The moment we hit the ground we split apart. Taylor vanished amongst the trees and I ran straight. There was only a few hundred meters of forest before the edge and in that distance we had a lot of stalling to do. By the time I reached it the battle had already begun. Two distinct fights were taking place. Ronalt and Earnest versus Lara, and Caius against the remaining knights. Unlike the ordinary knights their armour was gilded in gold and even Caius was having a hard time fending them all off. Further away several rows of rank and file soldiers approached us and to my surprise, behind them General Elroy. The cocky bastard grinned holding a metallic object covered in spikes. Well it saved us finding him.
I drew my bow and fired at Lara. The arrow whizzed past her ear as she bent her head, a cold glare piercing my eyes. She was quickly blocked by Ronalt. His large shield held firmly before him angling away each of her blows. With Earnest by his side Lara didn't have time to cast large magic attacks and was forced to use smaller spells unable to break through Ronalt's firm defence. I continued to support them pestering Lara until finally she changed her target to me. The moment her feet launched my way an explosion upheaved from the earth covering her entirely. Even an experienced knight would have been taken out but I had no doubts she was fine and moved to the next point as Earnest and Ronalt followed. I glanced once at Caius who continued to lead the knights in circles.
When the debris settled Lara stood steadily, a few scratched on her armour but her skin untouched and as if nothing had happened she pursued me. Ronalt blocked her path colliding against her. The force pressed him back as he dug his heels into the earth. A flash from behind erupted as Earnest drew his blade. His renowned instant kill. Unlike Caius or I who had used tricks to evade them Lara took them all and repelled them, matching each of the phantom strikes with her own. Earnest didn't falter, immediately pulling away as Ronalt took her up again. Once more they drew into a tenuous stalemate, slowly leading Lara into the forest.
I hooked around the tree and headed back towards Caius. He was within the forest grounds now. While it gave him less room to avoid the knights, their formation broke due to the foliage and uneven terrain. The soldiers reached the forest's edge and with an order from General Elroy began to encircle him. I activated the next trap. Smoke poured onto them and despite the efforts of their magicians the thick cloud remained. I drew an arrow and levelled my bow, lighting the bag tied to it. My aim was true as the arrow flew into the dense disruption. A second passed before another explosion shattered the earth and cleared the smoke. It hadn't been as effective as I wanted. The General had sacrificed his men to defend the majority. His eyes caught mine. A hail of crossbow shots flew towards me as I dived behind a nearby tree.
"Come on," I breathed out opened a vial on my waist letting the liquid flow into the earth. Ahead of me I could make out Ronalt and Earnest, one a steel wall, the other a blade and between them Lara shrouded in pure white.
Ten seconds. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one! I sprinted away from my cover. The sound of crossbows firing was instant. The first volley missed as I charged my mana. The beating pain in my chest sparing me from a much more painful piercing one. The soldiers gave chase and moments after passing where I had been the ground burst into flames. The fluid I had spread hours earlier, triggered by the one I had just placed. Their screams of panic and pain caused me to sweat but there wasn't any time to mind it.
A strained groan broke through the trees signalled first by the screech of tearing metal. I drew my bow and fired just as Lara broke past Ronalt's defence. Her continuous blows had finally caused the shield to fail. My arrow broke between them causing her to step back. Earnest quickly picked up the slack repelling her from Ronalt as he backed away.
"Catch!" I ran past and threw him a potion. He drank it within a second of grabbing it. The healing fluid cracking his broken arm back into place. "Caius stage three!" Behind us a veil of flame and to my front, Ardent lying in wait. I could only hope my yell reached him. How much more could he take? With the wall of flame, we had cut him from us and left him to fight the Empire alone. How many times would he die? This was still just the beginning.
I shot my bow at Lara again as I continued to retreat. None hit her as expected. Ronalt stepped back into the fray, both hands on his sword. An expression of complete concentration firmed his face as he knew each moment could be our last. I could only back him up with brief respites as Earnest flashed between the pair. Chunks of his armour had already been removed. Some by crushing blows others cut clean as if it were paper. My arrows finally ran out and I drew my sword.
