Hump felt in command as his soul manifested. The world was his. Essence moved to his will with such ease he hardly needed to think. He felt powerful.

Clearly that sensation reached the wolves too as most skidded to a stop. They were undead, so it was not fear that held them back. A couple continued their mad dash forward. Hump lowered his staff, taking aim. He willed stones to rise around him and two as large as a head floated to the front of his staff, rotating around each other. Bronze light engulfed them.

“Rock Shot.”

The stones blasted forward on a jet of bronze light. They struck with heavy thuds. The wolves tumbled to the ground, their bodies broken, but whatever undead magic kept them alive also kept them moving. They crawled across the ground like broken puppets, wheezing, growling, somehow moving despite the damage to their bodies. Around them, low, guttural growls spread amongst the other wolves.

An arrow met the first to move, and Celaine launched her second before the wolf had even finished dropping. That set the rest of them off. All at once, they were unleashed.

Hump let them come, waiting. Against a group of weaker foes like this, something that could hit many at once was ideal. He formed a spell in his mind. First, he needed to gather them up.

Once it was too late for the zombie wolves to stop, Hump formed a domed Fire Shield around both him and Celaine. The creatures slammed into the barrier, clumping together against its surface, snarling, snapping, clawing to get inside.

“Shatter Shield,” Hump commanded. His essence moved easily, exploding outward in a wave of essence. It swept back the wolves in a wave of red and orange, filling the air with the smell of burnt flesh. The creatures hit the ground around them, snarling and shrieking.

“They’re getting back up,” Walt said.

“I can see that,” Hump said.

Most rose to their feet, but their movements were slowed. They limped, staggering on their feet, shaking their heads in a daze. Hump levelled his staff toward the largest group of them.

“Fire Blast.” He swept his staff horizontally, bathing the top of the valley in fire. More pained shrieks answers. Those he missed were met with Celaine’s shadow arrows. Brutal, efficient, slaughter. With them all coming from one direction, these enemies posed little threat.

That made him back up. He glanced around for any trying to slip past, then his eyes went to the top of the hill. The sky was almost black and the rest of the undead forces grew closer. Of them, it was the skeletal horsemen that broke free of the shadow first, braving the dimly lit hills as they raced toward them.

“Behind us!” Celaine shouted. “Hump! We need to move.”

A shadow swept overhead. Celaine was still shooting, but only now did Hump realise her targets were at his back.

A howl echoed behind Hump—Tokdaar’s voice—horrified and desperate. Hump’s heart wrenched as he turned to look, finding the two gnolls swarmed by a dozen flyers. Rehk fended them off with her long knife. She snapped at one, tearing into it with long teeth, then ripping apart its body with her claws. She was bleeding heavily, somehow keeping Tok sheltered between her legs. The damage was building up though. The top of one of her ears was missing, and eye was bloodied and swollen shut. Wounds covered her. Further back, the horses were loose and fleeing toward the forest alone.

“Go,” Hump said, voice resonating with essence. “I’ll hold them here.”

There was no time to reach the bottom of the path. Here would have to do. His spellbook whirled as power shifted the pages, red essence shining brightly within. The air grew hot. Essence surged through Hump, the aura of his soul around him tinged with fire. He watched as the wolves reformed and the skeletal horses reached the valley, funnelling down the slopes toward them.

“Molten Pit,” Hump shouted, throwing all his will and intent into the spell, unleashing the might of his mind throughout the valley.

Essence erupted from his spellbook, a blazing fire that pushed back the encroaching darkness. The ground shuddered beneath Hump’s feet, and a deep, rumbling growl echoed from the erth. Essence exploded from his staff focus—the core of the Tree of Damnation—a mixture of bronze and fire lashing the ground. Fissures tore the ground open at his spread, spreading forward and outward, a spiderweb of cracks the climbed the sides of the valley. An infernal rage exploded from within, a torrent of lava erupting from the newly formed chasms. The ground hissed and sizzled. Choking plumed of smoke spiralled upward as if there earth itself bellowed in fury.

Those that were too close fell threw the cracks, consumed by fire. Others tried to leap the gap, only for the ground to fall away along the edges of the fissures. The once serene valley was now fire and split earth. The pass was blocked. Some of the wolves tried to slip around, only for the pit to reach them too, dragging them into fiery hell.

Hump stepped back and marvelled at the might of his power. The heat was overwhelming. He didn’t feel so bad wielding it against undead. This…this was what it was meant for. A glimpse at what he might accomplish in the future. The powers of the lava wizard unleashed to keep a horde of monsters at bay.

The skeletal horsemen searched for a way across. The Magma Pit was already starting to solidify. It was only a matter of time before they could find a way past.

Something drew Hump’s eye upward—a strange sensation, or was it simply fear? A woman stared down at him from the top of the hill, her eyes filled with a purple light. They were nothing like the vibrant purple of Nisha. There was a darkness to them. Her skin was pale and gaunt, stretched across her face. Her lips redder than they should be, standing out even from so far away. She had to be the lich. Only something so powerful could make Hump feel such instinctive dread.

“Get moving, kid,” Walt said. “She isn’t worth it.”

“Why is she here though?” Hump sa

Hump turned away, rushing over to where Celaine helped to fight off what remained of the flyers, carving through them with her knife. Rehk was on the ground, blood pooling around her. There were many dead flyers nearby, the creatures somewhere between bats and dogs. Tok was on his knees over his mother, a whining cry escaping him. He tilted his head back and unleashed a howl, the mountains echoing his fear and sadness.

“Can you stand,” Hump asked Rehk.

The gnoll struggled to rise, and Celaine helped her, dragging her upward. She took a potion from one of the essence stones of her storage belt and gave it to her. Rehk drank it, a little stamina returning to her.

