Verdan’s signal was clear and to the point. One moment Tim was watching the darjee as they gathered near the cages, arguing amongst themselves, the next, chaos. A small orb of flame had flown right into the middle of their group, blossoming into a large ball as it travelled through the air. The ball hit the ground and exploded with a concussive blast of fire that burnt the nearby darjee and knocked them off their feet.

Tim had seen Verdan use this attack before; it was powerful but drew heavily on the wizard’s strength. Thankfully, Tim could see several darjee had been either killed or heavily wounded by the attack, and most of the rest were charging off where it had come from.

‘Okay, now, open it up,’ Tim said, backing away from the hole in the wall and motioning urgently to the fwyn as he did.

The small creatures moved closer and lifted their hands in unison, miming a pulling motion as the stone around the hole shifted and flowed away. Tim was fascinated by the magic being displayed, but he didn’t have the time to focus on it right now.

He’d communicated to them as best he could that he wanted a door to get through to the cages, and it seemed they understood. The ancient stone wall shifted and groaned as a whole section of it flowed like liquid out into the surrounding area.

Tim didn’t wait for them to finish, taking his chance to duck through when it was large enough for him to fit. Heading for the closest cage, Tim looked around for any nearby darjee and to see who was being held within the large wooden cages.

Some darjee that had been stunned by Verdan’s attack were still nearby, but they were preoccupied for the moment, allowing Tim to reach the first cage without issue.

Each cage was a large wooden structure, designed with thick wooden posts at each corner and a sturdy frame. Wooden bars restrained the six fwyn within it, though Tim doubted they were even needed.

The fwyn inside were lethargic and ill-looking at best. Two of them stirred at Tim’s approach, but they did little more than lift their heads to look at him.

‘Break the bars, hurry,’ Tim said in a hiss gesturing to the poles keeping them in. The fwyn’s magic would be better suited for this task than his sword.

One of the fwyn limply lifted a hand and pointed to the top of the cage. Following the gesture, Tim saw a series of bone charms hanging from the roof. Just looking at the things sent a shiver down his spine, one that was similar to the feeling of cyth magic. Thankfully, it wasn’t quite as bad, but it was just as repulsive. Verdan would be able to explain more when he examined these things, but for now, Tim knew what he needed to.

A stealthy exit was out of the question, so Tim went for the next best thing and started to hack at the bars with his sword. Thankfully, the wood wasn’t that thick, so he could make quick work of each one.

A few solid chops of his sword and a grunt of effort broke one of the bars, but the fwyn inside simply groaned and struggled to rise. Tim was about to commit to chopping more of the bars open when a pair of his assigned fwyn appeared by his side, stepping past him to grab the captives and drag them out of the cage.

Even stepping inside the cage seemed to drain the two fwyn, but they worked quickly to pull the captives free. Once outside the cage, the rescued fwyn started to perk up slowly. Tim was tempted to wait for them to recover before moving on, but he had no idea how long it would take.

Distant sounds of explosions and screams told Tim that Verdan was still fighting with the bulk of the darjee, but time was precious. Some of the remaining darjee could notice their rescue attempt at any moment, and that would be a bad thing.

Having fought some of them now, Tim was confident that he could take one of them in single combat. The darjee were fast and strong, but they were wild and without restraint. Tim could take advantage of that. More than one would be a problem, but how much of one depended on what the fwyn could do to help.

Struck by a thought, Tim looked around at the surrounding cages once more, looking for which cages didn’t have fwyn. There were two that Tim could see, a big man with flowing red hair and a large wolf with white fur.

The big man was in the one front-most cages, so Tim would have to fight to get to him. The wolf, however, was at the rear, just a little bit along from where Tim had exited the big building.

Taking a chance, Tim hurried over to the wolf as the fwyn finished pulling out their brethren and started cutting into new cages with their claws. Tim doubted they would make quick progress, but it was worth doing.

The white-furred wolf lifted its head as Tim approached, its vibrant amber eyes regarding him with interest as he laid his shield down and started chopping at the wooden poles.

A shout of alarm from off to one side told Tim that the darjee had finally started paying attention to what was happening behind them. Ignoring them for the moment, he focused on chopping through the poles with heavy blows before looking up.

Two darjee had gone straight for the fwyn but were being knocked around by flying clods of earth as more fwyn boiled out of the building to join the fight. In comparison, just a single darjee was coming after Tim, but he had no backup to rely on.

Kicking the last pole he’d been chopping free, Tim grabbed his shield and looked at the wolf with regret; it seemed just as drained as the fwyn by the cage.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here,’ Tim said, anger thrumming through his veins as he looked at the deplorable conditions the wolf had been kept in. No creature deserved to live like this, especially not such a beautiful one.

