The majority of the fwyn were exhausted after creating the fortification, so they settled down to wait for a time. Even relaxing as they were, tension was thick in the air. Everyone present knew that the darjee were close by, and there was a chance they could find them.

Having spent some time on watch, Kai headed over to an area a little distance from the fort, searching for some seclusion. Kai had intended to cultivate while remaining on watch, but he had struggled to maintain his meditative state.

Part of it was the upcoming battle. Kai was worried about what would happen; his heart was unsettled, and so was his mind. There was so much that could go wrong, and for all that he couldn’t understand the fwyn, there was no denying that Gruthka and the others were far more intelligent than Kai had given them credit for.

A fierce rage at the darjee was growing within Kai, one that would soon find an outlet. But he also found himself disturbed by the implications, if the fwyn were sapient, who knew how many other sapient races were out there. Fwyn were considered little more than beasts by everyone Kai knew, it was concerning that they were all wrong.

With such questions straining his usually adept self-control, it only took a small thing to interfere with his cultivation. That distraction came in the form of a pair of memories. Twice now, Verdan had cast that expanding ball of fire attack near Kai. The first time, Kai had been too far away to hear the chant that Verdan used, but not this time.

Grym thanr bel. The words as a whole were nonsensical to the sorcerer, yet one of them called to him. Thanr. It rolled off of Kai’s tongue with a burning sensation, as though he was speaking in flames, not with air. It was all sensation and no substance, but it was a window into something new for him.

At some point, Kai would need to meditate deeply on the word, drawing on its inspiration to improve and develop his image of Fire. After all, the stronger and more complete the image, the more powerful the sorcerer, that was always true.

Becoming stronger was always desirable, but not when it interfered with his cultivation right on the eve of a potentially deadly battle.

A branch snapped off to the right.

Kai was on his feet, and his spear was in hand in a flash, his gaze sweeping the area for the sound. His tense muscles relaxed as he saw one of the non-builder fwyn coming out of some bushes, baring its tiny, pointed teeth at him in a smile when it saw him.

Kai flashed it a brief smile in return and was about to sit back down when he saw a flicker of grey in the undergrowth behind the fwyn.

At the same moment, the fwyn glanced down at the ground with a frown before it froze and then dove forward with a cry.

The flicker that Kai had seen burst out of the undergrowth in the form of a grey-furred darjee. The creature's seven-inch claws swiped through the space where the fwyn had been a moment earlier.

The fwyn shouted something in a language that Kai didn’t understand as it hit the ground, twisting in place to throw up a hand at the darjee, something flashing up from it to hit the attacking darjee in the chest.

The dog-faced creature stumbled back with a hacking cough, staggering down to one knee as it clutched at its chest. Weakly, it tried to slash at the fwyn, but it couldn’t quite reach the small creature.

The fwyn jumped to its feet and, to Kai’s surprise, rushed forward to land a punch on the darjee. The fwyn’s tiny fist should have barely rocked the darjee, but instead, the creature howled in pain and collapsed to the floor.

Kai arrived before either party could fight further, driving his spear into the darjee’s chest with a swift thrust, piercing its heart. With the immediate threat dealt with, Kai realised that part of the darjee’s face had been rotted away, precisely where the fwyn had punched it.

Glancing at the four and a half foot tall creature at his side with a bit more respect, Kai pulled his spear free, nudging the darjee’s arm aside to reveal rotten flesh where it had been clutching its chest. Impressive.

‘Kai!’ Tim shouted from behind them, making Kai glance back to see that the others had gathered at the front of the boxy fort. Tim was pointing at a slope to the side of the hill that sat between them and the darjee camp. Looking over, Kai saw two figures standing atop it. No doubt they’d been drawn by the scream from their compatriot.

The fwyn next to him wasted no time in starting to rush back to their base, eager to put walls between it and the soon to be attacking darjee.

On consideration, Kai decided that the fwyn had the right idea. The darjee had disappeared back over the hill, but they would be back, this time with friends.

Verdan was already ushering the fwyn back into their building, directing them in their language while Tim, Tom and Gwen took up their position at the front thigh-high barrier.

The rot-wielding fwyn started to head inside when they reached the fort but paused and instead joined their group, nodding to Kai as it did. He was happy to have the help, especially when its powers were so debilitating. Gwen, on the other hand, Kai was not so happy to see at the frontline.

‘I’m staying,’ Gwen said firmly, seeing the look in Kai’s eyes as he walked over to her.

‘It’s too dangerous here. You’re not a trained fighter,’ Kai said sternly, ignoring the defiant look in her flashing blue eyes.

‘I don’t need to be trained; I’ve finally got my powers,’ Gwen said, her eyes narrowing dangerously as a spark jumped from one hand to the other.

‘Which you haven’t used in a proper fight yet, you’re not ready to be at the front like this,’ Kai said evenly, returning her stare flatly.

