“Get in close!” Salissa yelled, her voice shrill in Edwin’s ear as he cradled the unconscious Leodin to his chest, adventurers huddling around him.

“Heads down, shields up!” Bordan shouted next to him, following his own words.

Edwin didn’t have a shield, but he was standing right next to Salissa, so he figured that he didn’t need to worry. Still, as he looked up and saw two orange-red fireballs grow closer and closer in his vision, he felt fear. Fear that was replaced by awe moments later as the spells impacted an invisible shield not ten meters above Edwin’s head and exploded, ripping branches off the surrounding trees. For a few seconds, Edwin felt like he was standing at the heart of the sun as liquid fire covered the shield in a radiant shell, blinding him. Then it burned away, leaving the forest an unnaturally dark place despite the numerous fires now burning around them.

With the spectacle over, sound and smell returned to Edwin in a rush. The stink of burning leather, hair, and flesh mixed with the screams of the few who hadn’t quite fit under the shield, and Edwin watched helplessly as the huddled mass of adventurers descended into panic.

“Help the ones on fire!” Bordan shouted. “Everyone else, run! Head to the staging area!”

Given direction, the warriors powered through their fear and started moving. With the magical fire burned out, only normal flames remained, and those were quickly extinguished. Within moments everybody was running again, the healthy ones helping the wounded as they made their way deeper into the safety of the trees.

Another ragged volley of fireballs rose into the sky behind them, but as they reached the apex of their arcs Edwin realized that they were much less accurate than the first ones.

“The mages can’t see us anymore!” he shouted at Bordan. “They’re firing blind! We’re almost to safety!”

Of this volley, none came near Edwin’s group, though he could see the crossbowmen huddle behind Hafarn’s shield a hundred meters to his left as a fireball smashed into the ground right next to them. A third volley followed, though this one much smaller, and the adventurers had to stop again as one came dangerously close.

“We’re almost home free!” Bordan shouted. “Grab the wounded and let’s get out of here—”

“There they are!” a voice rang out behind them. “Get these bastards!”

Edwin craned his neck and after a few moments, he spotted dark shadows pass in front of one of the small fires left behind by the magical barrage. Helmets and spear tips glinted in the firelight.

“They’re chasing us!” Edwin yelled at Bordan. “They look angry!”

“Get the wounded to safety!” Bordan shouted. “Everyone else spread out! Let’s show them how dumb it is to challenge us in our element!”

The adventurers roared in approval, finally regaining their spirits now that they had something they could actually fight back against. The chaotic horde cleanly split off into banners, then teams, as dark-clothed adventurers melted into the nightly forest. Edwin fell into a slow jog along with the main group, made up of the heaviest armored of their number as well as the standard bearer. They didn’t even try to hide, as they were the bait that the enemy would chase while the rest got in position on either side.

A horn sounded in the distance behind them, and Edwin turned his head. Now that the fires were far behind them, his eyes had properly adjusted to the darkness and he could see the dark figures chasing them stop, then turn around as their officers shouted for them not to stray too far from the camp.

All but one group. Those kept going, slowly catching up with the fleeing adventurers who needed to go slow so they didn’t overtake the ones carrying the wounded.

“Looks like a banner’s still on us,” Edwin told Bordan.

“Fools,” the former soldier grunted. “The first staging area is coming up. We’ll take them there.”

--- ----- ---

“We need to turn back!” Bannerman Lidd shouted, turning his head to find his commander in the press of bodies. “They gave the signal to retreat!”

“We almost have them!” Lieutenant Mochun yelled back. “We can turn back once we’ve paid them back for what they did!”

“Lieutenant, please!” Lidd pleaded. “We’re too far from the rest, and we don’t know how many there are! If they have reinforcements, we could be running into an ambush any—”

He was cut off when the man next to him suddenly stumbled into him, almost pushing him over. He caught himself with a sidestep and opened his mouth to admonish the soldier when the man slumped to the ground, a feathered shaft sprouting from his side.

