“What the fuck was that?” Vischuno whispered, his voice more aggravated than fearful.
No one responded, though they all desperately scanned the field for any clues as to what was happening.
In the center of the clearing, Jularra began to make out hazy shapes appearing just above the ground. She identified them almost immediately.
“Can you all see this?” she asked quickly, pointing out into the clearing.
“See what?” Wona spat with the beginnings of panic. Jularra didn’t answer right away. As her hand dropped, hundreds more figures began to emerge from the opposing tree line.
“Oh,” Wona said, as scores of beasts came marching out through the trees. “That.”
“Listen to me, everyone,” Jularra called. “See those gravestones in the clearing? I think baykoks or something similar will soon emerge from them. Behind those, coming from the trees, are black bears walking on two legs.”
“Bears? Bears?"Vischuno growled. "And what the fuck is a baykok?”
“They look like… skeletons… with skin,” Jularra said.
“They have nasty screams and shoot invisible arrows,” Abranni added.
“Invisible… arrows?” Wona repeated. She laughed hysterically at the horror of the premise.
“Jularra, we don’t have the numbers…” Melcayro attempted.
“Listen!” she shouted, reclaiming everyone's attention. “I’m going to temporarily give each of you a portion of my powers.” As she rattled off her instructions, she started scouring the ground.
“When I do, you will have the knowledge you need to use it properly. My skills will be weakened by doing so, but I can do more with less.” She bent over as she spoke, snatching up palm-sized pieces of wood or bark. She quickly found one for each of her people and began passing them around. After giving out the last one, she turned to Abranni.
“Are your people comfortable engaging these things with their own magic?”
Abranni was lost for an immediate reply, but finally stumbled into one. “This has to be Leona’s doing. I have no idea how effective we’ll be against her!”
Jularra turned to her with a firm glare. “Will you try? We must make it to the other side and keep going.”
Abranni looked quickly to Melcayro, and then back to Jularra. The Acorilinian queen took that as an affirmative. Jularra turned back to her people and motioned at them to approach and outstretch the items in their palms.
“In a moment of great need, I come to you. Please share with my friends, your Gifts. Imbue these items with portions of my skills, so that their holders can help defend.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the pieces of bark and branches glowed in each of their hands. As each peace glowed, the new recipient stood slightly more erect, their eyes widening as the rush of knowledge flooded their awareness. In rapid succession, Jularra received what felt like as many dull thuds to her soul as there were people she had given her powers to. While they weren’t all that painful, she did register the diminishment of her magical reserves.
“Hold these close to you,” she ordered in a rush. “In your hand, in a pocket—so long as it's in contact with your skin, or touching something that is touching your skin.”
The group complied as she gave instructions.
“Right. We need to fight those baykoks and bears back,” Jularra directed. “We have to get through. Melcayro, Abranni—can you conjure something that we can—”
Before Jularra could finish her request, dense breaking and cracking of wood erupted from the distant trees. The echoes rippled through the clearing like thunderclaps. The group looked for the cause of the sound.
Behind the emerging baykoks and approaching bears rose a new collection of turbulent energy above the canopy of the trees.
Jularra stood—not frozen in fear, but unflinching in resolve. As she watched the smoky rings rise once again, she took a deep breath, focused, and took a quick inventory of everything still at her disposal.
“Change of plan. My people, focus on the spirits and bears. Melcayro—will your group help me with… that?”
Abranni laughed helplessly at the imposing scale of the giant rings above the trees. “I have no idea what the fuck that is,” she said.
Melcayro, gasping from an adrenaline rush, forced his own reply.
“Yeah, we’ll help.”
Jularra slapped him on the back and turned to her fellow Acorilinians.
“Okay, we need to get the baykoks and bears occupied. Bedrock and Spire—summon something to engage these things with. You should have the knowledge to come up with a reasonable option. Use it. Visch, Wona—stay back once the fighting starts, and direct our forces.”
Eyes locked on the spinning rings on the other side of the clearing, Melcayro offered a suggestion.
“Once they get that going,” he said, “we can start weaving through to get in close enough to work on… that.”
Jularra nodded and turned back to the Acorilinians.
“Everyone set?”
The Acorilinians responded with grunts, nods, and bloodthirsty grins.
“Begin.”
Once the command was given, each of the Acorilinians held up their hands to summon an energy sphere. There was a moment of silent awe in each of their eyes, amazement at the power they had never wielded before, combined with the temporary awareness of what felt like something they had known their whole lives.
“Come on! Let’s go!” Jularra shouted.
The Acorilinians shook themselves out of their trances and focused back on their casting. One by one, each Acorilinian grew their sphere, focused on it, and made the energy within it more potent. After closing their eyes, they concentrated on the type of warriors they wanted to summon, then reopened their eyes before focusing on the point where they wanted their fighters to spawn.
The fully-formed baykoks had climbed out from the ground and were headed for Jularra's group, the bears now just behind. The combined army of undead and beasts marched closer.
The first summoned groups of warriors appeared on the field, and pride in her people's newly-granted abilities surged in Jularra. But the wild loops across the way sped up and grew. Just as before, they broke apart, with some splintering off and shooting across the field toward the Acorilinians. One was
