“Arthur should’ve been back by now,” Erin said to the others, as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

“Serra as well,” Sigrid said, her tone grim. Erin knew what she was thinking. Serra and her people weren’t coming. Three mages who were less than a month old would be Dangole's only defenders when the Demons arrived.

[I can’t help but feel that the decision to fight in this situation is the wrong one.]

No choice.

[Of course you have a choice. You can flee, you should flee. Just like everyone else does when these things come their way. Sometimes all your options are bad.]

Erin flinched internally at the words. It was something her father had said sometimes. He had never been one to shirk at hard work or tough choices. She inhaled deeply through her nose and tried to crush down the knot that was entangling her stomach.

We just need to buy time.

“Arthur wouldn’t have run off.” Liam said as they watched the forest. “So why isn’t he here?”

Sigrid and Erin shared a look. It was true, the prince had never shied away from a fight. When they’d first met him, it had been during a battle where’d he plunged into the middle of a monster horde just to talk to them.

Just then, Kiran arrived, trailing a half-dozen Monster Hunters in their leather armor, carrying short spears and wooden shields. They seemed like tin soldiers to her, when she thought about the oppressive magic that radiated from the demons that were wandering in their direction.

“Kiran.” Sigrid said, giving him a nod as he jogged up to the group. Erin drummed her fingers on her hip, trying to keep her hands from trembling. The Monster Hunter returned the nod and moved to stand next to Erin.

“Where’s the prince?” He asked, none of the usual scorn in his tone. She looked and saw his face was pale under his helmet, and he had a white knuckle grip on the spear in his hand.

“I don’t know,” she said softly. “He should’ve been back by now.”

“You don’t think he ran away?” Kiran asked, and he even sounded doubtful. She shook her head and he sighed.

“Then something happened to him.” He slipped the wooden shield from his arm and held it out to her in both hands. “Can you hang on to this for me? I’ll be faster without it.” Erin took the shield, depositing it into her inventory, and he nodded his thanks. The spear in his hand collapsed into a small cylindrical piece of metal that he tucked into his belt. The artifact weapon she had given him when they’d gone scouting for qek together a week ago. With the battle in between, it felt like it had been years.

He gave her a nod and ran back toward the town gate, out of which villagers had already begun to funnel, moving southward along the road, and no small part of Erin found herself wishing they too were evacuating. She took a steadying breath and turned to face the forest from which the demons would emerge.

Sometimes all your options are bad.

Arthur moved through the makeshift camp where the visiting Mages had taken up residence. It had become a ghost town. The bald, amber colored Mages, in their dark brown robes could often be seen speaking with villagers among their tents, or helping out with one project or another. Now the camp stood empty, abandoned. This in itself wasn’t surprising. There were better places to be after all, but the young prince hadn’t passed any of the Mages heading for the gate.

When he’d asked after the dozen men who’d accompanied him as bodyguards, he’d been directed to their section of camp, but as he stood along among the tents, he couldn’t help but feel he’d been led astray. Then a voice touched his ears. He cocked his head towards the sound, trying to pinpoint the direction. Slowly he moved towards it. The cold tingle of magic rolled across his skin as he approached. One of the resident Mages working one spell or another. Determined to ask where he might find his men, he continued to approach. Pausing just outside the tent door as the voice spoke again. This time he recognized it as Serra’s and she sounded like… she was begging.

“Please master, they wouldn’t listen to me. They underestimate the danger.”

“Again and again you make excuses.” spoke another voice, and Arthur shivered at the sound. It was low, and malevolent.

“I could not force them to retreat,” She said, her tone still pleading. “If we don’t do something the Dragon Bloods Mage will be killed.” A short silence followed before the malevolent voice spoke again.

“Take your creatures and kill her friend. I will retrieve the other one personally.”

Kill?

The word hit Arthur like a blow to the gut. He wasn’t sure what they were talking about, or what a Dragon Blood Mage was, but he’d seen Sigrid's slit pupils, with the iris that changed colors. Were they talking about Erin and Sigrid?

“If we kill Erin in front of her, then she’ll never join us.” Serra said, her voice tight.

“Silence,” the voice snapped. “It is clear to me that this situation has spiraled out of your control. She will be made to serve and I will hear now more of your pathetic mewling. Kill her friend and….” The voice trailed off, and Arthur gripped his sword.

