The ground shook as Sarirrva crashed into the ground. What happened? I didn’t see a spell hit her or anything, she just went limp and plummeted like a stone. A few moments later, she rose from the ground. Her broken wings mending at an absurd speed. What was going on?

The nearby people surged in to attack, but their gear didn’t even scratch her scales. No surprise there. You would need some serious weapons or tools to even scratch dragon scale. Mass-produced steel weapons of middling quality like these guys were using? Not a chance.

As I dodged a strike at my left shoulder and retaliated with a flaming fist of my own, I noticed Sarirrva rear up and unleash a torrent of green fire. It blasted from her mouth and covered almost the entire distance between her and the camp wall. The flames only petered out as it hit the water and created a huge steam cloud and caused the water to boil as it did.

A potent reminder of Sarirrva’s true power if there ever was one. Despite this display of power, the attackers continued their fruitless assault on her, undaunted by their inability to inflict any damage. Not that any damage would last from what I saw of her wings after the crash. She crushed one of them underneath her as she landed, yet it healed within moments. If I didn’t know better, I would say her healing was on par with uncles. Wait, where was uncle Moor, anyway?

I wanted to look around, but yet another helping of attackers stopped that almost as soon as I tried. It would be so much easier if I could just unleash the full power of my gauntlets. However, that would kill or injure anyone close by, friend or foe. I now understood what uncle meant about feeling like he was a giant in a glass house, when I asked how it was like to fight in a group of adventurers.

Sure, your power could deal with the encounter with little effort, but doing so would also destroy your friends and allies, preventing you from just unleashing your full potential. It was frustrating. Giant in a glass house indeed. A single mistake and everything would break. The only way I could direct my attacks without fear of hitting friendlies was over the wall, but because of the sheer number of attackers I did not have the luxury of doing such.

It would leave me exposed by the enemies on the wall, which, despite our best effort we were only keeping at bay by the skin of our teeth. However, we were in trouble. The healing potions were keeping us in the fight for now, but once they ran out we would start taking losses. Losses we, in difference from our opponent, could not afford.

They were simply throwing their numbers at us, with no regard for their own life, and relying on that alone to weaken and exhaust us for a killing blow. Dad told me that the Duergar settlers ran afoul of a colony of Fire Ants living deeper down in the mountain home a few months after settling there. It took them months to get rid of them. Was this what it was like. Just a constant flow of attackers with no regard for their own safety?

I did not like that idea. Even less since I knew I could have been among them. Attacking this place without a single regard for my safety, at the behest of a monster that would take everything you were and twist it into mindless obedience. The very thought made me feel the urge to throw up. For now, however, there was nothing to do but to continue to fight and hope for the best.

A sudden quake shook me out of my thoughts. The entire wall rocked back and worth from… something. I kept my footing with some difficulty, but the enemy seemed to have expected it, for they were on me in an instant. Four of them flung themselves on me from atop the ladders, pinning me. A fifth walked up, holding something in his hands. “Rejoice, child. For the Mistress has decreed you are to be taken alive.” Before I could process his words, he swung at me and a sharp pain exploded on the left side of my head as everything went black.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I saw it by mere chance as I was coming out with the latest batch of potions. Ashes was jumped by four people at once. What’s worse because the sudden quake sent her off balance, she wasn’t able to shake them off. That didn’t mean she made it easy for them. I could see all four struggle to keep her contained. A fifth walked up and began speaking, before slamming Ashes in the head with something. I didn’t see what, but Ashes collapsed like a sack of coal from the blow.

By then I was sprinting towards them, no way I was letting them take Ashes. Not again. The four began pulling Ashes towards the wall, intent of carrying her away. I tried calling out to Granite, but he couldn’t hear me over the din of battle. I couldn’t see Moor anywhere either. No, no, no, no, no! I didn’t even realize what I did, as I pulled my small mace and slammed it into the kneecap of the one who hit Ashes.

Oh, how he howled. That got their attention. The four who were dragging ashes dropped her and pulled their swords. Behind them, their friends picked her up and began pulling her away. “Get your hands off her!” They didn’t respond, but advanced on me. I knew I was outmatched, since I wasn’t a trained warrior. I was taught the obligatory basics, but never joined the voluntary training like Ashes did.

But I would not let them take Ashes without a fight. I finished the one I injured with a crushing blow to the head. Now I could focus on the other four, and their friends who were coming over the wall behind them. They advanced as one. There was no way I could block all of them.

