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both sides with your spells.”

  Both sides burst into action before Franz could complete his orders. Rowen hoped to start the company off with momentum as he pulled forth his first spell of the encounter. He brought his free hand through the gestures as angelic words sung from his lips. His focus shifted to Franz’ and Loren's and Algon’s swords as they parried and slashed in a deadly dance with the Senshin's black blades. The army men’s blades glowed red along the edges for a moment then burst into vibrant red and orange flames.

  The fire failed to startle the Senshin as Rowen had hoped and it kept up its assault with ease. Franz lifted his large kite shield and felt three monstrous slashes against it in quick succession that pushed him back. Blocked, the Senshin turned toward Loren and bore in on him with demonic fury. Franz regained his footing and charged at the creature’s back. He and Algon tried to break the creature off of Loren, but the Senshin used one blade to fight behind its back as if well as it used those in front of it.

  “Boy, give us something big to interrupt him!” Franz called to Rowen. Rowen knew that only his newly learned, and unbattle-tested fireball spell would be powerful enough to stagger the Senshin, but Franz, Algon, and Loren were all too close to avoid the explosion. He failed to complete his thoughts, however, as one of the Senshin's black blades slipped under Loren's shield. Rowen closed his eyes, unable to watch.

  He was relieved when he heard not Loren's scream, but instead a sound as if the blade had struck a grand bell. The loud chime echoed throughout the ruins and while the bell caused obvious pains to the undead, the First Company’s muscles and minds were invigorated and strengthened. They used the short time to cut a few fingers off of the hands of undead in the alleyways.

  As Rowen reopened his eyes, he caught the fading glow of blue light where the Senshin had hit the vice-captain. To his left he saw Lentess. Her hands were together with all of her fingers pointed up, except for her two index fingers which were folded. Her eyes, glowing a faint blue, were locked on Loren as angelic words flowed from her lips.

  The Senshin recoiled away from Loren and the painful ringing in its super-sensitive ears. Loren used this advantage to score the first full hit. His flame-wrapped blade bit into the Senshin's thigh and its magical flames seared the surrounding flesh.

  The black fiend howled in pain, and this time the magical sound wreaked havoc on the human's ears. Rowen faltered in his steps and nearly fell over, fumbling to cover his ears. His mouth hung open in a silent scream. Almost everyone fared the same except for Loren. Although the spell Lentess cast saved him from the blade's wicked edge just moments ago, the force behind it still did damage, and that coupled with the piercing howl had brought him to his knees. Both his shield and his sword clattered to the ground, the flames disappearing from the blade as he raised his hands to his ears. Grunts of pain escaped from between his clenched teeth.

  The demon general took full use of its advantage and lifted its blade to strike Loren down. Loren stared down the Senshin, refusing to show any hint of fear, and the demon showed a tiny hint of respect. Not many who were in Althera's Vanguard could remain stoic in the face of demonic death, and Loren was just a soldier.

  The small hint of respect wasn't near enough to stop the Senshin's blade. With one smooth motion it severed the vice-captain's head from his shoulders. Rowen's stomach churned as he saw Loren's head tumble from his shoulders, replaced by a font of blood. Rowen had understood from a young age that the life of adventure would be full of death. If one didn’t fall in battle, he would be one of the unfortunate ones who had to watch his friends and comrades die around him.

  But mere thoughts could not prepare him for it.

  Rowen's head swam in a sea of nausea. He turned away to avoid the sight. The western alley. An arrow pierced a soldier’s skull. A skeleton embedded its blade in another.

  Rowen turned away.

  The eastern alley. Two more men fell. The undead ambush took full advantage of their general’s howl. A howl that pierced the skin and made the bones ache.

  All around Rowen the sounds of battle sprinkled with the screams of death forced the young mageling to his knees while he expelled the contents of his stomach. He heard his name called, over and over, by a dim voice. Every second he spent in battle with himself was a second the expedition from Lennendell was without one of their only two magic users. He fought to set his sickness aside as determination and anger began to seep into his mind. Rowen used it to force himself to his feet when he noticed Cecilia knelt next to him.

  “Are you all right, Rowen?” he heard her ask.

