Zane’s group had grown steadily as they slipped through town, sticking to shadows and backyards, only fighting the occasional hobgoblin they couldn’t sneak past. Most of the people they’d picked up were older residents who had been hiding in their homes, along with one exhausted mother clutching two toddlers.

  Zane and Liam stood slightly apart, speaking in low voices while the rest of the party kept watch and tried to calm the rescued civilians.

  They were still deciding whether to push toward the far side of town—where the old stone church stood—or escort their current group back to the safe zone first when a figure suddenly emerged from between two houses.

  Weapons lifted instantly.

  The newcomer froze, hands raised.

  “Scout,” she whispered urgently. “Friendly.”

  Zane motioned for the weapons to lower, though only slightly.

  “Report.”

  The young woman stepped closer, still crouched low.

  “One of the other parties sent me. Healer down. Bad. They need Kai.”

  The words snapped every head toward Kai.

  The healer had already gone still.

  The scout continued, voice tight with urgency.

  “They think she won’t last.”

  Zane didn’t hesitate.

  He turned to the scout.

  “Go back. Tell them to move toward Rendezvous Two—halfway between us. They escort her. We bring Kai.”

  The scout nodded once and vanished the way she’d come, moving fast but low, keeping to cover.

  Zane pivoted to face his group—and the thirty-odd new people clustered among them.

  “Alright, everyone listen carefully,” he said, voice calm but carrying. “We’re moving to the second rendezvous point. Another group will meet us there and escort you the rest of the way to the safe zone.”

  A small cheer rose from the rescued people—

  —and was immediately hushed by several veterans of Zane’s group, who had learned the hard way that noise meant attention.

  Within seconds, the party shifted into motion.

  Bell and Liam organised everybody into a tight formation. The fighters spread outward into a moving perimeter. The whole column began slipping down the street in controlled silence.

  Kai didn’t wait for orders.

  He was already moving.

  Fast.

  Too fast.

  Zane watched him surge ahead, jaw tight, shoulders rigid with urgency. The healer was pushing the pace well beyond what was safe for a group escorting civilians.

  Zane lengthened his stride and caught up.

  “Kai,” he said quietly, but firmly. “If you sprint, they die.”

  Kai didn’t slow.

  Zane grabbed his shoulder.

  That stopped him.

  For a second, Kai just stood there, breathing hard.

  “…it’s Tash, I just know it is. She’s a healer,” Kai said, voice rough. “If we lose her—”

  “I know,” Zane replied. “Which is why we reach her alive. All of us.”

  A long pause.

  Then, slowly—

  Kai nodded. They resumed moving. Fast, but controlled.

  _________________________________________________________________

  John was worried.

  He had used the +5 Constitution armguards Kai had given him to stabilize Tash—the healer—and while they had helped, she was still in terrible shape. Now she’d slipped into what looked like a coma.

  They’d sent their scout to find Kai and bring him back.

  Instead, the scout had returned with orders: they had to move Tash and meet Kai at the prearranged rendezvous point halfway between the two groups.

  Murmurs rippled through the group.

  “Do they not understand how bad she is?” one of the tanks muttered.

  As if that wasn’t enough, the noise from the fight had drawn people out of hiding—along with more goblins. The rescue team suddenly found themselves defending not just June, but frightened people who had nowhere else to go.

  Lucky we have Jason, John thought, watching the man take command.

  Jason moved like he’d been born for moments like this, calmly directing the new arrivals and their own fighters into a defensive formation. Orders were short. Clear. Efficient. Within seconds the line held, and the small goblin pack was driven off without anyone taking serious injuries.

  Not long after, they’d assembled a stretcher from whatever they could scavenge: a lawn rake, a long shovel handle, and a pair of heavy-duty coveralls they’d found hanging in a backyard shed.

  Then they laid Tash onto it as gently as possible. Even so, every small movement made fresh blood seep through the makeshift wrappings. Carefully, the enlarged group began making their way toward the rendezvous point.

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  John did a quick head count.

  Twenty-eight people now.

  That included their original five, several younger kids who’d been too young to attend the twins’ party, their mothers… and one bleary-eyed guy who’d apparently been working night shift and was sleeping when the world had ended at midday yesterday.

