The soldiers tried to finish it off, but once again their efforts turned out to be useless. They died at the creature’s spectral touch.
“We didn’t succeed,” Eicewald said sorrowfully.
Lasgol could not believe it. “We didn’t? But why?”
Specter still Power, Camu messaged him. He could still feel its magic.
Eicewald picked up his Eternal Snowflake from the ground and put it away. “It’s empty. Its power is exhausted, and so is ours, very nearly. There’s nothing more we can do.”
Lasgol feared the worst, and was not mistaken. The battle which had been on the brink of being decided was suddenly clear. The Specter went on robbing lives, and the Norghanian soldiers lost their hope of winning that battle. They began to withdraw, while the Specter and the forces of the Frozen Continent moved forward, gaining territory, and with it the battle.
Sven and Gatik saw this. Sven rode to the Magi.
“You haven’t destroyed it!” he said accusingly.
Eicewald shook his head. “We weren’t able to. Its power is stronger than we thought.”
“Hellfire! Then the battle’s lost!”
“The troops had better retreat,” Eicewald advised him.
“Is there nothing else you can do? There must be something that can kill that being!”
Eicewald shook his head. “There’s nothing more we can do.”
“The King will skin us alive if we fail! We’re not going to leave here defeated! I can’t let that happen!”
“We must retreat, or else we’ll all die,” Eicewald insisted.
Sven watched the battle for a moment longer and had to resign himself.
“Retreat! Call the retreat!”
The horns sounded. The Norghanian soldiers obeyed the signal as soon as they heard it and began to withdraw in an orderly manner.
“Cover the retreat!” Gatik ordered his Rangers.
There was a moment of indecision among the hosts of the Frozen Continent. They could not decide whether to chase after the Norghanians. They saw that the Specter was not moving from where it was. It seemed to be wounded, and had no intention of chasing the soldiers. Instead, it turned and set off to the north.
Sven saw this. “Forced retreat!” he shouted.
The soldiers broke into a run.
The three leaders beside the Totem saw the battle won. When they gave the order to pursue the Norghanian soldiers, their forces hurled themselves in pursuit.
“Move on! Quick! Forced retreat!” Sven ordered.
“We’ll delay them,” Eicewald said. He called his Magi, and the five of them began to cast a final great spell with what little energy they had left.
The soldiers meanwhile were fleeing south as fast as they could. And while they fled, the Magi completed their spell. Suddenly a wave formed behind the Norghanian soldiers, nine feet high, and as long as the enemy line that was pursuing them. At an order from the Magi, the wave moved forward and fell on the enemy. As they stopped, it broke over them and soaked them all.
The Wild Ones laughed at the spell when they realized that it was unable to sweep them away, which they thought was what the Magi had intended. But that was not what Eicewald and his assistants had conjured. The enemy line broke into a run once again to continue the chase, and instantly the water which had fallen on them froze on their bodies in the form of great blocks of ice and frost. They were unable to move or to advance, not even the Semi-Giants, who were frozen from the waist down.
“It won’t kill them, because they come from the Frozen Continent and low temperatures don’t affect them,” Eicewald said, “but it’ll delay them a little.”
“Retreat!” Sven shouted. “Everybody run!”
The whole Norghanian army fled toward the south, putting a distance between themselves and the Wild Ones, who were still trying to break the blocks of ice that held them prisoner.
“Someone take care of Lasgol,” Eicewald said. He himself was barely able to stand.
“We’ll look after him,” Enker said. Quickly, with Misten’s help, they tied Lasgol to Trotter and took him with them.
You okay? Camu’s message reached him, full of concern.
Yes, little one, don’t worry. It’s just that my legs are frozen and I can’t move them, but it’ll pass. I’ll be all right.
Sure? Camu was very worried.
Yes, so don’t worry. We’ve got to run. You and Ona get to safety. Don’t let them catch you.
Ona moaned beside him.
Ona and I with you, Camu transmitted, still sounding unconvinced.
Fine. But be very careful, and don’t let the enemy catch you.
Not catch, Camu assured him.
In that moment of utter defeat, Camu decided to try to help instead of doing what Lasgol had asked of him.
I try.
No! Don't try anything!
Camu did not obey his command. The creature scuttled in his invisible state until he was within a hundred paces of the Frozen Specter, who was standing still, behind the ice-covered enemy lines. He tried to use his power to negate that of the Specter. There was a flash of silver which Lasgol sensed, and immediately he knew it was Camu. His heart skipped a beat.
No, Camu! It's too dangerous!
I try, the creature insisted.
The Specter turned to where Camu was standing. He could not see him, but he had felt the magic. Camu tried again, and used his power to attempt to destroy the Specter. There was another flash of silver. The Specter screamed, not from pain, but from rage. Camu's power was affecting him, but not strongly enough.
Not working. Specter very powerful, Camu realized.
Get out of there! Come back!
He tried a third time, refusing to accept the evidence. The Specter screamed in rage and stretched out its arms towards him.
Not worked. Specter magic too powerful.
Run!
Camu finally decided to listen to Lasgol and ran as fast as he could to meet him. The Specter,
