“Wolves, incoming on the right!” Nola shouted.

Crouching behind a log, Cara drew her bow and stared into the forest. Where?

Three huge wolves bounded out of the foliage, snarling and frothing at their mouths. Cara loosed a Force-imbued arrow at the middle wolf.

Stealth attack! 408 piercing damage dealt!

The arrow struck the wolf in the head. It slumped to the ground, dead.

Kegan took out the wolf on the left with a shot through its eye. The right wolf kept charging—straight into a blastbolt from Aidan.

990 XP received!

“Good job, everyone,” Cara said, giving her squad a smile. She signaled the next Lookout squad to move up and take over the flank. “Rest break.”

Kegan glanced toward the howls and cries further ahead. “Think they’re okay?”

Cara clenched up. “Mind on the job. They’re relying on us to keep the flank clear. Trust they’ll do their part.”

She smiled and tried to act naturally, not that Nola was buying it. Would the others be okay? Gramok wasn’t used to fighting in the Forest, but he had Jeremy and the other Prowlers.

“Want me to take a look while you guys rest?” Nola asked. “Not like being bait was hard work.”

A brief peek couldn’t hurt, could it? Cara sighed and shook her head. “We stick together, and stick to the plan.”

All three of them gave her incredulous looks.

Cara put her hands on her hips and put on as serious a face as she could muster. “You never seen a Prowler following a plan before?”

No response. Not that they really needed to say anything.

They formed up and walked a safe distance behind the second squad, waiting for the signal to relieve or reinforce them.

“It makes no sense,” Kegan said. “Why do they attack in such small groups?”

“Maybe there’s a limit to whatever is controlling them,” Aidan said.

Nola signaled for silence. “Quiet!”

Everyone shut up. What could she hear?

The color drained from Nola’s face. “They’re in trouble.”

The squad turned to Cara. They needed direction. Direction from her.

Cara frowned. “Elivala should have Messaged if they needed help.”

“Assuming she can,” Kegan said, frowning.

A thorny knot twisted in Cara’s gut. The Keeper might have been ambushed, or worse. If they lost the Prowlers, the village was as good as dead.

Who needed plans, anyway? “Let’s move. Aidan, let the other squad know.”

Cara jogged through the forest at Nola’s top speed. It wasn’t far. Better to arrive all together than get picked off one by one. What would they find? Had she led Gramok to his death?

The shouts and screams of battle grew louder. Nearly there. Cara activated Stealth and signaled the squad to do the same. “Nola, what do you see?”

“The forest,” she said, squinting.

They snuck closer. How bad was it? What if they were fine? Jeremy would be so disappointed! What if the flank failed while they weren’t there? Cara gripped her bow tighter. They were here now. No point second-guessing it.

Nola peered through the foliage and gasped. “Too many dungeon spawn to count. They’re swamped.”

Not. Good. What did they have that the Prowlers didn’t?

The element of surprise.

“We sneak in from behind,” Cara said, “and launch stealth attacks. We’ll need to split up to not reveal each other. We—you—might not be Prowlers, but you’re the best bloody Lookouts in the Great Forest.”

They nodded, but she’d never seen them this grim. Who could blame them? Splitting up wasn’t ideal—it would probably get someone killed—but this was it. Do or die for the entire village.

If only Jake was here. He would have a better plan, some brugedror-shit magic to save the day.

But he wasn’t. Cara took a deep breath. “The dryad is the primary target. Don’t forget the goal here! Let’s move.”

They circled around, spread out, and snuck up on the battle. On the left, Gramok dueled a gorilla while Jeremy and half a dozen other Prowlers fought desperately against a growing host of dungeon spawn. Wolves, snakes, giant spiders—all manner of creatures flowing in faster than they could be slain.

On the right, a dryad hid behind a tree, observing the battle. Between it and the main elven force was a huge and unnaturally thick bed of vines. Cara’s heart clenched. Entangled in the mess of vines was a wood elf, face down and motionless.

Dead.

And where was Elivala? Why hadn’t she Messaged?

Cara swallowed. Nothing she could do about that now. With the main force thoroughly pinned down, it was up to her and her squad. Dryads themselves were pretty fragile. A sneak attack might work.

They had to try. She snuck behind the dryad, activated fire on her bow, and lined up a Sniper Shot.

Kill the dryad, steal away the body, and everyone would get to go home.

Everyone still alive, anyway.

In the corner of her eye, white magic swirled in Aidan’s hands. Wait for it…

He launched a blastbolt and Cara unleashed her Sniper Shot.

Stealth attack! Critical hit! 113 piercing damage dealt! Bleeding Lightly injury inflicted!

Stealth attack! Critical hit! 70 fire damage dealt! Burning status effect inflicted!

Teal flickered at the point of impact. It turned and shrieked as fire engulfed it. Each of its hands moved rapidly, weaving two separate spells.

Cara notched another arrow. The dryad was the objective of the entire battle. No backing out now, no matter the cost.

Teal and blue magic flared around the dryad. Water coated it, extinguishing the flames. Armor or Absorb, perhaps, and some kind of protective water spell?

Cara smirked, switched her bow to lightning, and activated Piercing Shot.

23 piercing damage dealt!

Vulnerability exploited! 0 electric damage dealt (76 absorbed)!