  John exhaled slowly. Twenty-eight lives depending on them not making a single mistake.

  They set off at a brisk but controlled pace, boots thudding softly against pavement. Every step was deliberate. Every breath measured. John walked beside the stretcher, one hand hovering near the armguards as if afraid they might vanish.

  They made it half a block.

  Gabriel’s hand shot up. Everyone froze. At first, John heard nothing. Then— A scrape. Not ahead.

  Behind. Jason didn’t turn. His voice dropped to a razor-thin whisper.

  “Contact. Rear.”

  Gabriel risked the smallest glance over her shoulder.

  Her eyes widened.

  “Six,” she mouthed. “Moving fast.”

  Jason didn’t swear. Didn’t hesitate.

  “Formation shift. Rear guard rotate. Front keeps moving. Do not stop.”

  The group flowed into motion like they’d practiced it a hundred times. The stretcher carriers kept walking. Two fighters peeled off and fell back. The rangers pivoted smoothly.

  That’s when the hobgoblins rounded the corner.

  They weren’t charging wildly.

  They were running in a tight pack.

  Hunting.

  Their long strides ate distance fast, feet slamming pavement in brutal rhythm. One of them barked a sharp command in its guttural language, and the pack spread slightly—flanking instinctively.

  “They’re coordinating,” Gabriel hissed.

  “I see it,” Jason replied. “Rear guard, slow them. Do not get pinned.”

  The first arrow flew.

  It punched into the lead hobgoblin’s shoulder. The creature staggered—but didn’t stop.

  The second arrow took another in the thigh.

  Still they came.

  “Why are they not breaking?” one of the stretcher carriers whispered.

  “Because,” Jason said grimly, “they think we’re prey.”

  The rear guard met them ten metres out.

  Steel rang.

  The first tank slammed his shield forward and caught the lead hobgoblin mid-stride. The impact boomed like a car crash. The monster snarled and hacked down with a jagged blade.

  The second hob vaulted sideways, trying to slip past—

  —and Gabriel’s next arrow buried itself in its throat.

  It dropped instantly.

  “Keep moving!” Jason barked.

  The stretcher team didn’t look back. They couldn’t. If they lost rhythm, Tash would jolt. If she jolted, she could bleed again.

  Behind them, the fight exploded.

  A hobgoblin lunged low. A tank pivoted, intercepting, boots skidding. Another monster grabbed a fallen street sign and swung it like a club. The clang of metal on shield rang down the street.

  One broke through.

  It sprinted past the melee, locking straight onto the stretcher.

  “Runner!” Gabriel shouted.

  John’s heart stopped.

  The creature was fast. Faster than any human there.

  Jason stepped into its path.

  He didn’t draw back.

  Didn’t posture.

  He just waited.

  At the last second, he shifted one foot.

  The hobgoblin swung.

  Jason slipped inside the arc, grabbed its wrist, and drove his shoulder forward.

  The monster flipped over his hip and slammed onto the asphalt hard enough to crack it.

  Before it could rise—

  John shot an arrow, pinning its skull to the road.

  Silence hit like a dropped curtain.

  The remaining hobgoblins hesitated.

  That was their mistake.

  “Push!” Jason snapped.

  The rear guard surged. Shields slammed. Steel flashed. One hobgoblin went down. Another staggered back.

  Predators that sensed advantage fought.

  Predators that sensed resistance reconsidered.

  The last two hissed sharply to each other—

  —and retreated, dragging a wounded packmate with them as they vanished around the corner they’d come from.

  No one chased.

  No one spoke.

  Jason watched the empty street for three full seconds.

  Then—

  “Move.”

  The group resumed walking.

  Faster now.

  No one needed to be told why.

  Behind them, a dark smear of blood marked where the ambush had tried—and failed—to break them.

  Beside the stretcher, John finally exhaled.

  Tash’s breathing was still steady.

  The armguards glinted faintly.

  Still working. Still holding.

  ____________________________________________________________________

  Kai tried to control his fear.

  Tash was one of Lily’s classmates from school, and Kai’s cheeks went red when he remembered the large crush he had on her for most of high school. Truth be told he thought as he power walked towards the rendezvous spot, I still have a flame for her. There was no way he was going to let her die.