I barely dodged the first attack, sending me sprawling to the ground. Before I could get my feet under me, I was forced to block the second attack. I did so an inch from my face. The third attack was aimed at my mace, and it was torn from my grasp. The fourth attack was incoming, and I couldn’t dodge, nor possessed a weapon to block with. I was doomed, and I knew it.

Without thinking, words rose in my throat, prompted by something I couldn’t process. “Custos Astra!” A searing heat rose from my ring, but it didn’t hurt. It felt pleasant. I could only tell it was searing because the stone underneath my hand was rapidly turning orange. The stalactites underneath the ring melted away, and the attack was halted, followed by a horrible scream of pain.

The attack hit a thin translucent barrier of molten stone. It was unyielding to the strike and splashed them with a wave of molten rock in retaliation. But that wasn’t all. I spoke the full command word, and something terrible was approaching. Something unstoppable. I could feel it, as it rose from the molten stone beneath me. It was a creature created from molten stone, with a form that could be seen as a cross between a tidal wave of lave and vaguely humanoid. The heat that emanated from it was enough to set the soaked clothes of the attackers ablaze within moments.

It let out a scream that sounded like a blazing inferno, then charged the nearest attacker, who ignited before it even made contact. It didn’t kill her, as much as it vaporized her by proximity. The attackers just kept coming. But the creature didn’t stop. Everyone who came over the wall within five meters of me ignited, while those within two vanished with a *VOOSH* of fire, hot air and blood-red steam. Did Ashes create this thing? If so, how did she store it within the ring?

Wait, Ashes… Where were Ashes?! I got to my feet, only to stumble. Ugh, not now, stupid sensitivity. The ring took some getting used to in its dormant state, but now? It was like being exposed to Moor’s spells for the first time all over again. I could barely think straight, and things went in and out of focus while the colors went from muted to overly colorful.

Ugh, I should’ve tested the ring before, so I could have gotten used to it. “Gotta… get… up. Need to save… Ashes.” It was no use. I was useless in my current state. That I could even recognize that was a miracle. Under normal circumstances, I should have been a giggling mess by now. Even as I fought to keep myself lucid, my molten protector kept rampaging back and forth around me.

The attackers soon realized that it was pointless to charge up near it. It would seem that even with their numbers, and utter disregard for their own safety, they realized that trying to get past an obstacle that burnt you to ash was not conductive to making gains. Was that a good thing?

I couldn’t tell. It was hard to really think about anything right now. Especially with all those pretty colors… NO, I needed to keep it together. The world slowly dissolved into an unfocused mess of colors and sounds, even as I fought to hold on to my senses. If there was any consolation, I didn’t find it funny. That was always a good sign.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Consciousness returned as suddenly as it went. I tried to grasp my aching head, only to find my arms chained to the floor. They were enchanted to prevent the far ends from lifting off the ground, no doubt. Not ideal. Then, out of nowhere, someone grabbed my hair and yanked my head back.

As annoying and painful as that was, it gave me a good look at my location. I was inside a tent, lavish and luxurious. With a carpet floor, and even a portable heater. What an utter waste of resources that could be better used elsewhere.

I could see five people around me, all with weapons out. So six people total. I tested the chains. They seemed normal enough, no magic in em. If so, it wouldn’t take too much effort to get out. The trick was to free myself without getting turned into a human sized pincushion.

Aside from the armed guards, there were two more people. Out of which, I only recognized one. The woman that cast that blasted spell on my back at the cabin. “Welcome back, pet.” The voice was different, but I could feel the familiar bog of magic attempting to drown my mind. The woman from the camp. So she survived.

However, in difference from last time, the quagmire was not inescapable, it was now just a nuisance. The intrusion was so obvious I was almost insulted as I crushed it with just a small mental flex. Did she become weaker, or was my mental resilience stronger after Lady Labyrinthia healed me? Hmm, it didn’t matter. “I’m not your pet, you damn hag.”

The woman’s smile faded, and I could feel her magic once more, but again it was little more than a nuisance. It was as if half of its strength was siphoned off somewhere, allowing me to easily just brush it off. And it was weaker than before, I was sure of it. So, her escape came at a cost. Good.

That didn’t solve my current dilemma, though. While I could play along and pretend to have fallen under her sway, that was not an idea I liked in the slightest. It was too risky, after all I knew nothing of the magic she was using. For all I knew the idea of pretending was coming from it as well, as a way make me lower my guard.