‘We don’t have time to argue. Gwen, stay up front, but make sure you’re behind the others at all times. You are a destructive force now, but you have no protection, and you’re not battle-trained. Let them take the brunt of the attack while you crush the foes around them, understood?’ Verdan said, coming over and ending the argument with a firm statement

‘I understand,’ Gwen snapped, turning on her heel to stalk away.

Kai and Verdan exchanged a look, and the wizard started to say something, but a cry from one of the brothers drew their attention to the distant slope. The darjee were coming.

Kai took command of the front defences as Verdan headed back inside, positioning Tim and Tom at his flanks with Gwen and the fwyn at their back. Hopefully, the thigh-high barrier would slow the darjee down, but it wouldn’t stop them. They were almost guaranteed to have to pull back inside the first section of the fort, but once there, the other fwyn could give them some support.

Kai gripped his spear firmly as he looked at the group of darjee that was pounding down the slope toward them. There was over a score of darjee, each snarling and baying for blood as they raced to close with the waiting defenders.

‘Stay calm, keep steady and talk to each other. We’ll all make it through this if we fight smart,’ Kai said softly, instilling as much confidence into his words as he could.

‘Don’t worry, we’ve got your back,’ Tim said, rolling his shoulders as he hefted his shield and readied his sword.

‘Yeah,’ Tom added, a distracted note to his voice making Kai give him a sharp look. The burly man was looking down at the ground with a frown like he was trying to understand something.

‘Get it together, Tom. Now is not the time,’ Kai said, not sparing the man a second glance as he looked back at the charging darjee. He had no time to babysit the others now. He could only hope they’d listened to him during training.

The closest darjee were only a few dozen feet from the barricade now. Thankfully, their disorganised charge had caused them to spread out somewhat, but there were still half a dozen of them grouped together at the front.

‘Rew Liff!’ Verdan shouted from behind them. A moment later, a wave of cold swept past them, with a blast of ice flying overhead to impact the ground in front of the barricade. Rather than stabbing into the earth, the ice seemed to spread out on impact, forming a sheet along the ground.

The closest darjee leapt over the growing sheet of ice, clearing it without issue. The darjee behind it were forced to either run over the ice or try and go around the outside.

The darjee were forced to break up into several smaller groups. Some of them were able to leap across, while others ran around the exterior of the ice. One particularly unfortunate darjee was unable to change direction in time and found itself slipping and sliding across the ice.

A grin crept across Kai’s face as he ignited the essence in his core and sprang forward, the world slowing down around him as the activated essence swept into his body. His right foot landed on the low wall in front of him, and he pushed off hard, sending Kai flying up and out to meet the darjee.

A deafening crack followed a flash of light as a bolt of lightning shot through the space below Kai. The crackling blast of energy struck one of the darjee knocking it off their feet. At the same time, an orb of roiling brown and black energy flew past, hitting another darjee in the face. The unfortunate creature sprawled to the floor as their face rotted and decayed, their screams cut off as the magic made it through to their throat.

The final darjee of the ones that had made it across the ice snarled as it saw its companions struck down, its gaze focusing on Kai as he fell toward it, spear first. The dog-faced creature was quick to dodge to one side, batting at Kai’s spear with one hand while the other tried to rip across his face.

Kai kicked out with his closest foot as he twisted in the air, bringing his spear over the darjee’s claw as his foot hit it in the chest and knocked it back. The force of the impact made the darjee stumble, off-balance and unprepared for the leaf-bladed spear that ripped through its throat a moment later.

Kai was careful to stay off the ice as he flipped his spear around and plunged the spike on its butt down into the darjee’s chest. It was always best to make sure.

The darjee were avoiding the ice and coming around the side to reach them, but they seemed unsure whether to push for the fort or go for Kai. Their lack of cohesion split them even more as some went for him and some went for the fort, spreading them out and giving Tim and Tom a better chance.

The last thing Kai wanted was for the brothers to be overwhelmed with multiple darjee, so he was making himself a target. Let these savages focus on him while the others supported him from afar.

The next darjee were racing closer, and Kai moved to meet them, his spear light in his hands as it swept through the air, drawing blood and forcing the darjee back. Even with their long claws, Kai had a definitive reach advantage, and he used that to its utmost.

'Garec bel!’ Verdan shouted from somewhere in the fort, a spray of something passing over Kai’s head to hit several of the oncoming darjee. Kai didn’t see what exactly hit them, but it was something nasty from the audible crack of bones being broken.

Kai’s current opponent didn’t realise that its reinforcements had been delayed and charged forward to try and close in with the fire sorcerer. With his essence ignited, Kai was more than a match for the fast-moving creature and slid to the side as he swept his spear across.

The darjee leaned back to avoid the leaf-bladed tip of the spear, but Kai reversed his movement and stabbed down with the rear-end of the spear. The spike on his spear rammed into the side of the darjee’s knee with a crunch and a spray of blood as Kai yanked it free.

A swift slash of his spear opened the creature’s throat as it howled in pain, but Kai had already moved on to his next target.