  They were moving much faster now that they’d stopped searching houses for survivors. It had only taken about thirty minutes to reach the rendezvous point, though to Kai it had felt like hours.

  The relief he felt when they arrived vanished almost instantly.

  They were there first.

  After a quick sweep of the area to make sure nothing was hiding nearby, Kai turned urgently to Zane.

  “Dad, you, Mum, and I should go ahead and find Tash.”

  That was as far as he got before Bell stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

  “Kai,” she said gently but firmly, “we can’t leave all these people with only Liam and Emma guarding them. And remember rule two—we don’t split the party.”

  Kai clenched his jaw, frustration flickering across his face. After a moment, he nodded. She was right, and he knew it.

  He leaned down and pulled his mum into a brief hug, grounding himself.

  Silence settled over the group.

  One of the rescued civilians finally asked, hesitant but curious,

  “If that’s rule two… what’s rule one?”

  Zane, Bell, and Kai all turned toward them.

  And answered in perfect unison:

  “Don’t die.”

  A few quiet chuckles broke out—mostly from Emma and Liam, who weren’t carrying quite the same weight of tension as the others.

  Liam caught the shift in mood and decided to lean into it.

  “So that’s rules one and two,” he said lightly. “What’s rule three?”

  Before Zane, Kai, or Bell could answer—

  Movement flickered along the perimeter.

  Every weapon lifted. Every stance tightened.

  Then the shapes resolved into familiar figures.

  The other group had arrived.

  ____________________________________________________________________

  John spotted Jason breaking away from the group and heading toward Zane—then movement snapped his attention sideways.

  Someone was sprinting straight at him.

  His bow came up on instinct, string biting into his fingers—

  Then he recognized the runner.

  Kai.

  John lowered the weapon with a sharp exhale, but Kai didn’t slow. He didn’t greet anyone. Didn’t even glance at John, he only had eyes for the stretcher as they lowered Tash toward the ground. His eyes locked on her wound, voice cutting straight through the air.

  “Is her hip the only injury, or has she taken damage elsewhere?”

  For a moment John just stared, brain scrambling to catch up. The question echoed once in his head before meaning clicked into place.

  “Just the hip,” he said quickly. “We think she’s in some kind of coma from shock.”

  Kai dropped to one knee beside her. Carefully—almost gently—he rested his hand over the blood-soaked bandages wrapped around her hip. He didn’t cast yet.

  “Any foreign objects in the wound?”

  John shook his head.

  That was all Kai needed.

  The spell triggered instantly.

  Green light flared beneath his palm, soft but brilliant, like sunlight shining through deep water. Tash’s body reacted at once. Torn flesh knit. Blood vanished. Skin sealed itself as if time were running backward. John had seen lots of healing in the last 24 hours, but seeing it happen this fast—this cleanly—still made his chest tighten in disbelief.

  Seconds later Kai stood.

  “Set her down in the shade,” he ordered.

  The stretcher carriers obeyed without hesitation, easing Tash beneath the branches of a nearby tree where shadows dappled her face.

  Then Kai turned to John and held out his hand.

  John clasped it. Kai’s grip was firm, steady—grounding.

  “Great job, John. I see you used the armguards to raise her HP. From the look of it, that probably saved her life.”

  The words hit harder than expected. Praise, here? Now?

  John blinked. “I’m just glad we got to her in time… and that you made me keep them.”

  Kai’s grin spread—wide, satisfied. “Yeah, mate. Figured it was a good idea to leave them with you.”

  He released John’s hand, turned, and raised his voice just enough to carry.

  “Everyone—I’m dropping a healing circle here. If you’ve got injuries, come stand close.”

  Power gathered at his feet.

  A glowing ring unfurled across the ground, light green and shimmering, its edges rippling like liquid glass. People moved in quickly, pressing shoulder to shoulder inside its boundary. Relief spread through the crowd as wounds faded, bruises softened, and exhaustion lifted like fog burning off under morning sun.

  As Kai hovered over Tash's sleeping body like a protective mother hen. The circle hummed quietly, alive with magic.