Tim’s words seemed to bestir the wolf, and his hands clenched as it struggled to get on its feet. He could see a leather collar wrapped around its neck, threaded with something that he couldn’t quite make out. Maybe it was some form of owner's mark. If it was, the wolf might be trained to fight or hunt, which could be helpful right about now.

Turning his attention from the wolf, Tim readied himself as the approaching darjee skirted the outside of the last cage between them and raced forward. The snarling creature had a vicious grin on its dog-like face as it threw itself at him, slashing down with one claw.

Ready for the attack, Tim was able to slide back and avoid the brunt of the strike. Darjee claws were sharp, however, and his opponent still left scars running down Tim’s shield where his claws had caught it.

Staying light on his feet, Tim circled to the left as he kept out of arms reach of the darjee. There was an arrogant look in the darjee’s eye as it turned to follow him, as though it dismissed Tim as a threat.

Waiting for the next attack, Tim saw the darjee tense before it leapt forward, stretching out to grab at his shield. The moment the creature tensed, Tim started rushing forward, pushing his shoulder forward as he drove his shield into the darjee.

Off-balance and slightly stunned, the darjee was able to avoid Tim’s stab, but not entirely. Instead of piercing its heart, Tim caught the creature in the side, drawing blood and making the darjee snarl in pain.

Pressing the attack, Tim cut the darjee again and again as it stumbled back, keeping it off balance as he batted its hands away with his shield and slashed with his sword. Tim felt himself drop into a focused state as he kept up the onslaught, moving with a level of speed and precision that felt almost foreign.

The darjee tried a last-ditch attempt to close with Tim and grapple him, but Tim read its actions in its stance, its intent in the flicker of resolve he saw in its eyes. Bringing his shield up, Tim let go of the handle as the darjee grasped it, pulling his arm free in one smooth motion.

Seizing his blade in both hands, Tim grinned savagely at the darjee and swept his sword through the air above his shield. The tip of his blade drew a bloody line across the darjee’s throat, and his shield fell to the ground with a thud as the darjee collapsed.

Tim looked down at his sword in surprise; it felt like he’d touched on a higher standard of fighting for a moment there. The sword had felt more like an extension of his body than a weapon in his hand. All this training with Kai was really paying off.

A sudden weight struck Tim from behind as he was tackled to the ground, burning pain digging deep into his sides as sharp claws ripped into him. Twisting and thrashing to get away, Tim drove an elbow back into whatever was attacking him, causing it to grunt and loosen its grip for a moment.

Tearing himself free with a cry of agony, Tim got away from the grapple and tried to get his sword up between him and the darjee that he had just elbowed in the gut. He barely got it into place before the darjee was on him, wrestling his sword to one side and lunging forward to bite down on his shoulder.

Fresh pain ripped through Tim as the darjee’s teeth came close, far too close, to his vulnerable neck. Adrenaline coursed through his body as he fought to push the darjee away, but it was too heavy for him to move in such an awkward position.

Terror mingled with rage as Tim wrestled with the darjee, his right hand gripping the sword, his left gripping its wrist to keep the claws away.

A snarl came from off to one side, and Tim felt despair wash through him as the darjee ground its teeth deeper into his shoulder. This was it. This was how he was going to die. The new darjee would be able to just walk over and rip his throat out.

Tim stared in shock as the wolf that had been in the cage appeared in his vision, its jaws flashing down to grip the darjee by the neck and pull it away. The darjee relaxed its bite at the sudden pain, but Tim cried out as it still managed to rip away a chunk of flesh in the process.

The darjee and the wolf tussled with fast movements on the floor as Tim lumbered up off his back, sword clutched in a death-grip.

A high-pitched whimper rang out as the darjee broke free from the wolf and clawed down its side with a spray of blood. The wolf fell back for a moment, and Tim made his best attempt at a lunge. His focus was entirely on the sword’s tip as he drove it into the darjee, catching it in the chest as it turned back to finish him off.

Driving the sword deep with all his weight, Tim bore the darjee to the ground and let go of his sword as he fell on top of it, his strength failing.

The darjee was heavily wounded, but Tim lacked the strength to do anything more than hold it down. Thankfully, however, Tim wasn’t alone.

The wolf had blood matting its fur, but it limped forward and seized the darjee by the neck once more, worrying it back and forth. It was a brutal and messy kill, but in short order, Tim was free to roll off the body and try to catch his breath.

Tim could feel every burning gouge down his side and the burning pain in his shoulder where the darjee had ripped away his flesh.

The wolf hobbled over and slumped against Tim, sniffing his face before lying down by his side, clearly spent.

Tim patted his new friend on the side, thankful for its intervention in the fight. Looking at it properly, he realised he’d been wrong. The wolf’s fur wasn’t white; it was silver, something he’d never seen before.

Looking up at the blue sky above them, Tim tried his best to ignore the pain wracking his body. He’d just lie down here for a little while and then go help the fwyn. Just a little while.