Moose was fast. Much faster than we were. Dalsarel made that fact even more apparent as she cast a spell on him. His hooves lit on fire and left a trail of flames, causing him to accelerate further without taking damage, and he made it back in front of the carriage at breakneck speeds. Ferrisdae, too, cast a spell, causing the healer to turn red before the light seeped into him.

  I saw his body glow gold for a moment as he roared, tapping into his own divine magical powers. His antlers began to glow as he enchanted them, but this time the light didn’t diminish as the effect took hold. Instead, they grew, each one becoming as wide as he was tall. He lowered his head as the enemies braced themselves.

  It was no use. Cojisto cackled with almost maniacal glee as Moose powered through the line of boulders the enemy had set across the road without slowing down. The smaller creatures nearby went flying out of the way as he kept his head down, continuing on his path unimpeded.

  A Troll, twice as tall as Moose and at least as heavy, was clipped by one of the glowing antlers and was sent sprawling to the ground. The giant immediately started to heal, as all of their kind could. Such a thing could only be stopped by acid or flames. Still, they were slow to get back up.

  While our allies were charging ahead, Tabitha began swinging Britear again. Just like before, her green fire gathered above the starry horses, starting off as a small cloud and growing into a raging inferno. Once she was satisfied with what she had built up, she brought Britear down, stopping it an inch from the roof. The flames moved with it.

  Fire roared as it scorched the earth in front of us. It seemed to bounce like a physical object before settling inches above the ground. Tabitha swept Britear in front of her in a V shape, and the inferno changed to match once it settled in front of the starry horses. If the summoned animals were intimidated by the display, they didn’t act like it. They continued onward without deviation.

  The hole that Moose carved for us was more than big enough for us to go through. At first it looked like the enemies were going to fill the gap, but that changed quickly enough when the green flames Tabitha was focusing on preceded us. A few zealots, those dedicated to the cause, tried to jump in our way, but the fire struck them and pushed them to the side with only their screams as fanfare.

  Not only that, but it left a long path of fire on either side of the carriage as we passed the tree line and entered the forest. These lingered even though she didn’t focus on them, allowing them to burn naturally. So far, she was doing a splendid job.

  Below us, Ferrisdae and Dalsarel were casting spells as quickly as they could. On one side, blue flames joined my wife’s green as the Forest Elf called upon another spell given to her by the Dungeon Master. The spell burned cold instead of hot, so there wouldn’t be any risk of the trees catching on fire, and was flung towards the biggest foes while blanketing the smaller who were unfortunate to get in the way.

  The other side of the carriage had a spread of lightning striking the individuals closest to us as we passed them by. Dalsarel wasn’t a dedicated spellcaster like Ferrisdae and her spells reflected that, but she was still able to cause a lot of damage in a small area. Our speed was helping here, and all who were shocked were kept from attacking the carriage directly.

  That wasn’t to say that we were making it through without harm. I heard dozens of arrows and rocks hitting the side of the carriage. Some bounced off, and I was glad I didn’t hear any glass shattering, but others sounded like they managed to stick.

  The starry horses were prime targets. Thankfully, their conjured armor was thick and they kept their heads down. They whinnied in pain when some arrows made it through, or rocks hit hard enough to dent their metal protection, but they continued to run as well as they could.

  There was no counting the deaths we caused. Most of the denizens were small and weak, the kind that caused damage in large numbers by swarming their enemies. These were the Imps and Gremlins, which couldn’t keep up. Larger foes were smart enough to not get near the fire, especially the Trolls which shied away instinctively, but not even they could move freely in this environment. Every step they took had a good chance of squashing something smaller than them.

  We were surrounded by a sea of enemies and only overwhelming strength was getting us through it.

  I wasn’t idle, standing aside and watching my team at work. Arrows and rocks struck the crenelations we were hiding behind, each one shot without worry for their comrades on the other side. Those, I let the carriage take care of. My concerns were much larger.

  Spotting another target, I jumped down to land on one of the starry horses. It glanced towards me as I stood on its back before returning its gaze forward. As one, they jerked to the right to avoid the club of an Ogre who hadn’t been pushed away by the fire. I used my shield to deflect its attack before returning my attention to the reason I had leapt down here in the first place.

