Hump reacted the same way he always did when a madly shrieking hammertooth leapt at him. He gathered his essence in his staff and stabbed it toward them. “Fire Blast.”

Fire exploded through the air and over the ground in a wave. Those struck went quiet, dying easily, yet more filled their place. They swarmed from all directions, the shadowy ground shifting.

Emilia dashed ahead, her blade a silver blur in the air. Essence trailed it like yellow flame, and it rose from her body. She moved fast as lightning, spearing and slashing apart the creatures with perfect precision. Bud and Dylan took positions on either side of her, the knight radiating frostfire as Dylan’s Aspect of the Bear formed around him. They slashed and bashed at the creatures, yet some slipped through the gaps. The small beasts leaping and clawing their way up their bodies or weaving through legs, breaking through to the rear.

Hump envisioned a shield that encompassed his party and barked the command. Essence spread from his staff, surrounding them. He almost staggered as a mass of fur and bone collided with it, covering the front segment of his barrier. The hammertooths bit down at his shield, slammed against it with their spiked claws, tearing at it with no regard for themselves.

A few had made it inside before it had fully closed, but the others made short work of them. Celaine launched into the fray using Spring Step, abandoning her bow in favour of her dagger, swiping a creature straight out of the air as it hurled itself at Hump.

There was a dull thud, and Hump grunted. A crack split the shield, spider-webbing across its surface.

“Shit,” Hump said. He willed it together, trying to reinforce his spell, but the bone-crushing force of these creatures was no joke. “I can’t hold them.”

He glanced over his shoulder finding a couple of the creatures trying to sneak around the back. Harlow stood there, white eyed and fearful. He had his bow out and ready, but Hump didn’t trust him to use it.

“More behind us,” Hump said.

“I’ll go,” Emilia said. “The three of you cover the front.”

There was no arguing. Hump felt an explosion of cold as another crack spread across his shield, deeper this time. Then it shattered. Hump staggered, catching his weight on his staff. The creature’s collapsed to the ground in a heap, clawing over each other to be the first to taste blood.

Bud swung at them, frostfire coating his blade and engulfing a handful of them. Dylan slammed his staff into more, then kicked as one came for his legs. Celaine wielded her dagger in sweeping arcs, slicing the creatures to pieces.

Hump was readying another spell when a shadow appeared at his feet, leaping at him with gaping jaws. Hump raised his still smouldering staff to smash the hammertooth aside, feeling contact, but hot pain seared his shoulder and back. He cried out, stumbling, momentarily blinded by the pain. The ground slipped beneath him and he fell, the creatures still clawing at him, scrambling up his shoulder, digging at his battle robes. He curled around the egg in his pouch, shielding it as he called upon his essence, letting it build in his body.

Blood and bone exploded over his face.

The creature was gone. Above, Emilia stood over him, sword held before her in one hand. Her rapier was a blur. As fast as a whip, lashing out at the hammertooths. It was like a dance, the blade in constant motion—flicking, stabbing, slashing—leaving a trail of yellow essence along its path. She made it look easy. Her face split into a grin as she fought. Blood splattered her cheek, her armour; but the creatures could not touch her.

Hump forced himself back up as Emilia continued to cut through the hammertooths that flew at them. Bud stood slightly ahead of him, his Armour of Ice coating him now, a helmet enveloping his head. Mists of cold exploded from him like vapour on breath whenever the hammertooths struck him, leaving their frozen bodies on the ground around him. Celaine was darkness taken form. Her cloak combined with Bloodshadow concealed her figure, making her appear as a whirling mist of black. She dodged amongst the creatures, killing them with precise cuts of her dagger. The aura of the hunt surrounded her, a killer intent that made even the maddened hammertooths swerve around her.

Dylan was in the most trouble. His weapon and lack of armour made him ill-suited for the fight. Bloody wounds mottled his body, though his bear form defended against serious damage, at least for now. Creatures clung to his back, leaving painful red marks as they clawed their way to his head, probing for weaknesses. One crunched down on his shoulder and he screamed, grabbing it with his bare hand and crushing it in his grip.

Hump aimed his staff at the druid’s back. “Essence Blast.”

It was just a quick jab of power. Hardly enough to even stagger the druid, but it sent the lightweight hammertooths flying from his back. Celaine was there then, cutting away at the ones that tried to come up behind him.

“Keep them off me,” Hump said to Emilia.

“What do you think I’m doing?” she snapped back.

Hump ignored her, gathering fire to his staff, and lots of it. He felt it through his body like a violent wave, surging through his staff. The runes erupted with smouldering flame, smoke filling the air. The focus shimmered red and then suddenly was boiling with lava.

Hump aimed it ahead of him. “Clear the path!”

He could hardly hold it back now, the flame taking on an intent of its own. The pressure trying to find a way out, the explosive power of fire desperate to escape. His three companions retreated to his and Emilia’s side immediately.

“Fire Blast.”

Flame erupted from his staff in a stream. Hump swept his staff over the area before them, the flame spreading across the ground, engulfing the creatures and the corpse of the boar. Their furious screams quietened. The stench of burnt flesh filled the air.

As it cleared, Hump spotted shadows moving away from them in the distance.

“They’re fleeing,” Dylan said.

To his side, Celaine stumbled forward, the shadows still surrounding her.

