ground.
'I need to reach Ghaji,' Tresslar said. 'See what you can do to get me there in as close to one piece as you can manage.'
Diran nodded grimly. 'Yvka!' he called out. 'Watch our backs!'
The elf-woman had been flicking tiny seeds at shadowclaws, each one exploding and creating a fist-sized hole in the creatures as it detonated. Yvka ran over to Diran and Tresslar and the three companions started heading toward Ghaji. Yvka continued flicking her deadly seeds, and Diran's hands became blurs as he slashed one shadowclaw after another with his poison-slick daggers. The poison was one of the deadliest that Diran knew-he'd learned how to make it from Aldarik Cathmore-and though little of the substance adhered to the knife metal by now, it remained potent enough to continue inflicting fatal wounds on their attackers.
The companions' situation was bad enough as it was, but to make matters worse, the light-spark orbs that Yvka and thrown into the air were beginning to sink toward, their magic nearly spent, their illumination dimming as they descended. Without the light to deter them, the shadowclaws were becoming bolder, attacking more swiftly and savagely, their numbers increasing. If the companions didn't do something and do it fast, they were dead.
'Everyone gather near Ghaji!' Tresslar shouted.
Solus began making his way toward the half-orc, his psionic crystals still glowing, shadowclaws still flying this way and that as the power of the psiforged's mind tossed them about like ebon dolls. Asenka, Hinto, and Thokk also headed for Ghaji, the halfling tugging on Onu's sleeve to urge the sea captain to accompany them, Onu looking as if he were so enthralled by the battle taking place around him that he was reluctant to move lest he miss something good.
Ghaji wielded his elemental axe in great flaming arcs, slaying shadowclaws with each swing. Dark bodies in various stages of scorched mutilation lay around him in great heaps, and the air stank of burnt flesh and boiling blood. As the companions drew near Ghaji, killing shadowclaws and relieving some of the pressure from the half- orc, Ghaji paused in his efforts to draw the back of his hand cross his sweat-slick brow.
'This is too much like work,' he said.
Diran didn't know how many shadowclaws they had killed, but they seemed to have made no dent in their numbers. The creatures kept coming from all directions, vast waves of living darkness with but a single desire: to tear those who had invaded their forest into bloody ribbons.
'Everyone keep close together and crouch down low,' Tresslar told them. 'Except you, Ghaji. Start swinging your axe in a circle and keep swinging it. We need to create a ring of fire.'
'What about Leontis?' Asenka asked. 'He's still fighting somewhere out there!'
Diran didn't think the others had witnessed Leontis's transformation, but there was no time to explain now. The area was crawling with too many shadowclaws, and the werewolf was no longer visible. For all Diran knew, Leontis had been torn limb from limb by now, and as powerful as lycanthrope healing abilities might be, Diran doubted they'd save his friend if he were in too many pieces.
'There's nothing we can do for him right now,' Diran said. 'Proceed, Ghaji.'
Ghaji nodded, took a deep breath, and then spun, axe held in a two-handed grip, flames trailing behind the blade. The nearest shadowclaws drew back several feet, leery of the mystical fire generated by Ghaji's weapon, but they did not withdraw far. They sensed their prey's plight and knew it would be only a matter of moments until they would finally get to feed. The shadowclaws edged forward, growing braver by the second. A few more inches… a few more…
Tresslar raised the revealer until the metal ring touched the flame trailing from Ghaji's elemental axe.
'Everyone face downward, close your eyes, and hold your breath!' the artificer shouted.
The last thing Diran saw was the shadowclaws lunging at them, and then the priest shut his eyes as Tresslar commanded. A split-second later, the world exploded into heat and light, and even through eyelids squeezed closed, Diran saw a bright flash of yellow-white illumination. He felt the skin on the back of his neck burn, and smelled his hair begin to smoke. A loud whooshing sound filled the air, followed by the high-pitched screams of shadowclaws in agony. The heat, light, and noise seemed to go on forever, but eventually Diran realized the only sound he heard was a ringing in his ears, and the only light he saw came from afterimages floating in the blackness behind his eyes.