  Squatting down on the horse’s back, I predicted the timing and jumped in the air. A boulder half the size of Moose slammed into my shield, forcing me backwards. My feet slammed into the carriage, giving me the leverage my weight couldn’t. With a roar, I lashed out with my arm, redirecting the giant rock onto a different Ogre we were passing.

  I fell to my feet on the coach box before scrambling back to the top of the carriage. There were several more coming, but not all of them were threats. The amount of activity surrounding us was crazy, messing up the aim of even the boulder-throwing giants as they surged after us.

  To their credit, Moose and Cojisto were leading us admirably. The Arcane Wrestler, as I remembered his full title being, had somehow picked up what looked to be a Werewolf by the leg and was using it to batter the enemies to his left and right.

  The distinct memory of the man using an Avian as a club against another Avian back in the story dungeon came to mind. Apparently, it was a recurring theme with him.

  Moose was losing steam, however. He had made it farther than I had thought he would and expected to have to slow down, but between his natural strength, his antler enhancements, and the Elves’ buffs, he was going the distance.

  Three arrows struck his side, each one going through Cojisto’s given armor. The Fluid Force pulled back so it only coated the man, and he hesitated. More arrows came, then, becoming lodged all over. I grimaced at what he had to have been going through.

  At first, I thought he wouldn’t be able to heal while moving so much. However, his body glowed gold again, and all but a few of the arrows were pushed out of his tough hide. I deflected another boulder, leaning over the side to better direct its momentum backwards. I was surprised that Moose was capable of casting while essentially being a battering ram, but I wasn’t about to question it now.

  We broke through the trees and into another meadow when the announcement I was waiting for was finally given.

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  “Fireball!” Dalsarel called.

  I knew better than to believe that there were this many enemies grouped up without any spellcasting support. It seemed we just needed to get into a clear stretch for them to show up. I immediately jumped back down to the horses.

  Once there, I studied the area. A Fireball spell started off as a small magical bead, which made it very hard to track. In addition, it was rather speedy as well. The spell would have had to be cast to explode when we arrived, so I didn’t have to focus on the entire battlefield, just a corner of it.

  Whoever had cast it had done so from a far distance, and I caught wind of it just in the nick of time. The Fireball was streaking across the field just as quickly as we were. My gut instinct that they were going after the horses had been spot on, and I grabbed onto the armor on its neck and protected its front legs as best I could.

  I wouldn’t be able to block all of the damage since my shield wall wasn’t ready to be deployed, but I could stop some of it and heal after. My grip on the starry horse’s armor was white knuckle tight as I prepared myself for the explosion.

  One that didn’t come.

  Suspicious, I looked through the clear part of my shield to see that the spell was no longer there. It hadn’t exploded, just disappeared. My gaze panned the battlefield for a better idea of what happened when I spotted another emergency.

  I didn’t have time to figure out the mystery as I scrambled up the horse and back to Tabitha’s side. She was still swinging her axe, working it like the bellows at a forge, and sweat matted her hair to her face. I rolled over the crenellations to stand next to her where she wouldn’t have to worry about striking me and raised my shield, holding it aloft with both hands.

  A boulder struck it, and I grunted as I was weighed down. My hand briefly touched the top of Tabitha’s head before I was able to stop its momentum. I straightened out and pushed the boulder to the side, letting it fall to the ground.

  “Thanks,” she said breathlessly, not taking her eyes off of the fire she was using to protect us.

  “Always,” I replied. I scanned the air for any more troublesome projectiles before returning to the north side of the carriage. There were no signs of any additional spells. “What happened to the Fireball?”

  “Counterspell,” Dalsarel explained.

  “Then why did you call it out?” I asked, leaning over the edge to get a better look at her through the window.

  “Why wouldn’t I?” she asked in return, confused, before casting a spell that created a cone of fire in front of her window.

  I had no rebuke; I would have preferred she also called out the counterspell, but she was right.

  Scanning the sky for more boulders, I only saw them coming from behind and it didn’t look like they were going to hit us. With my main focus out of the way, I tried to pick out the spellcaster that had thrown the Fireball. It was strange that there was only one, and only with that singular spell.

  No matter how hard I focused, however, I didn’t see any mages. None of the telltale signs, anyway. It was possible that this was the only one who arrived on time and we passed them too fast, but that felt wrong. More hopeful than logical.

