Just like their surroundings changed before that apparition, they were surrounded by elthean, who looked like fat jelly bean ghosts. Finnian could almost add fluffy, with blue, violet, green and yellow tones that multiplied so fast that they could not count them. Would it be an Ariel trap? Or perhaps the Eroder had changed how to deal with them and returned to finish the job? Whatever it was, they wouldn’t be able to find out if they were defeated. As soon as they were ambushed, Blanche backed away, getting right behind him as she hugged her partner.

“You won’t be scared, too. Will you?” Rune said, throwing a quick look at them.

“They don’t know what we’re capable of,” Leith said, bowing out the muzzle.

“We’ll beat them and send them directly to where they belong,” Aer exclaimed, clashing his fists.

They were in this together, and it wouldn’t be the last occasion where they would have to fight instead of hiding. Reacting to the situation or perhaps instinctively, Finnian’s pendant gleamed, answering his call. The three eltheans were wrapped in light, instantly changing form, as ready as he was to fight. Then, the one who used him as a human shield took a step back, carefully watching that show.

“The three… the three have evolved. How is that even possible? Signers are supposed to have no more than one partner,” Blanche said suddenly, just holding her breath.

“He is not a regular Signer”, Aer exclaimed in his angel form, throwing them a smile as he invoked his golden staff.

The ghosts attacked, rushing to them as if they wanted to crush or drown them with their sweetness. Some expelled projectiles from their mouth, while others threw ectoplasm balls of different colours, although they did not reach them. Leith’s fire destroyed them instantly; Rune deflected them with her wings and beat them with her big horns, creating a show too similar to the fireworks that would have stunned them in any other situation.

Being just so close to the fight would have in the past made his senses overloaded with every change, but he felt in tune with what they did. Perhaps Finnian could not follow closely every change that happened around him, but he would not end blacking out. The bad thing? Well... He soon concluded that others took their place no matter how many they destroyed. Detached from their equivalents, they multiplied faster than they were extinguishing with them, and even their attacks began to approach Blanche and him more often than they would have liked.

“I can produce a small shield, although I don’t know if it would hold up too long,” Blanche whispered.

“Keep your strength. Leave this to us,” Finnian said, raising his thumb decisively.

He then directed the same hand toward the waist, right on the belt where he had hooked the cane Lelile gave him. At first sight he was hidden by his jacket, but it was enough to pull him out to expand, becoming something more than a support. On several occasions, he had seen Aer fighting with such a weapon and remembered how to grab it and move, but not enough to fight with the others.

“You haven’t wasted time since you showed up here, from what I see,” Blanche said.

“We really need to catch up,” Finnian said, uttering a slight smile.

He was unaware of how much she would have had to pass to get there, although he did not doubt it was as dangerous as his journey. The threat around them spread as the minutes passed. Aer used his rod to divert the ectoplasm shots, just as Leith spitfire or Rune made her feathers dance to prevent them from being hit. However, even when Finnian had joined the fight to defend himself, it allowed them to move with more freedom by not focusing exclusively on protection. He might not be a master of using a cane to reflect the projectiles, but in most cases, it was enough to use it as a racket to prevent them from making a nice hole in the torso. But the number increased wherever they were defeated, although the only exception was the angel. His golden energy seemed to be able to extinguish his existence altogether.

“Why only him and not the others?” Finnian murmured.

Fire, air, light. Although magic was limited to energy, to manipulating and shaping it in different ways and with varied methods, logic told him that the sacred power of an angel should be fundamental in that battle. However, it was one in front of many, and unless he thought something quickly, to know what the result would be.

A new round of projectiles went straight to them. His partners would have come to protect them at any other time, but both had the assurance that it would not be necessary on that occasion. Using both hands to spin his staff, a front barrier appeared that barely covered him and Blanche. He gritted his teeth, feeling each blow detract from his effectiveness and snatch energy. Then, before receiving the last one, he traced a slash in the air that fragmented the shield, turning into a shower of needles that exploded those that focused on them.

“Finnian? I know you can hear me. Don’t try to do anything that sparks too much interest in yourself.”

Ead’s voice was unmistakable, even though it was from mind to mind. The tiny hummingbird was by his side without losing sight of the battle, making that conversation go unnoticed by anyone who couldn’t hear them.

“Why not?”

“Trust us,” Ead said. “You have created that barrier, and their magic has been focused on you.”

“I see something else behind all this,” Leith added.

A force. Those were not normal elthean, but something that another had summoned to attack them. They did not know the motive, but the opposite effect could also happen if the magic made them appear.

“What happens? You have shut yourself up suddenly,” said Blanche, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Is it that in the end, the number doesn’t make you stronger?”

“Think what you want. I have faith in them, just as they have it in me,” said Finnian.

Moreover, it was not the time or place to explain when he should find solutions. Find who had initiated that, whatever it was, because now that the ghosts numbers were more significant than before, they had ended up cornered. They could not continue to extinguish a few if they wanted to survive. After inspiring, he hit the ground with his staff, looking to scan the area beyond where they were and perceiving the core of where that sweet madness emanated. Then he touched the mind of his partners with an idea to put into motion.

“Aer, raise your sword. Rune, Leith, concentrate your attacks on the blade.”

Even when he perceived doubts, they acted at the same time. The angel’s staff disappeared in a flash, and a sword arose. The brightness of this one blew them for an instant, and then it was surrounded by a flare and burst of wind. The blade acquired a bright green tone, reflecting the combined power. Aer threw several slashes, then hammered it to the ground. The expansive wave, a mixture of fire, air, and light, impacted all the ghosts around them, causing them to fade in the act. It was then that, at a reasonable distance, a hooded figure observed the whole battle. It had to be its work.

Leith stood before them while Aer and Rune went direct. That may stop if they managed to attack that elthean or get close enough to lose concentration. The ghosts did not take long to return, multiplying to stop them. However, a mighty howling flooded the sky before they shortened distances.

Then, the sound of multiple footsteps and grunts shook his ears and then saw with his own eyes how that pack was thrown against the ghosts. It might be because of their number or the ferocity they fought with, but they didn’t take long to frighten that mysterious hooded.

“We should leave,” Rune suggested, standing next to them on the ground.

“I do not intend to find out the intentions of this herd. Better be careful,” Aer said.

“Maybe it’s a little late to leave, don’t you believe?” Finnian said, pointing out the obvious. “I hope they don’t try to eat us… again.”

But neither did they have time for that, as a considerable number of wolves were placed in a semicircle, watching them cautiously. It wasn’t the first time they looked cornered, but never for the whole herd. Finnian grabbed his chest when he felt pressure on him. His partners were still at the Champion level, but that feeling was not about maintaining that form, but because he perceived “something” different from them all. He never knew what was going to happen. However, that tension broke when wolves let go of a new one. More significant than the previous ones, his orange fur was tight, abundant and wild, accompanied by substantial blue eyes radiating more ferocity than its followers.

“On the contrary, you are not our type of meal.”

Her voice, far from being severe, offered a pleasant tone to be a wolf who waited for the reaction they might have. Whatever it was.

“That’s good. Better avoid unnecessary fighting, right?” Finnian said, smiling and raising both eyebrows, still holding his staff. “They still had to determine whether they could relax or not.”

“And I don’t think we have a good taste,” Aer added with a half-smile as well.

“I don’t question it,” the wolf answered.

“Why did you help us?” Rune said without turning away the slightest from them.

“Why shouldn’t we help Signers when they need it most?”

Who had expected a she-wolf and herd to be so diplomatic?