. Another struck the brorc’s haunches, drawing a high-pitched squeal.

By the time they made it to the crags, my heart was thumping in my chest. Even though I had prepared Sasha to heal them, I returned the prepared mana to her core and whipped out the Wand of Shaping. When pressed to the ground, a thick wall sprouted from it, blocking the entrance. Hruk rolled off his brorc and landed on his back, panting. He had made it. We were safe—for the time being, at least.