'It's safe now. You can open your eyes.' Tresslar's voice quavered with weariness, but the artificer sounded otherwise unharmed.
Diran opened his eyes onto a nightmarish scene. The forest had been decimated for dozens of yards in all directions. Smoldering stumps were all that remained of the trees, the ground was charred coal-black, and the shadowclaws had been reduced to blackened husks. Flames burned here and there, enough to provide sufficient illumination to see by, especially when their orange glow was added to that of the moons, for there was no longer any tree cover in the area to block the light of the celestial orbs from shining down upon the forest floor. Black snow drifted down from the sky… no, not snow, Diran realized. Ash.
Beyond the radius of the fireblast, no shadowclaws could be seen. Perhaps all the beasts had been within range when Tresslar had unleashed the magic that had resulted in this destruction. Or perhaps the surviving shadowclaws had been blinded by the explosion and had fled in terror. Whichever the case, it appeared the companions were safe, for the moment, at least.
One by one the companions stood, helping each other up as necessary. Ghaji held his elemental axe limply at his side, the weapon's flame extinguished, the metal cold.
'Is anyone injured?' Diran asked.
'I don't believe so,' Tresslar said. 'A few burns, some singed hair, that's all. I was careful to direct the majority of the flame's heat away from us.'
'What did you do?' Ghaji asked. He lifted his axe and held it out for Tresslar's inspection. 'It feels heavier somehow, more awkward, and the surface has grown dull.'
'I'm sorry, my friend,' Tresslar said, 'but I could think of no other way to stop those clawed monstrosities. I adapted my revealer so that it would function as an enhancer, a device that can temporarily boost another mystic device's power. I used it to enhance your axe's flame so that it would burn hotter and spread outward rapidly. I hoped the resulting flame-blast would destroy the ebon creatures.' Tresslar took a moment to survey the carnage he'd wrought. 'Looks like it worked.'
'Why apologize, Tresslar?' Hinto asked. 'You saved us!'
'But at a cost, my little friend,' Tresslar said. 'Enhancers function by forcing a mystic object to expend all of its energy in a single burst. By employing the enhancer on Ghaji's axe, I forced the elemental within to devote its entire strength into one fiery explosion. Unfortunately, the elemental was drained of the magic that sustained it and was destroyed. I'm afraid your axe is just an ordinary weapon now, Ghaji. I'm sorry.'
The half-orc looked at his axe for a moment then shrugged. 'I got along without an elemental weapon most of my life. I'll get by now.'
'I might be able to restore it some day,' Tresslar said. 'I can't make any promises, but if I can manage to-'
Asenka broke in, her voice close to a sob. 'I can't believe you're standing there talking so calmly about a stupid axe! Have you forgotten that Leontis was outside the circle?'
'We haven't forgotten,' Diran said. 'Leontis is quite resourceful and not without his own defenses. It's quite possible he managed to get beyond the range of the fire.' Diran wasn't lying, precisely. Leontis did have the defenses of his lycanthropic metabolism, and there was a good chance that-assuming the shadowclaws hadn't destroyed him-he'd either chased the beasts further into the forest or, when the fireblast happened, he'd reacted in animalistic fear and fled. Either way, Leontis would still be alive, though it was possible the werewolf he'd become would find itself at home in the forests of Trebaz Sinara and never return. That might well be for the best, Diran mused. Leontis could live out his life in seclusion, unable to hurt anyone or spread his curse.
'Excuse me,' Onu said softly.
Asenka ignored the man and continued. 'We have to at least search for his body!'
'How?' Yvka said. 'I don't wish to upset you any further, but there are hundreds of dead creatures surrounding us, and their corpses all resemble large lumps of charcoal. Leontis, if he was caught in the blast, will look no different. How will be able to tell his body apart from all the others?'
'Excuse me,' Onu repeated, a trifle louder this time.
Again, the sea captain was ignored. Solus spoke next.
