The closer I got to the entrance to their home, the tighter packed they became, and the harder it became for them to dodge. I could hear shouts and screams from behind me, and I sensed Oracle pulling on our shared mana, but I couldn’t stop. It was our only chance.
I lashed out, even though I could barely stay upright. The world was spinning wildly, and I planted my feet firmly, locking my gaze on the hole right before me, which was filled with goblins fighting over each other in an effort to fall back out of range of the madman with the glowing naginata. I could feel the world tilting, and I frantically tried to keep upright, knowing I’d die in painful seconds if I fell.
I started a kata I remembered from my training, looping the blade over my shoulders and forward, before dipping it and repeating, swapping from hand to hand in a constant loop. West had called it a ‘lawnmower move’ and it worked exactly as he’d warned it would. It sliced and diced everything in front of me, but it left my sides and rear totally exposed. I had all I could do to keep upright and keep this up, I couldn’t risk anything more complicated, and I relied on the others totally.
I stopped using my mana when I felt Oracle pull on it again, and we dipped to single digits. I could feel the mana headache bloom, and I winced, then gritted my teeth as the taste of ozone filled the air around me. An explosion seemingly right at my feet told me that Oracle had my back.
I saw the goblins sent flying from the explosion out of the corner of my eye, screams filling the air, as well as less identifiable…bits. I was frantically slicing and dicing, out of mana, almost blind with the headache, and the world was spinning like crazy. When I saw Bob step up on my right, as a Firebolt flew past to blast into the seething mass before me. I felt a hand grab my shoulder, and hands reached past me, grabbing my naginata before I could hit anyone on our side with it.
I let myself be pulled back, knowing that if Bob was there, I was safe.
Long seconds passed as I was dragged back and dropped down onto my ass on the floor, hard. It seemed like forever before the world stopped spinning and I could focus again, but when I could, Oracle’s hovered face before me. She had a potion out in either hand, a mana, and a stamina one, and I focused blearily on my bars.
My health bar was at seventy percent, but my stamina and mana were close to rock bottom, and I realized why my mana headache had flared so badly just now…Oracle had used a healing spell to get me up to where I was.
I grimaced and shook my head again to clear it as I took the mana potion first, chugging it and dropping the bottle, quickly following it with the stamina one. I needed to be back in the fight, and as soon as the stamina started refilling, the world started making sense again.
I’d no idea that stamina depletion was such a killer, but without my team, I’d have keeled over in a few more seconds. I coughed and forced myself to my feet, staggering to one side before righting myself, and looking around at the battlefield.
Miren and Stephanos were alternating between picking off stragglers and firing arrows into the nest. Arrin was taking his time and firing the occasional firebolt into the goblins, then stabbing the wounded between castings. Bob and Lydia were at the front of the group, hammering their way through the goblin horde, and all three Mer were darting around at the sides. The youngling kept nearby and had clearly been tasked with watching over me, while Flux and Cheena were on either side of the group, slaughtering everything they could reach.
I could see my notifications going crazy, but I ignored them, looking at the youngling as he stood nearby, clearly torn between diving into the fight and staying close to me.
“What’s your name?” I asked him, and he jumped, turning to face me fully, and starting to go down on a knee. “Fuck’s sake, man, get up!” I cried, grabbing his arm, and hauling him upright.
“There’s no time for shit like that!” I snapped and pointed to Cheena. “Go help her!” He took off running, but after a few steps he paused and turned, bowing his head to me again and called out.
“Call me Bane, Lord.” With that, he was back up and flying across the distance to join Cheena, diving in and fighting alongside her.
I turned and exchanged a look with Oracle. The kid had either a natural talent, or he was exceedingly dedicated. He was like a machine as he fought, two upper arms blocking and deflecting the goblins attempts at attacks, while his lower arms struck forward and pulled back like pistons.
I strode forward to join the line again, pulling Lydia back to rest as we started to push the group back further. The press of goblins had begun to weaken off; where before, they’d been clambering over each other to get at us, driven to insanity by some instinctual need to fight, now, there were fewer and fewer joining the battle.
At first, Bob and I could fight side by side, but as we continued down the earthen corridor, it grew narrower, and I eventually had to step back and let Bob lead the way. We took turns resting and recovering, with me watching Bob’s status and waiting as long as I could, while my mana returned slowly.
As soon as Bob reached the fifty percent mark, I