  Then, just as quickly as we got into this mess, we were out of it. I blinked as we went from surrounded by enemies to having to push back a few stragglers at best. Tabitha fell to one knee once she noticed, propping herself up with Britear, and started breathing heavily. I put my hands on her shoulders, rubbing them.

  “You did well. It must have been hard keeping it up for so long,” I praised.

  “If the kids can do it, then so can I,” she deflected, but she leaned back into me nonetheless.

  “Inspector, I have news,” Himia announced, her voice coming from the crystalline sword.

  I took a breath and palmed my face. “Is it good?”

  “No.”

  “What is it?”

  “Something is killing the denizens we have passed at a rapid pace,” she answered. “It does not appear as though they are chasing us, but we must expect that they will regenerate in their own dungeons, as allowed by the Nexus at Camp Lexi, in due time.”

  “Great, just fantastic,” I growled. I looked back, but we were too far away to notice anything more than the undulating mass of enemies we were quickly leaving in our dust.

  “Hey, Badger, I think we’ve got a problem,” Cojisto said as Moose finally slowed down. He moved to run alongside the carriage, his antlers and hooves going back to normal.

  “Another one?” I asked, throwing my arms in the air. “What else could possibly go wrong?”

  “What problem?” Ferrisdae asked as she opened the window enough to lean out of it. Or, rather, she tried to. I looked down to see that there were enough arrows sticking out of the side of the carriage that it was stuck tight. She huffed when she realized it wasn’t going to come free. “You both did amazing work clearing the path, by the way.”

  “An excellent job,” Tabitha agreed.

  “Thanks! Moose really is the best,” Cojisto said. “But, really, we do have a problem.”

  “Are you going to tell us what it is?” I asked, trying not to snap.

  With a nod, Cojisto raised the silver-furred Werewolf that he had been using as a makeshift club. It was battered, bloody, and clearly dead. The corpse was almost unrecognizable. However, there were a few objects sticking out of its neck at the bottom of its skull, where it was hard to see through the fur.

  I grimaced. “Are those what I think they are?”

  “Yup. This guy was a Thornguard,” he answered, pulling out a thick, black spike. Instead of anything resembling brains falling out of the hole, nothing happened. All of the fungus that had been piloting the body was stuck tight inside. “That means Blackwood Queens, right?”

  “Unfortunately, yes,” I confirmed dryly. “Was that the first guy you grabbed? Or did you have to go through a few before you found one? I sincerely hope it’s the latter.”

  “Nah, I took, like, four others before I caught the Werewolf. Wanted someone a bit sturdier to swing around,” Cojisto said, dropping the corpse to the ground now that he was done with it. “This was the first enemy to have the thorns, though I saw a few when I figured I needed to start looking. There weren’t many.”

  “I wish you had said something sooner.”

  “And, what? Risk Tabitha’s flames? No thank you,” he laughed before nodding at my wife. “Good work, by the way.”

  “Thanks. All in a day’s work,” she replied with a thumb’s up even as she draped herself over the crenelation.

  “Alright, well, the fact that there weren’t many Thornguard is good news,” I said, taking the good that came with the bad. “Himia, are the Blackwood Queens native to this area?”

  “No, Inspector, but the Thornguards, as you call them, can operate at a long range,” she answered. “It is possible that some have come down here, but it is equally likely that they are simply scouting to get a better picture of how our forces are spread out.”

  “Don’t like that,” Tabitha muttered.

  “Where do they usually stay?” Ferrisdae asked.

  “Their preferred environment is to the north,” I said. I hadn't known that before, but the knowledge came to me anyway.

  I watched as the Forest Elf winced. That was near where I had assumed the betrayed team, her mother’s team, was sent. They would have been warned about the creatures, but they were still amongst the most lethal we knew about.

  Not only were they in danger, but if there was a copse, or forest, or monarchy, or whatever you called a group of Blackwood Queens up there, then it also explained why the main forces hadn’t taken more territory yet.

  “Ferrisdae, call it in to Justisius so he can send out some warnings. They might already know, but that's no reason not to report something,” I said, and she nodded as she pulled out the Sending Stone. “We better keep moving. There’s still a ways to go before we reach Camp Lexi.”