“So let me see if I have this right.” Erin said slowly. “You’re a prince of some place called Strath, and you came up here trying to find Mages. You happen across a village surrounded by an army of monsters, and you think to yourself, ‘I sure would like to be in the middle of all that.’ Then you fight your way in here and have to be rescued. Is that correct?”

[That seems accurate to me.]

“You know,” the prince said, “I thought it was just Academy Cities training that made Mages a pain to deal with, but I now believe it must be something you are all born with.” Erin pressed her face into her hands, trying to rub the ache from her eyes before turning them once more on Arthur.

“Look, I’ll give it to you. Your rescue attempt was very brave, but the part that’s tripping me up is that you don’t seem to have a follow-up plan.”

“I have a plan,” he said, drawing himself up to his full height, which left the top of his head about even with Erin's shoulder. “We’re going to help you drive them back.” Erin wanted to yell in his face that what he had proposed wasn’t a plan, but she didn’t have the energy for such a dramatic display, and ultimately, it didn’t matter. She couldn’t deny the prince had nerve, if not very much sense, and they now had 8 more fighters than before.

[Do you want to hear how much their arrival has improved your odds of survival?]

Can you calculate that? Erin asked, surprised.

[No, not at all, but if you hadn’t asked me a direct question like that I would’ve lied to make you feel better.]

You can’t lie when I ask you a direct question?

[I can’t do a lot of things.]

Lisa responded cryptically, and Erin wanted to pursue the subject but forced herself back to the present. A present wherein she was standing in the middle of a doomed village, trying to figure out why some royal from far away had dived headfirst into the soup with them.

[Maybe that’s another conversation you can put off until after you’re dead. Doesn’t really matter why he did it at this point.]

“You looked like you were having a hard time.” Erin said, bringing her thoughts fully back into the moment. “What was that silver light? I thought you were casting spells.” Arthur touched the handle of the sword sheathed at his waist.

“It’s my sword, it's… special.”

“Let me see it.” Erin said, holding out her hand. Arthur took a step away from her, gripping it as if she meant to snatch it away from him. “I’m not going to keep it.” she said incredulously, but he narrowed his eyes on her.

“Do you swear you won’t melt it?”

“What?” she asked, confusion plain on her face, her hand still extended. “Why would I melt your sword? I doubt I even could. The last spell I cast nearly put me to sleep. I just want to see what it is.”

Slowly, his gaze still suspicious, Arthur slipped his sword free of its sheath and offered it to Erin, handle first. Erin reached out and simply rested a finger on the pommel. Instantly, Lisa began to speak.

[Silver Quality Lightweavers Blade: A sword enchanted to hold an unnaturally sharp edge. The blade draws upon the soul to infuse itself with light magic. Stored light can be channeled into the wielder's body, or discharged in a Light Blade attack.]

Erin withdrew her finger, and Lisa did what Erin could only assume was her approximation of an appreciative whistle. Even during her brief contact, Erin could feel the blade hungrily pulling at the magic in her body, trying to refill the stores that Arthur had spent in his mad dash toward them.

Silver quality? Erin had never seen an artifact above bronze, and certainly hadn’t expected to find one in the hands of a First Tier, even if he was a prince.

[Yes, I’m honestly impressed. He should be a soulless vegetable with how much of the magic he channeled.]

Is it really that bad?

[That thing would strain your soul if you tried to use it. According to him, he triggered the effects multiple times, all while channeling light magic through his body. His brain should be a baked potato.]

Then why isn’t he?

[I don’t know.]

Not even a guess?

[He has an unusually robust soul? That’s the best I’ve got. Maybe ask him.]

Erin was about to do just that, when the crash of monsters against the makeshift barricade brought her attention back to the fact they were in a town being overrun by monsters.

“Arthur, we need to talk.” She said, conjuring a spear from her inventory and holding it out to him. “Don’t use that sword unless you have no choice, which is likely, but take the spear anyway.”

Arthur looked at the weapon in her hand, and then back at her face. “I don’t know how to use a spear.”

Before Erin could make any comment, one of the men who’d come in with the prince stepped forward, and took the offered spear, while with his other hand, pulled his sword free. With a smooth motion, the man tossed the weapon and took hold of the hilt, offering the handle to his prince.

“Please, your Highness, I’m well versed in spears. Take my sword.” Arthur glanced between his man and Erin, and then took the sword in his hand. Shrugging, she turned to the barricade.

“We need fighters pretty much everywhere, so however you want to distribute your men is fine.” She said as she pulled a second spear from her inventory. Sigrid had insisted they all keep back ups just in case.

“One man with every group to either side.” He ordered them instantly, splitting them up to be dispersed among the villagers. With only a slight hesitation, they followed their orders, though Erin could tell more than a few wanted to object to leaving their prince totally unprotected.

“And you?” She asked as she moved to take her place on the barricade, pulling a shield onto her arm.

“My mission was to find Mages. Not that I’ve found one. I’ll be by your side until we’ve talked.”

“No offense intended,” Erin said, as she jabbed out with her spear, skewering a qek as it tried to leap the barricade. “but ever since I got here, every signpost has said I’m supposed to be in Academy City. Not that it’s likely to matter.” Beside her, the prince did an impressive job of contributing to the defense, despite his weapon not having the reach of his fellows.

“There’s a lot you don’t know.”

“Which is why everyone keeps telling me to go to Academy City.” Erin said, voice strained as she held a qek back with a raised shield, while the prince hacked at it from one side.

“Is now really the time?” Arthur huffed, his cheeks flushed with exertion.

