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With his throat feeling thick, Yoreno stood and ran after Dantera. She ran directly into the line of warriors, swinging her curved sword.

With every strike, red luminescent tails remained in the air, and he thought magical flames were appearing upon every enemy she hit. In waves they flew back.

Yoreno moved left, staying clear of her attacks.

Running directly into the enemy and knocking a spear shaft aside with his arm, he slammed his own blade forward, taking an enemy in the shoulder. Pulling back, he was struck in the chest, his armor reacting to the strike and snapping with magical aggression.

His armor sounded metallically as he slammed across the stones on his back, Dell’s boot slapping down at his side as he yelled out battle cries, his sword moving in fast arcs.

A spearhead fell to the stones in front of Yoreno as he pulled himself back. When he got to his feet, Dantera growled, slashing a man in half who started inching forward to stab Yoreno.

An explosion rocked the field on their right, and Yoreno felt a plume of hot air envelop him. By the time he lowered his arm, the only thing he saw were crisp bodies smoking amidst intermittent flames billowing on the ground.

The warriors taking Dantera’s attacks and falling fast, began to break and turn around, just as another mage sauntered up the trail and hurled fireballs en mass.

“Look out!” Yoreno called.

Sorika rushed up to his side and hurled two blades at him, but as he tossed fireballs constantly, he managed to refrain for two bursts, giving him the time he needed to deflect both knives with his staff.

His eyes then flicked to Sorika with murderous intent and tiny fireballs came screaming in at them.

They would be incinerated into ash and there was nowhere to hide, not with Mai ten paces away near the fallen enemy mounts.

Glancing to his left, Yoreno almost jumped toward the edge of the plateau. Falling down the steep rocky hill would be better than getting burned to a crisp.

Suddenly Dantera rushed forward and in a powerful arching slash, cried out as red sweeps of luminous magic stained the air, deflecting the barrage of fireballs harmlessly into the sky.

“Move!” she cried, and ran with them toward the fallen mounts as Mai slid to her knees and put up a barrier.

Then an ear-splitting barrage of cracking magic and thrashing flames enveloped the barrier.

Mai cried out, feeding luminous blue magic to the barrier. “I… can’t… hold it!”