"Ronalt!" I yelled and threw a bag of powder towards them. He and Earnest retreated in an instant as Lara froze the incoming projectile rendering it useless. That had been my last explosive as well.
She launched forward too fast for them to react. My brain burnt as the memories of thousands of deaths analysed her movements. I wasn't like Caius or Ronalt who could reinforce their body with mana indefinitely. Even a single strike would break me. Her movements seemed to slow as I remembered and traced her exact steps. Her sword clipped my hair. The skin around her eyes twitched only for her sword to spiral back, a shimmer around it. I raised my sword in time to parry the blow away. If it had been an ordinary sword it would have shattered and once more I had to thank my family in Axel. Their teachings had saved me more than I could count.
The interaction had lasted less than a second. Before she could swing again Earnest broke between us.
"Rain?" Ronalt asked in a single word.
"All good," I huffed in reply and retreated again.
Though her eyes were cold and emotionless a slight annoyance was beginning to mare her expression. It was barely noticeable but from all the years I had known her I could tell. I had to smile. It meant that she wasn't a complete machine for the Empire to control. Even it if was just frustration it gave me hope that we were on the right path.
Ronalt and Earnest continued to switch places as they fended her off slowly moving towards me. The fire blocking Caius and the Empire's soldiers was still raging. Several trees had begun to light as well though not too much to go out of our plan. It wouldn't last forever however. Caius could only distract so many of them at once and there were already traces of them trying to put it out. We needed to move faster.
"Earnest!" I screamed his name and slapped my hand on the ground. A circuit revealed itself buried beneath the foliage and fallen leaves. My chest thumped hard, beating quickly sending shocks across my body and down my arm as the mana spent away. Vines whipped out from the earth heading straight for Lara. Of course none reached her as she cut and burnt them apart. It did however buy Earnest enough time to sheath his sword. He grinned. The sword at his waist began to shine. Lara reacted only for Ronalt to block her. Earnest jumped forward, leaping off Ronalt's back and facing Lara head on. He unleashed his sword. It wasn't his favoured technique but one he had worked together to create with all of us. A single concentrated blast knocked Lara off her feet. An attack she had never seen before and powerful enough to push her back. Her feet left the ground. She continued to fly several metres before slamming her sword into the ground and grating to a stop, digging up chunks of earth as she went.
She regarded us coldly and readied her sword towards us with barely a scratch on her. A true monster. We were all tired and yet there she was ready to kill us all. That's when it happened. The ground lit up around her forming a giant circuit of golden light. As quickly as she reacted it wasn't fast enough as the magic completed. Ardent revealed himself. Symbols and words scrawled all across his skin. They flowed with no distinct pattern as he clapped his hands together. The cage formed. At first large, Lara pushed against it, slamming it and firing any magic she could muster but still Ardent persisted as the cage began to compress. Finally it squeezed to several metres wide.
"Haaa," Ardent growled and sat down on the spot. "It is done."
I waved Ronalt and Earnest over and opened my last case of potions hidden beneath the nearby tree. "Drink these," I threw them two each. "They'll keep you going. Marley tend to them."
The girl popped out from behind a bush, "On it!" She quickly began to work on Ronalt, then Earnest and even moved on to me.
"Ardent how long?" I asked as I set several vials beside him.
"She's really giving it her all," he laughed tiredly eyes focused. "Thirty minutes is all I can give you."
I looked to the sky. The sun was beginning to set but it wasn't dark enough yet, "We'll be cutting it close."
Ronalt cracked his neck and faced the way we came. The wall of fire was beginning to die revealing the rows of troops waiting. There were even more than before. "No matter what we'll succeed."
"Love the positively Ronron," I slapped his back.
"Don't call me that."
"Give me this Ronron, we might die soon," I joked.
"I like Ronron," Marley said honestly. "It makes you sound less intimidating."
He sighed, "For today only."
"Then Ronron, we have work to do," Earnest winked. When he said it, it just sounded weird.
Ronalt however simply nodded, "Yes, that we do." He heaved his sword forward.
I nodded seriously, "Ronron, Earnest, back Caius up. Marley and I'll keep them off Ardent the best we can. Remember everyone you let through gets a go at us and I really don't want to die." I picked up a flare and fired it. Stage four.