Another arrow found a gap in Madi’s leather armor. She called out in pain and her right arm fell useless to her side.
Pachi and I alone, having been in the rear and first to pull back, were unharmed. We needed to use that to our advantage. I dismounted quickly, pulled my bow from my back, and retrieved several arrows.
My eyes went wide as I saw three large creatures landing in the middle of the road. They initially looked like snakes, but I soon noticed they were held up by scrawny yet powerful limbs. Each had flown down into the road to stop our progress, their huge wings still kicking up gouts of dust. I inspected them.
Wyvern Broodling
Level 25
HP: 11806/11806
Abilities: Silencing Shriek, Flare, Gouge
So the wyverns had joined the fight at last! But only three, along with whatever archers were continuing to pelt us with arrows. Yet even before I could draw an arrow with Vital Aim, a band of burly humanoid warriors barreled out from the side of the road to stand before the wyverns. They were ugly and green-skinned but huge. Even before I inspected them, I had a cold suspicion I knew what these were.
Orcish Grunt
Level 22
HP: 5290/5290
Abilities: Swarm, Snare, Foul Bite
There were five of them, each wielding an axe and a hide buckler, though luckily, they were otherwise unarmed. Alysand stood and began his eerie whistling, then fired a quick series of shots into the head of the nearest wyvern. It writhed about, spitting flame as it died. One of the orcs was caught in a single burst of flame, and it howled in pain as its flesh melted and slipped from its skeleton.
We would need to avoid the flame, then.
I activated Vital Aim and focused on another wyvern, hoping to hit its eye, and I felt the rush of Madi’s party buff passing through me. Yet before I could release my shot, and before Alysand had the time to continue his barrage, the largest of the wyverns screamed. The sound was deafening, and a chill filled my core.
Status Effect: Silencing Shriek
Silencing Shriek: The anger and rage of a Fafniri wyvern has assaulted your ears. No skill or ability may be activated. Duration: 1 minute.
The countdown vanished from my Vital Aim, and I was left holding a quivering bow. I released the arrow only to see it glance off a bone plate that covered the wyvern’s eye.
Some benefit had been gained, however, as it seemed to scare the beast, and the flames that had been building in its throat died out.
Alysand continued to fire his pistols, but without his song, they merely glanced off the wyverns’ hides.
Madi had dismounted and was charging the orcs, her axes flashing in both hands. And though she could not use both weapons with her full skill, the dual-wield ability had a decent shot at saving our lives. Even as I watched, she struck off the head of an orc, her left hand deft despite lack of training.
Tejón mauled another, and it seemed the battle was progressing well despite the surprise of the ambush. Then another volley of arrows pelted the bear and he howled in pain. Thanks to his bone plates, most hadn’t found purchase, but a few had sunk into his neck and shoulders.
Pachi, we’ve got to take out the archers, I said mentally. Let’s go!
Instead of responding, she flashed ahead of me and ran up the side of the hill. I sprinted after her and began climbing the slope as another round of arrows fell.
Madi cried out this time, but she ignored the arrow protruding from her hip, hacking through the buckler and arm of another orc. Those enemies, at least, were easy enough to drop.
A huge gout of flame burst below us, and I watched in horror as the fire engulfed Tejón. The poor creature yelped and thrashed in the flame. Madi screamed and ran to aid him. Yet when the fire died down, the bear simply moved on to the next orc.
I noticed with awe that aside from Tejón’s smoking hide and ash-tinged gray fur, he seemed unscathed. A fire-resistant bear, then? Another boon that might prove sufficient to save our butts.
I was a few strides behind Pachi on top of the hill that flanked the road when she found and killed her first archer. It was another of the tasloi archers that we’d fought against in the forest near Taelman’s Pond. She crushed it in her jaws. The sound of its ribcage buckling in her teeth sent chills across my skin.
But before I could fire an arrow at the others, they disappeared into the bushes. As I walked forward to root them out, an arrow zipped from a nearby bush and sunk into my thigh. Soon after, another struck Pachi’s foreleg, and she rushed forward to attack the creature. More arrows launched out at us, finding purchase in our legs.
Use your ability, Pachi! Use Wing Storm now!
Pachi reared up, a glimmer of lighting passing over her body and sparking in her eyes. She opened her wings wide. A handful of arrows shot out at her exposed chest and I feared I’d made a mistake, but a clap of power erupted from her as she closed her wings.
The arrows were flung aside, leaving the bushes torn to pieces.
Status Effect: Wing Storm
Wing Storm: A barrage of wind buffets the enemy, stunning them for 2 seconds. The Dazed debuff is applied and reduces movement speed and reaction time by 25%. Interrupts spell casting. Duration: 2 minutes. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
The successful use of the skill meant two things. One, the deadly little archers had nowhere to hide. I abandoned my bow and began hacking apart the defenseless beasts. The second was that the Silencing Shriek spell had worn off.
In a few bloody moments, Pachi
