I saw the cacophony of gray energy from the Wultr and the sparkling greens from the fae as they began pouring over the top of the mountains.

The night seemed to still, a moment of silence, the troops below unaware of what was developing. Then a cry of alarm went up.

I saw a portal spring up from the silver line of energy that marked Justice's people, but it was too far away to do anything about.

I was under no illusion that was someone heading off to tell the rest of their army on the northern side of the mountain that Wind of the Wild was attempting to escape.

Sania and I soared down toward the rear of their line. Invisible in the night sky, or at least that was my hope. The fact that everyone was looking up into the mountains helped a lot, too.

As we neared the back of their lines, I saw a portal was swirling into existence. Still a fair distance away, I found I still couldn’t affect it. The portal, instead of blinking out, appeared to be growing even larger. For a moment, I thought I had caused the change, but the reality of the situation clicked into place. They were making a portal to bring the army through in force.

“I need to get closer,” I said to Sania. “Cover me as best you can.”

There was no need to check if she heard as I sped off toward the portal. She followed without hesitation, flying higher, and a little way behind me.

No one noticed my presence until I slowed to focus on dismissing the giant portal.

Soldiers had already begun filing through as I snapped it shut. Many cut in half or losing a limb in the process.

A firework display soon followed as a hail of Silver energy was fired at me, interspersed with the gold of the hunters' flames that Sania could provide.

As I pushed higher, looping back away from the mountains, forming an ethereal bullet, while keeping one eye on Sania as she attempted to move back to safety.

My instinct proved right as a portal opened up next to her. I was still too far away to dismiss it, but not too far to send the marble sized projectile into his rib cage, as he raised his arm to attack her.

She’d noticed his appearance a moment after I had, and cast a Hunter's flame into his stunned face. The combo bringing him to a definite end.

“Do you think they’ll try again with the larger portal?” she asked as we approached each other.

“I don’t know,” I said watching the line of Justice’s troops moving toward the escaping Wultr and fae. We can help from up here. Now our cover is blown,” I said, choosing to unleash a barrage of dark spicy balls. I didn’t know how the battle would go, and I didn’t want to use up my Ethereal energy early on. That, and the dark Neuma was invisible in the night sky and caused a substantial amount of damage to the light aligned troops.

As we followed, I saw something of deep concern. Around twenty paladins in the air and one single green light, flitting about at a remarkable speed, but nonetheless overwhelmed.

“Olata!” I hissed. “We need to help her.”

Shooting off toward the battle, Sania right by my side, we saw the remarkable fairy queen was unable to fight back with the overwhelming numbers of paladins. All she could do was to desperately survive their attacks and lead them away from her less evolved charges who hid below in the rocks.

I began using Ethereal bullets again. Alternating with the dark spicy balls, so I could unload as much power in as short a time as possible.

Screaming in rage I closed the distance sending the Paladins into disarray. In my eagerness to help our friend, I overshot and ended up right in the middle of the group. Instinctively, I called my cleaver into my demon hand and let the Neuma from my dark meridian flow into it. While using my right arm with the Immortal Shell, as a shield.

Four had dropped from my initial attack, and another fell to a cleaver hack that glanced from a pauldron and deep into a neck, followed by a bone crunching right hook that finished the deed.

With our aid, Olata’s movements turned instantly more deadly. An aerial dance of death, killing Paladins quicker than I was able.

My attention was pulled to the side, despite the battle we were embroiled in. Another portal forming, soldiers darting out. I swerved away from the battle. Trusting Sania and Olata to finish up the last of those Paladins and swept down toward the new portal. By the time I’d dismissed it, there were ever more much smaller ones opening up. Far too many for me to reach, as the incoming Paladins flew through the swirling circles as fast as they could. Desperate to avoid any divisive moves from me.

Dismissing those I could, I also used the neuma manipulation skill to destroy a Flame of Justice. It was the first time I’d done more than manipulate shields and specific wave skills. With the volume of attacks now coming in my direction, the ability to nullify them, was a godsend. The Paladins chose to avoid me as best as they could to focus on the Wultr below, which meant I could focus on my portal removal services again. Slowly moving back to Sania and Olata they helped cover my blind spots as I worked.

Slowly but surely, we were breaking free of the mountains. Justices forces in disarray with the speed and savagery of the Wultr. I caught my first sight of the Amaroks of Wind’s pack. Leading the charge, they were. Fifty foot tall at least, and despite those paladins who could take their eighty feet tall Nephilim form, it wasn’t enough to deal with what was coming their way.

I hammered the frontline with projectiles as best I could, around the spearhead of the Wultr lines, led by Wind of the wild.

Seeing a fifty-foot wolf tearing the throat from an 80-foot-tall Human, was a special sight.

“More coming from the pass!” Sania said.

“I have been waiting for that,” Olata said, and conjured a fluorescent green shield over the main crush of troops charging through the pass.

The result was instant, stopping their forces from coming any further.

“Shit,” I hissed, seeing a problem.

“Wind of the Wilds, Wultr had broken through the lines, but instead of running to freedom they seemed more interested in fighting. Led by him no-less.

As the Fae queen and Sanai followed my gaze, they saw the issue, too.

“Olata, you need to get your people out of here, now,” I snapped. “We’re far to the east at the end of the range. Should be easy enough to find.

“We must help Wind of the Wild,” she replied.

I shook my head. “Your people are too vulnerable. Save them, and I’ll see to the Wultr.”

She gave me a long, questioning look before a curt nod. “I trust you, and thank you, Clive.”