“Whoa, Celaine,” Hump said, stepping into her path. She carried on forward, her face distorted behind the shadows. He took her right wrist in his hand, gripping it. “Let go of the dagger.”

The shadow shifted as if caught by the windDarkness clouded her eyes, muddying the usual green light. She bared her teeth.

“Celaine!” he snapped, a touch of fear in his voice. Not for himself, but for her. He knew the power of the dagger she wielded, and it had tasted blood.

But light returned to her eyes. In a moment of fear, she let the dagger go and it dropped to the ground, still radiating shadow. Hump kicked it away as Celaine stumbled back, looking around at the scene as if worried she might have done something.

“We’re all good,” Humps said. “They’re gone.”

“Sorry,” Celaine said breathlessly. “I guess I’m still a way away from properly wielding it.”

Hump looked over his party, his eyes coming to rest on Dylan. The druid had returned to his normal form and was panting. Blood covered him, trickling from dozens of angry wounds. At the same time, green essence radiated from his body in gentle spirals of mist. It condensed around his wounds.

“Dylan, how bad is it?” Hump asked.

Dylan rolled his shoulders, wincing. “Nothing hurts too bad, I’ll heal up. No need to worry.” He drew in a deep breath, taking in the essence from the air and from nature itself. As he did, more power streamed from him.

“Harlow?” Hump probed.

The man was still at their back. He’d dropped his bow at some point. He gave a frightened nod. “I’m okay.” He looked over himself, patting his body. “I’m unhurt.”

“Good,” Hump said, trying to sound calm. “Is everyone else alright?”

“One of the blasted things bit me in the shin,” Bud said. “Other than that, my armour took the brunt of it.” He looked his equipment over and scrunched his nose. “My armour’s going to need some work, though.”

Hump chuckled, then winced as pain flared in his shoulder. He pressed a hand to it and pulled it away to find blood. “Am I alright?”

Celaine walked over. “Let me see.”

Hump turned his back to her and felt her hands tugging at his robes. She hissed in a breath. “Looks like your battle robes took the worst of it. The fabric didn’t tear, but it’s stretched apart enough to let the point through. You’ve got a long cut along your shoulder blade, but I don’t think it’s serious.”

Harlow started to take off his pack. “I’ve got some healing supplies.”

Hump shook his head. “Save it. We need to move. There’s blood and essence in the air. More monsters may come.”

He looked over to find Emilia watching them suspiciously.

“Is anyone going to explain that to me?” She pointed at Bloodshadow on the ground. “What kind of artifact is that? And why did Celaine seem to lose her mind?”

“It’s built using bloodlets, taken from a tyrannous raven,” Hump explained. “They’re powerful, but the raven’s will still lives on inside. It has a taste for blood, and it doesn’t care where it takes it from.”

Emilia frowned. “It’s dangerous then.”

Hump nodded.

“Only because my will is still too weak to properly control it.” Celaine picked the dagger off the ground and stared at it, the shadow slowly withdrawing back into the blade. “But I’ll get there.”

“Good to know,” Emilia said. “A little warning would have been nice, but I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”

Celaine sheathed the dagger. “You’re right.”

Emilia smiled. “That’s alright. Though I must say, you were quite terrifying with all those shadows around you. It was really quite remarkable.”

The foresters and other villagers that they’d left behind at the hornbeam farm stood together, their hammers ready as weapons. The group seemed to relax as Hump and the others returned, as if all the fear and tension were suddenly released. Harlow instructed them to pack up—they were heading home for the day. There was some disappointment that they’d only filled half the carts, but for today, that was the best they could do.

Dylan maintained Nature’s Spring as they walked, and Hump quickly felt the power of the druid’s latest blessing. Not only did the pain from his wound quickly subside, but he felt the cold of essence use leave him far quicker than normal. Despite that, Dylan still insisted on applying a press to the wound once they returned.

There was a big gathering at the tavern in Tailsend that evening, Harlow repeating the story of their fight to seemingly the entire village. Marcela arrived part way through, her party remaining in the doorway while he finished. There were many grim faces around, but cheers erupted when he drew the fight to a conclusion. It was a blunt, honest version of the story, missing all the embellishment that a bard would add, but the villagers at least seemed on the edge of their seats.

It was only when Harlow finished that they noticed Marcela, Priestess Joan quickly going to speak with her. Hump stayed where he was, enjoying the ale that the innkeeper had treated him to.

Marcela joined them shortly, and those in the area seemed to back off to give them some privacy to talk. Hump could feel the eyes of the villagers on them though.

“It sounds like I missed quite the event,” she said.

“Did you want to get ripped to bits by a horde of angry squirrels too?” Hump asked. “I should have invited you.”

She laughed. “Harlow put it far more heroically.”

Hump shrugged. “They were weak monsters. If we’d been more prepared, they wouldn’t have touched us.”

“Actually, it was just you three boys that got caught,” Emilia said. She beamed at Celaine. “Celaine and I are perfectly fine.”

“Ah, of course,” Hump said, smiling. “My mistake.”

“I am quite glad there weren’t more of them,” Dylan said. “Death by angry squirrels isn’t quite how I envisioned going out.”

Marcela smiled. “And it would have been a bad time for it too. News reached me this morning—the push for the dungeon core has begun. We should expect attacks to become more frequent from here.”