“Ambush!” Lidd shouted, “Shields up!”, but he already heard the telltale sounds of arrows impacting wood all around him. “Lieutenant, we need to—”

He didn’t get to finish the sentence as a giant figure materialized out of the darkness and crashed into his shield, smashing it into him and pushing the air out of his lungs. His feet left the ground as he was catapulted back, bowling over his comrades as he flew.

--- ----- ---

Reaching the staging area, Edwin slid down into the dry riverbed they had used as cover earlier in the day, then crouch-walked sideways to get out of the way of those following. Carefully placing the still unconscious Leodin in a nook out of the way, he turned around and took cover behind a tree. Sticking out his head he could see that their pursuers had closed to within a few dozen meters and were still coming, though there was a shouted argument going on about abandoning the chase.

“Get ready,” Bordan said, just loud enough for everyone in the trench to hear, and Edwin pulled himself up, his bulk still mostly covered by the tree. Someone whistled, mimicking the call of a local bird, and Edwin started running, bolts and arrows whistling past him as crossbows went off all around them. With the marksmen shooting with great abandon he didn’t feel like intertwining himself with the enemy overly much, so instead of simply charging straight in like he usually did he tried something new. As he approached the Marradi shield wall he jumped, bringing both legs to the front and kicking out just as he reached the first soldier.

As it does so often, force equaled mass times acceleration once again – and Edwin had plenty of both. The large wooden shield acted as the perfect target and the poor sod holding it simply disappeared from his place in the line, leaving a large gap. Edwin rolled back, expecting the Marradi to make an earnest attempt at skewering him, but the darkness and general confusion gave him plenty of time to get back on his feet outside of spear range. With the other adventurers now caught up Edwin joined their line, using his glaive to shatter shields and force the enemies back until Bordan called them to stop.

“It’s over,” Bordan shouted, and the battlefield suddenly got quiet. “Surrender or die!”

“We will never surrender!” a youthful voice yelled back from inside the Marradi formation. “You Harvand dogs will never defeat us, come on and try!”

“Is he for real?” Edwin asked, baffled, and the adventurers around him chuckled.

“Lieutenant, please,” another soldier said urgently. “This position is untenable. We’re completely surrounded. If we keep fighting, we’ll all die for nothing!”

“Not for nothing!” the first one replied, almost sounding disgusted. “For the glory of King Marrad!”

“Listen,” Bordan tried again. “We’ve captured your healers. They’re not far from here. If you surrender now, we’ll allow them to treat your wounded.”

“Lies!” the enemy lieutenant screamed. “Keep fighting, men! Kill them all!”

“Enough!” Edwin roared, his powerful voice easily drowning out all others. His heartbeat was thumping in his ears as rage burnt hotly in his veins, and he marched straight toward the Marradi line. The soldiers pointed their spears at him, but he made no attempt to raise his weapon. As he closed in the defenders shrank back, one half-hearted stab sliding off his armor, then he used his bulk to push into the formation. Surprised soldiers simply let him pass, unsure how to react to his strange behavior. He reached the center, stepping over several downed men at the last second, and came face to face with the screamer.

“You’re in command?” Edwin growled.

“What? How are you in here?” the lieutenant screamed, his voice going up at least an octave. He was barely more than a boy, staggering back from Edwin’s dark figure and just beginning to pull out his sword when Edwin’s fist impacted the side of his head and threw him aside like a doll.

“Looks like your commander was incapacitated in battle,” Edwin said, raising his voice. “Who’s his second?”

“I am,” someone replied from beside him.

“Would you like to surrender and get treatment for your wounded?” Edwin asked, his voice much calmer now that the object of his anger was down for the count.

“Yes,” the man said quietly, then louder: “We surrender!”

“Great,” Edwin replied, turning to leave. “Drop your weapons into a pile, then make room for the healers to work. Bordan! They’ve surrendered!”

The shocked soldiers numbly watched as he shoved by them again, only starting to act once the Marradi second-in-command began to shout orders and restore order to their ranks.

“Leodin, go and tell Erlin to get the healers up here,” Bordan said. “They probably retreated this way.” With the marksman jogging off, Bordan walked toward the surrendered soldiers.

“Gods dammit, Edwin,” he murmured as the two passed by one another. Invisible in the darkness, Edwin couldn’t help but smile.