A few hoarse, whispered words escaped me. “Oh God, no.”

  I rushed forward and didn’t heed anything. Not the creatures that pawed at me nor the shouts and growls of warning from my other companions. I broke through the mist and glimpsed Dadan’s tall figure only ten feet away. He wasn’t alone. Dozens of the creatures surrounded him. He threw fireballs left and right but they were like a hydra. Taking one down brought two more.

  One of those monsters snuck up behind him and the shape of a sword was clutched in its hand.

  “Behind you!” I shouted.

  Too late. Dadan twisted around but the corpse shoved the sword into his side. A horrible stifled grunt escaped the immortal before he gritted his teeth and shoved his hand into the creature’s face. Fire shot out and consumed the thing, leading both body and weapon to clatter to the ground.

  I stood there with my mouth agape as Dadan fell to one knee. He clutched his left hand over his wound and grimaced. Blood poured from the hole and soiled both his fingers and his clothes.

  Another corpse loomed up out of the mist with a sword raised above its head. Dadan flung up his right arm and the sword sank into his limb. The immortal’s eyes glowed bright red and flames shot out of his arm. The sword caught fire and the flames raced up the weapon to engulf the creature. The corpse stumbled back and fell into an ashen pile with the sword falling on top of it.

  His battle was far from over as more of the creatures emerged from the mist. They surrounded him, leering at the fallen immortal with empty, pitiless faces and raised weapons.

  The fog fell between us, blocking my view. Panic overtook me again and I took a step toward him but one of the things loomed out of the dark fog. The creature reached out for me but I twisted out of reach. My foot tripped on the ground and I fell onto the earth. I caught myself on my hands and my palms slammed against the tainted dirt.

  I jerked back when my silver light exploded out of my hands and sank into the soil. The threads shot out like lightning bolts in all directions, illuminating the entire area with its soft glow.

  One of the threads struck the foot of the creature that hovered over me. The light darted up its leg and struck the heart area. The corpse let out a strangled gasp before it collapsed, but not into a pile of ash. Its body completely disintegrated, leaving only bits of cloth and its rusty weapon. A faint white smoke rose from the remains and hovered for a moment in front of me.

  Thank you.

  My mouth fell open. The voice hadn’t so much spoken as it had echoed in my mind. The white mist floated upward and vanished, but not to join the fog that surrounded me.

  Or the fog that used to surround me.

  Faint cries echoed all around where I sat but they weren’t the agonizing groans of the dead. These were sighs of relief as my light touched all the creatures and released their wispy selves from their rotten bodies. At the same time, the mist began to clear, showing an empty battlefield except for the weapons left behind by the terrible creatures.

  It also revealed Dadan. He still knelt where I had last seen him but his face was now deathly pale.

  I scrambled to my feet and raced over to him where I dropped to my knees. Blood. The terrible acidic odor invaded my nostrils. His eyes were shut and his breathing was ragged. I grabbed the hem of my robe and ripped off a few long strips.

  “Move your hand,” I whispered as I pressed a rag against his side.

  He reluctantly did so but I found in my inexperience I fumbled with looping my impromptu bandage around him. The other end of the rag slipped but a hand quickly caught it before it touched the dirty ground. I whipped my head up and found Yushir smiling down at me.

  “Allow me to help you,” he offered as he knelt by my side.

  Together we wrapped Dadan in my ripped robes. Blood dripped from his arm and I gingerly cupped it in my palms. He winced just slightly and I couldn’t stop a faint smile from appearing on my lips. Apparently, even one of the oldest creatures in the realms couldn’t always hide behind his stoic mask.

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  “You have lost a lot of blood,” Yushir commented as he wrapped Dadan’s arm with the last of my robes. “Can you walk?”

  Dadan’s reply was to attempt to stand. Yushir and I leaped into action, each of us grabbing hold of an arm and helping him up. His legs were still strong enough they didn’t wobble but the color on his face turned from white to an unhealthy gray.

  Dian sauntered up to us just as we finished steadying Dadan. He had a confused look in his eyes as he turned his head this way and that, inspecting the empty feld around us.

  Yushir inspected the area himself and pursed his lips. “It is rather bewildering, is it not? One moment we had an army set against us and the next they appeared to have been transformed into powder.”

  My heart pounded in my chest and I tried not to shrink beneath their querying. Movement from our wounded friend caught my attention. Dadan shut his eyes and clenched his teeth.

  I leaned down close to him. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

  “I am fine.” Dadan’s voice was tense but he slipped his arms out of our grasps and stood on his own. He stretched himself to his full impressive height and lifted his chin. “Are any left?”

  Dian shook his head.

  “I can see nothing but their weapons,” Yushir concurred as he stooped and picked up the sword that had stabbed Dadan. He studied the broken, rusted blade. “Curiouser and curiouser. What made the creatures rise from the ground and what gave them peace?”

  I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. “Maybe it’s the anniversary of whatever happened here?”

  He tossed the weapon onto the ground and studied the dark sky. “I believe the anniversary is some months away, but that would hardly explain their disappearance, particularly in such a spectacular fashion. I have never seen such magic before.” He swept his eyes over the area. “Perhaps there is some magical remnant of our good deed lingering here that expelled them, but I find that hardly likely.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe it was dumb luck?”

  Yushir’s curious eyes fell on Dian and me. “Was it luck that brought you two here?”

  Though his tone wasn’t accusatory, I still winced beneath his question. “Not exactly.”

  Dian stepped up to my side and huffed. A faint smile appeared on Yushir’s lips. “I am afraid I do not speak any animal language fluently, my friend.”

  Here was my way out of these questions. I patted Dian’s shoulder. “I guess we should get you back home so you can find some clothes.”

  “I believe I have a spare traveling cloak in my bag somewhere,” Yushir mused as he drew his bag around front to lay on his chest. He opened the small sack and rummaged around before he drew out a silken cloak which he held out to Dian. “This should suit a prince of the bear clans nicely. The cloak was made by Lord Buhelm himself.”

  Dian’s head and ears perked up. He cocked his head to one side and cast a side-glance at me. I snorted and patted his head. “It’s okay. I’ll turn around.” His eyes twinkled with mischief and he shook his head. I rolled my eyes. “I’m turning around.”

  The bear gave a soft bark like laughter before he trotted over to Yushir. I turned away the moment I noticed his fur shrinking. There was a slight scuff as he realigned his footing with only two feet, and then a soft rustling of elegant cloth.

  Dian’s voice floated over to me. “You can turn around now.”

  I turned to find the very human Dian fully cloaked and with his crooked smile on his lips. He stretched out his arms to show off the fit. “What do you think? Not bad, eh?”

  “Not bad,” I concurred though my eyes unconsciously flickered to Dadan.

  Dian’s smile faltered a little but he strolled over to me and gave me a look over. “I wanted to ask you this earlier, but I didn’t think you’d understand my whining sounds. You’re not hurt, are you?”

  I looked down at myself and winced at all the blood stains. “Just a little banged up is all.”

  He breathed out. “I’m glad to hear that and so will Arian. I don’t think she’d forgive me if anything happened to you.”

  I noticed our conversation had captured the full attention of Yushir. My heart dropped into my stomach, so I looped one of my arms around Dian’s and drew him ten feet away.

  I leaned close to Dian and lowered my voice to a whisper. “Don’t call me Anna around them. I’ll explain later.” He cocked his head to one side to cast a curious look at me but gave a curt nod.

  Yushir’s raised voice brought our focus back to him. “May I inquire why you two happened to be out here? I believe me injured friend and I are owed at least an explanation for averting disaster.”