So there it was, the truth. These Mages had come here for Sigrid, and just Sigrid it seemed. Suddenly a wave of magic rolled out of the tent, and hammered into Arthur like a physical blow, forcing him to take a step back to stay on his feet.

“Well Serra, you disappoint me again. It seems you have company that managed to go undetected in your very own camp.” The sound of footsteps rapidly approaching the tent flap forced Arthur to scurry back and draw his sword. Magic quickly came to saturate the air and by the time Serra threw back the tent's hanging door, her skin was alive with black runes, and her eyes radiated blue light. Arthur steeled himself against her aura of power and leveled his magical blade at her chest, sinking into a sword stance.

“Ah,” she said with a sneer. “The little prince far from home. I had hoped to avoid killing you. Your father will certainly look into what happened, but you can’t be allowed to live now.” As she spoke, the amber color that saturated her skin was flaking away, revealing the pale white beneath. Then, as if to complete the sinister picture, two large qek stepped clear of the tent, one on either side of her. The creatures were large, ghostly pale and their eyes shone with blue light. The uncanny resemblance the three shared was not lost on Arthur.

He let the power of the sword filter into him, filling him with strength. Making him feel powerful. He dug his toes into the soil, bending his knees slightly as he settled into a stance, easily finding his balance.

“Come then Mage,” He said smoothly, “You and your pets. Come die to the Second Prince of Strath so that my people can call me Mage Slayer as well.” Then they both struck.

An explosion rocked the village as Kiran ran down the center street. The shockwave rippled through the buildings, passing over him as a strong gust of air. He turned toward the source, and then another explosion followed, and then a flash of silver light. Kiran had seen the power of Arthur's sword enough times to recognize his attacks, and judging by the preceding explosion. The Prince was in a fight. Kiran took off at a dead sprint, weaving between buildings, and vaulting wooden fences as he caught across yards, and ahead the flashes of light and explosions continued.

Kiran had lived most of his life in this village, and he navigated it with the ease of a life spent within its walls. It didn’t take him long to arrive at the site of the conflict. The open area that the Mages had claimed as their camp after the battle. Now it looked like a whole new battle had raged across it, with tents scattered and aflame, scorch marks on the ground. Could the demons have come at them from another side? Snuck over the walls and found the prince by chance, here among Serra’s people. Kiran’s stomach sank as he moved between tents, towards the sounds of fighting. A part of him knew that it wasn’t the demons. It simply wasn’t possible. He could feel magic in the air, but it wasn’t nearly potent enough to belong to them. Which left no options beyond Serra and her Mages. So Kiran wasn’t surprised when they came into view. The Mage and the Prince both looked a little worse for wear. Dirt and smoke covered both of them, and Serra was bleeding from a large wound on her left arm, which dangled at her side, but even as he approached, he could see the pale flesh knitting at either end. Her Magic healing the wound.

Arthur was bleeding from a dozen small injuries, and blood covered half his face, trickling down from a wound in his scalp. What did surprise Kiran was the Qek. Two pale monstrosities flanked Serra as she faced Arthur. One of them looked to be barely alive, he was slowly sagging toward the ground, with an entire arm and a large part of his chest missing, black blood spurting into the air from arteries. Even as Kiran watched the beast toppled.

Silently, Kiran slipped the metal spear from his belt and moved low to the ground, taking quick steps. With a thought, the cylinder sprang into a length of metal, and as if sensing his desire for stealth, it did so smoothly, without the hint of a sound.

It looked as if Serra were preparing to say something to Arthur, he mouth pulled up to one side in a sneer, her good held in front of her, a finger directed toward the prince's chest, but before the words could leave her mouth, Kiran struck.

His spear exploded through the second qeks chest as he impaled it from behind. The creature screamed and its large clawed hands tried to grip the shaft of metal slick with its blood, but Kiran yanked the weapon back and turned on Serra, leveling the weapon at her.

The Mage spun toward him, her arm swinging around to aim at his chest instead. Arthur struck as she took her eyes off him, but Kiran knew it wouldn’t reach her in time to stop her spell, and part of him was suddenly astounded at his own stupidity. Perhaps it was a life hunting monsters, an unwillingness to kill a person, or a deep seated fear of Mages, but now that he was staring her in the face he realized he had erred in killing the qek instead of her when he had the chance.

He felt the spell first, the shockwave slamming into him like an avalanche. Light flashed inside his skull followed by the sound of rushing air, like a thousand hurricanes in his ears and then darkness.