Sania and I moved down to where Wind fought with a team of wolves around him and while it was strange to see him fighting with members of his pack, it was clear they were a seamless team.

“Wind!” I yelled. “I need you to move east now, before any more of the bastards come through. I can’t keep holding them!”

He clearly didn’t want to and with his blood lust up, he was killing with relish. An image of him when we first met popped into my mind. All calm and serene, pretending like he was the damn wolf Buddha when really, he was a battle crazed wolf berserker.

“I’m serious you knobhead! We need to fucking run or we're all gonna die!”

His dangerous eyes flickered toward me like he wanted to do very bad things and he offered no response. But after a drawn out moment he howled, then moved to break free of the crush.

Because of the position the Wultr had put themselves in by continuing to attack, I could see it was going to be costly for them to break free. Now it would fall to Sania and me to help extricate them as much as we could. Together we focused on picking off the more dangerous looking soldiers that moved to cut off their escape.

Unfortunately, a safe distance away, another group of Paladins arrived through a portal. Once through, they headed after me, stopping short to unleash their powers on us.

Their tactic became clear instantly as they focused entirely on Sania.

They weren’t close enough to cause any real trouble at first. But as more and more began to arrive, shielded from my manipulation by those already throwing their onslaught at Sania, it was time for us to retreat. Below, the wolves had broken free, and we moved after them quickly. Justice in eager pursuit.

“Danivra! Now would be a good time to give everyone those Multi-Fit drinks. I reckon we’ll be back with you in less than an hour. We’re moving fast.

“Of course. How did the escape go?”

“Everyone’s through their lines, though Justice are following and growing in number by the minute.”

“That is not a surprise. I imagine both the Fae and the Wultr can outpace all but the Paladins. Do we intend to keep running or fighting?”

“I don’t know yet. We’ll see what they do. I’ll let you know their numbers and attitude a little while before we reach you.”

“We will be ready for anything,” Danivra promised.

Within another five minutes, there were now over one hundred Paladins following us in a line, hurling power at both Sania and me.

“I need to lead them away from you all, Sania. I want to drop down with the Wultr and get you in among them, then I can take off and lead these fuckers a merry dance without them trying to take you out to get to me.”

I felt her irritation over the bond and quickly attempted to smooth out what I’d said, but she stopped me.

“Don’t feel bad. You are faster and have far more abilities to survive. I will catch up in power somehow, but right now, go. Do what you need to do, and I will run with the pack. Now fly over to those foothills,” she said, pointing to an area of slightly higher ridges. I should be able to hide my transformation among them.”

We did as Sania suggested and as we flew low behind the ridge, she dropped over twenty feet to the ground while morphing into her wolf form. Her forward momentum meant she landed in a run where she was able to merge seamlessly into the escaping pack.

Firing wildly as I went, to give myself some time and space, I shot back up into the sky to draw their fire away from the Wultr. The tactic worked as most of those who had chased us, followed my ascent, firing back.

When half a dozen portals sprung up around me, I thought Justice had lost damn minds. They knew better than that.

Yet as I dismissed them one of the portals was successful in its intent. Which was to deliver a gift in the shape of three Flames of Justice. I managed to dismiss one, but the other two hit me.

I was okay from the attacks, but the distraction had cost me and now around twelve portals appeared all around, attacks coming through each of them. Bastards are catching on quick, I thought. Grimacing, I worked relentlessly to dismiss attacks and portals, until a sneaky null spell snuck through, wrapping around me and switching off my neuma abilities like a light.

Suddenly, I was plummeting. Mind racing for options. Something caught my attention in the darkness, that I hadn’t noticed before. Be it from my Singularity increases or because of the low light, I could see an incredibly faint silver glow that coated my full body.

I tried using manipulate, to break the spell down and had to stifle a roar of victory laughter as their strongest weapon so far against me became useless. Those who thought they were witnesses to my demise, continued to throw down bolts of power at me. It was with great satisfaction that I took off once more, avoiding most of their attacks and returning a quickfire volley of my own.

Having seen me shake off all of their blasts, kill a number of them and then remove the null spell, the useless bastards completely chickened out and offered only the most half-arsed of attempts to catch me again.

As I flew away, barely troubled, I watched as the ground troops were completely outpaced by the Wultr and Fae.

Sania took the opportunity to fly back up and join me, a slight smile on her face.

“Did you enjoy that?”

I grinned back. “I don’t want to say, because sod’s law, something bad’ll happen.”

“What’s sod’s law?”

“Basically, don’t celebrate a positive because something will go horribly wrong minutes later. Like saying, isn’t the traffic running well! You just know that round the next corner there’s gonna be a damn traffic jam.”

“Ah, I see,” she replied, nodding. “What’s traffic?”

“Honestly, I think the moments gone now, Sania. Let’s just say yes, I enjoyed beating them, and all of their fancy powers.”

She nodded content as we flew away from the battle. Until a silver portal began opening up in front of us. It was slightly different to what I was used to, with crackling red energy running through it. Mildly interested, I was also wary of an attack being sent through, so I dismissed it. Or at least I attempted to dismiss it.

My power for some reason didn’t work on its structure and the portal continued to grow. “We better move. I can’t get rid of it!” I shouted.

As we cleared the area, I saw three Nephilim fly through at their full size. The first among them had a glowing Silver Identifier.

Caana MonDelosha: Level ??? Champion of Justice. Nephilim (Human III)

“Well shit. I knew I should've kept my goddamn mouth shut.”