“Definitely not,” Erin said, “but if you hadn’t noticed. We’re running out of time.”

“Are you always this defeatist?” He called to her at the end of a lunge over the barrier. Erin gripped his shoulder firmly and pulled him back in time to prevent a qek from taking a bite out of him.

“Not usually, no. It’s just been one of those days.”

“Is that supposed to be funny?”

“Going to be honest, your highness. At this point, I’m just talking. We’ve been fighting these things nonstop for an entire day, and I could die for some sleep.”

Arthur didn’t respond, and Erin was grateful. It took everything she had to still be on her feet, and despite the brief rest. She could feel herself fading. It wouldn’t be long before she wouldn’t have the energy to thrust the spear or lift her shield.

“Is it just me?” Arthur called to her, and she snapped alert. Realizing she’d been a hairsbreadth from passing out on her feet without even noticing.

“What’s that?” she asked, and the prince glanced at her before repeating himself.

“Is it just me, or are they getting… feisty.” Erin followed his gaze and spotted several qek behind the front line, snapping and snarling at one another as they seemed to jostle for personal space. It was far less fractious than the breed usually was, but they’d been almost a unified swarm for so long that to Erin it looked like outright rebellion was taking shape.

Hope twinged in her chest at the sight, and she dug down deep, and found a reserve of strength she would’ve never dared to dream could actually exist in a person, let alone here. She speared her way through a dozen more qek with renewed vigor before she once again flagged. She suspected that if they held out long enough, whatever had kept the qek from tearing each other to pieces would wear off. If that happened, then Dangole just might emerge from this intact.

“Fall back!” She heard a familiar voice, and looked over her shoulder, elated to see Sigrid jogging by, yelling out. Half her face was covered in blood, and the shield strapped to her arm was destroyed, but she seemed to be otherwise alright. “Fall back!” She called again, then she spotted Erin.

“The southern barricade has gone down. I’ve already sent the groups that were resting to reinforce the second choke point. Break off and I’ll catch up with you when I can.” Without waiting for Erin to reply, the dark-haired woman carried on, moving towards the next group. “Get back! Qek has broken through the southern barricade!”

Erin cursed and jabbed her spear viciously in every direction, but the qek was pressed too tightly for her to create space. If they tried to bolt from the barricade now, the qek would be on their heels instantly. There was nothing for it.

“Do you think you can use that sword one more time? Preferably without killing yourself.”

“Maybe.” He called back, then cried out in pain as a clawed hand reached through the lower part of the barricade and slashed at his leg. Arthur stomped down on the offending limb, severing it quickly with a smooth stroke of his borrowed sword.

“Want me to try?” He asked, limping back a step as he tried to get a look at the wound.

“No, no,'' she said. “I’ll handle it.” Raising her hand, she channeled magic. Her muscles felt like embers under her skin as darkness slid across her vision and the world seemed to fold in the middle as her sense of balance vanished. The spell snapped together with the last drags of her strength, and distantly she heard the qek scream and howl as the Binding Point dragged them back and away from the barricade.

Erin turned to run, but as she changed position, all of reality listed hard to one side and she stumbled heavily. Before she had a chance to fall all the way, an arm took her around the middle and she heard an audible ‘oof’ as her weight crashed into someone.

“Maybe next time. Just let me use the sword.” Arthur grunted as he started trying to move. “Because you’re heavy.”

“Rude,” she said, not daring for more words as she already felt on the edge of throwing up. Someone else ducked under her arm on the other side, and with the two supporting bodies as touchstones for what was properly up and down, she could stumble forward with some haste.

By the time they passed the second barricade, her vision had returned somewhat, but the persistent ache in her muscles was not abating, and Erin could tell she was just about spent. Forcing the cast had been the final straw, it seemed, and her body was prepared to tolerate no more of her demands on it.

“How many of these barricades do you have set up?” Arthur asked, as they sat her down so she could lean back against the wall.

“This is the last one.” She said, eyes closed as she let her head tip back. With the entirety of what remained of Dangoles’ population compressed into the last few streets and alleys around the mayor's house, the area was packed and, for a while, at least they’d be able to work in shifts. It wouldn’t be enough. The choke points would ultimately prove indefensible.

Tooms had explained as much when he’d laid out the plan for retreat. The buildings wouldn’t make an effective barrier for long, either the qek would go over or through them. Even if the barricades could hold, they would eventually get in behind the defenders, and that would be it.

“Erin, are you alright?” Erin cracked one eye open as Liam came striding over to where she sat. The big man towered over her, and she imagined there was a concerned expression on his angular features, but she couldn’t tell. Her vision had gone fuzzy for anything beyond the length of her arm.

“Never better,” she said. “might’ve overdone it with the magic a bit.”

“You look like hell.”

“Just what a girl wants to hear. You know, the prince here told me I was heavy.”

“Prince?” Liam asked, and Erin faded out of the conversation as Arthur introduced himself. The pair of them roused her from her partial stupor with a prod.

“Sleeping on the job?” Liam asked, and Erin tried to lift her hand to shove away his prodding finger, but it refused to move. “We’ve still got a battle to win.”

“I-” she started, certain she was going to manage something sarcastic that only she found amusing, but cut off as the ground trembled beneath her. Then the shock wave hit them, and everyone stumbled as if struck. Erin’s eyes snapped fully open as her ears rang with the impact.

“An explosion!” she heard Liam yelling, oddly muffled. Then she saw a brief glow illuminate the night sky in the distance, and the ground trembled again.

Why would there be explosions?