Muttering curses, he continued running. He couldn’t help but think back to their training at the Academy.

In a lecture, Mystic Aban Saddi had said, “Balatu mages need to be protected at all costs during combat. Other mages and soldiers can sustain all sorts of grievous injuries, but as long as your Balatu mage is there to heal them, you can afford that. If your Balatu mage is struck down, though, it can spell doom for all.”

Why did Tamharu have Bel right up front? Xerxes thought. This is all his fault.

Leaping off of a rather large boulder and onto a stretch of flat earth, he gritted his teeth. No use casting blame. I could have reminded him to keep Bel safer. Maybe I’m the one to blame.

The trip which had taken an hour via walking barely took a minute of top-speed running for a Seer.

Up ahead, Xerxes caught sight of the camp, framed against a deep blue sky that was rapidly turning violet as the sun set behind him. He noticed two soldiers standing apart from the others, obviously the sentries. Thankfully, the sentries noticed him coming before he zoomed into the camp area, bringing a cloud of dust with him.

“SURGEON!” Xerxes shouted, bounding toward the captain’s campfire.

More shouts rose up in the camp, and he heard Gandash’s voice among them. There wasn’t time to respond. Even as Captain Ishki rose to her feet, a look of alarm on her face, Xerxes lay Bel down carefully next to the fire.

“What—?” the captain said, but Xerxes cut her off.

“Abhorrent,” he said. “That meteor had an Abhorrent in it, and it attacked us.” Leaning over Bel, he found one of the spots where the tentacular fingers had stabbed into her. It wasn’t difficult to identify such locations, as they were soaked in blood. At the same time, they were smeared with semi-translucent slime that reeked of Abhorrent.

The captain was now leaning over Bel. “You’re certain it was an Abhorrent? Was it summoned? Could it be a rogue mage?”

“Not summoned,” Xerxes said. “At least it doesn’t seem like it. Rihan is dead. So’s Tekinalp. Then Bel got hurt and Tamharu told me to bring her back. He’s behind me with Ap and Goran.”

“What happened!” Gandash said, pushing his way through the small crowd that was already forming. “Bel? Bel!”

“She’s hurt but she’s breathing,” Xerxes said. “BEL!” He put his hands on her shoulders and shook her gently. There was no response. “Where the fuck is Aniskipel?”

“‘Ere! I’m ‘ere! What ‘appened?”

“She has wounds here, here, and here,” Xerxes said, pointing out the areas. “There are two more. Can’t you just wake her up? Once she’s awake she can heal herself.”

Aniskipel dropped his medical bag onto the ground next to him, opened it, and pulled out a wrapped package. “Smelling salts might do the trick.”

At the same time, Captain Ishki rose to her feet. “Everybody but Aniskipel, form up. That includes both Seers.”

“Captain,” Gandash protested, “I—”

“It wasn’t a suggestion!” the captain shouted. “You’ll be our most powerful weapon if we’re really dealing with an Abhorrent. Now go get ready. And while you’re at it, have Seer Xerxes explain what he saw. See if you can tell us anything about this specific abhorrent. Strengths. Weaknesses.”

“Yes sir.”

Xerxes followed Gandash back to their belongings. Gandash grabbed his knife and put it on his belt, then checked his component pouch, which was already tied to his waist. Xerxes opened his traveling pack and rooted inside to find the large jar of crabnickel powder tucked in its depths.

“She’ll pull through, Gandy,” he said. “I can feel it.”

When Gandash didn’t respond, Xerxes looked over and saw tears glistening on his friend’s cheeks. He looked away. Having found his jar of powder, he pulled it out and made sure his component pouch was topped off. Then he started putting on some of the bits of armor he had at his disposal, including bracers, a padded jacket, and shin guards.

“So, tell me what you saw,” Gandash said. “What did it look like?”

“It was big, but not that big. It had a human torso and legs sort of like the spawn you summoned. And its fingers could stretch really long, and move as fast as arrows.”

“It could be a more mature version of the kind I summoned, but I’m not sure. The stretching fingers were some sort of magical power. That means it’s beyond the spawn level. It’s at least a juvenile. Given the size, though, it’s got to be on the lower end of juveniles.”

“Okay, what does that mean?”

“It means… we might not be totally outclassed.” He was now strapping a knife to his belt. “The strongest and oldest juveniles are going to be larger than the one you described. And they manifest two magical powers. If we were up against something like that, we wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Gandash’s words caused hope to flicker in the back of his mind. “You should probably tell the captain.”

“Yeah.”

After equipping themselves, they did just that.

Less than fifteen minutes had passed since Xerxes returned to the camp.

Just as Gandash finished telling the captain what he knew about Abhorrent, a shout from the edge of camp drew their attention.

“It’s Sergeant Tam!” a soldier shouted. “‘E’s back with Ap and Goran.”

Xerxes and Gandash joined the captain as she hurried over the ridge. Sure enough, off in the distance, they saw three shapes hurrying toward them.

“Good,” Xerxes murmured. “They all made it. I knew they would.”

More soldiers gathered on the ridgeline to watch their three fellows hurrying toward them, with the backdrop of a beautiful sunset behind them.

“Archers, pull arrows and apply golden henbane,” Captain Ishki called.

Xerxes glanced at the line of soldiers and saw several of them with bows, who were now pulling out arrows, as well as small vials filled with a yellowing paste. Golden henbane was a common medicinal substance that, if reduced properly, became very toxic.

Xerxes looked back at Sergeant Tamharu and the others running toward the camp.

Why did she have them apply the poison? he thought. Did she see something? As far as he could tell, there was no sign Tamharu and the others were being pursued.

“Seer Gandash,” the captain continued, “be ready for spellcasting, but wait for my mark. Seer Xerxes, if any fighting breaks out, I want you standing guard over Seer Bel and Sergeant Aniskipel. We need her awake and ready for spellcasting as soon as possible.”

“Yes, sir,” he said. His hands clenched into fists as he watched the three soldiers making their run. They were now so close that they had to be only about two minutes from the ridge. They were definitely going to make it.

That was when he noticed movement among the distant trees.