The dryad glared at Aidan and swirled green magic in its hands—light on one side, dark on the other. Life and nature magic. Cara clenched her jaw. It couldn’t be allowed to heal.

She aimed at the dryad’s left hand, exhaled, and took the shot.

Her heart hung in her throat. No amount of skill could guarantee the hit on a small, moving target like that. Please, please let this work!

21 piercing damage dealt!

0 electric damage dealt (28 absorbed)!

The arrow struck the dryad’s hand, knocking it to the side. The life magic dissipated, but it completed the nature spell. Vines shot out of the ground beneath Aidan, grasping his legs and working up his body. For every vine he pushed away, two grabbed a tighter hold.

An arrow flew out of the trees to the right and buried in the dryad’s side. It howled in pain and dropped to its knees, narrowly avoiding another arrow from the right. Kegan and Nola!

Cara sprinted toward Aidan and notched another arrow. Could fire stop the vines? Would it only make things worse?

Aidan stopped struggling and wove a Portals spell, glancing down at the encroaching vines. So long as he finished before they got hold of his hands…

The dryad straightened up and gathered bright teal-blue magic into a ball in front of it. Whatever it was casting, it couldn’t be good. Cara shot again at its hand.

11 piercing damage dealt!

0 electric damage dealt (40 absorbed)!

The arrow struck the dryad in the chest. Shit! Cara notched her myrellium arrow and cast Imbue Stun upon it.

A swirl of blue magic consumed Aidan. He reappeared behind the dryad, and it slammed its sphere of magic into the ground. A pulse of light blasted out from the impact point, but nothing else changed. What had it done?

No time to worry about that. Cara hissed, “Ro’ronkatara-fa si!” and a silvery glow gathered around her trusty arrow. Wait for it…

Aidan turned, readying another spell.

The dryad ripped the arrows out of its skin and began casting something even bigger. Cara frowned. Were its wounds already healing somehow?

“Incoming!” Nola shouted.

Cara stole a glance to the right. Kegan and Nola faced off against half a dozen charging wolves. They could handle that, but there’d be more behind them.

Now or never. Aidan’s Force magic cackled with power, teetering on the edge of a miscast. Would he remember the play?

Of course he would. Aidan wasn’t a scatterbrained dolt.

“Now!” Aidan shouted.

16 piercing damage dealt! Stunned status effect inflicted!

0 electric damage dealt (48 absorbed)!

Cara’s myrellium arrow struck the dryad in the chest. Aidan pressed his hand against the back of the dryad’s head and unleashed a Blasttouch, shattering the dryad’s skull.

Its half-cast spell collapsed in on itself and exploded. The blast threw Aidan backward, and he smashed into the ground with a crunch.

“Aidan!” Cara rushed toward him and activated Identify.

Aidan Tolabar So’aroaska

Status: Broken Legs, Broken Rib

Nola and Kegan had the few remaining wolves under control, but not the gorilla-led horde of dungeon spawn storming out of the forest.

Pain stabbed at Cara’s chest. This was her fault. Aidan couldn’t die because of her.

Groaning on his back, Aidan cast a Portals spell and… nothing. No explosion, no Teleport. What the hell? She threw herself down beside him, and her stomach churned at the sight of his mangled legs.

“Go,” he grunted. “She blocked Portals magic.”

“No way. I’m carrying you.”

“The mission.” Aidan clenched his fists and shook his head. “Leave me.”

“Not an option.” She wrapped her arms around him.

He shoved her off. “Get the others to safety. I’ll hold them off.”

Heat pounded through Cara’s veins. “No!”

“That’s an order, Cara! I’ll Message the others, and Jeremy.”

Cara’s throat tightened and closed. Why had she ever trusted him with that?

Every inch of her being went cold. Because she trusted him to get it right.

“Yes, sir.” She spat out the words, clenched her jaw, and ran for the dryad’s corpse.

Her heart sank. She could barely lift it, let alone run with it. The world closed in around her. This had all been for nothing.

The dryad’s weight lessened. “Move it!” snarled Nola, holding the corpse’s legs. “This better be fucking worth it.”

“Nola…”

“Shut up and run!”

A blast echoed behind them. Aidan’s distraction. His final gift.

Aidan, Nola… A knife twisted in Cara’s gut as they fled.

She glanced over her shoulder. Kegan was right behind them, shooting at the few wolves pursuing them. The dungeon spawn horde descended upon Aidan and the spot where he’d killed the dryad.

Broken legs, no Portals, no Levitate—he didn’t stand a chance. Cara gritted her teeth and faced forward. If she’d learned Levitate, if she’d taught it to Aidan…

She fought back the tears. There’d be time for that later.

“The main force is moving to cover our retreat,” Nola said, her words devoid of emotion. “Which way?”

A lump formed in Cara’s throat. Why hadn’t she learned more magic? One more spell…

“Which way?” Nola shouted.

Cara stared at her and blinked. Nola never raised her voice. “I…”

This wasn’t the time for excuses. If Nola could keep it together, so could she.

“This way,” Cara said. “Directly to the village. That’s the rally point.”

They traveled through the forest in silence, listening to the sounds of battle fade away. How many more had died? Still no XP. How many more would die buying their escape?

The mission was a success, but at what cost?