“I stand,” she said.

“Good,” Celaine said. “We need to—”

A distant howl interrupted her—a distinct whoop followed by a series of undulating calls that rose and fell. They came from the forest. A few seconds later, more sounds joined it, a cacophony of wild cries, skin-crawling wails, and chilling laughter, until the whole valley was filled with their voices.

“My pack,” Rehk wheezed. “They answer Tok.”

She drew a deep breath, tilted her head back, and unleashed a high pitched, yipping howl. Tok followed her example. The gnolls answered, even louder this time.

“They come,” Rehk said, a teethy grin on her face.

Hump wanted to share in his excitement, but the idea of a pack of gnolls wasn’t quite so reassuring to him. Still… between them and a lich queen’s army, the choice seemed rather simple.

They started to moved toward the forest. Tok was still panicking, even after some confidence was brought back to him. Hump pushed him onward, ensuring he didn’t stray. The horses were still missing, which made Hump’s stomach sink a little. Prancer wouldn’t last long in the Fallen Lands alone.

Some of the skeletal horsemen made it over the fissures now, the fires all but gone from within. Hump and Celaine struck back, taking down the few that made it. A handful was one thing, but when the rest of them figured it out, they’d be in trouble.

As they neared the forest, Hump sensed a powerful force behind him—a spell taking form. He turned, eyes finding the lich queen immediately. She was gathering her power. Power that made Hump afraid even with a mile between them.

“What in the hells is that!” Walt cried.

“A spell,” Hump said. “And a big one at that. Everyone form up around me.”

“I’m going to try and take her out,” Celaine said.

“Celaine, don’t—” But it was too late. She was already moving up the side of the valley.

He pushed her from his mind. He poured the essence into the runes of his staff, preparing its Sphere of Protection enchantment. This would only work if he timed it perfectly. The near impenetrable shield would last for five seconds. That was a brief window to handle whatever power of death was coming their way.

He watched, waiting for the crackle of excess power and the moment essence and will became one. It came in a burst of dark purple light. It bloomed, suddenly brilliantly bright, and then it spread across his vision.

“Sphere of Protection,” Hump uttered. A domed barrier emerged around them in an instance. Red essence stained it like the dungeon essence wielded by the Tree of Damnation its focus was claimed from. It formed of solid wall of essence, perfectly smooth and fixed in place. Powerful, but the lich’s power beyond it still made him feel fear.

Her power struck the ground like an array of lightning, spreading out across the valley in a storm of power. Where it touched, the world disintegrated, obliterated into nothing but dust. It struck his shield with such strength Hump wasn’t sure it would hold. The world became blindingly bright as it burst apart, splitting into lashes, tearing across the ground around him. A wound appeared on the outside of his shield, a tear in the essence that did not make it all the way through.

Tok let out a fearful whimper. Fear radiated from Nisha’s end of the bond.

Silver light shone above, almost equal in terror, infused with Power Shot and Predator’s Intent. Celaine loosed her arrow and it shot forward with a boom, streaking through the sky toward the lich.

Her spell faded a mere second before Hump’s Shield ran out. Celaine’s arrow struck with an explosion of silver light. As the light faded, the lich stood there, hand extended upward, a monstrosity of flesh floating before her like a gathering of minced meat and flesh. Blood flowed freely from it as a giant chunk was gouged out where Celaine’s arrow struck.

Rehk pulled Hump by the shoulder, urging him to move. They fled the pass, spectres and skeletal horses now pressing through the devastated pass behind them. Gnolls howled again, this time closer.

“Almost here,” Rehk said.

“Run!” Walt shouted. “Come on, kid. You’re running for three today. Get those legs moving!”

Hump turned away from the chasing creatures and continued forward. Celaine arrived at his side a few moments later. The fled the pass, descending down the hill beyond and into the trees of whatever new danger awaited them. Hump dreaded to think what monsters might have been drawn to their fight. All he could do was cross his fingers that the lich queen’s magic and the gnolls were enough to drive them off.

“Did you see the horses,” Hump asked Celaine.

“No. But the gnolls are coming. Maybe they can find them.”

Hump did not like the sound of that. The cackling, wild sounds of the gnolls were almost upon them. He spotted one in the forest, then another. They were racing toward them like the wind.

Their cries were clearer, ringing through the forest with a sound that chilled Hump to the bone. A swarm of monstrous predators sweeping through the forest toward them. More appeared, running directly at them. Only at the last moment did the gnolls swerve, splitting around Hump’s ground like the broken tide.

They were as large as Rehk—some larger even. Armed with swords, spears, shields, and bows, singing a song that could only mean battle. Rehk’s voice joined theirs, and then Tok’s too. Hump followed the gnolls in a daze as they raced toward the few undead that had reached the forest, battering them apart with fury. Rehk had told them this was not the first run-in they’d had with this lich.

As no more undead appeared, the gnolls turned with astonishing speed, charging back to them. They formed a ring around Hump and Celaine, snarling and snapping, weapons pointed in their direction. It took all Hump’s nerve not to let loose a spell. A moment more and he would, but Rehk stepped out before them, pushing their weapons aside.

She snapped something in gnollish, her gaze finding a silver furred gnoll with black stripes. She seemed reverent toward him, as if he was in command.

He answered, looking at Hump. Tokdaar said something too, only for his mother to clip him round the ear and stop him midway.

The silver furred gnoll growled something deep and furious.

Rehk’s hand went to her knife hilt. Her hackles raised, she leant forward, snarling something.

The other gnoll let out a huff and then relaxed. Rehk released her knife.

“What’s going on?” Hump asked.

“Chief no like human,” she said. “But he give passage. We take you to Land of the Huntress.”