  “I’m fine, go tend to the ones with real wounds,” he said as he grasped Cecilia's hands with his own. “Don't let anymore die.” Cecilia paused and stared into the mageling’s eyes before she nodded and ran off to help the soldiers at one of the alleyways.

  Rowen stood up straighter than he had all day and surveyed the battle amongst the ruins.

  While the fight started in favor of the company early on, with the alleyways held and almost pushed back, the otherworldly howl from the four-armed demon had thrown enough men off balance that the skeletons had managed to re-even the battlefield. They evened it, they didn’t turn it to their favor. Rowen held on to that thought.

  He traced a sigil with his staff and chanted a melodious phrase in the language of angels, then pointed his staff at a point in between the undead and the living battling in the western alley. A man-high wall of fire erupted between the groups. It halted the advance of the skeletons and at the same time it bought precious recovery time for the men.

  Cecilia worked with utter calm as she waved a green-glowing hand over the wounds of the soldiers. She stemmed blood flow and closed some of the more minor wounds. Rowen turned away from the alley, satisfied that the wall would hold. His eyes drifted to Franz and the Senshin exchanging angry blows. The magical fire along the captain's sword glowed fiercer than Rowen remembered and he noticed a trace of blue flames along with the red and orange. Though she couldn’t see him, he gave Lentess a nod.

  Satisfied that Franz and Lentess could hold for just a few more seconds he turned his attention to the eastern alley just in time to see the last skeletal fighter fall and the company men scramble over the debris toward the lone remaining archer. Rowen smiled at the boost to morale and turned toward the Senshin. Cecilia returned to his side with news that his wall of flame would soon smolder but that she believed the men needed no more help in clearing out the remaining undead. She set off toward the eastern alley to heal who she could. Rowen sighed. It wasn’t as bad as it had seemed. They could come out of this better than he had expected.

  Rowen set his feet apart, prepared to fight. He observed Franz and Algon as the battled the Senshin. Algon dropped his blades, the flames winking out before they hit the stone. He bolted through the ruins.

  The Senshin, despite its superior size, strength, and speed, only matched the ferocity of Franz. Rowen silently applauded the captain as his brave display of martial prowess kept him on even footing with the immense demon. Loren's death obviously pushed Franz past his limitations, but Rowen knew that with the added strength he still could not land any significant hits on the demon and that it was only a matter of time before reason returned to the captain's mind and he began to falter.

  Just then, Lentess finished a spell that seemed to tell Rowen he was wrong. She launched a bolt of pure holy energy that struck the wound Loren had scored on the Senshin’s thigh. The demon stumbled and barked.

  With a yell, Franz plunged his sword where his fallen comrade had plunged his own. The strengthened magical flames charred already seared flesh and the demon's coal black skin poured smoke as it caught fire. Franz gave his sword a twist, further opening the grievous wound. Before he could do any further damage the Senshin brought all four of its swords down in one attack of rage. Franz only managed to back up and get his shield up in time by forsaking his sword. The magical flames on the sword and demon smoldered when he removed his hand from the h
ilt.

  At the same time, Rowen finished his third spell of the encounter, a shield of magical fire engulfed Franz. The magical flames would burn anyone close enough to Franz that the mage told it to. The Senshin barked another guttural command as it pulled Franz's sword from its leg.

  From two of the hovels farther back in the ruins flew two arrows from concealed archers. One landed just a few inches in front of Franz while the second landed deep in Rowen's gut. He gasped for air as he stumbled backwards onto his bottom. Cecilia rushed over, screaming. Her soft hands firmly gripped the arrow shaft and she pulled it from his abdomen. Her eyes widened as she stared at the poison coated tip. She tossed it aside and laid Rowen on his back. With a prayer to Althera, she raised her hands over his wound. They began to glow, one green and the other yellow, as she prayed to Althera.

  Two more arrows shot out from deep in the ruins, and two more company men fell, dead before they even hit the cold stone ground. Argonnoth turned away from the alleyway that was finally clear and started to cast one of his Earth spells. A wall of earth as tall as the surrounding buildings erupted from the ground in front of the Senshin, who had been trying to overwhelm a weaponless Franz. Franz turned to the rest of the