Griffon was rallying the defenders and splitting them into two groups, half to hit the attackers in the flank and the other half to go through a few side streets and reinforce the defenders.

Verdan couldn’t see too much of what was happening down at the far end of the Line, but he was certain that none of it was good.

The Defiant Flame Elder had been tremendously powerful by Sorcerer standards, and after what Budaev did to the wall, it seemed he was in the same category.

Making a snap decision, Verdan went with the group that was reinforcing the defenders, rushing through the side alleys as they hurried from fight to fight.

The barricades closest to them were still holding, so a few defenders joined their ranks while Verdan and Carla took out any Sorcerers they could see.

Once the area was stable, they immediately moved on to the next one, repeating the process as they tried to stabilise the defensive line.

The fourth point they came to was in the process of being overrun when they arrived.

Verdan was able to take down the Sorcerer heading the attack with a few well-placed spells, but they were forced to leave the remainder of the guards behind as they pushed on.

As Griffon rolled up the flank of the assault, more troops would follow in Verdan’s wake, but they couldn’t afford to wait for them.

Moving on to the next area, Verdan was unsurprised to find the defenders had been killed, but the attackers hadn’t gotten far either.

A band of well-armed and armoured adventurers were in the process of dispatching the last few Sect troops when Verdan and Carla arrived.

“Verdan, damn good to see you!” Arthur Cork called out as he came forward from the group, his silver hair out of place amid the youthful adventurers. “Griffon had me and mine as reserves and a good job, too. My brother is a street or two over with a squad of his own. He mentioned something about spotting some Draks.”

Verdan exchanged a worried look with Carla, remembering how the Draks had been close by to Elder Budaev. “We’re heading that way to find the Elder. Are you alright here?”

“Nusk, take your people and go with the Wizard. He’ll need some close protection.” Arthur called out to a burly-looking man who had a trio of equally powerfully built fighters around him.

“Understood,” Nusk pulled his mace from where it was embedded in a fallen Weeping Death retainer and started towards a narrow alley opening. “This way.”

Verdan wished Arthur luck before following the hulking adventurer. Ideally, he’d want more people for this, but the six of them would be a good start.

The sound of fighting was all around them now, and Verdan could hear it slowly encroaching further into the city.

The longer this went on, the more collateral damage the city would suffer.

What sounded like a barking sound came from their left, so Verdan called out for Nusk to head that way.

Almost immediately, Verdan saw a destroyed house covered in dust and debris. Lingering Essence in the area told Verdan they were close to the Elder now.

“Steady, keep tight, don’t let them get in close!” A familiar gruff voice was bellowing as a group of adventurers slowly backed into view, supported by Sylvie, Tim and another of the Airta.

Sylvie and the other Airta were in their wolf form, while Tim was in the shield wall of the group.

Arrayed against the group were a dozen Draks lunging and snapping at the retreating adventurers. The Draks were smaller than the transformed Airta, with a scaled, triangular head, forked tongues and a sinuous body.

“Aer torr,” Verdan cast a pair of air blades at the Draks, distracting them long enough for Hans Cork to pop out from the group and shoot one of the attackers.

Hans’s crossbow still held Verdan’s enchantment, giving the bolt enough strength to pierce straight through the scales of the Drak, making the beast howl in pain and stumble back.

“Cursed creatures!” Carla snarled as she threw a hand up and hit them with a gust of wind that sent several sprawling.

Verdan was tempted to follow suit, but he could feel the Aetherburn starting to build from all the strong spells he was using. It was better to save what he could for the fight with the other Elder.

Half of the pack of Draks split off from the main group to rush at Verdan and the others, but Nusk and his comrades were quick to countercharge, smashing into the scaled beasts with a roar.

“Raf,” Verdan focused on the leader of the ones attacking Nusk and hit it with a slowing spell, limiting its movement and how quickly it could react.

Nusk was quick to bash in the head of the slowed Drak, and Carla took out another with a blast of lightning, but one of the adventurers was pulled down and savaged by a pair of the creatures before Verdan could intervene.

Nusk and one of his comrades were quick to avenge their fallen friend while Carla continued to conjure blasts of wind to keep the Draks off balance.

Tim had led a charge of his own with Han’s group, and in moments, the fight was over.

Three adventurers had been bitten, but fortunately, the other Airta was revealed to be Zhalia when she approached them and laid a glowing paw on their wounds.

It wasn’t the strangest delivery method Verdan had seen, but it was close.

“Verdan,” Hans limped over to greet him with a savage grin as he stroked his crossbow lovingly. “Abyss of a spell you cast on this beauty.”

“I’m glad it has been of use,” Verdan said with a nod before gesturing to the dead Draks. “Any idea where the Weeping Death Elder is?”

“We were heading there when we ran into these,” Hans said, giving the Draks a dirty look. “Sorcerer Macannan brought the militia he trained up to try and contain him with the help of the guard Sorcerers. No idea how that’s going, though.”

“Let’s hope we’re not too late.”

-**-

The battle with Elder Budaev was easy to find, which wasn’t a good thing.

The battle itself included what seemed to be a handful of Sorcerers, several dozen Sect retainers, and four more Draks. Each of the groups was involved in their own fight, though they were spilling over into the others.

Kai and Macannan were working together to fight the Elder directly, while Gwen and the rest of the Coven fought the other Sorcerers.