The woman’s expression slowly turned to an angry frown. “Dammit, why isn’t this working?” I felt another blast of magic, but this one was even weaker than the last. I turned my head towards Izrah. “Was that supposed to do something?” Either I developed some kind of resistance to Void Magic, which was unlikely. Or something was going on with their magic. That was just as unlikely. I earned punch to my gut for my question by the guard just to my right.

It hurt, but he was not mom, his punches were lightweight compared to hers during practice. That just went to show the difference in level between mom and these guys. Wait, by the looks of things that guy just punched with every ounce of strength he possessed, and I didn’t even lose my breath from it.

Maybe… Before I could even finish the thought, Izrah’s mistress grabbed her forehead and gave a pained groan. Only to then grab her head for a few moments with a frustrated grimace. She looked at me again and gestured towards me. Nothing happened. She looked down at me, then at her hands. “What?”

Outside there were sudden cries of confusion. “Izrah, monitor her, if she tries anything, knock her out again. She WILL be mine.” Izrah nodded as the woman hurried outside. Izrah and the guards all looked after her with longing expressions. A distraction I didn’t hesitate to take advantage of as Insult flared to life at my behest and melted through the chains binding my right arm almost instantly.

Before the guard holding my hair could even register what just happened, I slammed the still scorching hot gauntlet into his side, causing a pained scream and the sound, and smell, of burnt flesh. The guard let go of my hair and I immediately went for the left chain, as a single delay would cost me dearly.

It only took a second to melt it, and that second was almost too long as I threw myself backwards, away from the guards, dodging their attacks by an inch. Way to close! However, I noted that the way they aimed their attacks that they were attempting to disable, not kill. Right, that bitch said she wanted me as her little toy, didn’t she?

Their blind obedience was to my benefit, for now. I however, didn’t have such qualms. Izrah looked at me as I raised Insult, then turned and ran without a moments’ hesitation. That decision saved her life as I unleashed a torrent of flame in a fan formation in front of me. The flames consumed two guards in an instant, while leaving two more so burnt as to be unfit to battle. That left the guard that grabbed my hair, and the one that punched me earlier.

Both came at me once more, with no intention to back off. It would seem that they could not even consider the idea of fleeing. Or, if my own time under her sway was anything to go by… The memory made me shudder. The idea of fleeing was in their minds for a few moments. But they themselves dismissed it, since they wanted to obey their orders more than they wanted to live.

That I were close to become like them, or worse, a meat suit. I felt the need to vomit. The limitation of their orders made the fight a short one. Combined with one of them being barely able to stand straight because of the burns, and it was almost trivial to deal with them.

As I put them out of their misery, a part of me wondered if I could have saved them. The more rational part dismissed the idea immediately. Who knows how long ago that magic was put in place, how much time it had to eat away at their reasoning. A few days, or maybe even weeks I would see a tiny hope for them. But I doubted it was that short. More likely it was years.

I pushed the thought away as a new sound caught my attention. A distant deep, droning sound, a signal horn. Dads signal horn. Three long bursts, one short, two long, a pause then another long. My heart skipped a beat. Reinforcements were clear to charge? There were reinforcements? Without thinking, I rushed out of the tent.

I found myself on a raised platform, high enough to get a good view of the action. The platform itself was deserted, though I could see frantic activity below. I couldn’t see Izrah or her mistress anywhere. But what I could see in the distance were a dust cloud and banners from the direction of Ondul. The elves? That was welcome news indeed.

A shiver went up my spine and I rolled forwards, just in time to avoid being hit from behind by Izrah. She held some kind of black looking club in her hand. It was giving of purple sparks, the telltale sign of a [Knockout Charm]. Hmm, that club was probably what hit me before. Behind Izrah I spotted her Mistress, but she seemed… off. She looked like she just finished running a marathon.

Well, might as well deal with them now. I was confident I could handle Izrah since her magic didn’t work anymore. Her, however… difficult to say. She looked completely exhausted, but it could be a ruse. “Come then, Izrah, let’s finish this.” Izrah’s grip around the club tightened. “I won’t let you lay a finger on her, not when I’m this close.” Huh, close?

The moment of confusion her words caused nearly gave her a free blow with that damn club. Damn it Keari, focus. Izrah gave an annoyed grunt as she pulled a wicked-looking serrated dagger. The deft way she handled it made it clear I needed to be careful, or this might not end well at all.