Shaya and Ren ducked behind the lip of the cliff as the heads swiveled toward them, the bandit and five raptors scanning the sky where the vulture cawed. Twenty feet down the cliff, razor claws tapped and scraped against stone as the raptors paced. Booted feet scuffed or splashed as people milled about. The camp side chatter continued in low tones in the same guttural language she heard Bari speak at times.

Fearing to even exhale, the two students waited for some sign that they were – or weren’t – spotted. Each second that ticked by was an eternity, until finally Shaya tapped Ren and motioned that they should get going. No one had cried out in alarm and no Titan-infused raptor had used their unnaturally powerful looking muscles to launch twenty feet straight up into the air to land on them.

Shaya didn’t want to stick around to find out if they were even capable of that.

The two scurried away with as much stealth as their fear would allow, not wanting to be caught by the camp of bandits – or, really, cultists – while separated from the rest of the lance. Their scouting mission had been a success, assuming they hadn’t been spotted, and it was time to bring the full team in to deal with them. Shaya cursed the vulture that might have given them away, still circling lazily in the air.

They made it back to the edge of the frost-covered pine forest where they left their horses and were back to their team in short order. The group was huddled close and rubbing warmth back into their bodies despite their heavy fur cloaks, their horses picking at what little greenery they could scavenge from the forest floor. Shaya gave her lance and Bari – their supervisor – the debrief, since Ren still looked pale from what they had witnessed. With the possibility of being spotted, everyone thought hard and fast about what to do.

Shaya saw the anger smolder in Bari’s eyes as she described the cultists feeding every fiber of their wounded comrades to the Titan spawn and each other.

“If the raptors can modify their bodies the same way Una can change her polearm,” Oraeus mused, “they will be extremely deadly combatants. Capable of closing distance rapidly and threatening a large space around them.”

“This is beyond the purview of your deployment,” Bari sighed, arms crossed, “We signed you up to chase down a few bandits, not tackle a spawn-worshipping cult. I might have to deal with this myself.”

“Wait, give us a chance,” Oraeus said, drawing everyone’s attention, “I think I have a plan that could work, but we need to move fast.”

Picking up a nearby stick, he sketched out a little map of the enemy encampment in the snow. “We have to assume they’re currently packing to move camp – or will once we arrive,” Oraeus said, “this means we have to be ready for a mounted skirmish.

“We only have three combat trained riders, but the Academy’s steeds – especially the Jhagsdales – are strong enough to carry a second rider. We pair up for the assault, which leaves us ready to chase if needed. If they stay and fight, the second riders can fight as dragoons, dismounting when they get into position.”

He swept aside some underbrush, then sketched two circles into the ground and arrows that pointed them straight at the enemy encampment. “Shaya and Bri take point, with Samorn and I as passengers. Shaya protects us from arrows with a physical barrier, Bri goes in hard with blasts to shock and awe them. The raptors will be too powerful for us to fight directly and will punch through any defensive spells Shaya can cast – no offense.”

“None taken,” Shaya said, nodding along and liking what she was hearing from their team leader.

“However, spawns have minds, which means Samorn’s magic can hinder their ability to attack us and sow confusion amongst the cultists. With my foresight, I can call out if the enemy is about to commit forces or withdraw, guiding the battle that way.

“Ralus and Ren move to pincer or pursue, if the enemy chooses to flee. Ren’s shots are strong enough to punch through enhanced hide and muscle, while Ralus’ magic can cripple them physically long enough to avoid their attacks.”

The lance nodded, satisfied, and turned to Bari for her final decision.

“I like it,” Bari concluded after a moment, stringing her bow - ‘short’ to her, but easily a long bow to the average human. It was of a similar design to Ren’s, a Sillanir composite bow, but with a lot more bulk to it, even the string appearing twice as thick as what Shaya would expect. “I’ll join the pincer group and intervene if needed. I’m not Zaal, I will not watch you take stupid risks and burn yourselves out to overcome odds beyond your level, and to that end...”

There was a burst of Jade energy as Bari touched each of them and their steeds in turn. Stiff bark grew over their flesh, hardening their bodies against attack. Beyond that though, Shaya felt an almost dangerous amount of life and vigor flow into her, giving her the odd sense that her body was straining to keep it in check to avoid sprouting new limbs.

“That will provide each of you a modicum of protection against the cultists,” Bari explained, “and regenerative powers that should keep you alive should a raptor hit you. Seems only fair to balance the scales, given that you were only supposed to fight some bandits.”

“Thank you,” Oraeus said, a bit of warmth to his otherwise flat tone, “now, let’s go.”

“I think you mean,” Bri said, her tone deepening to a cool growl: “let’s ride.”

“Yes, I thought that was assumed.”

“No, you see it’s about sounding–” Bri sighed, “never mind.”

