This time, the troops were ready.

As Xerxes kicked the blanket off his legs and jumped to his feet, Bel and Gandash scrambled up as well.

The Abhorrent had approached the camp from the opposite direction, but sentries spotted her before she reached the hillside. The archers released arrows as she was climbing up. The missiles pierced her skin, and her putrescent odor spread over the camp. Before the archers could get off a second round, she met the line of heavy infantry, fully armored soldiers with spears and shields.

Her fingers, which could attack with blinding speed from any direction, were deadly. But they couldn’t penetrate armor. During the initial clash, the heavy infantry repelled her, causing her to stumble back down the slope.

After catching her footing, she came back at them with intense fury. Two soldiers fell almost simultaneously, their throats ripped out. A moment later, another dropped, screaming as he clutched his face, which had been ripped open from forehead to chin. Spindly legs physically shoved aside the spears nearest her as she slammed into the shields and tried to climb over the line of soldiers.

“Xerxes, get ready for shock fighting,” Captain Ishki cried. “Bel, have your healing spell ready. Gandash, summon help.”

“I only have one spell left….”

“NOW!”

Xerxes heard the clink of vials as Gandash pulled out another dose of blisterscale reduction. Melam flowed, and two dark portals appeared.

The Abhorrent spawn were different this time. There were no spider-like legs and pale flesh. Instead, what looked like two black eggs dropped onto the ground, covered in a thick layer of brown ooze, like tubercular mucus coughed from the lungs of a dying codger.

Another rank odor spread through the camp, similar to that from the woman, but with a mustier undertone.

As soon as the black eggs appeared, they somehow stretched in the direction of the Abhorrent woman. Now it was possible to see that they weren’t eggs, but rather, were two balls connected with a springy, putty-like tissue. One of the balls would stretch forward, slap onto the ground, and the other would flip over it. Then the stretching would occur again. In this manner, the summoned Abhorrent crossed the hilltop like nefarious inchworms.

Behind them stretched a trail of brown mucus that, after a few seconds of contact with the ground, hissed and melted into the earth, causing small clouds of steam to rise into the air.

Meanwhile, there were more shouts from the armored soldiers, who were barely fending off the Abhorrent woman. As she came to understand how armor and shields work, her attacks became more judicious. What was more, in physical terms, she was vastly stronger than even the Seers. Two more men fell.

She didn’t notice the summoned creatures until they were nearly upon her. In fact, it wasn’t until Gandash cried out, “Get the soldiers out of the way!”

The heavy infantrymen fell back, but in their confusion, they created more openings for their opponent. Three men fell. That was when the monstrous woman looked at the ball-mucus creatures and spat something in her incomprehensible language.

She backed away, but wasn’t quick enough, as one of the balls flipped over and slapped into her at the waist, just above where her host of spindly legs began.

She shrieked and slashed at the balls with fingers and legs alike. But their mucus-like coverings acted like paste or glue. And then, hissing sounds filled the air as the Abhorrent woman’s flesh began to melt from contact with the slime.

“Arrows!” Captain Ishki shouted.

The archers unleashed more henbane arrows into the woman, firing as fast as they possibly could.

The Abhorrent woman screamed and attacked the balls with renewed fury. But the sudden addition of the spawn, combined with the poison arrows, seemed too much for her. A moment later, she lost her balance and tumbled down the hill.

“More arrows!” Ishki yelled.

The archers advanced and sent additional missiles into the night.

“She’s running away!” a soldier shouted.

“Do we give chase?” another yelled.

“No!” Captain Ishki ordered. “Stand down. Form up and be ready for another attack. Sentries, keep your eyes peeled in case she comes from another direction.”

Gandash sent his summoned Abhorrent out into the night in pursuit, but Spawn Duo only lasted for a short time, whereupon the ball-like things vanished along with their caustic mucus.

Casualties were bad. The poor men whose throats had been ripped out never stood a chance. The other five who fell after them were all killed in similar ways. But the soldier with the injured face, whose name was Dagim, survived. He wouldn’t have, if Sergeant Aniskipel had been the only one present. Aniskipel was a decent surgeon, but there was only so much he could do with mundane medical supplies. Bel healed Dagim with spellcasting. After it was over, he was left with only the traumatic memory of his facial flesh and muscles being shredded.

All of the other injuries were handled by Aniskipel.

When things calmed down, Captain Ishki let half the men sleep, while the other half stood guard. She ordered the mages to get rest.

Unlike the soldiers, who seemed capable of falling into a deep sleep at a moment’s notice, regardless of the surroundings, Xerxes just couldn’t get comfortable. When he lay flat, the ground seemed to push against the small of his back. When he turned onto his side, his shoulder started getting stiff. Bel and Gandash were also tossing and turning, another distraction that made sleep impossible. But eventually, in the deep part of the night, he finally succumbed to exhaustion. He dreamed of his family, especially his mother and sister.

When Sergeant Tamharu shook his shoulder to wake him, the glow of morning was just becoming manifest through the thick cloud cover.

“Up and at ‘em, Xerk,” he said.

Ten dead. If they counted Gem, it was eleven. By any metric, the mission was an abject disaster. Furthermore, given the circumstances, it made no sense to lug the bodies along with them. Captain Ishki had them dig shallow graves at the base of the hill, which they marked with wood planks.

“We’ll come back for them later,” she said. “On my word.”

She kept Ligish and his servants bound. However, instead of sturdy manacles for the servants, she had their wrists tied with rope that could easily be cut with a blade if necessary. And she took personal responsibility for the key to the complicated contraption used to restrain Ligish.

“Will you help us fight if, it comes to that?” she asked him.

“If it means my life?” he replied. “Of course.”

After all the final preparations were made, Ishki set a grueling pace toward the capital.