Just about the only non-Woven force he didn't see was the Centaur contingent.

That changed. A trumpet blew, and a squad of Centaurs and horse cavalry swept in from somewhere on the left flank. The Woven at the points of the heavily dented V swept inward. Vonn's eyes widened as he realized he was watching a trap swing shut.

"Now!" someone shouted. A wave of jars and bottles flew up from the flanking Woven and crashed into the surrounded mass. Alchemical explosions, bursts of lightning, and showers of rocks and exploding pottery ripped through the varied mob. A flock of the flying beasts leaped up to escape the vise but a wave of arrows sent half crashing back down. The Necromancers created a haze in the air that seemed to disrupt the vile flock and paralyze it to crash among the undead infantry. The Centaurs in the trap's lid were fresh, rushing in with slashing swords and darting away again, never giving the enemy a chance to escape or fight fair.

Ahead of Vonn the Woven still struggled to maintain their part of the trap and steady it into a deadly circle. Vonn didn't dare get close again but he found chances to pump bullets into the mob, even trying to shoot in an arc over the Woven's heads. The gun sputtered as its pressure ran low. He knew the feeling; his vision blurred white with exhaustion of all the System's gifts. He took a few more paces back, catching his breath. What Mana he still had helped him apply a basic healing spell, getting him back to 26 Health without the focus and salves he needed to do it well.

The Woven fought quietly, so that the growls and screams of monsters dominated the battlefield. But those fell silent as the army butchered them all in a tightening ring, until it was over. Piles of unnatural bones, bruise-dark flesh and caustic slime littered the killing field. The bodies of Woven had joined them like strange garden salvage -- but not many. They lay with unlucky Elves and Humans and other races.

The crowd now was dragging people away, looking for wounded. Only a few people cried out in pain. As Elven officers barked orders Vonn had the sense of a party winding down in awkward silence.

Polestar cantered closer, bloody and dirty. His lower half heaved with deep breaths. Spotting Vonn, he said, "That was my first time in a cavalry battle."

Lord Taraleo had lost his helmet and was in disarray, limping but proud. "Your idea paid off, young stallion. We drew them right in."

The Centaur saluted. "But that's not the last of the monsters."

"Indeed. And to some extent we've now fed it with our struggle and losses. With the dungeon's forces thinned out for a while, we will press our advantage. After a rest, we'll resume sealing every vent."

Vonn high-fived Polestar, to the Elves' confusion.

#

Vonn got dismissed again, and went to assure Mom he was fine. She scolded him for getting into the fight again, then wordlessly held him for a while. When he could pry himself away he went looking for Selen.

She was in the Company workshop with Birb, Tazo and the Kobold apprentices, along with the Baron's Engineer. "Wind's still too strong for flying," said Selen, who'd taken over a corner to brew more smoke bombs. "Oh, you're hurt!"

Tazo looked Vonn over and gasped. "Lay down, fuzzbutt! I _told_ you to stop running into battle!"

Vonn's Health was still down, but the adrenaline hadn't fully left him and he'd be fine. He sat down harder than he'd meant to. "That was... yeah, I'll skip the next round. Polestar had a strategy that just saved a bunch of lives. There's more work to do yet."

"Selen, go tie Vonn's tail to his bed."

The Aves made a show of grumbling as she tried ineffectively to haul Vonn up. He stood anyway and went to his little room.

Selen did close the door. In the moment of privacy she wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled his neck with her beak. "I hear you did good, but your sister's right."

He answered quietly, holding her as well as he could around her wings. "Okay. And let's stay out of air combat now that we've proven the concept. This is working. Most of the Woven are going to survive this. And they'll have you to thank."

Her head feathers flicked upward in a smile and tickled Vonn's chin. "We'll celebrate later. You seriously need some rest so we can finish the job."

"I'm not that tired," he said, but a yawn interrupted him.

Selen let him go and bowed with one wing. "We'll handle this."

Vonn was too tired to object.

#

He woke up groggy with the sound of grinding metal in the main room, something he'd learned to tune out. Peeking out showed him Ashfall sharpening swords for the troops. Night outside. "What'd I miss?"

"Most of the group is asleep or helping to keep watch. The army has been plugging holes in the dungeon all day but it's too dark now."

"How bad are the casualties?"

"I don't know. A dozen dead, dozens recovering? Some Woven got smashed, I think. A couple of our neighbors and other villages' people. A guy I knew slightly from Silvermire." She sighed and stretched, flicking her ears back. "That's not something I can help. But I can keep the weapons sharp."

"It helps. And we're doing it the easy way, I think, keeping the fighting to the surface."

He helped her maintain a pile of gear for the troops to use again in the morning. Then before trying to rest again, he sat there playing with fire. He was able to flow Mana into the space above his hands that could now bloom into flame, the first time he'd done it in a controlled way. So that was five elements he could cast: fire, cold, sound, light, and stone. His small spells didn't seem terribly useful even though he could, in theory, contribute to the rock-shaping that the experts were doing to close off the dungeon.

"You're still working?" asked Ashfall, yawning and heading toward her room.

"This is fun for me. I'll be back in bed soon though."