+++++

Shaya and her huge steed, Marengo, led the charge, Samorn clinging tightly to her waist. A huge, plow shaped barrier spell hovered in front of her, anchored to Marengo’s helm. Bri and Oraeus followed behind them, slightly to her right so Bri would have a clean line of fire into the enemy camp. Shaya spotted the shadows of her friends as the other three climbed the western hill she and Ren had initially scouted from.

The primal crows she had summoned cawed twice as they scouted ahead.

“The enemy is prepared for us!” Shaya shouted over the thundering hooves, “and looking to fight!”

The same rust-red vulture from before flew past them, releasing its own hoarse, raspy shriek.

In response, a volley of arrows soared towards them.

That damn bird is a familiar or creature of the cult!

Kill the vulture! She mentally commanded her pair of crows. They cackled with glee as they soared off to do her bidding.

Hail upon hail of arrows fell upon them, a discordant variety skipping off or shattering against her barrier. A few looked military grade, but most had crooked shafts and sharpened tips rather than proper bodkins. While most of the arrows didn’t even dent her barrier, the few with iron heads sent cracks spidering across it. Shaya hoped they didn’t have many more of those, since the spell was neither simple or cheap to cast at its current scale.

In the skies above, her enormous crows danced with the enemy’s vulture. Despite the skill of her summoned creatures and the vulture’s gangly appearance, it fought with surprising ferocity and skill. It escaped their attempts to pin it down and, though on the defensive, one of her crows dropped from the air suddenly, melting into the aetherplasm it was formed of in her plane of existence and leaving behind the arrow that had slain it.

That’s not in the path of the volley fire, so one of their elite archers must have picked it off. Hitting a bird mid-flight is no easy shot.

The storm of arrows grew lighter as they closed in, Shaya’s barrier hanging together by threads. She could make out the enemy camp clearly now, the tents and belongings all packed. The five Fraxraptors watched the charging horses with curiousity and hunger, each held in check by their two riders, while a dozen ragged-looking archers lined up in front of them. The riders looked to be the elites of the cult, clad in leather lamellar armour beneath their heavy cloaks and wielding actual iron weapons: the front riders with spears and the rear riders with the traditional short bows of Sillanir.

Shaya noticed why the volleys grew lighter with each moment that passed: the front line of archers looked confused as bow after bow snapped straight as its strings were cut. She could imagine Samorn’s smallfolk giggling with glee as they rushed about sabotaging the enemy weapons, but after the first few bows the runt of the Fraxraptors lunged forward and snapped its jaws over empty air.

Except it wasn’t empty – a spray of blood shot out from its mouth as its victim was crushed. The monster detecting it despite the smallfolk’s invisibility. With a flick of its tail, more blood puffed in the air where the second invisible saboteur was

“One’s coming!” Oraeus shouted.

With the taste of blood in its mouth, the faerie-eating Fraxraptor shot forward with incredible speed, nearly dumping its two surprised riders on the ground. Samorn whistled a tune and within a few seconds Shaya felt a surge of Azurite energy from behind her alongside Melody’s harp. The bloodthirsty creature suddenly veered away from them, as if distracted by something else entirely. It snapped its jaws angrily as its rider sawed at the reins to get it to turn around, all control over the beast lost.

“Why do you even carry an instrument if you can just whistle to your esper?” Shaya shouted to her passenger, readying her spear.

“The violin is a more flexible implement that can enhance different spells,” Samorn explained, “much like you favour the halberd when not stuck using a shield for our benefit.”

The archer riding the confused monster loosed an arrow as they passed Shaya’s barrier, trying to get a shot in while flanking her, but the beast’s wild movements made the attack go wide. Before they could recover, Bri juked her mount towards them and lashed out with her bastard sword. A wave of fire rushed off the end of her weapon and washed over the raptor and its riders.

The raptor snarled.

Its riders screamed.

Shaya and Bri continued the last leg of their charge, hearing splashing water behind them as the raptor and its riders dived into the river. In front of them, the cultists unleashed one last volley that still failed to break Shaya’s barrier then drew their weapons: clubs, daggers and a worn-down sword. The four raptors and their riders stood in the back, eying the battle and weighing whether or not to commit to it.

Shaya dropped her barrier as the last arrow bounced off it and finished channeling the spell she had traced on their ride forward, Jade flooding through her body and enhancing her muscles. Samorn whistled again, vigor and courage filling their minds. With a chant, Bri’s blade erupted in white hot flame that hurt to look at. Amethyst energy clung to Oraeus’ constellation-etched longsword and his eyes glowed with Sapphire light.

The speed with which the others could cast impressed Shaya, who was still lagging behind them. Samorn, Oraeus and Cyren especially, since they didn’t split their attention between spellcasting and martial skills as much as Shaya, Briariel and Ralus. The difference was becoming more and more noticeable as time went on, which Shaya guessed was fair... her spells were still more flexible at least, though she had begun passing along some of Auric’s lessons to her friends.

“They’re going to run!” Oraeus shouted with surprising volume, “Get ready to chase!”