Despite the magic all around them, the militia Macannan had been training were locked in a pitched battle with the Sect retainers while supporting Delia and Blane as they fought the Draks.

“Nusk, take your people with Tim and help against the retainers. Carla, you go to your Coven and help take down those Sorcerers. I’m going to try and keep the Elder under control.” Verdan called out, breaking from the group as he watched Kai block an Essence attack with his spear.

The flames surrounding the blade of the spear were enough to protect it for now, but they wouldn’t last long, and then Kai would be vulnerable.

Macannan darted forward, his weapon shifting into a large polearm that he slashed towards the Elder, but Budaev caught the attack on a blade of his own before driving the metal Sorcerer back with an explosion of Essence.

Macannan’s weapons and armour were infused with Essence and were resistant to the effect, but even so, Verdan could see the corrosive aspect of Budaev’s Essence eating at them.

“Tafell durst,” Verdan conjured a shaped blast of Aether imbued with the concept of breaking and launched it at Budaev.

A shield flared around the Elder as Verdan’s spell hit, the shield immediately fracturing as Verdan’s spell attacked it directly.

Budaev seemed to be able to both conjure and manipulate his chosen Essence as he quickly sprang back, gathering a good portion of the Essence within the destroyed shield back to reform a new one before Kai or Macannan could press the advantage.

“Wizard Blacke, I’m so glad you came to join us,” Budaev called out in a cultured voice, one which showed no trace of exertion. “Your companions here are surprisingly hard to kill, but that won’t last for much longer.”

This close, Verdan finally got a good look at the Weeping Death Elder. Budaev was a middle-aged man with hard eyes and a scarred visage, dressed in a finer version of the robes that his Sect seemed to favour.

“Garveth is dead,” Verdan called out, taking the opportunity to distract the Elder and give the other two a few moments to catch their breath.

“Unfortunate,” Budaev said with a slight shrug before holding out a hand and conjuring a tight globe of decay and poison Essence. “Still, that gives me the pleasure of killing you all personally.”

Verdan conjured a shield as Budaev threw the globe at him, the Essence speeding forward with shocking speed to strike at him. The hefty amount of decay ate into Verdan’s spell, and he was forced to cancel it as Budaev cast two more, one each at Kai and Macannan.

Lacking shielding of their own, the two other Sorcerers dodged the attacks, letting the globes flash by and dig deep into nearby buildings.

“Thanr bel,” Verdan cast a ball of compressed flame down at the Sorcerer, unable to use his more powerful version with so many allies nearby.

The flames battered against the Elder’s shield, but Kai used the brief distraction to blitz forward with enhanced speed, spear rising up in a straight stab at Budaev’s chest.

Budaev’s shield took the flames with ease, but the Sorcerer’s eyes widened as he saw Kai closing the distance, and a quick gesture made the shielding bubble of Essence expand outward.

Kai had seemingly dealt with this defence before, as he gathered Essence-infused wind around him as he forced himself through the shield, grimacing in pain as the decay Essence ripped at his own.

“Durst!” Verdan threw another shieldbreaker spell, piercing the shield and stopping the decay effect that was eating at Kai.

Budaev snarled as Kai shook off the lingering Essence and moved in to attack, Macannan coming in from the flank.

A twist of Budaev’s hand conjured a spray of attacks at Verdan while he dodged and parried Kai’s attack with his much shorter sword.

Caught in an alley with little room to move, Verdan was forced to take the attacks on his shield, wincing at the drain on his Aether. Much like his shieldbreaker spell, the decay Essence actively broke down what it hit, making it perfect for damaging magical shields.

Reinforcing the spell with more Aether, Verdan cast a pair of seeking ice darts into the air, which arced down past Kai to explode into icy mist as they struck a freshly recreated decay shield inches from Budaev’s skin.

Budaev ignored the attacks completely as he dodged a swift strike from Kai, his shorter reach leaving him unable to close the distance with the fast-moving fire Sorcerer.

A frown crossed Budaev’s features for the first time as he conjured another set of projectiles, splitting them between Verdan and Macannan.

At the same time, a coating of dark brown and black Essence flowed up and enveloped Budaev’s blade.

Kai had explained the four disciplines Sorcerers used, and considering that Budaev was moving fast enough to keep up with Kai, the use of his Essence to augment his weapon finished off the list.

The coating had barely finished applying to Budaev’s weapon when Macannan reached him, his weapon reforming into a large maul that he brought down in an overhead strike.

Budaev sidestepped the attack, his riposte striking the maul directly and leaving a dark blemish across it as his Essence fought to destroy it.

Kai flowed around Macannan with a sweeping attack towards Budaev’s legs, which the Sorcerer once again blocked, his blade leaving a similar blemish on Kai’s spear.

Kai moved with the hit and spun his spear to stab out at Budaev with the spike at the base of his spear, but the other Sorcerer nimbly swayed out of the way.

Macannan was doing his best to catch up, and Verdan was maintaining a steady pace of attacks, but neither of them was able to do enough to divert Budaev.

Decay-infused steel struck the centre of Kai’s spear, shearing through the non-magical wood and sundering the spear.

Kai tried to wield the two sides of his spear at the same time, but without his reach advantage, Budaev was able to land a cut to his leg that made the fire Sorcerer scream in pain.